Deep of Night turns Elden Ring Nightreign into a roguelike nightmare — it’s even buffing one boss that’s so strong it became a meme

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30 p.m. Pacific Time (or 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time) tomorrow, and a new trailer has been unveiled for you to watch below.

In Deep of Night, the new Expeditions will follow a similar pattern as usual: two days of gameplay involving exploration, equipment gathering, character development, and major boss fights at night, concluding with one final encounter. However, these Expeditions will introduce some significant challenges that make them more difficult to finish compared to regular ones.

Among these adversaries, what stands out most is the appearance of tougher opponents who require more exertion to vanquish. The most robust among them are identified as “mutants” – a type of enemy that exhibits an ominous red glow and demonstrates greater strength compared to their regular counterparts. At this time, it remains uncertain whether they possess increased health or if they also have unique new attack strategies.

In the trailer, it seems that various creatures, from ordinary mobs to minibosses, could take on mutated forms. This includes the Bell Bearing Hunter, a powerful adversary who wields a magic greatsword and has a well-known, challenging moveset that’s so difficult, players often get spooked just by spotting the boss and choosing to run away, which is quite amusing in the Elden Ring community.

In addition to the mentioned challenging enemy types, Deep of Night randomly assigns the Nightlord you’ll encounter at the end of your gameplay session. This means you won’t know who your opponent will be until the battle starts. Since you can’t preview the Nightlord beforehand, it becomes more difficult to customize your Relic loadouts for a specific enemy.

Changes to the current shifting earth map will not impact the new mode, whether these changes are chosen or happen spontaneously. At this point, it is uncertain whether shifts can occur during the ‘Deep of Night’ independently from the usual Shifting Earth mechanism.

An additional aspect to note is that during some encounters, Everdark Sovereign bosses (which are harder versions of the Nightlord fights featuring larger health bars and exclusive new mechanics) may take the place of regular battles, increasing the difficulty at the conclusion of your already challenging runs. Be prepared for this possibility, especially since a Nightlord might initiate battle unexpectedly during Phase 2.

During certain instances, instead of the usual fights, Everdark Sovereign bosses may appear. These bosses are tougher variations of Nightlord encounters, featuring larger health bars and unique new mechanics, making them even more challenging at the end of your already demanding runs.

Even though you might not have all the advantages, you’ll encounter unique benefits too. These special weapons dropped by mutant enemy types will include both potent perks and potential drawbacks. It’s crucial to select these items thoughtfully, focusing on perks that align with your chosen Nightfarer class and finding ways to manage or work around any negative effects they may bring.

Finishing Deep of Night Expeditions will earn you Depths Artifacts, which function similarly to permanent upgrades but allow you to customize your build prior to missions. These artifacts are active only during Deep of Night and can be combined with standard artifacts. Like the unique weapons in this mode, they offer significant bonuses as well as potential drawbacks.

In Deep of Night runs, you earn a score by successfully finishing missions and may lose points if you fail. The more you advance before failing, the less rating you’ll lose. Your rating improves your difficulty level, with five tiers of difficulty established; the higher your difficulty level, the tougher the enemies in that mode will become.

At greater depths, you’ll encounter some extra challenges. You might not know who the Nightlord is at the end of your journey until the battle commences, or you could find that important location markers on the map are missing; this one can be tough and will require you and your team to explore carefully to locate those points of interest.

During an Expedition, it’s possible that you won’t know which Nightlord you’re facing until the battle commences. Additionally, certain points of interest (POIs) on the map might not be marked, making it necessary for you and your allies to explore the area thoroughly to locate these POIs.

If you’ve found Elden Ring Nightreign‘s regular challenge too routine and are ready for a more intense experience, Deep of Night might be just what you need! Keep in mind that to access Deep of Night, you must first defeat the final boss, Night Aspect Nightlord. So, if you haven’t triumphed over this formidable foe yet, it would be best to jump straight into the battle. Enjoy the challenge!

Currently, what’s left to make the game even more engaging is introducing more diverse levels. Right now, players can only enjoy the Levveld map, but I hope the upcoming DLC this year will offer additional maps for a more varied gaming experience.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is playable on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC via Steam, PS5, and PS4, priced at $39.99. Yet, a deal is available that drops its price to $35.99 at Loaded (previously CDKeys), if you’re comfortable with the PC version of the game.

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2025-09-11 01:40