Elden Ring: Nightreign introduces eight unique heroes, each with their own abilities, special skills, and ultimate arts. These "Nightfars" offer very different playstyles, suiting a variety of preferences from agile rogues to powerful mages and tanky defenders. Below is a complete overview of each class, based on current gameplay previews and test impressions.

Elden Ring Nightreign Best Class Heroes Ranking

1. Recluse (Mage) - S Tier

Recluse is the mage archetype, starting with a staff and access to sorceries and incantations. With a focus on ranged combat, she’s ideal for those who prefer casting from a distance.

• Passive Ability: Elemental Defense allows her to absorb elemental residues from enemies and recover FP.

• Skill: Magic Cocktail – stores elemental attributes (fire, magic, lightning, holy) from enemies and unleashes special effects after collecting three. These effects vary based on the element combination.

• Ultimate: Soul Blood Song – marks nearby enemies for 10 seconds. While marked, damaging them restores HP and FP to allies.

• Pros: High FP management, strong ranged damage, flexible spellcasting, excellent team support via healing and FP restoration.

• Cons: Fragile, requires learning elemental combos.

Recluse is both a damage dealer and a support. Her complexity lies in managing elemental combinations and staying safe while casting. She's powerful in the right hands and brings a lot of utility to any team. Recluse dominates from a safe distance, supports the team, and has some of the strongest utility in both solo and co-op.

2. Duchess (Agile Assassin) - S Tier

Duchess is a quick, nimble character who trades raw health for faster movement and strategic burst damage. She starts with a magical dagger and excels in coordinated team play.

• Passive Ability: Magnificent Pose grants a unique sidestep dodge and potentially faster attack speed.

• Skill: Restage – re-applies recent damage (from you and allies) to nearby enemies. Devastating when timed with coordinated ultimates.

• Ultimate: Finale – turns Duchess and nearby allies invisible, dropping enemy aggro and allowing stealthy plays or safe revives.

• Pros: High mobility, powerful group utility with Restage, mass invisibility ultimate.

• Cons: Low HP, weaker early game until geared.

Duchess shines in skilled hands. Her mobility and burst potential make her a favorite for high-risk, high-reward playstyles. She starts weak but scales well once paired with better gear and relics. Duchess has exceptional burst potential and group synergy. In the right hands, she can trivialize boss encounters when coordinating with teammates.

3. Wilder (Balanced Fighter) - A Tier

Wilder is the starting hero featured on the game’s box art and a solid all-rounder with durable stats and straightforward mechanics. He begins each run with a greatsword and a buckler shield, making him easy to pick up for newcomers while still offering depth for veterans.

• Passive Ability: Sixth Sense grants a one-time death save, preventing lethal damage once per run or day (pending final mechanics).

• Skill: Claw Shot – a grappling hook that pulls enemies toward you or lets you zip across terrain. It also interrupts light attacks and offers great mobility.

• Ultimate: Onslaught Stake – a powerful close-range explosive strike that deals solid damage and can break enemy stance. Comboing this after a Claw Shot makes for a potent burst.

• Pros: All-around kit, grappling mobility, death-save passive, easy to learn.

• Cons: Ultimate has short range and can whiff.

Wilder benefits from strength-scaling weapons in Elden Ring and is well-suited for players who want a flexible melee approach. His survivability and easy-to-use abilities make him a popular pick, even if he’s not the flashiest. Wilder is great for beginners and remains relevant with strong strength-scaling builds later. Reliable, but not the strongest in any one area.

4. Guardian (Tank) - A Tier

Guardian is the go-to for players who enjoy blocking and absorbing damage rather than dodging. This avian-themed hero starts with a halberd and a great shield, combining high HP and stamina for formidable front-line presence.

• Passive Ability: Plant Feet improves guarding by preventing knockback from heavy blows.

• Skill: Whirlwind – a circular gust of wind that briefly knocks nearby enemies into the air. Useful against mobs but less effective on bosses.

• Ultimate: Wings of Salvation – a dive bomb that damages enemies in an area and raises defenses of nearby allies. Great for crowd control and reviving teammates.

• Pros: High HP and stamina, strong resurrection utility, best survivability.

• Cons: Whirlwind skill underwhelms, low DPS.

While Guardian’s offense is average, his defense and resurrection utility make him invaluable in teams. His skill set fits those who want to anchor fights and support allies under pressure. Guardian is essential in group play for damage soaking and revives, though less exciting in solo runs.

5. Parer (Duelist) - B Tier

Known for a combat style inspired by Sekiro, the Parer is a katana-wielding duelist built around precision and timing. Their gameplay centers on deflecting enemy attacks and punishing with counterstrikes.

• Abilities: Likely includes a parry-based mechanic similar to the "deflecting hard-tier" system from Shadow of the Erdtree.

• Playstyle: High-risk, high-reward. This hero rewards reactive play and mastery of enemy movesets.

• Pros: Precision parry-focused combat, likely high skill ceiling.

• Cons: Unknown ability synergy, reliant on timing.

Not much is known about the full skill set yet, but Parer will likely appeal to players who enjoy technical melee combat and perfect timing. Parer could rise to A or S-tier depending on how well the deflect system is implemented. For now, it’s a wild card.

6. Horned Warrior (Berserker) - B Tier

This mysterious warrior wields a two-handed axe and seems to specialize in powerful, high-impact attacks. Seen leaping into combat from rocks or elevated terrain, they bring brute force to the battlefield.

• Abilities: Not fully known, but trailers show a charged attack and mobility-based leap.

• Playstyle: Likely to favor aggressive, strength-heavy gameplay similar to Wilder but with slower, more devastating strikes.

• Pros: Likely high burst melee damage, leap mobility.

• Cons: Very little detail known, possibly slow and vulnerable.

More details are expected at full release, but the Horned Warrior looks like a frontliner who trades defense for raw power. Promising, but without confirmed abilities, hard to place higher.

7. Archer (Ranged DPS) - C Tier

The Archer is a ranged hero that hasn’t been fully revealed yet but has appeared in trailers and previews. They use a bow more like a third-person shooter, with a unique targeting system that’s smoother than the base game’s aiming mechanics.

• Abilities: Not fully known, but the Archer appears to have a skill that lets them levitate or reposition to avoid danger while attacking from range.

• Playstyle: Ideal for players who prefer staying at a distance and picking off enemies with precision.

We’re still waiting on full details, but the Archer’s focus on mobility and enhanced ranged combat will likely appeal to solo players or those who enjoy sniper-like roles. Archer could be a sleeper hit for ranged play, but until we see real gameplay, it’s hard to rank strongly.

8. Spirit Summoner (Companion Specialist) - C Tier

The final Nightreign hero remains a mystery, but FromSoftware has confirmed they can summon Spirit Ashes – a mechanic not available to other characters.

• Abilities: Expected to center around summoning Spirit Ashes from Elden Ring, possibly with a basic summon and a more powerful ultimate.

• Playstyle: Likely ideal for solo players who want companions to assist them in battle, offering a unique way to manage threats.

• Pros: Only class able to summon Spirit Ashes, likely strong solo.

• Cons: No visuals, no confirmed stats or abilities.

While everything about this class is still under wraps, it may turn out to be the most strategic and support-oriented hero in the lineup. Intriguing concept, but the lack of information keeps it at the bottom for now.