Elden Ring Nightreign is a bit of an enigma as a follow-up to FromSoftware’s beloved Elden Ring – it twists the RPG’s combat into a lightning-fast roguelite – but once you get a few runs under your belt, the general gameplay loop is pretty straightforward. It’s still quite challenging, just like any other FromSoftware game in the same lineage, but it also carries the studio’s tradition of being a bit obtuse. There are some obscured mechanics you might never figure out on your own.

Despite a rather brief tutorial and only a handful of tooltips that pop up as you’re being introduced to Remembrance Quests and the other Roundtable Hold features, Nightreign does have a pretty robust in-game manual called the Visual Codex. It can be accessed in the western wing of the Roundtable, and has information on a wide variety of subjects. The tips and tricks below will help immensely, but if you want to cultivate a more thorough knowledge of Elden Ring Nightreign‘s mechanics, spend some time reading the Visual Codex.

8

Using Boluses Gives You A Permanent Buff

Use Every Bolus You Find

Boluses at first seem extremely situational in Nightreign. Consuming them helps stop the build-up of corresponding ailments, and can even cure poison or Scarlet Rot, but they tend to be less useful than other consumables that could occupy one of your precious few inventory slots. What Nightreign doesn’t outright explain, however, is that consuming boluses gives you a permanent buff to their corresponding resistance.

For instance, consuming a Neutralizing Bolus will cure your poison and remove any poison build-up you might have, but it also raises your character’s poison resistance stat for the rest of that expedition. Even better, this effect stacks, so the more boluses of one type you consume, the greater that resistance will become, so every time you find boluses, be sure to use them.

7

You Can Recover All Your Lost Progress After Dying

Your Lost Level Is Converted Into Runes

Dying can be a major setback in Elden Ring Nightreign. You lose precious time, but you also go down a level when you respawn. With only 15 possible levels, losing a single one can be the difference between defeating and being beaten by the Nightlord. A crucial bit of information that’s not immediately clear, however, is that those lost levels aren’t permanently stripped from you.

When you die, the level you lost is converted into the equivalent number of Runes required to reach that level again, and bundled with any other Runes you lost upon death. If you recover your Runes, by either picking them or defeating the enemy who now has them, you regain all your lost progress. All you have to do is make it to a Site of Grace to get back to exactly where you were when you died.

6

You Can See A Map Of The Mining Tunnels

Only While You’re Inside

Elden Ring Nightreign‘s map is of the utmost importance to every single expedition. The arrangement of each location will largely determine your pathing through Limveld, but it doesn’t appear comprehensive at first. You may have gotten all turned around a time or two while looking for a Smithing Stone [2] in the mining tunnels.

You can actually access the mining tunnel map by pressing down on the D-pad while you’re in the tunnels, making it much easier to navigate. The confusing subterranean complex can easily spell doom if the Night’s Tide comes in while you’re delving. Knowing its exact layout helps not only save your life and Runes, but precious time.

5

There’s A Reward For Beating The Tutorial Boss

Replay & Defeat The Fell Omen

It’s not uncommon for soulslikes to throw a nigh unbeatable boss at you either immediately or at the end of the tutorial, and Nightreign is no different. After learning the basics, you’re put face-to-face with the Fell Omen, an even deadlier version of Elden Ring‘s Morgott, the Omen King (and Margit, since they’re the same person). Most players will take their beat-down and never give it another thought, but there’s a reward for actually beating the tutorial Fell Omen.

Going back to the tutorial and defeating the Fell Omen will award you the Fell Omen Fetish, a Relic, the stats of which are in the table above. The tutorial can be replayed from the Visual Codex in the Roundtable Hold. The Fell Omen Fetish is a decent Relic, but it heavily relies on finding two equally effective weapons in a single run and switching between them frequently.

4

Relics Work Best On A Nightfarer’s Dump Stats

Nightreign Has Soft Level Caps

With all eight Nightreign Nightfarers representing a distinct character archetype, it can be easy to become laser-focused on their most important stat, but you might want to consider a different approach when equipping Relics. Nightreign has soft level caps for its attributes, just like Elden Ring, meaning you will get diminishing returns from Relics designed to boost a Nightfarer’s primary stat.

For instance, a Relic that gives you extra Strength will provide a boost early on when playing Raider, but once you gain a couple of levels, the Strength stat doesn’t scale as quickly. It’s therefore mathematically advantageous to use Relics to boost a character’s dump stats, i.e. their worst stats. Characters with low total health will benefit much more from Relics that increase Vigor compared to those that start with higher HP scaling.

3

Blocking Always Negates 100% Damage

Opposite Of FromSoftware’s Usual Design

The mechanics behind blocking are oddly one of the more consequential differences between Nightreign and Elden Ring. Typically, in FromSoftware’s RPGs, shields and weapons negate a certain percentage of different types of damage when used to block. In other words, you’ll only block all incoming physical damage in Elden Ring if your shield’s Physical Damage Negation stat is 100, but this is not how it works in Nightreign.

Instead, blocking always negates 100% of incoming damage, and a shield’s Guard stat determines how much stamina is lost upon blocking, not how much damage will bypass it. Knowing this helps inform Guardian’s gameplay niche. If you can get Relics or equipment passives that draw enemy attention, you’ll be able to take a lot of heat off your teammates – even more effectively if you can raise your stamina significantly.

2

You Are Invincible While Using Your Ultimate Art

You Can Extend The Animation Too

This one isn’t especially hard to notice, but it’s worth mentioning because it helps to always keep this in mind when timing your Ultimate Art. While using your Ultimate Art, you cannot take damage, so it doubles as a very long dodge window that can be helpful in many circumstances. If you’re out of flasks and know you’re about to get hit, you can ult to save yourself, and damage dealing ults will guarantee you stay alive while rescuing downed teammates.

Some Ultimate Arts can even be held for longer, giving you more time in the invincibility state. This can also be helpful for timing: if you start your ult too early, try holding both buttons down until more enemies are in the affected area.

1

Certain Equipment Passives Require The Item To Be Actively Equipped

Look For The Red Hand Icon

One of the best pieces of advice you likely received early on in Nightreign was to pick up equipment even if you don’t plan on using it, since their passive buffs are applied even from your inventory. There is a very important caveat that’s not immediately clear, though: certain passive buffs require an item to be in an active equipment slot, delineated by a red hand icon next to it.

This means, for that passive buff to take effect, it must be actively equipped to either your right or left hand. The only requirement is that it’s in the active slot, you don’t have to use it, so if you’re two handing a weapon, put the equipment with the red hand icon in your other active slot. The red hand icon will turn a bright white when it’s used correctly. They’re usually pretty powerful, thus the equip requirement, so it can be a huge boon in an Elden Ring Nightreign expedition.

Elden Ring Nightreign

Systems

9/10

Released

May 30, 2025

Developer(s)

From Software

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op

Number of Players

1-3

Steam Deck Compatibility

Unknown

PC Release Date

May 30, 2025