Elden Ring: Nightreign has been collecting some dust in my library recently—not for any particular reason, I got 66 hours out of the dang thing, I’m just a human being with limited time, MMOs to keep up with, and, like, chores to do (I am aware this is quitter talk).
I might, however, blow off the dust and give it another whirl, because my favourite boy, the Executor, just got a huge sweep of buffs. Oh, and also, like, Guardians and Revenants and Raiders, but who cares about that—my Sekiro-loving heart just got everything it ever wanted.
I’ll just be going through the Nightfarers caught up in the patch 1.03.2 buffs one by one, starting with my favourite: The Executor’s Cursed Sword skill, the thing that lets you parry, is now a lot stronger. Higher critical hits, better guard boost, more stagger damage when you deflect, and deflecting successfully while on low stamina won’t result in a guard break anymore.
I’m yet to test this myself, but the implication is that even on zero stamina, if your timing’s good, you can just ride the lightning and never die. My timing is not good, so I imagine I’ll be dying a lot, but the aspiration of a clutch moment or two is something to shoot for. The Cursed Sword’s weapon art will now also have Skill Power and Attack Power boosts applied to it correctly.
Lastly, Executor received boosts to its ultimate ability that should make it hit harder—as well as a temporary immortality window while transforming, making it a better ‘oh crap’ button.
Guardians are a little more straightforward—their guarding’s better, go figure. Raiders are enjoying faster attacks, a new effect on their Fighter’s Resolve passive that makes them hit harder after taking damage for a short time, and their Ultimate should hit in a wider area, now. And finally, Revenant’s summoned spirits now scale with the levels in the Deep of Night mode, making her more useful in high-level play.
All in all, cause for celebration. It’s nice to see FromSoftware helping out some of Nightreign’s underdogs, and I’m not just saying that because I secretly want to be playing multiplayer Sekiro. I mean, I am saying that, but the main gladness I feel is due to FromSoftware’s adherence to the “buff, don’t nerf” philosophy. It’s better to make underperformers feel powerful than to kneecap what other players are finding fun, especially in a co-op game.
Granted, this is FromSoftware, and FromSoftware is habitually obtuse, so there aren’t any specific numbers in these patch notes, and we’ll have to find out how effective these buffs are in play. Otherwise? I’ll be heading back for a few more rounds of frustration very soon. You can read the full patch notes on the game’s official site.
