One of Elden Ring's greatest strengths lies in its diverse playstyles, and my personal favorite involves maxing Strength stats, wielding colossal weapons, and demolishing enemies with staggering jump attacks and charged heavy strikes. If this resonates with you, let me present Nightreign's Raider (demonstrated in the video below).
Unlike the Guardian—another sturdy class specializing in massive weapons and high HP but leaning into defense with shield-based tactics and team-wide damage reduction—the Raider emerges as an unrivaled offensive force.
The Raider’s standout ability, Retaliate, may seem underwhelming at first—just two stomps dealing modest physical and poise damage. However, its true power comes from the Raider’s passive: complete knockdown immunity during execution. This transforms Retaliate into a free damage-absorption tool, allowing you to tank almost any enemy or boss attack while countering with a devastating punch that staggers even towering foes—provided you block a high-damage hit.
Then there’s the ultimate ability, Totem Stela, where the Raider summons a massive totem by slamming the ground, dealing AoE damage. Like all Nightreign ultimates, this game-changing move not only inflicts heavy damage but also creates a climbable structure for tactical positioning. It even grants a team-wide damage buff, making it a priority for coordinated attacks.
Among all Nightreign classes, the Raider delivered my most exhilarating gameplay experience.
The class starts with the Raider’s Greavtaxe—a reliable fire-damage weapon featuring the "Endure" skill as a backup when Retaliate is cooling down. Still, upgrading to heavier Strength-scaling weapons becomes essential as challenges escalate.
Without question, the Raider stands out as Nightreign's most thrilling class for me. Optimized for solo combat, its Remembrance quests (to be detailed later) pit you against one-on-one arena boss fights—a refreshing dynamic shift.
This concludes our Nightreign class previews, but stay tuned throughout the month for deep dives into gameplay mechanics, developer interviews, and more as IGN First continues.
