Last updated: 5 September 2026

Elden Ring Nightreign Nightlord Boss Guide All 8 Bosses

Nightlords are the final bosses of each expedition in Elden Ring Nightreign — the co-op roguelike spin-off from FromSoftware and Bandai Namco released May 30, 2025. Each three-day expedition culminates in a Nightlord encounter on Day 3, with the specific boss determined by the expedition type chosen at the start of the run. The base game features eight Nightlords, and the Forsaken Hollows DLC adds two more. This guide covers all eight base-game Nightlords: the expedition that leads to them, their elemental weaknesses, key attack patterns to watch for, and phase-two survival priorities. Boss mechanics can change with patches — cross-check the Bandai Namco patch notes for your current version.

01How Nightlord Fights Work

Nightlord fights are multi-phase encounters that begin immediately after a Day 3 cutscene. Each fight follows a structure:

• Phase one: The Nightlord uses its core moveset. Damage output and attack speed are at baseline.
• Phase transition: At a specific HP threshold, a cutscene or dramatic shift triggers — most Nightlords transform around 50% HP, though it varies by boss (Gladius transforms earlier, at 75% HP; Heolstor later, at roughly 60% HP; and Libra has no HP-threshold transformation at all — see its entry below). The Nightlord typically becomes faster, gains new attacks, and may change its elemental properties.
• Phase two: The Nightlord's full moveset is active. Many fatal attacks appear only in phase two — learning the specific tells for each boss's most dangerous phase-two move is the primary learning objective for first-time clears.
• Stagger system: Nightlords have a poise bar that can be broken through sustained heavy attacks, colossal weapon strikes, and Raider's Totem Stela. A staggered Nightlord is briefly opened for a critical hit — coordinate stagger windows in trio for maximum damage.

Night's Tide does not shrink during the Nightlord arena — the fight space is fixed. You should not need to track the boundary once the boss fight begins.

02Gladius, Beast of Night — Tricephalos Expedition

Gladius is a three-headed beast and the first Nightlord most players encounter, tied to the Tricephalos expedition. It serves as an introduction to Nightlord pacing and telegraph-based attacks.

• Weakness: Holy damage (takes roughly double damage) — also has some vulnerability to Sleep buildup.
• Key phase-one pattern: Wide claw swipes that track your position for two to three hits before stopping. Do not roll immediately — let the combo complete two hits and then dodge the third.
• Phase transition (at 75% HP): Gladius bursts into a fireball and splits into three separate wolves before reforming — this is a visual spectacle, not a vulnerable window. It comes back with a fire-infused sword and two new attacks.
• Phase-two change: The Sword Slam Blast has Gladius impale its sword into the ground after jumping, throwing flame blasts around the arena — time your rolls to the blasts, or reposition behind Gladius while it's airborne to avoid them. It also drives its burning sword into the ground and pulls it back out to send a fire wave forward; roll toward Gladius (into the attack) as the sword is pulled out rather than backing away.
• Preparation: Any weapon with Holy infusion or Holy damage scaling significantly shortens this fight. If running a fire or lightning build, expect longer time to kill.

03Adel, Baron of Night — Gaping Jaw Expedition

Adel is highly resistant to most damage types and requires either Poison status accumulation or persistent elemental pressure to kill efficiently. New players who stumble into this expedition with an unprepared build will find the fight frustratingly long.

• Weakness: Poison buildup is the primary damage mechanism — once Poisoned, Adel pauses to expel the poison from its mouth, giving you a free damage window.
• Resistance: Resistant to Lightning and, to a lesser degree, Fire. Standard physical damage types (Standard, Slash, Strike, Pierce) and Magic/Holy pass through without special resistance, but they're also not a weakness — Poison buildup is what actually opens the fight up.
• Key pattern: Lightning Rush — Adel's jaw begins to crackle with lightning as it rushes forward in a straight line, then bites upward at the end. Once you see the jaw start to spark, move to the side to let the rush pass rather than trying to out-run it.
• Preparation: Weapons that apply Poison (Rotten Greataxe, Venomous Fang, or any bow with Poison arrows) accelerate this fight dramatically. Recluse's Magic Cocktail does not have a Poison option (its elemental residues are Fire, Magic, Lightning, and Holy), so pair her with a teammate running a dedicated Poison weapon instead.

04Gnoster, Wisdom of Night — Sentient Pest Expedition

Gnoster is a dual-creature boss — two separate enemies sharing a single health pool fight simultaneously throughout the encounter: Gnoster itself (a flying moth) and Faurtis Stoneshield (a scorpion-like creature). They do not take turns; both are active from the start.

• Weakness: Fire damage.
• Phase one: Gnoster (moth) attacks aerially with magical projectiles, poison mist, and orbital beams. Faurtis (scorpion) attacks on the ground with pincer strikes, stomps, and charges. Both deal damage simultaneously — split attention between managing the aerial projectiles and the ground creature's melee.
• Phase transition (at ~50% shared HP): Gnoster descends and lands on Faurtis Stoneshield's head. The two creatures now move and attack in coordination, launching combined charges while simultaneously releasing projectiles. This window has a long animation — use it for free damage.
• Phase two: The combined creature attacks faster and uses both the scorpion's melee patterns and the moth's projectile patterns in sequence. There is no form change with separate elemental resistances — Fire remains the primary weakness throughout.
• Preparation: A fire-primary weapon is effective throughout the full fight. Positioning to hit both creatures simultaneously when possible makes the most of the shared health pool.

05Maris, Fathom of Night — Augur Expedition

Maris is considered one of the more frustrating Nightlords for melee-focused Nightfarers because the boss spends significant time airborne and at range, making consistent damage application difficult.

• Weakness: Lightning damage — Maris is highly vulnerable to it, and Lightning damage during its Hypnosis channel (below) is enough to interrupt the cast.
• Key pattern: Maris frequently soars into the air and fires ranged attacks — jellyfish swarms and exploding water droplets — while also using close-range water rushes and cyclones when it drops back down. The ranged spread is wide but telegraphed — move perpendicular to the line of attack rather than directly away.
• Hypnosis (watch for this specifically): Maris curls into a ball and channels a spell that builds Sleep on nearby players; a full Sleep proc can do near-lethal damage. Punish the channel immediately with attacks to interrupt it rather than waiting it out.
• Phase-two change: Maris flies higher and attacks more often — expect more jellyfish summons and more of the exploding water-droplet barrage. Keep pressure on it during any grounded window rather than trying to fight it purely at range.
• Preparation: Ironeye's ranged kit (Lion Greatbow, Single Shot) is the most naturally suited for Maris because it can damage the boss during airborne phases where melee cannot reach. Equip Lightning-infused weapons for any Nightfarer.

06Libra, Creature of Night — Equilibrious Beast Expedition

Libra is a defensive-oriented Nightlord with notable resistance to Magic damage. Unlike most other Nightlords, Libra does not have a traditional HP-threshold second phase — it uses the same attack strings (staff combos, ground-erupting light glyphs, and Frenzied Flame AoEs) throughout the entire fight rather than transforming partway through.

• Weakness: Holy damage (primary elemental weakness, takes roughly double damage), Fire damage (secondary), and light Slash vulnerability.
• Resistance: Magic damage is notably reduced. Standard, Strike, and Pierce physical damage are neutral.
• Madness buildup: Libra can be inflicted with Madness like any other target. Doing so doesn't burst it for extra damage — instead it forces Libra into a "Shield of Madness" meditative stance where it drops its dangerous glyph/light spells and falls back on basic quarterstaff swings, which is a real DPS opening even though it isn't a damage proc.
• Key pattern: Libra's quarterstaff combos are rollable, but the Rain of Light and Glyph of Light attacks summon delayed AoE projections on the ground — get off the marked tile before the glyph erupts rather than rolling through it.
• Preparation: Holy-infused weapons or incantations are the most reliable damage option throughout. Madness-inflicting gear is worth bringing to force the melee-only opening, but treat it as a utility play rather than a burst-damage source.

07Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow — Darkdrift Knight Expedition

Fulghor is widely considered the most mechanically demanding Nightlord in the base game. The fight is characterised by extremely fast startup frames on most attacks and a boss that moves continuously around the arena striking with multiple swords.

• Weakness: Lightning damage — Fulghor is extremely weak to it, and a well-timed Lightning hit can even stagger it out of its lance-channel attacks.
• Key pattern: Fulghor's signature flurry is a three-hit lance combo — it swings its lance side to side three times, with the final swing following a quick turn that catches players who dodge too early. Roll through it with the timing on the third hit, or reposition — blocking is possible but exhausts stamina rapidly.
• Phase transition (at 50% HP): Fulghor's left arm bursts from its body as it leaps into the air and slams the ground on landing, opening phase two.
• Phase-two change: The new left arm adds Poison to Fulghor's kit — a sweeping strike across its left side that releases a Poison cloud (which can chain into repeat swings), plus a medium-range Poison fling around its body often followed by a ground-slam shockwave. Bring Poison resistance or Neutralising Boluses into phase two.
• Preparation: Fulghor is the expedition that rewards practice over optimised builds. Learn the three-hit lance combo tell first. Wylder's Sixth Sense passive provides one free mistake per day, making this boss significantly more learnable for newer players.

08Caligo, Miasma of Night — Fissure in the Fog Expedition

Caligo is a status-resistant, ice-elemental dragon that fights from within its own fog. Most status effects (Bleed, Scarlet Rot, Madness, Poison, Frostbite, Sleep) require very high buildup or don't apply at all, making direct elemental damage the primary offensive strategy.

• Weakness: Fire damage.
• Resistance: All status effects require significantly more buildup than against other Nightlords — Madness is a full immune, and Frostbite/Sleep thresholds are extremely high.
• Key pattern: The fog isn't a damage zone to avoid standing in — Caligo uses it as cover, blanketing the arena to obscure vision and then retreating before unleashing its actual attack (an ice field crash or a wide freezing mist wave). Treat the fog itself as a warning, not a hazard, and be ready to dodge the ice attack that follows it.
• Phase-two change: Caligo becomes airborne more often, mixing dives with ice projectiles and multiple icy vortices, and its attacks hit harder — don't overextend once phase two starts.
• Preparation: Fire-infused weapons perform best here. Recluse's Magic Cocktail Fire affinity and fire incantations both maintain good damage output throughout.

09Heolstor, the Nightlord — Night Aspect Expedition

Heolstor is the true final boss of Elden Ring Nightreign and the most complete combat challenge in the base game. The fight has two phases with shifting elemental resistances and a moveset that demands knowledge of multiple attack types.

• Weakness: Holy damage in phase one, remaining a strong option throughout; Lightning damage becomes equally effective once phase two begins.
• Phase-one moveset: Heolstor uses wide melee swings with long reach and delayed follow-up hits that punish early rolls. Wait for the full combo to end — typically three to four hits — before counterattacking.
• Phase transition: At approximately 60% HP, Heolstor flies into the air and tears a rift in the sky, opening phase two. This transition window is safe but brief — deal damage during it without overextending.
• Phase-two moveset: Heolstor gains access to Night-element attacks that deal heavy damage and can one-shot lower-HP Nightfarers. The Night Aspect's tell is a dark aura that builds around its weapon before release — dodge immediately when you see the aura begin.
• Elemental resistance shift: Holy stays a strong option in phase two, but Lightning becomes an equally good supplemental damage source — bring one of the two rather than relying on Fire, which loses its phase-one edge once phase two starts.
• Preparation: Heolstor rewards running your strongest possible build rather than expedition-tailoring. The Night Aspect expedition is unlocked after clearing other Nightlords first — use the experience from earlier encounters to prepare your relic loadout and weapon choice.

In trio play, Duchess's Finale (obscures the team from tracking) is particularly effective at the phase-two transition — it provides a safe window for the whole team to apply damage without Heolstor targeting anyone.

10General Nightlord Preparation Tips

These tips apply to every Nightlord regardless of which expedition you are on:

• Know the elemental weakness before the fight. Check the expedition type before confirming your expedition and ensure your primary weapon or build addresses the Nightlord's weakness. A weapon that deals the wrong element type can extend the fight by several minutes.
• Never enter Day 3 with less than three Sacred Flasks. Use Crimson Tears during Days 1 and 2 conservatively — flask count does not reset between days, only between expeditions.
• Break poise when possible. All Nightlords can be staggered. Raider and Wylder with colossal weapons apply the most consistent poise damage. Coordinating a stagger window in trio for a critical hit can remove 15–20% of the Nightlord's HP in one burst.
• Learn the first three attacks before committing offensively. Every first encounter with a new Nightlord should start with observation. Identify the most dangerous attack before trying to maximise DPS.
• Phase transitions are safe — use them. The cutscene or dramatic pause when a Nightlord enters phase two is almost always a free-damage window. Apply damage immediately rather than waiting to re-learn the fight from a neutral position.