Forget fighting Night Lords; picking which of the Elden Ring Nightreign classes to try on launch is going to be the real ordeal.
Do you go basic and play Wylder with his grappling hook and stake driver? Do you jump right in the deep end with Recluse and her endlessly combinable magics? Or do you just pick Guardian because he has a literal bird head?
Though Nightreign doesn’t afford players the same level of customization as the original Elden Ring, each of the Nightfarers—what the game calls its cast of heroes—have unique abilities and focused playstyles. While trying to survive three days in Limveld and take on the Night Lord at the end, these abilities, and more importantly how you combine them as a team, decide whether you get to survive to the end.
With the exception of the Executor and the Revenant, all 8 Nightreign characters have now been showcased, and we even have some details about those two that are yet to be fully revealed. Below, you’ll find all of their abilities and some details about playstyle.
Wylder
- Sixth Sense (Passive Ability): Cheat death a single time.
- Claw Shot (Character Skill): Launch grappling claw to rope foes in or move swiftly by retracting.
- Onslaught Stake (Ultimate Art): Powerful single attack that launches an iron stake with a great explosion.
As the poster boy of Nightreign, Wylder is a pretty versatile knight character who can use his grappling hook to pull enemies towards him—or him towards enemies—and perform a powerful stake driver-esque attack for big damage. Wylder is pretty balanced in terms of his kit, so might be a good first option for those unsure which class to pick, before moving onto one of the more specialised Nightfarers.
Guardian
- Steel Guard (Passive Ability): Plant feet and brace with shield for a more powerful guard.
- Whirlwind (Character Skill): Beat wing to whip up a wind-churning cyclone that lifts enemies of their feet and can deflect arrows.
- Wings of Salvation (Ultimate Art): Leap up and dive back down to raise a protective area.
This bird-headed bastion—or “Big Hawk Logan” as I like to call him—is a defense-focused character with a big ol’ shield capable of tanking attacks with his Steel Guard passive. Guardian also has some other storm hawk-themed abilities like being able to whip up a whirlwind, or fly into the air and drop down on allies in need of rescue and revive, creating a protective AoE.
Ironeye
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- Eagle Eye (Passive Ability): A keenly observant eye discovers more items to obtain from foes.
- Marking (Passive Ability): Cut foe with dagger, creating a temporary weak point.
- Single Shot (Ultimate Art): Fire a powerful arrow that surpasses sound and ignores any defense.
Similar to the Recluse, I think Ironeye is likely to be one of the strongest Nightfarers, in no small part due to their ranged-based playstyle and ability to mark enemies so your squad can deal extra damage. Though Ironeye lacks any defensive or healing-based support abilities, being able to pepper enemies with arrows at a safe distance will be a massive advantage.
Duchess
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- Magnificent Poise (Passive Ability): Attack and dodge optimally, dodging repeatedly when necessary.
- Restage (Character Skill): Stage reprisal of recent occurrences to damage nearby foes.
- Finale (Ultimate Art): Obscure self and surrounding allies to hide from foes.
For those looking to roleplay a Bloodborne hunter, the Duchess is all about evasion and illusion, gaining an enhanced dodge, the ability to essentially repeat allies’ attacks on an enemy with Restage, and a fantastic rescue ability in Finale, which makes allies invisible.
Due to Duchess’ well-balanced suite of abilities, impeccable style, and Bloodborne vibes, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up as the most popular character.
Raider
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- Fighter’s Resolve (Passive Ability): Taking damage boosts Retaliate potency, cannot be knocked down while using it.
- Retaliate (Character Skill): Assume attack stance and pummel vigorously. A defensive posture which reduces incoming damage. An enhanced skill which causes even larger enemies to recoil.
- Totem Stela (Ultimate Art): Drive gravekeeper’s wedge into the earth to summon a giant tombstone.
If you primarily play a strength main, then Raider will likely be for you, but it’s hard to tell how good he’ll actually be. His Totem Stela, summoning a giant rock that ranged characters can safely stand on and pepper enemies, seems totally cracked, but the rest of his abilities rely on taking damage, which isn’t something you normally, y’know, want to do.
Sure, he can reduce incoming damage with Retaliate, but would that be enough to mitigate hits from big bosses? It’s unclear, but Raider will likely be a good combo with the Recluse and her healing through damage.
Recluse
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- Elemental Defense (Passive Ability): Discover affinity residues that can be collected to replenish FP.
- Magic Cocktail (Character Skill): Collect the affinity residues of targets to fire an affinity-exploiting magic cocktail.
- Soulblood Song (Ultimate Art): Unleash forbidden blood chant to brand nearby foes with blood sigils.
Nightreign’s resident spellcaster, the Recluse, honestly seems like the game’s strongest class, though with a high skill ceiling. You might be looking at her abilities above wondering what the hell any of that means. Let me explain: this witch can collect three elemental attributes attached to allies and enemies, combining them to perform different spells.
The sheer number of combinations and making them happen is why the Recluse will likely be the trickiest class to learn, but well worth it. She can also brand enemies and bosses with a blood sigil that returns health and magic to allies as they attack—extremely strong.
Executor
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Since the Executor hasn’t been officially revealed yet, beyond the recent overview trailer, we don’t know their exact abilities. That said, it’s pretty clear that they’re going to be focused around parrying and deflection and following up with big attacks; potentially a kind of Sekiro-esque class.
From the footage timestamped above, we can see that they wield a katana that looks like it’s alive, with little tendrils waving around (maybe they have some attack-based HP recovery like Blasphemous Blade), and a brass-looking set of armour.
Revenant
The Revenant is another character who hasn’t been officially revealed, but we do know that they are a summon-based class, conjuring spirit ash creatures, as with the spirit-calling bell in Elden Ring. In this case, it looks like she uses a harp or lyre to create their summons.
Otherwise, the Revenant is doll-like, resembling Ranni to some extent, clad in a dress, a variety of trinkets, and with a crown of flowers adorning her head.
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