As you may have heard, players had a bit of trouble with the Elden Ring Nightreign network test today. And not the combat kind, either. Rather, the servers went down. Only a lucky few—of the lucky few who got selected for the test—got to actually play co-op. But some players, including yours truly, got to at least try out characters offline.
The Elden Ring Nightreign network test has four characters that players can choose from for now. The full game will have eight when it arrives in May. In the meantime, players can choose between Wylder, Guardian, Duchess, and Recluse.
Which one is right for you? Let’s help you decide. Here’s an overview on each with some analysis to help you find the right one for your playstyle.
Wylder
Wylder is a generalist character with balanced stats across the board. This is the standard character players will start as when joining the network test. He has two skills, Claw Shot and Onslaught Stake. Claw Shot shoots a grappling hook to draw smaller enemies close to you—or bringing you closer to bigger bosses. Onslaught Stake launches an attack with a large explosion.
Wylder is a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none. He doesn’t have any of the more specialized moves of the other characters and therefore doesn’t excel in any particular area. He’s ideal for beginners, especially those who have never played a FromSoftware game before like Elden Ring or Bloodborne. That said, since Elden Ring Nightreign encourages picking up gear on the fly, experienced players can still tailor the build.
Guardian
Our next Nightfarer is Guardian, the dedicated tank of Elden Ring Nightreign. He has high defense and excels at crowd-control (and crow-control, hopefully). Players who don’t mind getting up close and personal with bosses or mobs will likely flock to him. Oh, and did I mention he’s a bird person?
Fittingly, Guardian’s two skills both involve sprouting wings. Whirlwind has him whipping up a cyclone to send enemies flying. Wings of Salvation is his divebomb attack. In Elden Ring Nightreign, “attacking” fallen allies will revive them. As such, Guardian can use Wings of Salvation to kill two birds with one stone—or two stones with one bird. The area of effect can devastate an enemy while bringing an ally back to life. I imagine we’ll see a lot of Guardian this weekend as the tank that holds teams together.
Duchess
I’ll say it now, Duchess is for the Bloodborne sickos. (Elden) Lord knows when we’ll see a proper sequel. But Elden Ring Nightreign shows that FromSoftware hasn’t forgotten about its gothic horror game. Duchess plays light on her feet like a Hunter, and even resembles Lady Maria from The Old Hunters DLC. Unsurprisingly, Duchess is all about evasion and speed, getting hits in quickly before pulling off several consecutive dodges.
Though slightly slower than Bloodborne builds (faster than anything in Elden Ring), Duchess has two skills all her own. Restage sees her use a pocket watch to repeat the couple of seconds of damage against an enemy. What does this mean? If you or an ally unleash a devastating attack, you can duplicate it. On the other side of the spectrum, she has Finale, a stealth skill that makes her and nearby allies briefly invisible. This has a wide range of uses from buying time to revive an ally to sneaking past an enemy to getting the drop on a boss from behind.
Recluse
Last but not least, we have Recluse, our spellcaster. Naturally, she specializes in ranged magic from afar. She has two skills, SoulBlood Songe and Magic Cocktail. Soulblood Songe is a blood chant that brands nearby enemies, allowing you and your teammates to siphon health from them, which is a great tool for when going up against bosses. Meanwhile, Magic Cocktail allows you to collect affinity residues to create a unique spell. But what does that entail exactly?
Recluse works a bit differently than the other Nightfarers due to her Magic Cocktail skill, which is more complex, but integral to her gameplay in an exciting way. Since Elden Ring Nightreign is all about finding materials in the field, Magic Cocktail makes Recluse into MacGyver. She can siphon elements—magic, fire, lightning, and holy—and combine three into one spell with its own effect. These can do anything from damage or damage negation to buff stamina or healing.
What’s more, siphoning restores FP, so you don’t have to worry about running out, assuming you managed to get the Magic Cocktail skill off. Whereas the skills of other characters are more like bonuses, this one is key—but incredibly versatile for players with good memories or a penchant for chaos.
The downside to the Recluse is that like all spell casters in Elden Ring, starting out she is extremely vulnerable and doesn’t have great defense or health.
Elden Ring Nightreign Decisions to Make
So which character should you pick? As of now, that really depends on your playstyle. Once the network test is up and running properly, we’ll see which characters people gravitate towards. And of course, you can change characters between runs.
It’s worth noting that the full game will also have four more characters, so preferences may change. At the same time, since this is a network test, FromSoftware may tweak Nightreign’s characters before release.
We’ll see how things play out this weekend and once Elden Ring Nightreign arrives in its full form for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. It comes out on May 30th, 2024.
