Soulsborne games are all about fighting difficult bosses and overcoming challenges. But it isn’t just about a hard boss that gets us players going, but a well-designed boss that is hard, fair, and spectacularly designed in one package. So, I had high expectations from the latest FromSoftware installment, and I can safely say that it hasn’t disappointed. Elden Ring Nightreign features Night Lords, eight unique bosses, appearing on the third day of each expedition run. Each of these bosses is distinctly different in their abilities and magnificently designed, even though a couple of them can sometimes be a snooze fest. Here is a complete list of all Night Lords in Elden Ring Nightreign, ranked according to their difficulty and boss design.
8. Maris, Fathom of Night (Augur)
Maris, Fathom of Night from the Augur expedition, is the most boring Night Lord in Elden Ring Nightreign. The main boss is very similar to the Elden Beast, both in appearance and the mechanics of running away. Unlike the Elden Beast, which can still be fought with melee characters, Maris is simply unfightable without a ranged weapon.
The boss keeps running away in close combat and occasionally uses AoE Freeze attacks to punish closer players. Furthermore, the main gimmick of this boss is its sleep attack that puts every character on the map to sleep unless they have strong resistance to the sleep ailment. The sleep also deals damage, having the potential to team wipe with one attack. Furthermore, it drops massive ‘egg bombs’ on players that also do devastating amounts of AoE damage within a specific range.
Thankfully, Maris is the easiest boss in the game when using an Iron Eye, as you can constantly deal damage to it from a distance and stun it using the Ultimate while it prepares to do the AoE sleep attack. Overall, Maris is a unique Night Lord fight in Elden Ring Nightreign as it can literally put you to sleep in real life, perfectly fitting the enemy’s characteristics.
7. Gnoster, Wisdom of Night (Sentient Pest)
Gnoster, Wisdom of Night, is a two-part boss, one scorpion and the other a butterfly. These two entities have to be fought simultaneously, and they each have strengths and weaknesses. The fight turns up the heat in the second phase, when the Butterfly and the Scorpion merge at half health. The combination looks very cool and is designed with intricate details that clearly showcase the individual abilities of the Butterfly and the Scorpion, even while they are merged.
The only difficulty this fight has is in the second phase, where the combined bosses will chase down players and blast a hundred different magic projectiles at them. One of the attacks also summons a streak of light on downed allies, making it harder to revive them from close range. Overall, Gnoster Wisdom of Night is a really cool boss but extremely easy nonetheless.
6. Caligo, Miasma of Night (Fissure in the Fog)
Caligo, Miasma of Night, is the only dragon Night Lord in the game at the point of writing, and it can be fought on the third day during the Fissure in the Fog expedition. It is a highly cool fight, no pun intended. Caligo is a frost dragon continuously using its ice breath to build up Frost on players. Its attacks leave a trail of ice spikes that continuously build up frost on touch, making it difficult to camp under it.
Caligo’s main attack is a map-wide AoE blast that almost one-shots unless you have a massive health bar. This attack is almost unavoidable and can only be blocked by finding one of the Ice spikes to shelter behind or by stunning the boss while it charges the attack. Overall, Caligo is a really cool Night Lord, but it isn’t that hard to defeat, nor is it the strongest dragon in the game. The Mountain Top event’s frost dragon is arguably harder to beat than Caligo, so we have placed it on third from the bottom.
5. Gladius, Beast of Night (Tricephalos)
Gladius, Beast of Night, is the first Night Lord you have to face in the game, and it is one adversary that you must triumph over if you want to experience Nightreign. Most of the game’s content is locked behind Gladius, making him almost a tutorial boss. However, don’t let that fool you, as the three-headed wolf is easily one of the most brutal bosses in the game.
Gladius is very aggressive and has a wide range of attacks that are hard to predict. During its second phase, Gladius splits up into three wolves, each of its abilities divided among the three vessels. Now, the wolves can target each player individually or team up on one. This is what makes Gladius a nightmare in solo mode. Overall, the fight is outstandingly designed, perfectly preparing the players for later challenges.
4. Adel, Baron of Night (Gaping Jaw)
Adel, Baron of Night, can be fought in the second expedition of Elden Ring Nightreign, even though it is one of the hardest Night Lords in the game. This boss is extremely aggressive, continuously chases down players, and has a knack for targeting the player with the lowest HP. With its wide mouth, it can do grab attacks, eating up players, which applies bleed on the target and can one-shot most of the character classes in the game unless they have a massive health pool like Guardian and Raider.
At half health, Adel enters the second phase and starts to wreak havoc. The boss continuously lunges from one player to another at high speed while calling down lightning around it. Fighting this boss can be very punishing, and many of you may have more trouble with this boss than the ones ranked higher on this list. The fight itself has the perfect blend of intensity and chaos, making it one of my favorite bosses to duke it out with in the game.
3. Libra, Creature of Night (Equilibrious Beast)
Libra, Creature of Night, is part of the Equilibrious Beast expedition, and it is a very unforgiving boss. The fight itself starts with a trade option with a demon merchant. Here, players can choose to get buffs at the cost of losing something else or making the boss more powerful. It’s such a unique mechanic at the very start and makes the boss fight much more entertaining.
The boss looks majestic from the get-go, featuring ranged and melee attacks. This boss fight is very intense as Libra continuously builds up Madness on players. The Madness build-up can be reduced by picking up yellow shards dropped by him, which I absolutely love about the fight. Overall, Libra is undoubtedly among the most challenging bosses in Soulsborne and not just Nightreign. The boss can be extremely punishing, especially depending on the trade you make at the start of the fight.
2. Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow (Darkdrift Knight)
Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow is my personal favorite Night Lord in Elden Ring Nightreign. This boss fight is very difficult and will constantly hike up your adrenaline levels to the max. The fight is intense with Fulghor constantly charging at players, dealing both high single-target and AoE damage. Even one small mistake can cost the entire run against Fulghor as he is constantly on you, almost attacking all three players at once with each of his wide, erratic swings.
At half health, Fulghor enters the second phase and summons a massive, darkened limb that seems to appear straight out of the abyss. This further increases the range of its attack, and it becomes more aggressive in the battle. One of the best parts about this battle is that Fulghor’s iconic charge can be broken by hitting him when he starts to prepare for it, making it worth risking fighting it in close range.
I have already fought this boss eight times, securing victory around five times. However, each one was won through sweat, blood, and tears. I find Fulghor the hardest and most enjoyable fight in Nightreign, but it still loses to the sheer spectacular brilliance that the final boss offers.
1. Hoelstor the Nightlord (Night Aspect)
Hoelstor the Nightlord is the final boss in Elden Ring Nightreign, and it is an absolute spectacle. The boss fight is easily one of the best-designed in all of Soulsborne, with Hoelstor splitting the sky open to deal massive AoE attacks. This boss is very similar in combat design to Slave Knight Gael from Dark Souls 3, with the boss constantly aggroing on players at close combat, switching between the different elemental damage.
Hoelstor can switch between all the damage types, making him very unpredictable. He is extremely challenging and will probably be the hardest boss in the game for many players. The fight itself is simply a spectacle, often leaving you stunned in real life with the beautiful visuals and soundtracks in the battle. Overall, Hoelstor the Nightlord is not only the best boss fight in Elden Ring Nightreign, but it is also one of the best fights in the entire Soulsborne series, making its place on the very pinnacle of iconic bosses the genre has offered.
So, these are all the Night Lords in Elden Ring Nightreign, ranked based on their difficulty and fight execution. Tell us in the comments if you agree with this list and which bosses have been giving you a hard time in the game so far.
