At the time of writing, Elden Ring Nightreign has been out for a couple of weeks. Intended for a multiplayer crowd, this game features eight new “Nightlord” boss fights, along with a series of returning faces, some quite surprising ones at that.

Today’s piece aims to discuss the 12 hardest fights in Nightreign, with some nominal tips on how to beat them. Let’s begin.

12. Naturalborn of the Void

In some ways, you could argue merely locating this fight is harder than the actual fight itself. It requires the player to unlock Noklateo, the Shrouded City, and then hunt Astel down within this giant castle while on a strict timer.

How to beat: Ranged builds will have an easier time than melee for certain in this one, but melee isn’t at a loss either. Astel will mainly aim to spam Waves of Darkness for close up interlopers, necessitating hit and run strategies at times. When that isn’t happening, it’s safest to stay underneath Astel, where a majority of its other moves will just miss completely (watch out for the AOE grab attack!). Astel doesn’t have much poise and it’s head is very exposed, so trying to deal damage there whenever possible would be ideal.

11. Nameless King

It’s rather strange seeing a difficulty rankings with the Nameless King being so low on the list, isn’t it? This is pretty much a straight copy/paste from Dark Souls 3, disappointingly neglecting to include the phase transition cutscene from the aforementioned game. That said, he still hits really hard and has two entire phases to slash down, so he’s far from being genuinely easy.

How to beat: in classic fashion, it is worth noting that the King’s dragon is weak to Lightning, while the King himself may as well be invulnerable to it; his weakness is Fire. Unlike Nightlords, exposing weaknesses on night bosses isn’t as crucial, but it can help quite a bit. In general, Nameless King puts on display a lot of what we see in Elden Ring bosses: he has long windups, different timings on a couple his moves, and he has clear telegraphs to tell you what move he is about to use. Generally, trying to dodge in and towards your right/his left is the best way to avoid a lot of his moves.

10. Augur/Maris, Fathom of Night

Otherwise known as “Augur”, Maris is for certain the easiest Nightlord in the game. However, you still need to come in properly equipped. It can’t threaten much damage quickly unless it’s able to afflict players with Sleep, in which case they will end up dead in just a few short seconds.

How to beat: This cannot be stressed enough: Pack lightning. Lightning isn’t just your best offense, it’s also your best defense in this fight. As previously mentioned, Maris can’t often do much damage quickly, but this can change against lightning-less teams. Periodically, Maris will float away from the team and appear to just sink slowly in one space while crying out a low pitched roar of some kind. As this happens, everyone’s Sleep meters will gradually begin to raise until full. If everyone is simultaneously afflicted with Sleep, the battle will be over then and there. When afflicted with Sleep in this fight, the afflicted will lose a lot of health over time and won’t awaken unless hit by something directly. This can, however, be dealt with using lightning. Maris can be interrupted out of this maneuver by simply DPSing it down with lightning. Once this is achieved (a few times over), the fight is essentially a cake walk the rest of the way.

9. Black Blade Kindred

Seriously, is fighting these guys in the overworld ever actually a good idea? They resist basically everything, have weird hurtboxes, do tons of damage, and only occasionally drop something worth your while. They can’t be afflicted with status and resist basically every element in the game, so ranged builds are in for a tough ride. Things aren’t any easier for melee builds, who will be simultaneously trying to dodge for survival while chasing after this very mobile boss and trying to actually deal damage.

How to beat: If you actually want to go after one of these things, please don’t do so solo. Or if you must do so solo, please don’t choose one of the glassier classes in the game, or your teammates will probably be rolling their eyes when you get downed in ten seconds. Once actually fighting, Bear in mind that this thing can’t be afflicted with status and massively resists Holy. Bring something that isn’t one of those and do your best.

8. Bell-Bearing Hunter

This guy trades away the ridiculous defensive profile and mobility boasted by Black Blade Kindred in return for raw damage output and mid ranged flexibility. When and wherever he is found, regardless of the character being used, good ol’ Elemer of the Briar here can almost always two-shot with direct hits at worst.

How to beat: If you’re about to face Elemer as a castle boss, wait until Day 2. You often have ample time to come back on Day 2, where he typically won’t be able to just plainly one shot you and you’ll have some equipment upgrades under your belt, preferably some teammates to help as well. If you’re about to face Elemer as a night boss, prioritize eliminating the accompanying Depraved Perfumers ASAP. These perfumers can heal via flask infinitely, so feral aggression towards denying them this heal may be needed. Once the actual fight begins, keep close to Elemer; he starts his nastier sword swinging combos against characters who make distance, and he can quickly close the gap with a dash with his signature shield to boot.

7. Tricephalos/Gladius, Beast of the Night

The game’s introductory Nightlord, it’s not too surprising Tricephalos is one of the easier offerings out there. Still, for new players, this boss is by no means “easy.” It’s a highly mobile Cerberus-esque creature who can place players into bad tactical positions very easily.

How to beat: Bringing Holy really helps take the edge off in this fight, as that is what this thing is mainly weak to. With heavy Holy usage, you can stagger it reasonably easy and open up opportunities for large damage. This becomes especially useful during second phase, when Tricephalos splits into three, usually forcing each player into a 1v1 or placing some into uncomfortable gank situations. Each individual dog is more susceptible to being staggered and heavily damaged, and they each share the same health bar. Preferably, all players, even those who aren’t good with shields, would have one on hand for this fight, but it isn’t completely necessary.

6. Gaping Jaw/ Adel, Baron of Night

Did you like the Gaping Dragon from Dark Souls 1? Are you beyond thrilled to see it return here in Nightreign? If so, you’ll surely love the Gaping Dragon’s bigger, badder cousin. Gaping Jaw is a one tricky pony in much the same way Gaping Dragon is, and the trick here is thankfully not too difficult to deal with here. Still, like Maris, this thing has a tendency to be a cakewalk most of the fight until the moment it lands some hit and one shots you.

How to beat: Like with all Nightlords, Adel has a large weakness: Poison. Afflicting Adel with Poison will force the mighty dragon down for quite a long time, as it audibly coughs up the bile in agony while remaining still. This is also a great way to free allied players from the grab attack it will hope to spam frequently throughout this attack. Said grab attack in conjunction with being able to just turn its body into a hit box on the fly is what makes Adel threatening. Ranged builds work well, but melee has one hidden advantage of actually having an easier time dodging Axel’s grab attacks. Simply getting under the beast will make it miss you by a mile when it aims to grab you in its jaws.

5. Sentient Pest/Gnoster, Wisdom of Night

If these rankings solely aimed to reflect difficulty for the solo player, there’s a case to be made for this boss to be closer to the top. Unlike Tricephalos, this is a fight with multiple threats consistently present all fight long. And unlike many other Nightlords, packing this thing’s weakness isn’t a massive difference maker to the extent you’d hope.

How to beat: Despite the way the previous paragraph ended off, it would still be a good idea to pack Fire to hit these bosses’ weaknesses. Ranged builds have a major advantage attacking Gnoster’s butterfly companion as it flies around out of melee reach. Ranged builds also have an advantage dodging many of Gnoster’s attacks, including its deadly second phase charge attack. Whatever the case, standing still in one space for too long is not going to be a tenable strategy for anyone seeking or expecting to take the boss’ aggro for long, so Warming Stones are difficult to get value from here; best to pack more flexible healing options for when flasks are out, such as heal spells, Physick Tears, or weapon passives.

4. Night Aspect/ Heolstor the Nightlord

Compared to other Nightlords, *the* Nightlord is a little bit lacking but still a powerful boss fight in his own right. Essentially imagine a boss which opens up like Midra from the Elden Ring DLC, has a Soul of Cinder like transition to second phase, then decides to become an amalgamation of Pontiff Sulyvahn, Godfrey/Hoarah Loux and Ludwig from Bloodborne.

How to beat: While staggering Heolstor is certainly harder than staggering Tricephalos, Holy can still bring him to his knees with reasonable application. Ranged builds have a distinct advantage in applying it, but they will likely struggle to survive Heolstor’s Godfrey-esque earthquakes and other calamities. Guardian is a good choice here, as Heolstor doesn’t actually do as much magic damage with the Moonlight Greatsword as you’d imagine, making him tenable to engage up close with a shield-poking strategy. In any case, be ready to make ample distance on short notice, as Heolstor has some very powerful close ranged AOEs he will heavily telegraph.

3. Fissure in the Fog/ Caligo, Miasma of the Night

This is Borealis from Elden Ring, only on a much, much grander scale and with greater move variety. Caligo is a highly mobile dragon known for peppering the battlefield with constant, high damage AOEs that will quickly wipe a squad out.

How to beat: Fire makes an astronomical difference here, even just one player with ample Fire can make Caligo far, far more manageable. Caligo isn’t too easy to stagger, but the difference will be instead noticed in his rapidly depleting health bar. Wylder was seemingly almost made for this boss, as his ultimate is essentially a gigantic Falcon Punch that Caligo can’t knock him out off, that’s almost guaranteed to stagger Caligo briefly, or longer, upon use. But Wylder-less teams aren’t at a loss, they just need to keep away from Caligo’s ravenous icy breath and respond appropriately to his two different big ticket attacks come second phase; paying attention and listening to auditory cues are major here, letting players either quickly take cover from an ensuing battlefield-wide AOE, or run and get to safety away from the frozen sky Caligo is about to drop.

2. Darkdrift Knight/ Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow

One of the more aggressive bosses in the game, Darkdrift Knight is basically a slightly harder, way less grandiose Heolstor. Fulghor has both menacing melee attacks and a collection of ranged AOEs he can use to keep Ironeye and Recluse honest.

How to beat: Lightning makes a huge difference here, no surprises at this point. Fulghor be staggered very reasonably with frequent application of Lightning. Ironeyes and Recluses, as well as anyone looking to keep their distance in general, are highly encouraged to equip decent shields just to block Fulghor’s frequent AOEs which don’t have very big telegraphs to them. Guardians or Raiders/Wylders with shields are highly advised to have Barricade Shield, as Fulghor is extremely aggressive up close and will likely guard break you without it. With Barricade Shield, especially Guardian can more adequately guard counter and contribute decent damage with potentially a stagger on his own.

1. Equilibrious Beast/Libra, Creature of the Night

No, I wouldn’t really die on any hill that says Libra is the hardest fight in the game… but he is the only boss thus far From Software actually decided to nerf, so we can file that away as “evidence”, if you will, that Libra belongs here on the list.

How to beat: Uniquely, when queuing up to fight Libra, a small section of Limveld will be dedicated to an event based around snuffing out a large Flame of Frenzy. Doing this quest will reward players with either the Vyke’s War Spear or a seal using Madness spells. Absolutely do this quest, as Libra is the only boss for whom starting armaments can’t possibly strike his weakness of Madness with. Therefore, melee based characters only have the Vyke’s War Spear, while casting builds are left with a small selection of Frenzied Flame incantations. Ironeye is pretty much at a loss here, due to the lack of Frenzied Flame bows or ammunition in this game.

Libra has a maneuver in second phase, where he spawns four glyphs he draws power from as he sits still, protected by a shield, meditating. During this phase, players must destroy his four glyphs in a very timely manner, or he will begin to go off the walls with spell spam once he is finished. Most of his spells will basically drain the HP of frailer characters instantly, while making the tankier ones have to sweat through flasks just as fast. They are telegraphed, but his medium ranged projectiles are the deadliest without much of a telegraph. Though he can’t strike Libra’s weakness optimally, Ironeye can use his ult to go through Libra’s second phase shield, as well as stagger him in general throughout the fight. Guardian can use the Vyke’s War Spear behind the protection of a shield, while Recluse and Revenant can optimally cast the Frenzied Flame incantations Libra is weak to.