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  1. Games
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  3. Elden Ring Nightreign

For the first time since the original Dark Souls, Elden Ring Nightreign sleuth finds FromSoftware significantly changed how grab attacks work – creating a 0.2-second window for one old boss

News
By Anthony McGlynn published 3 August 2025

A couple of old foes from Dark Souls got a little rework in Nightreign.

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Elden Ring Nightreign
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
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FromSoftware has made some tricksy mechanical changes in Elden Ring Nightreign that actually give you a slight leg up on big encounters. Grabs from bosses are now a touch easier to dodge, but some have been made trickier to get out of if you land in a twisted beast's clutches.

Expert Nightreign deepdiver Zullie the Witch posted a breakdown of the alterations, going through where and how grabs have been changed. The biggest thing to note, and something you may have already clocked, is that grab maneuvers have large on-screen tells in the multiplayer slobberknocker.

A glowing effect with audio now comes before whatever creature you're facing takes a massive swing at you, providing a wider window for dodging. Do so just right, and you'll get an Ultimate Arts buff of 15%, but that's risky as you need to narrowly miss capture.

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  • Elden Ring Nightreign Elden Ring Nightreign was a bold yet flawed Soulslike experiment, but I think it could shape the industry's future
  • Dark Souls: Remastered FromSoftware head Hidetaka Miyazaki says games like Elden Ring and Dark Souls aren't "simply cranking up the difficulty"
  • A screenshot of a man holding red fire in his palm in Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 I played Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 and rolled through the Lands Between as the new Knight class
Nightreign - A weirdly neglected mechanic - YouTube Nightreign - A weirdly neglected mechanic - YouTube
Watch On

If you do get enraptured in their slithery claws, good news: your fellow Nightfarers can disrupt the damage. In prior games, enemies got temporary immunity if you were captured, but now they can be hit and staggered to drop you. Handy indeed!

But it's always give and take when we're talking about FromSoftware. Several Nightlords have inescapable grabs, to the extent no amount of button-bashing will free you sooner if you're without help from others. Two bosses from Dark Souls, Centipede Demon and Gaping Dragon, have had their thresholds for escape doubled. Previously, you had to hammer buttons up to 25HP, but now it’s 50, though still possible since it’s just five seconds.

For Centipede Demon, getting this right sets you free in the nick of time, as a third hit occurs at 5.2 seconds. You'll get away right before taking substantial damage. All in all, it seems the best strategy is the simplest: don't get captured.

For further assistance, rest a moment and have a look at our guide to all the Elden Ring Nightreign bosses.

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Anthony McGlynn
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Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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