It’s now been three months since Elden Ring: Nightreign received its paid Forsaken Hollows DLC, which added two new Nightfarers, a new map, two new end bosses and a bundle of other new bosses, enemies, and events. And players are starting to get real antsy, wondering when, if ever, another update will arrive…or at least when they’re going to finally get Everdark Heolstor.
Multiple popular Reddit posts this week have expressed frustration at not just no updates, but no news of future updates, coming out of FromSoftware for Nightreign since Forsaken Hollows. As u/Chance_Drive_5906 put it, “It has now been three months since the DLC came out. The last piece of content we got for Nightreign. I think it’s safe to say we aren’t getting anything else and Fromsoft has moved on. The last patch for this game came out almost two months ago as well, so I’m not sure we’ll even see any further balance updates.” The comments below are full of individuals expressing wishes for anything: a cheap DLC pack containing a new nightfarer, some new weapons, a boss, just something.
What players seem to want most is Everdark Heolstor. Heolstor is the alternative name for the Nightlord, the effective “final boss” of Nightreign. You can battle him normally, of course, but there’s no Everdark variant. Everdark variants are super-powered up versions of existing bosses that become available to challenge three at a time, and rotate in and out every few weeks. So for instance, today is the last day for Gnoster, Caligo, and Libra’s Everdark forms, which means that tomorrow three different bosses’ Everdark forms will be available to fight. Everdark bosses give more powerful rewards than regular bosses, but they’re much harder to beat, with additional phases to their fights and far more punishing attacks. Currently, only Heolstar and the Dreglord, the final boss of the Forsaken Hollows DLC, are missing Everdark forms, leading fans to speculate that they’ll eventually be added. One fan wanted to see Everdark Heolstor so much, they took their request to an AEW show.
But apart from Everdark Heolstor, most fans are just hopeful for a crumb of confirmation that more content for Nightreign is on the way. Nightreign is a somewhat unusual game in that it’s clearly intended to be played as a long-term, ongoing, cooperative experience. But unlike most other AAA games of that category, it’s a premium-priced experience, and doesn’t get updates on a weekly or monthly basis to keep free-to-play players spending money on microtransactions. The result is almost certainly a healthier experience for everyone, but it does mean that at a certain point, the adventuring starts to get a bit repetitive. And that’s even with the Deep of Night addition, which essentially offers an “endless” mode of increasing difficulty and more powerful rewards.
Elden Ring: Nightreign’s most recent update was on January 15, but it was just a balance patch. At the end of those patch notes, Bandai Namco concludes with the line, “Further updates will be distributed in the future for you to continue to enjoy ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN more comfortably.” Some fans are so hungry for more Nightreign, they’re clinging to that line as a sign there’s more to come, even though it’s likely nothing more than a promise to keep patching as needed.
Will there eventually be another content update for Nightreign? Truly, no one knows but FromSoftware and Bandai Namco. Nightreign is certainly a game that could take continued updates in the form of new Nightfarers, new bosses, and new maps. But given how weird an experiment Nightreign was to begin with, it wouldn’t be shocking for FromSoftware to move on and focus its energies on its next multiplayer project, Duskbloods.
Personally, I’d just settle for some more outfits to spend my Murk on. Can I get a Ranni outfit for the Recluse, please?
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
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