In this guide, you’ll find an overview of the fundamental systems and mechanics in Elden Ring Nightreign.
Although the controls, the environments, and most of the enemies will feel familiar to veterans of Elden Ring, many changes and additions have been introduced in Nightreign that drastically alter the core gameplay loop, and it is important to review the updated rules regardless of whether you are a new or returning player.
In particular, please note that the game is primarily balanced for cooperative multiplayer sessions with two other players.
The Basics
This section addresses essential information such as character controls, game systems, and the user interface. It serves as a foundation for the more complex concepts which will be introduced in the remainder of this guide, and we recommend perusing its contents before you proceed in order to ensure that you are fully prepared for the myriad challenges awaiting you in the land of Limveld.
Controller Settings
The Controller Settings menu displays the current game controls using your current input device. You can use this menu to change any of these settings to a button that is more to your liking.
Tutorial
When starting from a new save file, you will be transported directly to a tutorial area where a series of HUD messages will direct you through several tasks to familiarize you with the game’s controls.
While it is possible to disable the onscreen prompts or skip this event entirely via the main menu, doing so is strongly discouraged for first-time players as you’ll receive little other guidance from here onward.
The tutorial culminates in a boss encounter, after which you’ll be transported to Roundtable Hold. This tutorial can be replayed at any point later on.
Gameplay Overview
Elden Ring Nightreign’s gameplay revolves around a series of missions referred to as Expeditions. Each Expedition consists of two in-game days of freely exploring Limveld with mandatory boss encounters at night, followed by a showdown with a powerful Nightlord avatar on the third day.
Throughout the first two days, the safe area of the Map gradually shrinks over time until you are forced into the boss arena; the third consists only of the final battle with the Nightlord, after which the Expedition is complete.
Successful Expeditions award a selection of permanent character upgrades as well as a currency called Murk, which can be spent at the Small Jar Bazaar in Roundtable Hold.
Character Selection
This altar in Roundtable Hold is flanked by a suit of Banished Knight armor and can be found adjacent to the Table of Lost Grace. Examine it to access the character select screen, where you can freely switch between available Nightfarers.
You’ll initially have access to Wylder, Ironeye, Recluse, Guardian, Executor and Raider; two unlockable characters, Duchess and Revenant, will join your ranks after you’ve progressed through the early portion of the game and fulfilled a set of specific requirements.
- Wylder: Melee
- Guardian: Melee
- Raider: Melee
- Executor: Melee
- Ironeye: Ranged
- Duchess: Ranged / Spells
- Recluse: Spells
- Revenant: Summons
Expeditions
Interact with the Table of Lost Grace in the central chamber of Roundtable Hold to access the list of currently available Expeditions, set matchmaking passwords which enable you to team up with friends, and toggle gameplay modes between solo and multiplayer.
The gameplay elements of an Expedition will be covered in this section.
Matchmaking
Two game modes are available in Elden Ring Nightreign: solo play, which can be conducted either online or offline; and cooperative multiplayer, which requires an internet connection. This setting, as well as the matchmaking passwords which enable you to play with specific friends or groups, can be changed at the Table of Lost Grace prior to embarking upon an Expedition.
The player who initiates a matchmaking session is considered the host for game progression purposes, and the state of the host’s world will directly impact the rewards received by their teammates. In solo play, enemies’ HP is scaled downward, making them easier to defeat.
The special Wending Grace item is also sold in shops during Expeditions, which allows you to revive once when you die.
Ties to Other Worlds
When playing online, you will occasionally encounter the ghostly afterimages of Nightfarers from other worlds.
These echoes assume two distinct forms: grey phantoms
which reenact living players’ movements in real time and will restore your Arts Gauge if you walk through them; and static red phantoms left behind when a Nightfarer dies before completing their mission.
Interacting with red phantoms via the “Examine” prompt will cause them to drop any armaments they were carrying at the time of death; equipment obtained in this manner will bear unique passive traits that differ depending upon which Nightfarer originally carried it.
If you die while in possession of these weapons, the grief contained within them will grow, increasing the bonuses they provide to the next person who acquires them.
Roundtable Hold
Roundtable Hold serves as a base of operations for the Nightfarers—heroes hailing from disparate realms and eras, drawn together with the common goal of liberating the Lands Between from the curse of the Nightlord.
Expeditions, matchmaking settings, character customization, and various other progression-related functions are accessed here, as are nearly all story events, dialog, and cutscenes.
Between Expeditions, you may interact with friendly NPCs, purchase items, hone your combat prowess in the Sparring Grounds, perform Rituals which modify your characters’ abilities, and make various other preparations for your next excursion.
The available services are initially limited, but will gradually expand as you defeat Nightlord avatars; below, you’ll find a brief summary of each area and its function.
(Download the full guide for more details)
The Sparring Grounds
The Sparring Grounds provide a very important function in allowing you to see how each Nightfarer’s skills work in practice, as well as judging which weapon and equipment best suit your
playstyle. Upon entering the Sparring Grounds, you’ll notice your character draw their weapon.
This lets you practice using all of the attacks and skills you’ll find while on Expeditions in Limveld. The stall at the back of the area allows you to choose which weapon, skill or spell you want to experiment with, and offers a useful Handbook that explains key concepts.
Pressing the buttons will open the Guide Settings menu, from which you can choose your character, view the map, and change sparring settings.
These settings allow you to change your character’s level—useful for experimenting with higher Rarity weapons—adjust how quickly your HP, FP and Stamina regenerate in combat, and remove the limits on consumable, Skill and Ultimate Art usage. While there are training dummies in the area that you can target, making use of these settings in actual combat will require you to animate the fallen soldier lying on the ground near the main building.
This soldier will attempt to strike you, allowing you to practice parrying here, or experiment with Character Skills such as Retaliate or Cursed Sword. The soldier will return to its inanimate state if you move too far away from its initial position.
The Night’s Tide
Safe territory is delineated on the Map by a circle of blue flame which initially encompasses all of Limveld, but contracts over time until it covers only an area of sufficient size to serve as a boss arena, at which point the mandatory nighttime boss encounter begins. Defeating the Night 1 boss will reset the accessible portion of Limveld to its maximum range and transition into Day 2, whereupon you may resume your exploration until the Night 2 boss appears.
Straying beyond the circle’s borders exposes player characters to cursed rain known as the Night’s Tide which rapidly erodes HP; entering a near-death state within the Night’s Tide virtually guarantees the loss of a level as your allies will typically not have time to revive you without jeopardizing the Expedition, nor will you be able to reach your Runes and return before incurring another death.
On each of the first two days of an Expedition, the Night’s Tide will close in on a random position in Limveld; the destination toward which it does so will not be apparent from the start, but can be extrapolated on the Map as the circle indicating its boundary gradually contracts.
For this reason, monitoring your Map at regular intervals is essential for planning a safe route to the nighttime boss. Once the Night’s Tide has progressed sufficiently, an Erdtree icon will appear on your Compass, pointing you directly toward the boss’ location.
A spectral golden tree will manifest in the sky directly above this position, serving as a visual beacon to guide you to the objective. Additionally, you will receive a series of warning messages and audio cues in the HUD each time the Night’s Tide begins closing in.
Expedition Flow
A single game session consists of five sequential steps as illustrated in the diagram below.
- DAY 1: Farming
- NIGHT 1: Boss Battle
- DAY 2: Farming
- NIGHT 2: Boss Battle
- DAY 3: Nightlord Battle
During the first two days, your goal is to canvass the land of Limveld for weapons, items, upgrade materials and Runes, which will strengthen your offensive and defensive capabilities in preparation for the mandatory bosses you’ll face when night falls.
These nighttime bosses are randomly selected per Expedition from a pool of possible candidates, and their arrival will be preceded by specific groups of weaker enemies whose type can be used to predict which boss is about to appear.
After defeating the Day 2 boss, you will leave Limveld and arrive in a small sanctuary known as the Spirit Shelter where you’ll have the opportunity to level up, purchase items from a merchant, upgrade your equipment, and make any other necessary preparations without the time pressure of an encroaching Night’s Tide.
When your team is ready to proceed, simply leave the shelter and follow the path outside—approaching the large door at the end will commence the final battle with your current Expedition’s Nightlord avatar.
Runes & Leveling Up
Every enemy and boss you defeat will yield a currency known as Runes in an amount commensurate with the overall strength of the vanquished foe.
Runes are required for leveling up, which takes place at Sites of Grace and increases each Nightfarer’s stats according to their individual growth curves; you will also need Runes to purchase items from the ghostly merchants found throughout Limveld.
By default, each member of your team will receive the same number of Runes from a kill, but the base rate of Rune acquisition can be increased through the bonuses granted by Relics and per-Expedition character upgrades.
As stronger opponents generally take more time to defeat but are worth larger amounts of Runes, you must decide how much time you are willing to allocate to Rune farming, as well as whether to spend that time fighting low-risk targets for lesser rewards, or high-value targets at increased risk.
Churches
Ruined churches lie scattered throughout Limveld and can be identified on the Map by their distinctive icon. Examining the altar in a church will increase the number of charges in your Flask of Crimson Tears by one for the remainder of the Expedition, and each member of your team can receive a boost from the same altar without rendering it inaccessible to the others.
As methods of HP recovery are severely restricted unless you are near a Site of Grace, it is exceptionally important to visit as many churches as possible; you may even wish to plan your route around them if circumstances allow.
Merchants
Ghostly merchants can be found in many locations throughout Limveld. Their positions will change during each new Expedition, but the spots where they can potentially appear are selected from a fixed pool and can therefore be predicted to at least some degree.
While a portion of every merchant’s stock is dedicated to a universally static set of upgrades such as Item Pouches and Smithing Stones, the armaments they sell are rerolled at the beginning of each mission and tend to possess attributes which target the weak point(s) of the current Expedition boss.
All merchants except the one encountered in the Spirit Shelter share a single collective inventory with an identical selection of goods.
For rarer and more powerful items, buying from one merchant will deplete the inventories of all other merchants of that same item. Merchant inventories have separate instances for each player in a session, so every member of your team can purchase otherwise unique goods such as an Item Pouch from the same merchant.
Armaments
Armaments include weapons, shields, and spellcasting implements such as Glintstone Staves and Sacred Seals.
Although they can be purchased from merchants, it is generally more efficient to acquire them for free by looting treasure chests and weapon racks, or by earning them as rewards for defeating bosses.
Equipment generated during Expeditions or otherwise acquired in Limveld will be rolled with random upgrade levels, Skills, Affinities, Status Ailments and passive effects, although certain pieces also possess fixed properties of their own.
Eacharmament benefits from a different combination of core stats, and although all Nightfarers can wield any type of equipment as long as they meet its minimum level requirement, some characters will inherently utilize specific weapons more effectively than others if their stat distribution is compatible with the armament’s damage scaling.
Breakable Statues
You’ll occasionally encounter half-buried stone statues emanating a telltale white light from within.
To break these, strike them with an Ultimate Art such as Totem Stela that alters the surrounding terrain, or lure a large enemy or boss toward the statue and bait your foe into attacking it—you’ll be rewarded for your trouble with high-quality items and upgrade materials.
Near-Death & Revival
Nightfarers whose HP are reduced to 0 enter a near-death state indicated by a segmented countdown gauge in the HUD, and can be revived by consecutive ranged or melee attacks from teammates until the gauge timer expires; failing that, the defeated character will respawn at the last Site of Grace visited (or the nearest safe position) and lose one level.
The Runes from the lost level can be recovered at the location of death, but nearby enemies may retrieve them first, in which case the enemy must be defeated in order to reclaim your Runes. If your entire team falls in combat against a Nightlord avatar, the current Expedition immediately ends in failure. When near death, a Nightfarer’s revival gauge will begin with a single interior segment filled and its circular border colored.
Teammates must repeatedly attack the dying character to drain the filled inner segment and revive the target before time runs out.
The gauge’s border serves as the timer, and if its color completely fades before the character is revived, they will die and lose a level.
Each time a player near death is successfully resuscitated, another inner segment will be added to their revival gauge up to a maximum of three, making it increasingly difficult to revive allies who incur multiple near-death states in rapid succession.
The number of filled segments will gradually decrease over time as long as that character’s HP are not reduced to 0 again before their gauge resets.
Easier Revival
Certain Nightfarers’ Ultimate Arts, such as those of the Guardian and the Revenant, are particularly effective at restoring near-death allies to life.
Additionally, ranged weapons such as Bows and Crossbows provide the ability to revive teammates from a much safer distance than melee attacks, and can be worth carrying for this express purpose even by Nightfarers who are not otherwise suited to such armaments.
A choice of Reward
Upon defeating bosses and certain strong enemies, as well as after completing Shifting Earth events, you will receive a rewards cache which typically appears on the field as a roughly player-sized wisp of colored haze marked with the icon shown above (although the final rewards for Shifting Earth zones may take other forms).
Interacting with these caches will prompt you to select from up to three different rewards; the contents are chosen from a pool of possibilities whose properties or values are determined randomly upon generation, and will be different for every player in the current session.
Caches may contain equipment or passive character traits, but in either case, the reward will generally be of much higher quality than what can be found in standard treasure chests or supply crates. Additionally, your choice has no impact on the remaining options available to your teammates.
Equipment
The equipment you’ll find throughout Limveld can be divided into three general categories: Armaments, Talismans and consumable items.
Armaments encompass all types of ranged and melee weapons as well as shields and casting implements; Talismans grant a variety of passive effects for as long as they are worn; and consumable items include temporary supplies such as Kukri or Starlight Shards, which are removed from your inventory upon use.
This section provides further detail on the various ways in which the equipment you acquire during your Expeditions will affect your Nightfarer’s combat capabilities and overall strength
Limveld - Key Locations
Key Locations include any and all points of interest throughout Limveld, and will be marked on the Map from the start of each Expedition.
Most are inhabited by enemies or optional bosses which serve as stepping stones for strengthening your Nightfarer: apart from yielding large amounts of Runes, all boss-type units and certain strong foes such as Trolls will drop a cache of random rewards ranging from pre-upgraded armaments to passive buffs which last for the remainder of your current mission.
Caches typically offer two or three choices, and each player in a session may choose the same item or effect without impacting its availability to the others.
Key Locations also house treasure chests and supply crates which can often be looted with little to no engagement in combat, so it is still worth passing through these sites when you are in a hurry as long as you remain a step ahead of the Night’s Tide.
- Fort: Forts are worth plundering for maps of the surrounding area’s treasure.
- Great Church: Likely sources of Sacred Seals.
- Main Encampment: Powerful enemies such as Flame Chariots are likely to patrol encampments.
- Ruins: Ruins often lead to underground passageways and
cramped boss encounters. - Tunnel Entrance: A good source of Smithing Stone — press ↓ on the map to view tunnel maps.
- Castle: Dangerous citadels, with powerful foes often laying in wait as you approach their upper sections.
- Field Boss: These powerful foes wander the overworld. They will attack any who venture too close, and leave excellent rewards when defeated.
- Evergoal: A Stonesword Key is required to enter an Evergaol and bat - tle its captive. These are found as treasure and sometimes sold by merchants.
- Township: Usually safe areas, it’s likely to find merchants operating in the vicinity of townships.
- Church: Church altars allow you to increase the number of flask charges available, making them desirable destinations.
- Sorcerer's Rise: These towers are sealed with magic, and you’ll need to search the nearby area for a way to break the seal.
- Spectral Hawk Tree: From these trees you can soar over the land on a spec - tral hawk, allowing for quick traversal of great distances.
- Spiritstream: These streams of energy facilitate leaping over great heights, and are often found at the bottom of sheer cliffs.
(Download the full guide for more details)
Permanent Game Progression
Clearing the initially available Tricephalos Expedition unlocks further missions and sometimes also leads to story scenes, situational encounters, or other forms of game progression.
Completing new Expeditions for the first time will award you with a special Relic unique to the Nightlord avatar you’ve defeated, while subsequent clears provide generic, randomly-generated Relics of varying quality; you will also receive a small amount of Murk regardless of which end boss you choose or whether you complete the mission successfully.
- Relics & Relic Rites
- Nightfarer-Specific Effects
- Changing Garb & The Dresser
- Journal Entries & Remembrances
(Download the full guide for more details)
ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN - Official Companion Guide
Future Press’ Official Companion Guide for Elden Ring Nightreign is an essential resource for anyone who dares to enter Limveld. Whether you’re doing so for the first time or the hundredth, you’ll find it an utterly invaluable companion along the way.
This meticulously crafted guide delves deep into the enigmatic world of Nightreign, offering unparalleled insights into its dynamic mechanics. Mastering Nightreign requires striking a delicate balance between careful teamwork and gaining synergistic power as quickly as possible. This premium hardcover book highlights every way in which you can tip this balance in your favor.
