Summary
- Nightreign introduces 8 unique playable characters with different abilities and playstyles to customize gameplay.
- Nightreign implements a roguelike system with randomized item spawns, limited item slots per character, and colored rarity tiers for equipment.
- Nightreign offers enhanced movement capabilities with new mechanics like Spectral Hawk flying and super sprinting.
- Despite the absence of Torrent, Nightreign features various movement improvements like climbing tall ledges and Wylder’s grappling hook.
Elden Ring Nightreign will bring a fresh wave of content to The Lands Between, changing the original game’s mechanics to fit a new roguelike experience. Its release is set for sometime between April and September 2025. It will come with some changes to mechanics across the board in subtle ways, from movement, to building a character, to the game’s cycle itself.
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Nightreign will be set in Limveld, a world parallel to Limgrave, where players form teams of three special characters to survive three in-game days, confront escalating challenges with bosses in between, culminating in a final boss against a foe fight known as a Night Lord. This list will go over some new features to look out for in Elden Ring Nightreign.
7
Special Character Archetypes
Choose Between Eight Playable Characters
Nightreign will introduce eight playable heroes known as Nightfarers, and the currently known ones are Duchess, Guardian, Recluse, and Wylder. Each character has a unique ability, ultimate attack, and stats, ensuring loot drops correspond to each character’s playstyle. These characters will be found in the central hub, the Roundtable Hold, where their stories can unfold.
The Duchess is like a rogue, specializing in burst damage. The Guardian is a tanky bird-person with powerful crowd-control capabilities. The Recluse specializes in sorceries, with a unique spin on Elden Ring’s magic. And the Wylder feels like a classic Souls character who is a jack-of-all-trades.
6
Enhanced Movement Capabilities
No Torrent, No Problem
Despite Torrent not returning in this game, lack of mobility won’t be an issue. There are a few places where players can fly on a Spectral Hawk to a predetermined location. Spiritsprings also make a return, but will sometimes involve unlocking them during a run.
There’s also a subtle rework of movement like climbing over ledges a bit too tall, and super sprinting helps traverse on foot faster at the cost of draining lots of stamina. Characters like Wylder also have a grappling hook that allows them to hook enemies or terrain and launch forwards.
5
Randomized Item Spawns
Keeping Every Run Fresh
Since this game plays like a roguelike, the items players find will all be randomized. Every defeated boss gives players options for random powerful rewards, and whenever a chest opens, loot pops out and is shared by the team. Each character gets a limited number of item slots and a weapon for each hand, so inventory management is essential.
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Each item is colored corresponding to its rarity, with white being the least rare going up to blue, purple, and then orange. Each level of rarity means better stats for each item. Similar to Elden Ring, items work better depending on the stats of the holder, so keeping that in mind will help decide which character should get what type of item.
4
Relics & Marks
Character Progression & New Currency
Aside from Talismans and other items that provide buffs in Elden Ring, Nightreign offers new items called Relics which offer permanent buffs to abilities across characters. Relics can be bought with Marks, which is Nightreign’s new version of currency akin to Runes. Marks can be spent at Roundtable Hold to get Relics and to manage characters.
Since Nightreign is a roguelike game, Relics will be important in creating gradual overall progress. On top of scouring for items and building up a character in each run, Relics can offer more consistent advantages. Aside from Relics, Marks can also buy cosmetic items like gestures and skins.
3
New Form Of Spirit Ashes
Specialized Spirit Summons
Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring function as NPCs that can be summoned, usually taking the form of various enemies found throughout the game. However in Nightreign, it will be slightly different. Since the game has reformatted building characters to be formidable challengers right out the gate, along with time pressures, summoning Spirits is a powerful mechanic that has been limited to one character.
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This character is unknown as of right now, as they are part of the four other heroes that have not been revealed yet. However, this new form of Spirit Ash summoning gameplay will offer a unique playstyle when compared to Elden Ring.
2
3-Day Cycle Mechanic
A More Meaningful Day/Night Cycle
To establish the roguelike format, the day-night cycle is more prominent and structures the game around three in-game days, each lasting about 40 minutes. During each day, players can complete objectives and gather items, and generally level up.
The playable area for each day shrinks—the “Night’s Tide” or “Ring of Reign” encroaches upon a central location and culminates in a boss fight. This cyclical structure should instill a sense of urgency and promote teamwork with evolving strategies.
1
Reappearing Bosses
Experience Horrors From Previous Games
One thing to expect in Nightreign, is the return of frightening foes from previous FromSoft games. The Nameless King from Dark Souls 3 is seen in the trailer, and there are hints of other bosses appearing. Several, but not all, Demigods from Elden Ring are set to make an appearance as well.
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These bosses are usually found during the Night phase of each day, acting as the final boss for that day. Sometimes, bosses will invade like NPC invaders in the middle of regular fights during the day or simultaneously with the nighttime bosses, making them unpredictable and dangerous.
Action RPG
Soulslike
Roguelite