As the saying goes, the night is dark and full of terrors. That adage is proven true time and time again in Elden Ring Nightreign, the latest game from the merciless game design wizards at FromSoftware. Taking a page (or, rather, multiple pages) from their entire catalog dating back to the first Dark Souls, Nightreign somehow manages to offer an experience that simultaneously feels familiar and brand-new.

A lot of the familiarity is due to the fact that the environments, weapons, and combat look and feel a lot like Elden Ring. On the flip side, the game’s multiplayer-only focus and its bevy of new gameplay mechanics, from wall-jumping up cliffsides to sprinting around the countryside, almost make Nightreign feel like a totally different game than anything From has made before. Of course, there’s one way in which Nightreign feels like every other game in FromSoftware’s oeuvre: It’s going to kick your butt and it’s going to kick it often.

The basic gist of the game is this: three players swoop into Limveld to survive for two in-game nights as they battle their way around the map, leveling up and collecting gear so they can eventually defeat the Night Lord on the third night. It’s obviously much, much more detailed than that, so we’ll leave it to you to read the Elden Ring Nightreign: Answering 20 Burning Questions feature we wrote earlier this year while we focus on something more important. Namely, helping you to stay alive.

Hopefully these tips will not only help you survive the night’s terrors but can even give you a fighting chance at taking down the first Night Lord on your first try. [Editor’s Note: you won’t, but it’s nice to have dreams.]

Take a Few Minutes to Get Acclimated

As mentioned above, there are a number of new gameplay mechanics introduced in Elden Ring Nightreign that might take longtime players some time to get used to. You can sprint, you can climb up to high areas thanks to a double wall jump, and you’ve got a number of new attacks like Character Skills and Ultimate Arts to play with. Thankfully, the game does offer a tutorial of sorts when you fire it up for the first time, so you can learn the basics.

The Roundtable Hold has also returned from Elden Ring, offering a new area to test your skills against dummies (while also allowing you to tweak the combat settings to your heart’s desire). Finally, you can also launch a solo mission from the Hold; while we can essentially guarantee you won’t survive the first night, it’s a great way to get your bearings and figure out the new mechanics.

Find Your Fighter (and Your Friends)

When you start Nightreign, you’ll see that there are six different characters to choose from, each with a different gameplay style (there are two more that are unlocked after you defeat your first Night Lord). A very quick breakdown: Ironeye is a ranged fighter, Guardian is the defensive bulwark, Raider acts as massive, up-close-and-person brawler, Executor is a high-dexterity Cuisinart, Recluse is an elemental sorceress, and Wylder is an all-around, middle-of-the-road fighter.

It’s worth experimenting at the aforementioned training ground to see if any of them strike your fancy, but a lot of your decision will boil down to choosing a character that compliments the others in your group of three. We found great success in using two melee fighters in Raider and Wylder, with Ironeye hanging back and reviving us with his arrows whenever we fell (in addition to taking off big chunks of enemy health with his Ultimate Art). It’s definitely worth experimenting and mixing things up the more you play though. Or, hey, try going with three of the same character just to see what happens!

Use Your Map and Plot a Course

After you land in Limveld, it’s natural to want to get fighting. After all, you’ve got a storm closing in on you! However, it’s always good to take a minute to check your map to see what’s nearby. Flask upgrades found in chapels always come in very handy, as do easy-to-defeat mini-bosses (lol “easy”) often found under churches that can help you get a few levels right off the bat. The pin system in Nightreign works quite well, as your teammates can essentially accept your pin to prioritize it on the directional map at the top of their screen. While plotting a course is helpful, the most important survival tip is knowing when you’re better off turning tail and running away from a mini-boss that’s too powerful – or any time you’re stuck in a bad situation.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

If RPGs have taught us gamers anything over the years,  we should always pick up gear with bigger numbers. While that might sometimes be the case when it comes to Nightreign’s weapons(particularly the ones you get from defeating bosses and mini-bosses), there’s a new strategy at play here. In addition to raw attack power, each weapon possesses passive bonuses that you’ll get just for having them in your inventory. So take a minute to look past that red number that’s lower than the one you’re already holding and see if this so-called weaker weapon can provide an advantage to your build – even if you never swing it – that might help you make it just a little further.

Communication is Key

We all know that communication is essential in multiplayer games, but I’m convinced that it might be more important in Nightreign than any other. Breaking free from the group and going your own way is almost always a recipe for disaster, both for you and for whatever unfortunate teammate comes to rescue you (I’ve been on both sides of that equation). There will also be plenty of times when you’ll pick up an item that would be better suited to a teammate’s character. And while Nightreign does offer a number of great, easy-to-use non-verbal communication tools (like the pins mentioned above), they’ll never be as good as good old-fashioned microphones and party chat.

Cooperation? Collaboration? Yep, Do Those

Sticking together and communicating won’t matter much if you’re not actually working together. There are plenty of examples in Nightreign where three heads are better than one. For example, we found great success when our Ironeye plinked away at an enemy’s shield from the front, allowing us melee gents to circle around and attack from the back. There were also a number of occasions in which one of us would find an item that would provide a minor passive upgrade to our character but would be much better in the hands of another. Timing our Ultimate Arts made a huge difference in some boss battles, as one Ultimate would stun the boss and allow the others to land theirs without the risk of missing and wasting it.

If at First You Don’t Succeed…

The tips above are definitely going to be helpful, but let’s be real: you’re probably going to die a few times before you even get to the first Night Lord (a three-headed, sword-wielding canine named Gladius) – and then die again a few times before you can defeat him.

It’s OK though! Not only will every run reward you with precious Relics that can give your character a boost heading into the next run, you’re almost guaranteed to learn something along the way that will help you the next time.

We’ll see you in Limveld, Nightfarer!

[Editor’s Note: a tip of the cap to Will for not try to work “Night Train” by Guns N’ Roses or “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight and The Pips into this Nightreign feature. Woo woo!]

ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
124

★★★★★

$39.99

Get it now

ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN is a standalone adventure within the ELDEN RING universe, crafted to offer players a new gaming experience by reimagining the game’s core design.

RISE TOGETHER
Join forces with other players to take on the creeping night and the dangers within featuring 3-player co-op.

BECOME A HERO
Take command of uniquely skilled heroes, each possessing their own abilities and distinct flair. While individually formidable, their skills create powerful synergies when they unite as a team.

TAKE ON THE NIGHT
Overcome a relentless environmental threat that sweeps through a land that changes between each game session and defeat the magnificent boss of that night!

*There is also a Deluxe Edition product available. Please be careful not to purchase the same content twice.