How to Play Elden Ring Nightreign and Not Get Crushed.

Last updated on November 18th, 2025 at 12:46 pm

I am not going to sugarcoat it, I went into a Nightreign Network Test believing that I would tough it out with the help of Elden Ring experience. Spoiler: I was wretchedly beaten in my first 3 attempts.

But here is what I have come to know after wasting an excessively long time trying to figure out how this reality works.

Table of Contents

Pick Wylder and Don’t Overthink It

The decision that you make first is not as inconsequential as you may think. Nightreign will provide you with eight characters known as Nightfarers, although there is a catch with this one, majority of whom would kill you in case you are new.

I started with Wylder. He has got a grappling hook, simple attacks, and does not make you have to deal with seventeen resource bars. Ideal workplace simulator.

Want something faster? Duchess is comparable to Bloodborne in case you love playing the aggression style. But keep out of the way of Recluse until you get all the map to heart. She is more or less the hard mode character in the game.

The Three-Day System

Runs have the following mechanics: you have three days at-game to level, get gear, and survive. There is exploration time, a boss fight at night each day. It actually takes approximately 30 minutes.

Day 1 and Day 2? Discover, kill people, gather. Night comes, you fight a boss. Do it again on Day 2. Then you have Day 3 and you have to confront the Nightlord–that is your last exam.

The catch? There is this phenomenon known as the Night-Tide, and it always ends up making the map smaller. It appears to be slow on the screen, however, it moves at a greater pace than one would imagine. I have even lost track on how many times I was caught due to exploration when the circle became shrunk.

It Is Ridiculously Important that Leveling.

I believed that I could get away with it at level 1. I was wrong. The distinction in authority on levels is not faint at all, it is the night and day.

It is literally impossible to fight bosses at level 1, yet at level 6? Suddenly manageable. By hitting a Site of Grace, you instantly get a level up. Don’t skip this.

First to Hit Churches, Everything Later.

This one altered all that to me. On the first day, the fancy dungeons can be left aside and go directly to churches. Why? They have got Sealed Flasks that add to your healing power.

I used the first few runs to go in mines and any random place. I will then begin to aim three or four churches early and before long I was not out of heals when the first boss came in view.

Solo Play Is Pain (But Doable)

Nightreign is constructed to play three people. Period. Solo is tougher since the bosses are tougher, there are shorter deadlines and there is a small amount of resources.

That notwithstanding, there are certain players who like it. Tricephalos can be done by oneself but Grafted Monarch and Boreal Dancer? Good luck without backup.

In the case that you want to go alone, you can become a part of a Discord community, people in which share their strategies of going solo. At least you are not working out this totally in the dark.

Death Mechanics Are Brutal

Here’s where it gets rough. When you get killed in the day exploration, your teammates will be able to resurrect you by hacking on your fallen body. Sounds simple, right?

However, in case that happens, you will respawn at the closest Site of Grace, and lose a permanent level. This amount loss is permanent through the entire running. It hurts.

Perish in an evening boss battle? That’s game over. Run ends, start from scratch.

The Relic System Needs Work

Power-ups are passive relics they gather on the run. They are color-coded according to rarity and reward you with bonuses such as added damage, healing power or environmental benefits.

The problem? Character specific items that can always be unusable are common. It is annoying when you are in need of constructing a decent setup. They are apparently correcting this with the feedback, but at the moment, it is dice-winning.

Most Free Resources, Learning Resources.

Don’t waste money on guides. Everything you need is free:

The Fextralife Wiki has strategies in the bosses, character profiles, and weapon statistics. I leave it open in another tab when I am running.

Guides are clogged in YouTube. Look up beginner walkthroughs and you will have 15-20 minute long videos of every character being broken down to bits.

The Nightreign subcommunity of Reddit provides tips, meta builds, and advice about team compositions every single day.

What’s Actually Changing

The Network Test already received patches on the issue of player complaints. Relics have become more common when they are of high rarity and weapon balance has been adjusted.

Based on the feedback regarding solo difficulty and pacing of acceleration, developers affirmed the presence of big changes in the future. Now then you will find it easier as you had it tough.

My Honest Take

Nightreign is not classic Elden Ring. It is quicker, more collaborative and much more punitive when going at it without any ideas. But as soon as you figure out the beat, churches first, level aggressively, respect the shrinking map, then it picks.

Begin with Wylder, jack on to Discord, if you can, and do not beat on yourself when you are stomped. Everyone does at first. That’s kind of the point.