Elden Ring Nightreign shakes up the usual FromSoftware formula with new abilities like Ultimate Arts, and certain Relics that you can obtain from Nightreign runs are equipped with Ultimate Arts Gauge buffs that make them even more useful. Like a lot of Nightreign's buffs, though, the Ultimate Arts Gauge description is incredibly vague and most players have no idea how it's even supposed to affect their gameplay.

Relics can be the difference between life and death in Nightreign, so it's a good idea to learn exactly what each passive buff and skill increase does so you can plan your Expeditions and upgrade your loadouts for each Nightfarer. These buffs stack, too, so you can create some really strong builds if you combine the right Relics for your favorite character.

Nightreign Feature
Elden Ring Nightreign: 10 FromSoftware Bosses That Should Come Back As DLC

These iconic bosses from the past would make excellent additions as future DLC in Elden Ring Nightreign.

1
By 

What Does Ultimate Arts Gauge Plus Do in Elden Ring Nightreign?

Elden Ring Nightreign Ultimate Art Gauge

The Ultimate Arts Gauge buff in Elden Ring Nightreign increases the recharge rate for Ultimate abilities. Ultimate Arts recharge over time in Nightreign with extra progress granted every time you strike an enemy, but the Ultimate Arts Gauge +1/2/3 buff only affects the baseline recharge rate. You'll still get the same amount of Ultimate charge from attacks, but your Ultimate Art will recharge a bit faster over time if you have Relics with the Ultimate Arts Gauge buff.

It appears that each rank of the Ultimate Arts Gauge buff makes your Ultimate ability recharge about 3% faster overall. You can stack multiple ranks of the buff, though, even across multiple Relics. The effects really start to become noticeable once you stack four or five ranks, but your experience will vary depending on your chosen Nightfarer since every character's Ultimate Art is different.

How to Use Weapon Skills and Ultimate Abilities

Again, equipping a Relic with Ultimate Arts Gauge +1/2/3 does not affect how much Ultimate charge is generated when you attack an enemy. It only shortens the background charge rate. It still helps to strike enemies or pelt them with arrows, but it's not the main focus of this buff. Combined with other Relic buffs, you can design builds entirely around a character's Ultimate Art and drastically reduce the amount of time in between uses. The best buffs come from special Relics obtained by defeating Nightlords or completing Remembrance quests, though, so don't expect to find a god roll just by running random Expeditions.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
Elden Ring Nightreign Tag Page Cover Art
9 /10

Elden Ring Nightreign
Display card tags widget
Action RPG
Soulslike
Roguelite
Display card system widget
Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1 PC-1
Display card community and brand rating widget Display card open critics widget
Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 78%
Display card main info widget
Released
May 30, 2025
Developer(s)
From Software
Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 6
8 Images
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 6
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 8
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 1
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 5
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 7
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 4
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 3
Elden Ring Nightreign Press Image 2
Display card media widget end

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Multiplayer
Online Co-Op
Number of Players
1-3
Steam Deck Compatibility
Unknown
PC Release Date
May 30, 2025
Xbox Series X|S Release Date
May 30, 2025
PS5 Release Date
May 30, 2025
Genre(s)
Action RPG, Soulslike, Roguelite