By Elie Gould

Copyright pcgamer

Skip to main content

Close main menu

THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES

View Profile

Search PC Gamer

PC Gaming Show

Movies & TV

Affiliate links

Meet the team

Community guidelines

About PC Gamer

PC Gamer Magazine Subscription

Why subscribe?

Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming mag
Try a single issue or save on a subscription
Issues delivered straight to your door or device

From£35.99Subscribe now

Battlefield 6
Essential Hardware
Borderlands 4

Don’t miss these

Elden Ring Nightreign dataminers have uncovered plans for a new endless mode with Armored Core 6’s rank system and skill-based matchmaking

Oh no, I’ve been playing a tutorial for 55 hours: Elden Ring Nightreign’s Everdark Sovereigns aren’t just a health and damage boost, the Gaping Jaw’s got all-new mechanics to lay us flat

FromSoftware scrambles for content to keep Elden Ring Nightreign players interested as it announces the return of the first three Everdark Nightlords

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a new ‘high difficulty mode’ in September, including an ‘endless battle for those seeking even greater thrills’

Elden Ring Nightreign’s latest patch has made it impossible for greedy teammates to farm extra runes after the second-day boss, which is music to my ears

The most anticipated Everdark Sovereigns are coming to Elden Ring Nightreign in just two weeks, and I hope it’ll hurt

FromSoftware to make the most brutal boss in Elden Ring Nightreign even harder, as Fulghor gets picked to be the next Everdark Sovereign

Sorry haters, Elden Ring Nightreign’s much maligned new Everdark boss is its best yet

Elden Ring Nightreign’s newest Everdark Sovereign Augur, manages to break the fourth wall by sending me to sleep in the game and in real life

15 attempts in, I actually love that Elden Ring Nightreign’s Everdark Libra is the first FromSoftware boss who’s harder to beat in co-op than solo

I played Elden Ring Nightreign for goofy co-op shenanigans, but wound up punched in my feelings by the Revenant’s remembrance questline

The best part of Elden Ring Nightreign’s latest patch isn’t Duo Expeditions, it’s the update to sorting and selecting relics

Elden Ring Nightreign’s Sentient Pest is the second Everdark boss to fall short of expectations set by Gaping Jaw: ‘There’s almost no challenge’

An absolute Elden Ring madlad just soloed Nightreign’s most-hated boss at level 1 with the power of Sekiro parries

Elden Ring Nightreign’s first enhanced boss just dropped out of nowhere, and there’s an extremely useful new NPC too

Elden Ring: Nightreign

After 170 hours of Elden Ring Nightreign its new, increasingly evil Deep of Night mode has managed to hook me in again

Elie Gould

11 September 2025

More of the same with a bit extra is good.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

I’ve been hyping myself up for Elden Ring Nightreign’s Deep of Night mode ever since it was uncovered by dataminers a month ago. It’s not like I need an excuse to play, but running through Nightlords and Everdark Sovereigns was starting to get tedious. I wanted a new challenge, and what better than a ranked “endless mode”?

Deep of Night isn’t endless in the sense that you just keep going day after day until you die, but it is endless in the sense that you rank up or down depending on whether you win a run, and then your progress affects your rank, which you can keep working towards.

(Image credit: FromSoftware)
It’s largely more of the same, with the two-day expedition followed by Nightlord finale, the same maps, and the same kinds of enemies that inhabit them. The main differences lie in how strong these enemies can get and what kind of weapons you can find around the map.

Related Articles

Elden Ring Nightreign dataminers have uncovered plans for a new endless mode with Armored Core 6’s rank system and skill-based matchmaking

Oh no, I’ve been playing a tutorial for 55 hours: Elden Ring Nightreign’s Everdark Sovereigns aren’t just a health and damage boost, the Gaping Jaw’s got all-new mechanics to lay us flat

FromSoftware scrambles for content to keep Elden Ring Nightreign players interested as it announces the return of the first three Everdark Nightlords

Not only do the regular grunts hit harder now, but there are souped-up versions of enemies called mutants with a bloody-red tinge to them. They’re yet another step up from what players are used to, but fighting them is worth it because of what they drop: weapons with additional and more powerful effects.

I picked up a composite bow, which gave me improved sorceries and a 28% increase in damage negation, while others have granted me effects like glintblades and a range increase.
Getting two buffs does come in handy when facing up against stronger foes, but FromSoft isn’t handing out party favours; these new weapons also come with debuffs. Reduced flask HP restoration, a hit to your FP meter, and a decrease in damage negation whilst using a flask. It’s important to take a look at what you’re picking up in case you get a particularly harsh penalty.

(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Another advantage that Deep of Night grants players is dishing out Depths Relics alongside regular relics at the end of each run as a reward. These grant additional effects that aren’t found in the base game, and therefore can’t be used in regular runs. But like the new weapons, these also come with debuffs (because we can’t have anything nice).

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
One relic I got granted me improved sorceries, but reduced dexterity and faith. Another granted improved lightning damage negation, but taking damage causes blood loss buildup. And a third improved vigour and strength for Ironeye, but reduced dexterity.

Deep of Night seems like a mode that’ll only get more interesting and harder the more time you spend with it.
There’s also “dormant powers” attached to relics, which can grant new items like Opaline Hardtears at the start of the expedition or allow players to discover more of a certain weapon type like Great Hammers.
My first couple of runs saw me face up against Tricephalos and Gaping Jaw, but there is a possibility that you’ll have to face up against an Everdark Sovereign, as you don’t pick your Nightlord; it’s anyone’s guess as to who you’re going to have to fight. (Although given the surprising lack of actual randomness in Nightreign’s map seeds, perhaps the same will end up applying to Deep of Night, too).
Deep of Night isn’t that different from what I’ve come to expect from regular expeditions at its early stages, but it’s not really meant to be. It’s a mode that’ll scale in difficulty as you progress through the Depths (ranks), encountering harder enemies and Nightlords as you go.

(Image credit: FromSoftware)
You can’t pick which Nightlord you’re facing up against, but at the lower ranks, you’ll at least be able to see who you’re fighting on the third day when you enter the hero select menu and on the map, so you can gather weapons and effects accordingly. At higher ratings, however, there may be roadblocks like not knowing which Nightlord you’re facing up against or not having points of interest show up on the map.
Nightreign has managed to almost entirely captivate me since it was released a few months ago. But despite loving my time with it, expeditions did start to go stale as my friends and I ripped through all the Nightlords and Everdark Sovereigns we came up against; fights just didn’t have the same kick as they used to. But Deep of Night seems like a mode that’ll only get more interesting and harder the more time you spend with it, which is exactly the right direction to take a game that’s now got a pretty hardened and experienced playerbase.

Elden Ring Nightreign tips – Start your run right
Nightreign tier list – The best nightfarers
Best Nightreign rune farm route – Level up fast
Best Nightreign team comps – Squad goals
Nightreign best relics – The rite stuff
Nightreign bosses list – Every Nightlord
Nightreign Remembrances – All character quests

FromSoftware

News Writer

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they’re not screaming or hiding, there’s a good chance you’ll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Elden Ring Nightreign dataminers have uncovered plans for a new endless mode with Armored Core 6’s rank system and skill-based matchmaking

Oh no, I’ve been playing a tutorial for 55 hours: Elden Ring Nightreign’s Everdark Sovereigns aren’t just a health and damage boost, the Gaping Jaw’s got all-new mechanics to lay us flat

FromSoftware scrambles for content to keep Elden Ring Nightreign players interested as it announces the return of the first three Everdark Nightlords

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a new ‘high difficulty mode’ in September, including an ‘endless battle for those seeking even greater thrills’

Elden Ring Nightreign’s latest patch has made it impossible for greedy teammates to farm extra runes after the second-day boss, which is music to my ears

The most anticipated Everdark Sovereigns are coming to Elden Ring Nightreign in just two weeks, and I hope it’ll hurt

Latest in RPG

CDPR returns to the fridge for one more Cyberpunk patch, somehow makes its autodrive less berserk while also making it ignore traffic lights

Elden Ring Nightreign’s latest patch has made it impossible for greedy teammates to farm extra runes after the second-day boss, which is music to my ears

Help! I’ve been transported back in time to the days of Flash, Miniclip, and Adventure Quest by this charming little ’90s-inspired RPG

Swen Vincke had to tell Baldur’s Gate 3 writers to tone it down with the poop-based insults, which is saying a lot, since I still count at least 17 scat-based Vicious Mockery voicelines

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 added a new secret happy(ish) ending for people who straight-up solo an entire enemy army

Bloodlines 2 narrative director tries to get players to lower their expectations, patiently explains it’s not going to have the scale of Baldur’s Gate 3 or Grand Theft Auto

Latest in Features

After 170 hours of Elden Ring Nightreign its new, increasingly evil Deep of Night mode has managed to hook me in again

7 new cozy games with autumnal aesthetics that you won’t want to miss this season

I’m already in love with this eerie low poly delivery game that feels like Silent Hill meets Animal Crossing meets DoorDash

Hack ‘n’ slash action roguelite Morbid Metal instantly hooked me when I played it at Gamescom, and now I can’t wait to play more

Borderlands 4 live launch coverage: are you ready to loot 30 billion guns?

‘It would have damaged us forever’: After the calamitous cancellation of Football Manager 25, what does FM26 need to deliver?

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES
LATEST GAME REVIEWS

Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming

Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC

Best graphics cards in 2025: I’ve tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today’s top cards

Best gaming chair in 2025: I’ve tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I’d suggest for any PC gamer

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Asus ProArt Case PA401 review

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI gaming laptop review

LiberNovo Omni gaming chair review

Naya Create review

Caput Mortum is a fantastic, bite-sized horror game

PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Contact Future’s experts

Terms and conditions

Privacy policy

Cookies policy

Advertise with us

Accessibility Statement

Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury,

BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait…