This week, Elden Ring Nightreign introduced the powered-up Everdark Sovereign version of the Sentient Pest expedition's Gnoster, Wisdom of Night boss fight. FromSoftware had made the simple (and frankly, hilarious) decision to make the fight against the duo of bugs harder by adding a third bug, making it extra ironic that the battle itself has launched in a buggy state.
When fighting the Everdark Sentient Pest boss, things originally start out fairly normally, other than the duo of regular bugs kicking things off in their second phase. However, once defeated, a big red moth called Animus, Ascendant Light appears, reviving its two buddies and restarting the fight. Defeating either of the original pair will cause Animus to possess and revive their bodies, powering them up further. Attacking them in this state will bring the new moth's health down, bringing you closer to victory.
At least, that's how it's supposed to go. Since the new boss went live, there have been many reports from players finding that the fight sometimes comes to an abrupt halt, with Animus disappearing and refusing to help its dead bug friends.
"We beat both bosses and they won't spawn, what do I do?" one player asks, scrambling to the game's subreddit for assistance in the middle of the now uneventful fight. "
"Had a bug with the bug, phase two both halves get revived, we kill the big bug, no revive, [Animus] seems to disappear," says another. "Killed [Gnoster], and nothing. Hung out in the arena for about 10 minutes after and nothing ever happened."
everdark sovereign sentient pest despawn experience pic.twitter.com/oIvunSKPc4July 3, 2025
Thankfully, it didn't take long for FromSoftware to acknowledge this. In a tweet posted on the official Elden Ring account yesterday, the devs look to the trio of bug bosses and declare that, amusingly, "we have identified a bug." The glitch, which it noted could make expeditions "impossible to complete," has now been fixed in a "partial temporary hotfix" which went out earlier today. Or so FromSoftware thought.
"It's still bugged... Seriously, I'm not making the obvious joke," one player writes in response to the latest update. "Downloaded hotfix and boss still missing, issuing amber alert," says another. "I don't think it is fixed. There are multiple reports that Sentient Pest still bugs out after the hotfix like pre-patch," another responds.
The Elden Ring account had already stated that "several other issues concerning the Everdark Sovereign Sentient Pest have been identified, and will be addressed in a future update along with a permanent fix for the current issue." However, it seems like there's more work to be done on the part FromSoftware thought was already sorted. Hopefully, the fight will be bug-free soon. Or rather, hopefully it won't be, since that's the whole issue? …I'm confused.
For now, be sure to take a look at our Elden Ring Nightreign review, as well as our best Elden Ring Nightreign tips to help you beat the Nightlords.
