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Home » Aetolia Classes: All 32 Classes Across Four Cities » The Carnifex of Aetolia

The Carnifex of Aetolia

Last Updated: May 25, 2026
Carnifex of Aetolia armored death knight figure wielding a glowing maul

The Carnifex are Aetolia’s death knights, a Shadow-tethered class in Bloodloch that wields Savagery (heavy martial combat), Deathlore (soul magic powered by a soulstone), and Warhounds (trained war beasts).

At a glance
TetherShadow
CityBloodloch
GuildCarnifex (Patron: Bamathis, the Lost)
Skill setsSavagery, Deathlore, Warhounds
Mirror classWarden (Spirit)
Sister class in guildRavager
Signature mechanicSoulstone economy (capture and spend souls)
Best forPlayers who want heavy melee, ritual lore, and serious moral weight

The modern Carnifex emerged from the ritual at the village of Jaru, when the returned soul of Lord Roan Seluno renamed and remade the old Infernal Knights, ordering them to shed their chivalric ideals and feed on the souls of those they kill.

This is one of Aetolia’s signature classes. If you want to play a warrior with deep ritual lore, soul magic, and the moral weight that comes with literally hostage-taking dead souls, the Carnifex is one of the most iconic picks on the Shadow side of the game.

Origin and lore

Centuries ago, the Infernal Knights came into existence under the tutelage of Lord Roan Seluno. Through the decades, they grew renowned for wielding Necromancy alongside their blades. When Verkai the Usurper shattered the barrier between the Soul plane and the Prime Material, souls began to flood free of their exile, though no one understood the full consequences yet.

Twenty-five years after the Usurper’s defeat, the soul of Lord Roan appeared among the present-day Infernals. He led them to the village of Jaru and gave the order. Every villager died that day except four. As Roan began the ritual, the slaughtered souls rose to the sky. He then ordered the four spared villagers killed, their blood completing his ascension back into corporeal form.

Roan instructed his followers to abandon the name of the Infernal Knights and to cast aside chivalry. He renamed them Carnifex: bringers of death who scoff at the Underking’s authority and feed on the souls of those they kill. The modern Carnifex guild carries that mandate forward in Bloodloch.

Skill sets

The Carnifex skill sets are Savagery, Deathlore, and Warhounds.

Savagery is the martial discipline. Carnifex fight with halberds, bardiches, and mauls, leaning on brute strength rather than finesse. The class is built for heavy, forceful movements: the satisfying crack of bone, the visceral end of a fight.

Deathlore is the soul magic. A Carnifex carries a soulstone, a magical device that captures souls skimmed from the space between the Prime Material and Dhar’s realm. Captive souls become a power reservoir, fueling attacks and weakening enemies through pain inflicted at distance. The master soulstone in the Carnifex hall was forged in the original ritual of Jaru, and every individual stone is bound to its bearer for life.

Warhounds rounds out the kit. Trained war beasts fight alongside the Carnifex on the battlefield. They are living weapons, varying by lineage and honed through intense, brutal training.

Skill abilities

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Savagery

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Deathlore

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Warhounds

Visual style and identity

Carnifex do not slash neatly or strike pressure points. They pulverize. The class leans into heavy, forceful movements and the disorientation of soul-weakening at range. Where a Templar holds the line with disciplined formation work, a Carnifex breaks the enemy and feeds on the leftovers.

The visual identity is brutal, domineering, often armored. Heavy weapons, a bound warhound at the heel, the soulstone close to the chest. Carnifex are immediately recognizable in a crowd.

Side effects of the work

The class is not free. Practitioners of Deathlore run the risk of madness from the saturation of death and the lingering memory of the souls they reap. The pull is not constant, but the emotional residue of captive souls can surface in moments of stress.

There is a broader cost too. Every soul held in a soulstone is one that cannot be reborn into the Cycle. Souls eventually return to the Underhalls with diminished experience, weakening the Tempering of the new generation. The Carnifex understand this and do not care. Strength matters. The Cycle does not.

Who plays this class

The Carnifex is a class for players who want serious moral weight and heavy lore. The roleplay frame is dark fantasy at its most uncompromising: you are not a misunderstood antihero. You are a Carnifex. You take souls because strength demands it.

Mechanically, the class rewards players who like heavy melee combat with magical depth. The soulstone gives Carnifex a unique resource layer most other martial classes do not have, and Warhounds adds a pet-management dimension that fights alongside your primary attacks.

If you want subtlety, the Carnifex is the wrong class. If you want a death knight that earns the title, this is it.

City and guild

The Carnifex guild is anchored in Bloodloch, the Shadow Tether’s city of undeath. Patron: Bamathis, the Lost. The guild houses both the Carnifex class and its sister class, the Ravager (brutish brawlers who fight with hellfire and ego rather than soul magic and steel).

Joining the Carnifex means committing to Shadow. You will not be able to actively hold any Spirit-aligned classes alongside it, though you can multiclass into other Shadow classes or any of the seven untethered classes. Race choice is independent of class, so you can play a Carnifex of any Aetolia race.

The Carnifex mirror is the Warden, Duiran’s ancestral clan warrior. Both are heavy martial classes built around city-defining lore. Carnifex draw on stolen souls and the legacy of Roan Seluno. Wardens draw on the Bear, Serpent, and Raven clans and the spirits of their dead. Same combat chassis, opposite ideology.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The class has clear progression, active guild leadership, and strong documentation. The combat style is forgiving for beginners learning Aetolia’s affliction-based PvP system. You can also focus on the Savagery skill set early for a more straightforward martial experience before exploring Deathlore’s complexity.

Yes. Bloodloch is the vampire capital, and many Carnifex are Consanguine. Vampirism is a separate transformation handled through the Imperial Dominion’s Embrace, but the two work together naturally. Some Carnifex stay mortal. Many do not.

The soulstone is your power reservoir. As you capture souls during play, they fill the stone and become the fuel for Deathlore abilities. You can release captured souls back to the Cycle, but every active Deathlore technique depletes the reservoir. Managing soul economy is part of the class’s mid-fight decision making.

Other classes to consider

Three classes worth a look if you like the Carnifex profile. Or see all 32 Aetolia classes for the rest of the roster.

Ravager

Carnifex’s sister class in the same guild. Where Carnifex is methodical and ritual-heavy, the Ravager is overwhelming. Brutality (dirty martial arts), Ravaging (soulfire from Perdition), Egotism (will made manifest). Pick Ravager if you like the Carnifex city and lore but prefer brawling to soul magic.

Templar

Enorian’s heavy martial knight. Battlefury, Righteousness, Bladefire. Pick Templar if you like the heavy-armor, city-defining warrior frame but want to fight on the Spirit side as a holy crusader rather than a death knight.

Praenomen

Bloodloch’s vampire signature class. Corpus (body), Mentis (mind), Sanguis (blood). Pick Praenomen if you want to stay in Bloodloch and Shadow but trade heavy melee for a deep vampiric magic kit and the ability to Sire others.

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