Elden Ring Nightreign characters tier list and the best ones to pick

Our Elden Ring Nightreign character tier list will help you figure out the good Nightfarers from the great ones, though they can all be supremely powerful in the right conditions. There are no characters to strictly avoid, with all of them being rather potent when it comes to the specific playstyles and classes they represent, whether that's wielding hefty melee weapons or summoning spirits. With that said, some are much easier to play and are more versatile than others, so I've taken those aspects into account for our tier list.

However, knowing which characters are best is one thing but knowing how to use them is another, and in classic FromSoftware fashion, Elden Ring Nightreign leaves a fair amount out about each character. We've spent many hours testing each character on various Expeditions, fighting all sorts, and I've compiled our findings below to bring you everything you need to know about all the playable characters in Elden Ring Nightreign and how they fare on our tier list.

Elden Ring Nightreign character tier list

From testing all the Elden Ring Nightreign characters, I can safely say they are all good at the very least, but your effectiveness with each will largely depend on your preferred playstyle, and some characters are much harder to master than others. Here's how I rank all the characters in Nightreign:

• S-Tier: The most powerful Nightfarers who are effective against a range of foes
  • Duchess: Duchess has the best dodge, a skill that massively increases damage output when used well, and an ultimate art that helps the whole team by making everyone untraceable. All that on top of her being a fantastically versatile Dex/Int-focused character.
  • Ironeye: Ironeye is also very versatile and great for exploiting the weaknesses of the various Nightlords. Ranged damage is crucial in Nightreign and it's Ironeye's area of expertise, helping him chip away at bosses from afar, often drawing their attention to help the fighters score some easy hits. His Single Shot ultimate can also be useful for emergency revives and staggering bosses to cancel attacks and break their stance.
• A-Tier: Strong classes that bring niche but highly effective abilities to the team
  • Wylder: Beginner-friendly and forgiving but still highly effective, Wylder is a solid Nightfarer to play as, capable of wielding a massive range of melee weapons effectively. Good use of his grappling hook can help you get out of danger or keep pressure on bosses, especially with his powerful Onslaight Stake too.
  • Guardian: Guardian doesn't have the greatest damage output, but his disruptive crowd-control abilities are perfect against threats in Limveld. Wings of Salvation is also hugely powerful, being an excellent ability for protecting and reviving teammates.
  • Raider: Raider is quite a simple character, but the Strength-focused playstyle isn't as easy as it looks. With that said, good use of his abilities and attacks will result in massive damage and plenty of opportunities for critical hits against bosses.
  • Revenant: A great support character who can provide plenty of help to the team through incantations and spirit summons. Her Immortal March ultimate is another useful ability for helping downed teammates and potentially saving a run.
• B-Tier: Great characters that can be tricky to use and unforgiving
  • Recluse: As a top-tier Int/Fai magic user, Recluse can cast a huge range of powerful sorceries and incantations, but her fiddly kit requires seriously good resource management and teammates who can run interference in the frontline to keep enemies off her.
  • Executor: As a powerful duelist, Executor can be great against bosses, but you must be very good at parrying with his Cursed Sword to be as effective as possible. One of the biggest challenges with his kit is knowing when is the right time to use his sword and his beast form Ultimate Art.

Every character in Elden Ring Nightreign explained

Before starting a run, you and your co-op allies get to pick one of the eight Elden Ring Nightreign classes to play as. Each one comes with bespoke stats, a Passive Ability, a Character Skill (Triangle + L2/Y + LT), and a powerful Ultimate Art (Triangle + R2/Y + RT) with a long cooldown.

Unlike in Elden Ring where weapons have stat requirements, every character can wield any weapon, but a weapon's power is partly determined by the character's scaling stats, such as Strength and Dexterity. That means you still need to pick the right weapons for the character you're playing as – preferably the ones with scaling that matches the character's A or S-rated stats – and we've explained the best Elden Ring Nightreign weapons for each character here!

These stats can't be tweaked individually when leveling up at a Site of Grace as in Elden Ring – instead they all increase by a set amount with each level, boosting your HP, FP, Stamina, and damage with relevant weapons and spells. You also don't need to worry about armor and can even unlock Elden Ring Nightreign skins to change their garb.

You can have more than one of the same character in your Nightreign squad, but bear in mind that you’ll want a well-rounded team for fighting a variety of basic enemies and massively varied Elden Ring Nightreign bosses over the course of a single run.

To help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of every character, I've listed their level 1 stats (HP, FP, and Stamina) and scalings, as well as how their abilities work below. Here are all the Elden Ring Nightreign characters explained in detail:

Elden Ring Nightreign Wylder

Wylder is the generic knight character in Nightreign, though that doesn't mean he doesn't have a few cool tricks up his gauntlets. Packing solid stats, including high Strength, he can wield a variety of weapons capably, and gets to use a grappling hook for agility and a powerful exploding crossbow bolt that's great for staggering larger enemies and bosses. Wylder is an excellent all-rounder, being both beginner-friendly and suitable for experienced players.

• HP: 260
• FP: 65
• Stamina: 54
• Strength: A
• Dexterity: B
• Intelligence: C
• Faith: C
• Arcane: C
• Starting weapons: Wylder's Greatsword (Stamp, Upward Cut) and Wylder's Small Shield (Buckler Parry)
• Preferred weapon type: Greatswords
• Passive Ability – Sixth Sense: Cheat death a single time by negating lethal damage. You won't benefit from this ability again until you reset it, either by dying or by passing through a Site of Grace.
• Character Skill – Claw Shot: Fire out a grappling hook to reel in smaller enemies or pull yourself towards larger enemies, bosses, and the environment. Good for breaking the guard of defensive opponents. Holding the inputs lets you see your point of aim before grappling.
• Ultimate Art – Onslaught Stake: Fire a very short-range exploding bolt from Wylder's wrist crossbow. Tap the inputs to fire the shot quickly, causing Wylder to get knocked backbut also reduce the cooldown for the next stake. Alternatively, hold the inputs to fully charge up the stake, increasing its damage and stagger power and keeping Wylder on his feet.

Elden Ring Nightreign Guardian

Guardian is a heavily armored eagle man with very high HP and stamina compared to the other Nightreign classes. He mainly acts as a tank, using his defensive powers, mainly shields and Wings of Salvation, to soak up attacks from the frontline while also disrupting enemies with his Whirlwind. His damage output is far from the best, but he's an asset to most teams because of his supportive offerings.

• HP: 280
• FP: 55
• Stamina: 60
• Strength: B
• Dexterity: C
• Intelligence: D
• Faith: C
• Arcane: C
• Starting Armaments: Guardian's Halberd (Charge Forth) and Guardian's Greatshield
• Preferred weapon types: Halberds
• Passive Ability – Steel Guard: Dodge while blocking with a shield to brace yourself and improve your guard. Blocking attacks in this state does not drain stamina but you move more your stamina drains continuously, limiting the duration of Steel Guard.
• Character Skill – Whirlwind: Create a small cyclone in front of you, launching smaller enemies into the air and dealing small amount of damage. Enemies that aren't launched are pulled towards its center. Hold the inputs to make the cyclone larger.
• Ultimate Art – Wings of Salvation: Leap into the air and fly for a moment before crashing down, dealing high damage in a large area and knocking away smaller foes. Continue holding the inputs create and miantain a protective area where you land, making yourself and allies in the area invulnerable. You can hold this protective area for about six seconds but are unable to do anything else while doing so.

Elden Ring Nightreign Ironeye

As an assassin archer, Ironeye’s kit is based around ranged combat in Elden Ring Nightreign. His high Dexterity stat means he can wield bows and many melee weapons that require a bit more finesse, and his high Arcane stat also means he's good at applying status ailments like Poison, Scarlet Rot, and Blood Loss. Ironeye is therefore one of the more versatile Nightfarers, capable of dealing great damage and helping his team with through his abilities.

• HP: 200
• FP: 65
• Stamina: 56
• Strength: C
• Dexterity: A
• Intelligence: D
• Faith: D
• Arcane: B
• Starting Armaments: Ironeye's Bow (Mighty Shot)
• Preferred weapon types: Bows
• Passive Ability – Eagle Eye: Increased item drop rate from defeated enemies for yourself and your allies.
• Character Skill – Marking: Dash forward, slicing a foe in front of you with a dagger, creating a temporary weak point highlighted for all allies. Damaging the weak point extends its duration until it is eventually destroyed, which then staggers the affected enemy.
• Ultimate Art – Single Shot: Fire a massive supersonic arrow that deals high damage and stagger. It also ignores pretty much everything in its path, so it can penetrate any enemy and even structures and natural terrain.

Elden Ring Nightreign Duchess

Duchess is the nimblest Elden Ring Nightreign class owing to her unique Bloodborne-style quickstep dodge. She also has a very high damage potential and is very versatile, thanks to her high Dexterity and Intelligence, making her excellent with a wide range of weapons and sorceries. However, she's quite fragile to compensate, making her the archetypical glass cannon character, using hit-and-run tactics to attack hard and fast before escaping.

You can't play as the Elden Ring Nightreign Duchess at the start of the game and need to unlock her after beating the game's first Nightlord.

• HP: 220
• FP: 75
• Stamina: 54
• Strength: D
• Dexterity: B
• Intelligence: A
• Faith: B
• Arcane: C
• Starting Armaments: Duchess' Dagger (Magic Dagger)
• Preferred weapon types: Daggers
• Passive Ability – Magnificent Poise: Rather than a traditional roll, Duchess has a fast quickstep dodge. Repeatedly pressing the dodge input causes her to perform a double step dodge that lets her travel much further than usual. Her dodges and attacks also consume less stamina compared to other Nightfarers.
• Character Skill – Restage: Repeat any damage dealt to a single enemy in second before activation. This manifests as a ghost of that enemy getting hit again though this is purely visual. You can also use Restage at any time, including during critical hits.
• Ultimate Art – Finale: Make yourself and any nearby allies invisible for about 12 seconds. Attacking an enemy or getting hit by a stray attack does not end the invisibility effect.

Elden Ring Nightreign Raider

Raider is Elden Ring Nightreign’s brutish barbarian character and has the highest possible strength rating, which makes him excellent for those wanting to wield the largest weapons in the game – make sure you know how to switch to an Elden Ring Nightreign two-hand grip! He’s also got plenty of health and stamina, making him excellent for getting close to foes and beating them senseless, particularly by crashing his Totem Stela into them, while also being able to take a beating himself. However, the rest of his stats are lacking.

• HP: 260
• FP: 55
• Stamina: 60
• Strength: S
• Dexterity: C
• Intelligence: D
• Faith: D
• Arcane: C
• Starting Armaments: Raider's Greataxe (Endure)
• Preferred weapon types: Greataxes, Great Hammers, and Colossal weapons
• Passive Ability – Fighter’s Resolve: Raider cannot be knocked down while using his Retaliate skill and taking enough damage empowers his next Retaliate punch (you'll know he's empowered when steam starts pouring out of him). Raider can also survive heavy damage, being taken down to a minuscule amount of health.
• Character Skill – Retaliate: A powerful stomp and punch combo that knocks back smaller enemies and deals high stagger to larger foes and bosses. While winding up Retaliate, damage resistance is increased.
• Ultimate Art – Totem Stela: Summon a giant tombstone from the ground, dealing damage to nearby enemies as it erupts. The totem has its own protective aura and provides a temporary Strength boost to yourself and nearby allies. The tombstone can also be climbed on, providing a nice height advantage and a good place to deliver a powered-up jump attack!

Elden Ring Nightreign Revenant

Revenant is Nightreign's resident necromancer class, being able to conjure spirits of her dead family and those of enemies recently killed during your expedition. Her damage output isn't incredible, but she makes for a great support character, particularly as she's a Faith-based magic user, meaning she can use a whole host of buffing and damaging incantations, provided you can get her a good Sacred Seal.

Elden Ring Nightreign Revenant isn't available at the start of the game, and you'll need to unlock her by fighting her first.

• HP: 240
• FP: 80
• Stamina: 54
• Strength: C
• Dexterity: C
• Intelligence: B
• Faith: S
• Arcane: B
• Starting Armaments: Revenant's Cursed Claws (White Shadow's Lure)
• Preferred weapon types: Scared Seals for incantations
• Passive Ability – Necromancy: Some defeated enemies briefly come back as ghosts to fight as allies before dissipating. This happens automatically every so often
• Character Skill – Summon Spirit: Press the skill input to get Revenant to pull out her lyre, then press one of the summon inputs to conjure one of three familial spirits to help in battle. You can only one spirit active at a time and if one dies, it becomes temporarily unavailable. You can also press L2/LT to deactivate your current spirit.
  • R1/RB = Helen, a nimble page who fights with a thrusting sword
  • R2/RT = Frederick, a big Pumpkin Head cook who attacks with a massive hammer
  • L1/LB = Sebastian, a giant skeleton butler who slams enemies with his one arm, roars, and fires lasers
• Ultimate Art – Immortal March: Make yourself and nearby allies (including the family spirits above) immortal. You can still take damage while this effect is active, marked by a pale flame within your character, but cannot die. You can also use this to revive knocked-down allies.

Elden Ring Nightreign Recluse

Recluse's whole deal is casting powerful spells of any kind as she's rated S-tier in both Intelligence for sorceries and Faith for incantations. That means she can pack plenty of offensive or defensive power, or a combination, depending on the staves and seals you find on an Expedition. However, with complex abilities to figure out in the heat of battle and limited HP and FP, she's tough to master. As such, we've got a separate Elden Ring Nightreign Recluse guide to help you understand how she works.

• HP: 200
• FP: 80
• Stamina: 54
• Strength: D
• Dexterity: C
• Intelligence: S
• Faith: S
• Arcane: C
• Starting Armaments: Recluse's Staff (Glintstone Pebble and Glintstone Arc)
• Preferred weapon types: Scared Seals for incantations or Glintstone staves for sorceries
• Passive Ability – Elemental Defense: Discover affinity residues by using affinity attacks (these are attacks that deal Magic, Fire, Holy, or Lightning damage) on enemies. You'll know when a residue can be collected when an enemy has a colored marker around their lock-on dot. Residues can also be created by allies and restore FP when collected.
• Character Skill – Magic Cocktail: When an affinity residue is created, use this skill to collect it, adding it to your Magic Cocktail. Once any three residues have been collected, you can unleash a unique spell. The spell's power and effects depend on the residues you collect.
• Ultimate Art – Soulblood Song: Temporarily mark nearby enemies with blood sigils, causing them to take increased damage. Whenever a blood-marked enemy is hit, you occasionally regain FP and HP.

Elden Ring Nightreign Executor

Executor is one of the more challenging Elden Ring Nightreign classes to play as with Sekiro-style parrying being a core part of his kit with his Cursed Sword. That means he struggles against groups of enemies, but his crucible beast ultimate helps with that to a degree. He also has the highest possible, Dexterity rating, making him excellent at wielding all sorts of weapons and his high Arcane rating means Blood Loss weapons are especially lethal in his hands.

• HP: 260
• FP: 55
• Stamina: 54
• Strength: C
• Dexterity: S
• Intelligence: D
• Faith: D
• Arcane: S
• Starting Armaments: Executor's Blade (Unsheate)
• Preferred weapon types: Katana
• Passive Ability – Tenacity: After recovering from a status ailment (Blood Loss, Madness, Poison, Scarlet Rot Frostbite, etc), you briefly gain increased attack and stamina recovery speed.
• Character Skill – Cursed Sword: Draw a cursed sword that can be used to deflect enemy attacks – you need to block right before an attack hits you to successfully deflect. You can use the cursed sword like any other sword, but deflecting attacks not only deals stance damage to enemies, but also empowers the blade, causing it to glow gold. While the sword is powered up, it deals much more damage, particularly with its special lunge skill. However, whenever you have the cursed sword drawn, you move very slowly, and sprinting causes you to sheath it.
  • The cursed sword has no cooldown and can be drawn whenever you need it. The empowering effect also persists even when you sheath the sword and after death! The only thing that removes the effect is using the sword's lunge skill.
• Ultimate Art – Aspects of the Crucible: Beast: Transform into a massive crucible beast and gain unique attacks and combos that are great for menacing groups of smaller enemies. The beast has massively increased health and fully heals Executor when activated. The beast form also lasts until your Ultimate Art gauge drains fully or immediately after using the beast's special skill (L2/LT). You can also manually transform back by pressing the Ultimate Art inputs again.

Those are all eight classes that will be in the game at launch. We already know that Elden Ring Nightreign has plans for DLC which will likely include more characters to battle the Night as.

If you're struggling to overcome the game's first two bosses, we've got guides to help you beat the Elden Ring Nightreign Tricephalos hellhound and the Elden Ring Nightreign Gaping Jaw beast.

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