Elden Ring Nightreign POI guide – the best order to tackle locations on Night One and Night Two

Nightreign is all about efficiency. You learn over repeated runs which bosses to tackle, which to avoid, and what to prioritise before night comes and you’re forced toward the big encounter. After playing for over 50 hours before launch, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what you should tackle and when, so I’ll break it down below. 

The POI locations are somewhat randomised each run, and so are the closing zones, which means you still have to make your plans on the fly. Otherwise, it’d be as simple as doing half of the map per day. Here’s what you should prioritise. 

Elden Ring Nightreign max level 

Each day is approximately 15 minutes long, which means you have 30 minutes to hit the level cap of level 15. You should know if you’re on the right track or a cursed run by the end of Day One. A bad Day One will leave you on level 6 after the boss fight. A good Day One will leave you on level 10. 

Nightreign Day One

Day one is all about building strength and ideally getting maximum flask charges and a level 2 Smithing Stone. You’ll usually land at a small, unmarked camp, which you should always quickly clear out as a team. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to use the nearby Grace to level up once, making the next battle much easier. From there, you should start heading to the churches, fighting any world bosses you come across and killing POI bosses along the way, while avoiding any bosses that take too long, such as Bell Bearing Hunter and Ancestor Spirit. I repeat: do not fight Bell Bearing Hunter or Ancestor Spirit on Day One. 

On both days, keep an eye out for scarabs, which grant useful artifacts when killed. You can also hear them twinkling if you keep an ear out, and the Forts usually have intel to mark them on your map. Make sure to share these out depending on each player’s character – crits for Dex builds, FP for mages, etc. 

Ideally, you’ll also head into a Tunnel Entrance before the zone starts coming in. Beeline for the boss in the middle (often a troll) and kill it for a Smithing Stone 2. Unless you’re sure, you should keep this on you until the anvil before the final boss after Day Two to ensure you’re happy with the weapon you want to improve.

It’s also worth raiding some forts, which often have Evergoal keys in a chest halfway up, as well as treasure intel. 

Once the zone closes, just do as much as you can within the safe circle and kill as many bosses as possible, working from the edge inwards – prioritise locations with affinities attached to them for the end boss’s weakness. For example, when going up against the final boss, Night Aspect, you want to raid locations with a Holy affinity, as the location boss will drop holy weapons, giving you an edge in the final battle. Hitting the final boss of the expedition with his weakness builds up stagger, giving you a big advantage. 

Day One priorities, from most important to least:

• Churches
• Mine
• World Bosses
• Forts
• Evergoals
• Main Encampments
• Ruins

Avoid on Day One: 

• Castle
• The Crater
• The Mountaintop
• Rotted Woods
• Noklateo, the Shrouded City

Nightreign Day Two

If you’ve done well, you’ll be around level 10 by the start of Day Two, which means you’re ready for some of Nightreign’s bigger challenges. If there’s an Earth Shift – The Crater, The Mountaintop, Rotted Woods, or Noklateo, the Shrouded City – you should immediately head for them for many bosses and some of the best rewards. Otherwise, it’s time to clear out the castle. 

The best thing to do at the castle is to drop down and go in via the underground entrance. Here you’ll find a boss in a small dungeon. Beat the boss and head through the door that opens up, leading to a chest with a guaranteed accessory. Then you can clear out the rest of the castle for lots of runes. The enemies at the castle are randomised from a pool of three. 

Skip clearing the top of the castle if you see (or hear) pot-throwing trolls. They’re just not worth the hassle. Occasionally, the castle is filled with Crucible Knights, which is the best-case scenario. With three players, they go down quickly and easily on Day Two and give you tens of thousands of runes per kill, with only a couple of minutes spent on each. 

Day Two priorities, from most important to least: 

• Noklateo, the Shrouded City
• Rotted Woods
• The Mountaintop
• The Crater
• Castle
• World Bosses
• Evergoals
• Forts
• Encampments
• Ruins

Now you've got that down, check out our Ironeye Nightreign guide, Guardian Nightreign guide, Executor Nightreign guide, and Wylder Nightreign guide.