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ThroughoutElden Ring Nightreign’s procedurally-generated Expeditions, you’ll travel to a variety of locations filled with deadly enemies as you gather runes and resources to prepare for the Night Bosses, and the Nightlord that lies beyond them. One location that is highly recommended to visit during Day One of any expedition is theGreater Church, as it often contains a relatively easy boss and some fairly straightforward enemies, while also offering very useful loot.
Greater Churches inElden Ring Nightreigncome in four different varieties, which we’ve organised by the name of the boss found in each of them. Clearing out a Greater Church and tracking down the chests within will reward players with useful consumable items, often including a Stonesword Key, and some Greater Churches also contain weapon racks that can be looted for guaranteed Sacred Seals, making them a must-visit for players utilizing Incantations.
How to Tell the Difference Between Greater Churches on the Map
Certain types of Greater Churches are easier to spot on the map due to the element symbols that will appear next to them. A Greater Church with a Fire Symbol next to it will always be a Fire Monk Greater Church, and one with a Holy Symbol next to it will always be either Oracle Envoys or Mausoleum Knights. If there is no symbol, it will either be Guardian Golem, Mausoleum Knight, or occasionally Oracle Envoy.
Guardian Golem Greater Church
The easiest of the Greater Church layouts to work with, you’ll know if you’re dealing with a Guardian Golem Greater Church if you encounter misbegotten guarding the exterior, with a Guardian Golem lying on the ground inside. It will awaken when approached, becoming the boss encounter for this Greater Church, but as long as you keep attacking its ankles, it won’t be an issue. Players using weapons with decent stance damage will be able to knock it over and approach its chest to land a critical hit.
Once the Golem is dealt with, check behind the Altar nearby to find a chest that often contains a Stonesword Key. There are also crates containing random consumables scattered around the edge of the Greater Church, if you want to stock up.
Oracle Envoy Greater Church
The Oracle Envoy Greater Church is a bit trickier to deal with, since the titular enemies will be all over it, blaring their musical instruments to create explosive holy damage bubbles. The sound of their trumpets is often the first sign you’re approaching this kind of church, though fast-moving wolves usually guard the exterior and can prove a bit troublesome if you let them surround you. Luckily, the horn attacks of the Envoys aren’t too hard to dodge, and the Oracle Envoys don’t have a lot of health anyway. Heading over to the Altar, you’ll find a cluster of large Oracle Envoys that serve as the boss for this Greater Church. While they’re individually fairly weak and easy to handle, they’ll gang up on you, and they deal a decent amount of damage with their melee attacks and ranged bubbles.
After carefully taking out the boss, you’ll need to climb the scaffolding (which can be found behind the altar on the outside of the building) to climb up to the next floor. There are more Oracle Envoy enemies here, but the main goal is the treasure chest, which can be found on a ledge you’re able to reach with some fairly easy platforming (see the second image, above) and which often contains a Stonesword Key.
Oracle Envoys have a chance of dropping their horns when defeated, which are very solid weapons for characters with a decently high faith stat, thanks to their Ash of War. If you’re playing as the Recluse or Revenant, it’s worth taking the time to kill a few more Envoys, even pop a Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot if you have one, and see if you can nab one.These are especially effective when going up against Nightlords that are vulnerable to Holy damage.
Mausoleum Knight Greater Church
The third type of Greater Church is guarded by the headless Mausoleum Knights, whose ability to vanish and reappear can make them tricky opponents to face. They’re vulnerable to lightning damage, but honestly, they don’t have too much health and are unlikely to give you much trouble. The Altar has a chest behind it, which you can usually find a Stonesword Key in, and you can then drop through a hole in the floor to get into the Greater Church’s basement.
In this basement, you’re able to find a weapon rack containing some Sacred Seals, making this type of Greater Church fantastic for players who favor Incantations.You’ll also find a boss room containing a Mausoleum Knight with a greatshield.Much like the knights upstairs, this knight will teleport around to avoid your attacks before using charging stabs and swings to counterattack. Dodge through their attacks and hit them while they’re recovering from the attack for the best results, and their health will go down pretty quickly. They aren’t especially resistant to any damage types, as long as you aren’t attacking into their shield, though naturally ghosts can’t bleed or be afflicted with poison or rot.
Fire Monk Greater Church
The Fire Monk Greater Church is laid out similarly to the Mausoleum Knight Great Church. Thorn Sorcerers guard the entrances, with more of them inside alongside dogs. Their sorceries are fairly easy to dodge as long as you’re paying attention, as are their stabbing attacks with their staves. Take out the dogs first so they don’t hound you while you handle the sorcerers, and check behind the Altar for a chest that, as with the other Greater Churches, usually contains a Stonesword Key.
Dropping through a hole in the floor, you can once again enter the Greater Church Basement and acquire some guaranteed Sacred Seals if desired.The boss room down here contains a lone Fire Monk, who will often charge up a Catch Flame Incantationwhile poising through your attacks. If you see them doing this, it’s best to dodge backwards and away from them, resuming your assault after the Incantation misses. They also swing with their Flamemace, and will sometimes use an Incantation to imbue it with flames first, so it’s important to dodge, block, or parry these attacks as they come if you want to take them down.
The Thorn Sorcerers found guarding Fire Monk Greater Churches can drop the Staff of the Guilty when slain, so using a Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot to increase item discovery and taking out as many as you can will yield a very useful staff. The Staff of the Guilty always has Briars of Punishment as one of its spells, which can be used to bleed enemies at a distance. This works well on any spellcasting-focused build, and on characters with a high Arcane Stat like the Executor or the Revenant.
