There are seven major Nightlords in Elden Ring Nightreign, not including the eighth and final boss, which unlocks after you beat four other Nightlords. Each Nightlord in Nightreign is completely unique and requires different strategies to complete.
Elden Ring Nightreign: Shifting Earth Events, Explained
There are four Nightreign Shifting Earth events, each of which adds a new area and special rewards to the Limveld world map.
Though each Expedition boss in Nightreign is tough, the easiest Nightlords to beat first tend to be those with easier-to-read attacks or weaknesses that are easy to take advantage of. This guide to the best Expeditions to beat first in Nightreign lists the easiest Nightlords to beat first, and offers tips to beat the more challenging bosses.
In the end, it doesn't matter which bosses you beat first, as long as you beat four of the Nightlords, but some are much easier than others.
First, Unlock Other Expeditions By Beating Tricephalos
Counts Towards The Four Total Needed To Challenge The Final Boss
At first, you will only have access to one Expedition, the Tricephalos Expedition, which features the three-headed doggo Gladius, Beast of Night as its Nightlord. This first Nightlord is an excellent introduction to the design philosophy of Nightreign bosses and features a number of multiplayer-oriented abilities that can be difficult to deal with in a solo game.
For example, the boss will intermittently split into three smaller dogs, which is easy for three players in a group to deal with one-on-one, but much harder for a solo player to deal with all at once. Though this is the first Nightlord Nightreign players can take on, it's not easy, and you'll have to beat Gladius before you can target any other Expedition.
Once you have defeated the Tricephalos Expedition, you must kill three other Nightlords to unlock the eighth Expedition and face the final boss.
Easiest Expeditions To Beat First
Gaping Jaw, Sentient Pest, or Augur
After you beat the Tricephalos Expedition, Nightreign players will be able to target the remaining six Expeditions. Of these six new Nightlords, you should fight the Gaping Jaw, Sentient Pest, or Augur first. Though no boss in Nightreign is easy, these three are less complex and less demanding than the Equilibrious Beast, Darkdrift Knight, or Fissure in the Fog Expeditions:
Gaping Jaw (Adel, Baron of Night)
The Gaping Jaw is weak to both Poison and Frostbite damage, giving players two ways to counter the boss' often overwhelming moveset. Bring in a source of either of these two status effects, and you will be able to significantly slow down (or outright stop) Adel during his most powerful moves.
Sentient Pest (Gnoster, Wisdom of Night)
The Sentient Pest is a boss fight with two enemies to fight: a floating moth and a large grub that will harden its exoskeleton regularly, forcing players to swap between the two targets.
Bring at least one ranged player to this fight to deal with the Moth, as well as a source of Fire damage, which the boss is weak to.
All Returning Dark Souls Bosses In Elden Ring Nightreign
There are six Dark Souls bosses in Elden Ring Nightreign from all three Souls games, including the Nameless King and the Gaping Dragon.
Augur (Maris, Fathom of Night)
The Augur expedition, like the Sentient Pest, is a boss that stays in the air just out of reach of melee players for much of the fight. It is weak to Lightning, but you should bring along at least one ranged character to keep damage up when it moves out of range.
Keep an eye out for the boss' second phase, when it will drop a large teardrop-shaped object from the sky. Shoot this before it hits the ground (or interrupt the boss before it casts with a well-timed Ironeye ult) to prevent taking deadly group-wide damage.
Challenging Expeditions To Beat Later
Equilibrious Beast, Darkdrift Knight, or Fissure in the Fog
The Gaping Jaw, Sentient Pest, and Augur are the easiest Nightlords to beat first in Nightreign, and the last three bosses on the Expedition list – Equilibrious Beast, Darkdrift Knight, and Fissure in the Fog – offer a much more significant challenge.
If you just want to get to the final boss of Nightreign and roll credits as fast as possible, target the other Nightlords. But if you want to see some of the most cinematic and unique boss mechanics FromSoftware has ever implemented, and you aren't afraid of a challenge, these three most difficult Nightlords are an experience all of their own.
Equilibrious Beast (Libra, Creature of Night)
The Equilibrious Beast is weak to Madness, a weapon damage type that is somewhat less common than others. Look on your map for points of interest with a Frenzy eye symbol, which indicates that location has a high chance to grant Madness weapons and gear as a reward.
To add onto an already overwhelmingly fast and strong moveset, during the second phase of this boss, you must target several floating Sigils that appear around the arena as Libra meditates. If you don't destroy all of them, the boss will be temporarily buffed and use a faster set of attacks. You must bring at least one ranged character to destroy the Sigils floating out of melee range.
What's the Best Class for Solo In Elden Ring Nightreign?
Players can either play as a group of three or on their own in Elden Ring Nightreign; here are the best characters to play as alone.
Darkdrift Knight (Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow)
Darkdrift Knight is a centaur with an extremely powerful charge and several arena-blanketing AoE attacks that must be interrupted. The boss is weak to Lightning damage, so be sure to make your way to any locations that have the Lightning symbol next to them as you explore in the first two nights.
Bring along an Ironeye, Wylder, or Raider and have their Ultimate Art at the ready to interrupt the boss before these critical AoE attacks. If you can prevent the Darkdrift Knight from casting these abilities, and dodge his standard moves and charges, you should be able to survive this test of endurance and coordination.
Fissure in the Fog (Caligo, Miasma of Night)
The Fissure in the Fog is one of the most gorgeous boss fights FromSoft has ever designed, with a moveset and mechanics that wouldn't feel out of place in a Monster Hunter game. The ice dragon Caligo is weak to Fire damage, but be warned: this boss has a near-instant kill mechanic that's reminiscent of the Jin Dahaad from MHW.
Indeed, to avoid this attack, you must quickly sprint behind one of the ice pillars that forms in the room as Caligo charges up a massive, deadly wave of Frostbite damage. If you don't get behind the pillar in time, you will all but certainly be downed.
Elden Ring Nightreign
- Released
- May 30, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 1-3
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Soulslike, Roguelite
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
