Last updated: 9 July 2026

Elden Ring Nightreign Tier List All Nightfarers Ranked

Ranking Nightfarers in Elden Ring Nightreign — the 2025 co-op roguelike spin-off from FromSoftware and Bandai Namco — is more nuanced than a standard character tier list because the same Nightfarer can perform entirely differently in trio versus solo, and a character's ceiling depends heavily on player skill and coordinated teamplay. This tier list evaluates all eight Nightfarers for both trio expeditions and solo play as of Patch 1.03.5 (March 2026), with separate considerations for ease of use and maximum potential. Always cross-check the official patch notes after major updates, as Nightfarer balance shifts with each patch.

01Tier List Criteria

Each Nightfarer is assessed on four factors:

• Damage output: Raw damage potential in a realistic run, accounting for weapon availability in Limveld and relic scaling.
• Survivability: How much the Nightfarer can absorb or avoid damage without team support.
• Team contribution: Value added to a trio beyond personal damage — healing, revival, marking, buffs.
• Skill ceiling vs floor: How the Nightfarer performs for new players versus experienced ones.

The tiers are S (meta-defining), A (strong and consistent), B (solid with clear strengths and weaknesses), C (situational or requires high investment to justify), and D (outclassed in most scenarios).

02S Tier: Ironeye and Executor

Ironeye earns S tier through a combination of strong personal damage, the team-wide Eagle Eye item drop buff, and Single Shot — a high-damage, high-stagger ultimate that penetrates terrain and enemies. The Marking skill creates a persistent team damage multiplier on targeted enemies, making every coordinated run significantly more efficient. In solo play, Ironeye's ranged damage keeps it safe against patterns that punish melee characters. No other Nightfarer contributes as much to a coordinated trio.

Executor occupies S tier for solo play specifically, where the absence of team utility is irrelevant and the parry-into-Cursed-Sword loop has the highest single-target damage ceiling in the game. Patch 1.03.2 buffed Executor substantially — Cursed Sword now provides Guard Boost and improved critical damage while active. In trio play, Executor drops to A because teammates must absorb all healing and revival duties, which creates a structural team tax.

03A Tier: Guardian, Wylder, and Duchess

Guardian is A tier in trio and borderline S tier for coordinated teams that value structure. Wings of Salvation (revival ultimate) and Whirlwind (crowd control) make Guardian the team's safety net. Patch 1.03.2 improved damage negation and guard capabilities significantly. Guardian falls to B in solo because the revival passive provides no benefit when playing alone.

Wylder is the consistent A-tier all-rounder. Sixth Sense (death-cheat passive) is one of the most practically valuable passives in the game because it provides a concrete error buffer that saves runs that would otherwise end. Wylder's flexible weapon scaling (STR/DEX) means usable weapons appear frequently in Limveld. The lack of unique team utility places it below Ironeye and Guardian for coordinated trio play.

Duchess is A tier in coordinated trio play and B tier in uncoordinated groups. When teammates communicate to set up Restage duplication of their highest-damage moments, Duchess creates burst windows that can delete Nightlord HP bars. Without coordination, Duchess's output is mediocre for an advanced character. She is unlockable, not starting — factor in the unlock investment.

04B Tier: Raider, Recluse, and Revenant

Raider is B tier for overall play, though beginner-friendly enough that many players overestimate its ceiling. The STR-S scaling and Retaliate skill make the character easy to learn — colossal weapons deal reliable damage and poise-break enemies for team critical opportunities. Patch 1.03.2 improved attack speed and Totem Stela range. The issue is that Raider's contribution beyond raw damage is low, and in trios a character who provides only damage without healing or utility can be replaced by a better damage dealer.

Recluse is B tier overall but uniquely valuable in specific team compositions because she is the only base-game healer. Soulblood Song provides healing utility no other Nightfarer offers. The high skill ceiling (elemental cycling, FP management) means Recluse underperforms significantly in inexperienced hands. In a trio with two strong damage dealers, Recluse enables longer fights and reduces resource pressure — but she does not make fights faster.

Revenant is B tier for the same reason as Guardian but with lower personal damage. The spirit summoning passive reduces effective damage taken from Nightlords by splitting their targeting, and Immortal March (revival ultimate) matches Guardian's Wings of Salvation in value. Spirit attack power was buffed in Patch 1.03.2, improving Revenant's damage contribution. Solo viability is low — without teammates the revival passive provides nothing and spirit split-aggro is less useful.

05C Tier: Executor (Trio Only)

Executor in trio play ranks C tier not because of output but because of structural cost. Running Executor means your two teammates must cover both healing and revival using characters like Recluse and Guardian, which removes a damage dealer from the composition. Experienced coordinated trios can still clear all Nightlords with Executor, but there is no scenario where Executor's trio contribution exceeds what another Nightfarer in the same slot would provide. Reserve Executor for solo or duo expeditions where its damage ceiling matters.

06Solo Play Tier List

Solo play scales enemy HP to roughly one-third of trio values and grants approximately 60% bonus rune acquisition. This changes the Nightfarer rankings because team utility becomes irrelevant and survivability carries more weight than it does in trio. The solo tier ordering from strongest to weakest:

1. Executor (S): Highest damage ceiling with no team utility penalty. Cursed Sword loop one-phases most bosses at high relic levels.
2. Ironeye (S): Safe ranged damage and Single Shot stagger makes Nightlord fights manageable without relying on teammate aggro splitting.
3. Wylder (A): Death-cheat passive covers the extra mistakes solo play produces. Sixth Sense resets at Sites of Grace, so it is available every day.
4. Duchess (A): Jump-attack bleed build performs strongly in solo; Restage duplication still works on your own heaviest hits.
5. Raider (B): Simple damage loop works, but the absence of emergency recovery or burst makes late-expedition fights longer than necessary.
6. Recluse (B): Self-healing utility is useful in solo, but the elemental cycling demands more attention when also managing positioning alone.
7. Guardian (C): Revival passive is wasted solo. Guard-counter build is survivable but the absence of kill speed makes runs drag.
8. Revenant (C): Spirit summons split aggression but AI summons do not substitute for human teammates' coordination. Immortal March revival is unused alone.

07Which Nightfarer Should You Start With?

If you are new to Nightreign: start with Wylder. The death-cheat passive is the single most forgiving tool in the game for learning boss attack patterns, and the flexible weapon scaling means you will always find something usable in Limveld.

If you have completed several runs and want a new challenge: try Ironeye for the team-contribution experience, or Executor if you prefer high-risk high-reward solo play.

If you are learning to trio with friends: run Guardian plus two of Wylder, Ironeye, or Raider. The revival ultimate and damage negation make the learning curve on each Nightlord significantly less punishing.

Avoid Recluse and Executor as your first two Nightfarers — both require substantial game knowledge to get value from: Recluse demands elemental cycling awareness and FP discipline; Executor demands parry timing.