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There are eight Nightlords inElden Ring Nightreign, but you are not able to challenge the final boss until you havecompleted at least four of the previous seven expeditions. Some of the hardest expeditions inNightreignwill take you several attempts to complete, but even the less difficult Nightlords present a significant challenge for unprepared players.
After you defeat the Tricephalos expedition, the only required expedition inNightreign, you will be able to access six more expeditions to fulfill the requirements to face the Night Aspect. This hardest Nightlords inNightreigntier list ranks every Nightlord based on the complexity of each boss' moveset, how much each weakness affects each Nightlord, and how difficult each boss is to beateven under the best of circumstances.
8Augur
Maris, Fathom of Night
The Augur expedition is one of the easiest expeditions to complete, depending on yourNightreigncomp. If your party is full of melee-oriented characters, you’ll have a hard time hitting the boss while it’s in the air, and you’ll have a hard time catching up to Maris as it floats around the arena and launches hordes of exploding jellyfish at you.
However,a party with at least two ranged characterswill find Augur to be laughably easy, especially if you can find Bows or spells with the Lightning affinity to take advantage of the Augur weakness. Brince along an Ironeye and a Recluse – or try an all-Ironeye comp – to keep the damage up and dissipate this ethereal Nightlord without too many problems.
The boss does have some powerful moves, but no instant kills, and most of its strongest abilities are easy to avoid by Surge Sprinting away or with a well-timed dodge.
7Tricephalos
Gladius, Beast of Night
Gladius is thefirst NightlordNightreignplayers must beat to accessthe rest of the Nightlord expeditions. But despite being the first (and only mandatory) boss, the Tricephalos expedition is not the easiest expedition in the game. This is because of the Gladius phase transition when it splits into three different enemies for a short time, its speed and ability to cover ground quickly, and its long-range fire breath and chain attacks.
Gladius is not particularly weak to any one type of playstyle, unlike Augur which is made much easier with ranged party members. But if you can split up the dogs between all three players when the boss separates so they don’t focus you down one by one, and if you can get some Holy weapons to stagger the boss (and its split forms) and interrupt its most powerful moves, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with the Tricephalos.
6Sentient Pest
Gnoster, Wisdom of Night
The Sentient Pest is essentially a duo boss. This Nightlord is where things start to ramp up a bit in difficulty as you must split your attention between both the flying Moth boss and the gigantic Grub. When the Grub boss hardens, you must attack the Moth. When the Grub’s shell dissipates, you must swap back.
Both bosses have a slew of moves that can kill players caught unawares quickly – think of this difficultNightreignduo boss fight as a mix of the Moonlight Butterfly fromDark Souls 1and the Magma Wyrm fromElden Ring. The Moth casts ranged projectile magic attacks, while the Grub deals huge physical damage and spreads Poison at close range.
However, if you canget a source of Fire damage, you can melt both boss' HP bars as hitting either enemy with Fire creates a damage-over-time effect unique to this Nightlord.
5Gaping Jaw
Adel, Baron of Night
The Gaping Jaw is where things really start to ramp up, and your skills as a player and knowledge of the boss’s moveset starts to come into play. The Gaping Jaw boss is one of the hardestNightreignbosses, at least compared to the previous three on this list, because it moves around the arena extremely fast, deals massive damage with both its unpredictable grab and close-range AoE attacks, and long-range lightning attacks.
The first time you face this boss, spend time to memorize its moveset and the timing to dodge its grab and close-range melee attacks. In addition to learning the timing to dodge Adel’s attacks, you shouldbring a source of Poison into the fight, whether that be a Poison affinity weapon or a spell that inflicts Poison, like Poison Mist.
When the Gaping Jaw is Poisoned, it will be interrupted, reel back, and throw up its guts to get rid of the poisoning. This effect cannot be triggered constantly, but when you do inflict Poison, get ready to wail on the boss uninhibited for a solid five or six seconds as it pukes.
Additionally, Frostbite will slow down Adel after the damage procs. This effect is not as pronounced as the Poison effect on the Gaping Jaw, but it can help make the boss' rapid moveset much easier to deal with.
4Fissure in the Fog
Caligo, Miasma of Night
The Fissure in the Fog is one of the hardest bosses inNightreignand, like Libra, requires a fair bit of mechanical knowledge to succeed. The boss deals Frostbite damage with most of its attacks, breathes Frostbite across the battlefield regularly, and has an attack that can outright kill all but the most defensive characters at the maximum level instantly.
You must get behind special ice pillars to avoid being killed by this attack, which is always preceded by an arena-blanketing fog.
Caligo’s weakness is Fire, and like the Sentient Pest, hitting the boss with a Fire attack will impart a damage-over-time effect. This isn’t as impactful as some other boss weaknesses inNightreign, but it’s still useful to try to get a source of Fire damage to keep your DPS up during this long fight.
3Equilibrious Beast
Libra, Creature of Night
The first five bosses in the full expedition list can be tough, but if you go in with the right weaknesses and strategies in mind, you’ll usually perform pretty well. That all changes with the Equilibrious Beast, the first of the hardest Nightlord bosses inNightreignthat take some serious prep and knowledge to beat.
For starters,the boss' weakness is Madness, which is already pretty hard to come across in a normal playthrough. Look for the Frenzy Eye symbol on points of interest on your map to find Madness weapons. But Madness alone won’t save you in this fight, even though it does help control the boss – youneedto know its mechanics, especially the Sigil mechanic, and you need to make a smart choice when Libra offers you a deal at the start of the fight.
If you don’t destroy every Sigil, the boss will gain a new Enraged moveset and deal significantly more damage temporarily.
2The Night Aspect
Heolstor, The Nightlord
The final boss of the game is one of the hardest Nightlords to beat inNightreignand offers a significant step up in challenge compared to the Fissure in the Fog and Equilibrious Beast expeditions. Heolstor wields several weapons that players might recognize, including the Moonlight Greatsword, can teleport around the arena on a whim, and has a vast array of attacks that can catch even the most seasonedElden Ring Nightreignplayer off guard.
Notably, The Night Aspect is one of the only Nightlords with a full second phase that begins when you reduce the boss' HP bar to 0. His HP bar will refill, and Heolstor will become significantly faster, stronger, and gain new moves. Defeating Heolstor is tricky and it will likely take most players several attempts to get to the second phase, let alone beat the final boss ofNightreign.
But there is a trick – like other bosses,the Night Aspect has a weakness, in this case Holy damage. If you hit Heolstor with enough Holy attacks, the boss will stagger and gain a golden glow. When the golden glow disappears, you can interrupt it again with Holy attacks. Make sure every member of your party has access to Holy damage in some way to make the final boss significantly easier to deal with.
1Darkdrift Knight
Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow
The Darkdrift Knight is the hardest boss inElden Ring Nightreign, and the most difficult Nightlord – it’s even more difficult than the final boss. This is because it has a long-range charge attack that can be difficult to avoid, arena-covering AoE attacks that are nearly impossible to dodge, and because it’s one of the most mobile Nightlords.
Fulghor swiftly sprints around the arena and closes distance quickly with fast stabs and aerial slam attacks. This makes it difficult to land slow attacks and Ultimate Arts to interrupt it.
Theboss’s weakness is Lightning, and if you are able to acquire a weapon with the Lightning affinity, use it in this fight to more easily interrupt Fulghor. Pay special attention to when the boss stops to begin its AoE attack, which will spawn blades around the arena that slam down for massive damage. If you may stagger the boss as it winds up this attack (which is easier with Lightning weapons) it will cease the AoE attack and go back to its normal rotation.
