Elden Ring Nightreign: First Impressions of the Network Test Build

Elden Ring Nightreign: First Impressions of the Network Test Build

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Elden Ring Nightreign is not a battle royale. Not that you ever thought it was, but as a former battle royale enjoyer, I can’t help but compare the white-knuckle moments I get when the Storm closes in on me in those last gripping moments of a half-hour-long session of a Fortnite match to the nail-biting bits where I’m desperately trying to outrun the encroaching circle and make it to a life-saving site of grace in Nightreign. PVP elements are completely absent in Nightreign, though not missed one bit. Still, you’ll drop onto a map with a squad, start from nothing, and spend your time ransacking the map to hopefully power yourself up for a final battle.

From the risk-reward moments of looting a church for one more flask charges as the circle closes in, to the wave of sadness you feel when experiencing a devastating loss after taking so much time building yourself up – it’s hard not to see the battle royale influences. But after four hours of playing the upcoming Stress Test build, I’m ecstatic to report that Nightreign will probably not tarnish the Elden Ring name.

Nightreign will probably not tarnish the Elden Ring name.

When beginning a match, you’ll be given a choice to pick one of four available classes, though there will be a total of eight when Nightreign launches. The current options will be the all-arounder Wylder, the speedy glass-cannon Duchess, the tanky Guardian, and the magic-wielding Recluse. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, of course, but in my time with this build, I found that the most fun class to play was the Duchess, thanks to her powerful abilities and swift and nimble dodges. I also spent some time with the Recluse, which was incredibly powerful, but ran out of FP quite often, and with no FP flasks (they aren’t in this Elden Ring), she’ll definitely be one of the harder classes to play effectively.

Each class comes equipped with a leveling path which I’ll talk about more in a moment, but more importantly, they all have a unique skill and ultimate abilities. The Duchess, for example, has an incredibly powerful skill that repeats the last 1.5 seconds of damage an enemy has just taken, and it has a short cooldown to boot. And it’s not just your damage, it’s everyone’s damage. So while you’re flipping around the battlefield landing attacks, you’re also waiting for huge health spikes to try and capitalize on doubling that damage. It’s great stuff.

Other skills also match the class’ predetermined role. The Wylder can do a blast attack to try and land big damage, the Guardian can create a large shield, both negating damage and reviving fallen allies, while the Recluse can curse an enemy, granting all attackers HP and FP bonuses. So while players can double up classes in a run, it’s always a good idea to talk about team strengths and weaknesses to diversify your group.