Nightreign | Elden Ring Wiki

New! Nightreign Ironeye Announced

During the latest gameplay trailer for Elden Ring: Nightreign, Bandai Namco and From Software revealed Ironeye, a ranged-focused Nightfarer designed to provide precision damage and vital support from a distance. Ironeye begins each run equipped with a bow, immediately establishing them as a long-range specialist. Their core stat is Dexterity, which enhances their effectiveness with ranged weapons and supports a fast, agile playstyle.

Ironeye’s primary role in a party is that of a Ranged DPS/Support hybrid, capable of thinning enemy ranks from the backline while offering critical utility to their team. One of the standout mechanics highlighted in the trailer is their ability to revive downed allies from a distance. This feature gives Ironeye a unique edge in cooperative play, allowing them to maintain pressure on enemies while still supporting teammates without repositioning dangerously.

The trailer also showcased Ironeye’s ultimate ability—a powerful, charged arrow that pierces through multiple enemies in a straight line. This attack provides strong AoE damage and is ideal for clearing groups of enemies or dealing heavy damage to lined-up targets. While primarily designed for ranged combat, Ironeye can also hold their own up close, with animations revealing quick melee slashes and even a cinematic backstab, where they pull an arrow from an enemy for a critical strike.

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Relationship Between Elden Ring and Elden Ring Nightreign

Elden Ring: Nightreign is a spin-off of Elden Ring that shares the same foundational lore and setting during the period leading up to the "Fracture War." However, after the Fracture War, the two diverge into entirely separate worlds. Nightreign exists as a parallel world to the main game, offering a unique narrative that runs independently of the events in Elden Ring.

The decision to set Nightreign in a parallel world stems from a desire to respect the original story and the experiences players had in Elden Ring. This separation ensures that players with a deep connection to the original game can enjoy Nightreign without feeling like it alters or overwrites the core story of Elden Ring.

Different form of Ashes in Elden Ring Nightreign

Ashes were a significant gameplay element in Elden Ring and it will also play a role in Nightreign. However, their functionality and integration differ between the two titles. In Nightreign, one of the eight playable characters specializes in combat centered around ashes, offering a unique approach to their use compared to the original game.

Relics and Progression in Elden Ring Nightreign

Nightreign does not include settings to lower the game's difficulty, staying true to FromSoftware's design philosophy of challenging players to persevere and overcome obstacles through skill and determination. The game has been carefully balanced to ensure that anyone can succeed with enough practice and persistence.

To support new players, the game introduces "Relics," items that permanently enhance character abilities. Collecting these relics through repeated playthroughs can provide significant advantages, offering a gradual progression system for those just starting their journey.

The 3-day cycle mechanic in Elden Ring Nightreign

In Nightreign, each game is structured around three in-game days, each lasting about 40 minutes. This design is based on the concept of a "condensed RPG," aiming to offer players a complete and balanced experience, where they encounter both triumphs and challenges. The three-day cycle allows for a well-rounded narrative and gameplay flow, giving players the opportunity to experience the full spectrum of RPG dynamics in a condensed format.

The decision to structure the game around these three-day sessions was also influenced by the growing culture of speedruns. Players who aim to complete games in the shortest time possible helped inspire this gameplay style, as FromSoftware sought to create an environment where optimizing and researching gameplay strategies became an integral part of the experience.

As the story progresses across these three days, players will encounter various bosses, culminating in a final boss that ties directly into the overarching narrative and events within the game.

Maps and Randomization in Elden Ring Nightreign

In Nightreign, the primary setting is Limveld, a map inspired by the world of Limgrave from Elden Ring. Unlike traditional RPGs that introduce new maps as the game progresses, the map in Nightreign remains constant, with changes occurring dynamically throughout gameplay. These changes are primarily focused on the randomization of weapons, items, and boss types found in large bases.

Players will also experience an asynchronous network feature that allows them to inherit weapons and items used by other players. This system adds variety and replayability, ensuring that each playthrough feels unique.

Enemies won't respawn after resting in Elden Ring Nightreign

Minor enemies do not revive between days in Nightreign. Unlike previous games in the series, where resting at a bonfire or using certain items would cause enemies to respawn, small enemies will remain defeated throughout the game’s progression. This rule holds true even if the player rests with a blessing, meaning that players can progress through areas without worrying about these enemies reappearing.

How Currency works in Elden Ring Nightreign

In Nightreign, players can use a special in-game currency known as "Marks." Marks can be spent at the Roundtable Hold. By spending Marks, players can obtain Relics, which provide permanent stat boosts to your character, improving their abilities as they progress through the game. In addition to Relics, Marks can also be used to purchase cosmetic items such as gestures and skins.

Backstories of Playable Characters in Elden Ring Nightreign

In Elden Ring: Nightreign, there are eight playable characters, each with a distinct and richly crafted backstory. Players can uncover these stories through various in-game features. The primary method involves reading records located at the game’s central hub, the Roundtable Hold.

The game also incorporates other narrative elements that allow players to engage with and explore the personal histories of the characters. These features ensure that players can fully immerse themselves in the unique backgrounds and motivations of each character as they progress through the game.

The Focus on 3-player cooperative experience in Elden Ring Nightreign

Nightreign is fundamentally designed as a three-player cooperative experience, though solo play is also possible. Notably, there is no two-player mode. The decision to focus on three-player gameplay stems from a desire to offer a fresh and unique multiplayer experience distinct from Dark Souls and Elden Ring. This structure aims to deliver a new sense of accomplishment and joy through cooperative play.

During development, the team determined that three players provided the optimal balance, allowing each participant to face meaningful challenges while fostering an engaging and cohesive multiplayer dynamic. The choice not to include a four-player option was based on the need to maintain this carefully crafted balance.

FromSoftware Unconcerned About Market Trends for Live-Service Games

The release of Nightreign comes amid industry discussions about the underperformance of live-service titles. However, Nightreign is designed as a standalone, one-time purchase game, distinct from the management-focused nature of live-service titles.

FromSoftware has emphasized their commitment to creating enjoyable, engaging experiences. The studio believes that if the game delivers fun and rewarding gameplay, players will respond positively, and market trends surrounding live-service models will not impact its success.

Reappearing Bosses in Elden Ring Nightreign

In Nightreign, there are ongoing considerations for the inclusion of reappearing bosses that become stronger after being defeated once. Similar to previous FromSoftware titles, this concept would allow players to face tougher versions of familiar bosses, providing additional challenges in subsequent encounters. Further details on this feature will be released as development progresses.

Player Interactions and Asynchronous Features in Elden Ring Nightreign

In Nightreign, the feature of viewing the ghosts of other players, a familiar element from Elden Ring, remains intact. However, the ability to leave and exchange messages with other players has been removed. This decision was made due to the game's design, where each session lasts around 40 minutes.

With such a condensed playtime, there is limited opportunity for players to both write and read messages, making this feature less practical. The removal of the message system is part of the game's focus on creating a more streamlined and focused experience within the time constraints of each session.

Character Development and Gameplay Changes in Elden Ring Nightreign

Nightreign introduces a diverse set of playable characters, each with unique skills and abilities. From the outset, the development team envisioned characters who would combine their distinct abilities with "Arts," powerful special moves that define their fighting styles. This approach was designed to offer a more dynamic and engaging multiplayer experience, allowing players to experiment with various combinations of skills and strategies.

The character roster includes classic RPG archetypes, such as tanks with high damage resistance and wizards capable of casting powerful magic for long-distance attacks. These roles are familiar yet essential for a fantasy RPG setting. However, Nightreign also features some more unique characters that will provide players with fresh and unexpected gameplay options. The full list of characters has not been revealed yet, and more updates are expected to introduce additional playable characters with varying skill sets.

PvPvE not considered in Elden Ring Nightreign

Currently, Nightreign is being developed with a focus on cooperative gameplay and does not include any PvPvE or battle royale modes. While these modes have gained popularity in many games, the development team has chosen to prioritize a more traditional cooperative experience, where players work together to overcome challenges rather than engaging in player-versus-player or mixed player-versus-environment combat.

Network Test Information

The Nightreign network test is a preliminary verification test in which the selected testers play a portion of the game prior to the full game launch. Various technical verifications of online systems will be examined by conducting large-scale network load tests.

• Registration: Starts January 10th, 2025.
• Network Test Start: February 2025, specific date yet to be confirmed.
• Available on: PS5/Xbox Series
• Playable Heroes: Yet to be confirmed if all the 8 heroes of the roster will be playable. It is highly likely that players will be able to play the four confirmed Heroes. (Wylder, Guardian, Duchess, and Recluse)

Wylder

This hero is described as an "all-round" hero who has a good balance between attacks, speed, and defense. Wylder is shaping up to become a character that new players can take control of for that balanced approach especially in the early parts of the game, while veteran players can potentially mold this character to fit their preferred upgrades and playstyle.

• Passive: Sixth Sense
• Skill: Claw Shot
• Ultimate: Onslaught Stake

Guardian

Guardian is a playable hero described as the Tank archetype. Guardian features slow but heavy-hitting attacks, a master when it comes to defenses and various resistances, and someone we can see who wears intimidating and cool sets of heavy armor.

• Passive: Steel Guard
• Skill: Whirlwind
• Ultimate: Wings of Salvation

Duchess

The Duchess is a character we'd associate with a Thief or better yet, an Assassin archetype. The Duchess features agile, light-footed maneuvers, quick attacks, and is said to be equipped with a unique quickstep ability.

• Passive: Magnificent Pose
• Skill: Restage
• Ultimate: Finale

Recluse

And for all our Magic experts, Recluse will be the designated hero who excels in conjuring ranged magical attacks.

• Passive: Elemental Defense
• Skill: Magic Cocktail
• Ultimate: Soulblood Song

Do I Need to Own Elden Ring to Play Nightreign?

No, Nightreign is a stand-alone premium-priced game, it is not Free-to-Play, and players do not need to have the base game, Elden Ring, to play Nightreign. It is also noteworthy to mention that Nightreign will not have battle passes or microtransactions and all content will be available from the start.

What is Nightreign?

Nightreign is a standalone survival action game that features cooperative gameplay, and it is a game that is within the Elden Ring universe. Nightreign is directed by Junya Ishizaki who previously worked on games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, including combat design for Elden Ring. If fans of Elden Ring are wondering if the legendary Geore R.R. Martin has something to do with Nightreign, unfortunately he is not involved and the game is not connected to the main story of Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree.

How does Loot & Equipment Work in Nightreign?

FromSoftware approaches the loot and equipment system differently in Nightreign. For each run, enemies and bosses that players encounter and defeat will drop randomized loot, there are also tons of chests and breakable structures where players can also find items. Normal or Regular items that players find are shared between players, and they can freely grab whatever item they loot. However, the more valuable or rare drops that can be acquired from defeating bosses are not shared.

• Loot are categorized into different color-coded rarity (much like Diablo)
• Weapons will have passives and random stats
• Requirements of weapons will be based on level
• There doesn't seem to be an equip load or weight management.
• Simplified inventory system unlike in Elden Ring. An example is players can still dual wield weapons but they can only hold and store up to 3 weapons on each hand. What's interesting about this is that for the weapons you have equipped on each hand, the passive effects of those weapons will remain active.
• Players can have their character freely equip any type of weapon, making it easier to build your arsenal on the fly and quickly adapt to what lies ahead.
• When defeating bosses, players will have options of what rewards they'll receive for emerging victorious against the formidable foe.

How Will Multiplayer Work in Nightreign?

Nightreign is primarily centered around the 3-player co-op experience, there will be no PvP elements and no option for 2-player. However, players can choose to play solo with scaled difficulty. There will be no cross-platform play but it will support cross-gen play for PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox One/Series X|S users.

Communicating with your teammates is shaping up to be straightforward. There will be a map pinging system, Gestures will be available, and there will be no text chat, but there will be an external voice chat that is optional. When it comes to the elements of combat with your party, here is what we know so far:

• Acquiring runes are shared
• Players can revive incapacitated allies by hitting them

Bosses in Nightreign

One of Nightreign's focuses is facing a formidable boss when night falls, and by emerging victorious, players will be rewarded with rare loot or upgrades, and eventually reach the pinnacle to reach the game's finale. Nightreign will feature a large pool of random bosses for each day. Expect to face bosses such as the Centipede Demon who can detach its body parts, a three-headed Cerberus known as Gladius, the return of a Tree Sentinel, and Magrit who is described to be pursuing players around the map.

Map & Locations in Nightreign

The layout of Nightreign's map is somewhat "static" where players will come across a feeling of exploring familiar but new areas of an alternate version of Limgrave called "Limveld". Players can explore locations such as caves, towers, forts, jail locations, and ruins. Structures will seem to remain as where it is located across the map, however, as players progress and complete their runs, modifiers, and surprises will appear and change certain aspects of the explorable areas, making each run interesting and keeping all the players on their toes as they are faced against unpredictable characteristics. Some of those elements that change include:

• Enemies and Bosses
• Locations of items like weapons
• Environmental Modifiers
• A playable area that shrinks, known as "Night's Tide" and/or "Ring of Reign"
• Environmental modifiers are said to be tied to character stories
• Special Environmental Events like the impact of meteors, swarms of giant ants, and volcanic eruptions.

The Roundtable Hold Returns

Nightreign will still include a form of game progression through character or NPC story development. In Nightreign, players will get to travel to an "alternate" version of the Roundtable Hold. Just like in Elden Ring, the Roundtable Hold will serve as the main hub within Nightreign where players can meet and chat with NPCs, make use of various upgrade systems and additional features like accessing training grounds to familiarize themselves with combat and practicing the use of abilities.

• Speak to NPCs at the Roundtable Hold
• Use a Training Yard to test out combat and abilities
• Find Merchant Shops and Stations for customization

Combat & Character Progression in Nightreign

As seen in the reveal trailer, Nightreign is a faster (turbo) paced version of Elden Ring. Characters in Nightreign sprint faster, and mobility/movement is enhanced, characters can mount short walls and even wall-run. A magical spectral hawk also allows players to fly or glide vertically, and Nightreign doesn't have fall damage. As far as Character or Level Progression, here is what we know so far:

• For each run or session, players will start at Level 1
• There will be no individual stats and leveling is simplified automatically
• If players die, they will lose a level and drop their runes which can still be recovered
• There will be no difficulty options
• Defeating bosses rewards players with upgrades for their character
• There are Relics that are similar to Bloodborne's Blood Stones. These are color-coded slots that provide character improvements, it is useful for different builds, and Relics are rewarded in both completed and failed sessions.

When will Nightreign be Released?

As of now, Nightreign is set to release in 2025. But looking at its production and after its announcement of the network test that starts on February 2025, it's most likely that Nightreign will be available between April and September 2025.