Shifting Earth events are a crucial feature in Elden Ring Nightreign, as the conditions imposed, as well as your party's drive to get close to them, can make or break a match if you're not careful.

If you're confused by the ominous messages on screen when you boot up the game and enter the Roundtable Hold--or the sudden environmental changes on a map--don't worry. This guide covers how Shifting Earth events work and what to expect from their presence.

What is a Shifting Earth event in Elden Ring Nightreign?

In Elden Ring Nightreign, you might spot a notification saying that the earth has shifted. Shifting Earth events are temporary changes to the Limveld map that add entirely new areas. They have a specific theme, which can involve puzzles and special enemies. Getting through these emerging regions can be hard, especially if you're trying to tackle them on the first day of an expedition, but the rewards are quite rare, which makes it worth the effort.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign matchmaking isn't as simple as pressing a button and letting the game take care of everything. That's especially true if you're looking to tackle specific fights against the Night Lords, or want to play with people from other regions.

In addition to how to play solo and multiplayer, there are a few matchmaking rules that aren't explained in too much detail. If you're only getting your bearings around the game, the process might lead to some frustrations. Fear not, though, as we'll explain everything you need to know about how matchmaking works in Elden Ring Nightreign.

How Elden Ring Nightreign matchmaking works

At its core, matchmaking in Elden Ring Nightregin is fairly straightforward. Interacting with the Table of Lost Grace at the Roundtable Hold opens up the Expeditions menu. From there, you can select which boss you want to tackle and immediately start matchmaking, which will search for two other available players who are on the same hunt as you are.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign's Equilibrious Beast, Libra, overwhelms with speed and ferocity, weaving multiple attack patterns together and building madness with almost every hit. Unlike some Night Lord bosses, Libra has methods of controlling most of the battle arena, even if its attention is locked to one character. Mobility and well-timed uses of ultimate abilities are key to winning this fight.

Our Elden Ring Nightreign Equilibrious Beast boss guide breaks down Libra's attacks and weaknesses, with some recommendations for the best team combinations to tackle the fight with.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Should you make a deal with the Scale-Bearing Merchant?

Should you make a deal with the Scale-Bearing Merchant?Pro tip: It's never worth giving up levels for a random weapon.

Whether you should make a deal with Libra depends on the offer. Some have negative effects that make the fight more challenging than it needs to be, such as giving Libra greater damage resistance or reviving the boss after defeat. Others are less problematic. When I played as the Recluse, for example, I had the choice to improve Incantation or magic power at the cost of a sorcery type I wasn't using or by giving Libra stronger spell-casting power. Just make sure to read the description so you know what you're getting.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Runes are the key to going on successful expeditions in Elden Ring Nightreign. They are required to level up your character every time you go on a new expedition, and you can also use them to purchase useful items during your runs, such as Smithing Stones. However, despite the constant need for runes in Nightreign, your sources for getting them are pretty limited. You can kill enemies and bosses, open chests, and that's about it.

Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks that you'll want to know about Nightreign rune farming. This allows you to level up to the fullest extent for expedition boss fights and perhaps buy some crucial items before those fights.

How to get Runes in Elden Ring Nightreign

First off, let's talk about the basic process of acquiring runes in Nightreign. Like in the original Elden Ring, you acquire runes every time an enemy or boss dies. When they die, the runes are automatically added to your total stack, which you can track by looking at the top part of your screen or in your inventory.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign's Recluse puts a unique spin on FromSoft's magic builds. She's a self-sufficient magic caster who can maintain her own FP without using items and whose spell choice determines what additional abilities she can use. There's an additional layer of challenge with her Magic Cocktail that relies almost entirely on random luck with item drops, though, so even with good planning and skill, you might not be able to make full use of her kit in every expedition.

Our Elden Ring Nightreign Recluse guide explains how to play Recluse and lists all her Magic Cocktail combinations. Be sure to also check out our look at the best Elden Ring Nightreign classes.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Recluse abilities and starting armaments

Recluse abilities and starting armamentsThe Recluse is the only character who can recover FP.

The Recluse's kit is, unsurprisingly, built around magic and absorbing elemental affinities to cast stronger spells. Magic Cocktail is the most important part of the Recluse's skillset, as it restores her FP and gives her access to a broad variety of offensive and support spells, from fiery explosions to auras that raise everyone's maximum HP.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Unlocking Elden Ring Nightreign's rise towers requires you to find a crest, but Nightreign isn't in a hurry to show you what those crests look like or how to break them. It's worth fitting at least one rise into your expeditions when you can, though. Unlocking their barrier gives you easy, boss-free access to a potentially rare armament for your collection.

Our Elden Ring Nightreign crest guide explains how to find and unlock the crest and what types of obstacles you might find along the way.

How to find and break a crestThe most common crest type is under a shrub or in the tower's small pond.

Rises are the towers marked on Nightreign's map, and each expedition's layout has at least two. These are usually near the edge of the map, though, so you'll want to access them early on the first or second night, before the rain circle starts to close in. (We've got a dedicated guide on where to go first in Nightreign to help you out.) Each rise's second floor is blocked by a magical obstruction with a message that tells you to find a crest.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign's Smithing Stones are what you need to upgrade weapons, the same as in Elden Ring but as we mentioned in our Nightreign tips guide, finding these items works a bit differently than you might be used to. Basic stones come from a few locations, but stones for stronger weapons only have a specific area where they drop. There's also no upgrade stone higher than Smithing Stone 2. You just need a lot of them to max out a weapon's potential.

Our Elden Ring Nightreign Smithing Stone guide explains how to upgrade weapons and where to find both types of Smithing Stone. We've also got a guide on where to go first.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Where to find Smithing Stones in Nightreign

Where to find Smithing Stones in NightreignMerchants set up shop across Limveld.

Basic Smithing Stones, the brown-ish colored ones, have a moderate chance of dropping from enemies or popping out of a chest, though you can also spend 6,000 Runes to buy one from a merchant. Merchants are dotted around the map, usually near the castle and at a handful of camps. Use the "overview" option when your map is out to see specific locations. The hooded person icon indicates a merchant's location.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign's Revenant is the last class you unlock and one of the most challenging to learn. She's a magic specialist with no way to regularly cast magic, an arcane character who doesn't handle dexterity-scaling weapons like katanas well, and a summons character who can, in the right circumstances, carry your team in close combat. There's a lot to contend with when you're using the Revenant, though with some careful selection, you can make her a potent fighter even without the ideal build.

Our Elden Ring Nightreign Revenant guide explains how to unlock the Revenant, how her abilities work, and which weapons and magic you should try to find for her. Be sure to also check out our look at the best Elden Ring Nightreign classes.

Table of Contents [hide]

• How to unlock the Revenant

How to unlock the RevenantKeep completing expeditions, and the Revenant will eventually turn up in the Hold.

The Revenant becomes available sometime after defeating your first Night Lord and unlocking the Duchess. The actual timing seems random, but if you keep completing expeditions--solo or in multiplayer, ending in success or failure--she'll eventually turn up in Roundtable Hold. Check the map after each expedition. When you see an exclamation mark outside the main hall, that'll be the Revenant.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign's Incantations and magic don't usually drop the way normal weapons and items do. Spells almost always come from fixed locations and are much less likely to drop from bosses and lesser enemies, so if you're running a Recluse, Revenant, or even Duchess, making it a point to visit these locations before the third night is essential.

This Elden Ring Nightreign guide explains where to find Incantations, seals, magic, and staves, and why it's often best to take what you find even if the spells aren't that great.

Where to find Incantations and sealsA comparatively weak boss is always in the chamber opposite this shrine.

Incantations are equally as rare and only have three fixed places, one of which isn't even marked on the map with an icon. Incantations are guaranteed to drop in the hidden shrine under cathedrals, though not every cathedral has one. In our experience, only the ones with fire monks or ghostly soldiers have underground chambers. Cathedrals with a golem inside or a squad of Oracle Envoys usually have nothing underneath, but there will be a corner on the ground floor with a small shrine that contains seals.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

There are a few different ways you can customize your character during an expedition in Elden Ring Nightreign, but there's only one method to use while you're at the Roundtable Hold. Relics are the primary form of build customization when you're gearing up for an expedition, and they allow you to bestow certain abilities and buffs onto your character. However, Relics aren't fully explained when you start up Nightreign. Even after you get into the basics of them, there are still some tidbits you need to know to take full advantage of them.

You can see exactly how to use Relics in Elden Ring Nightreign in the guide below.

Table of Contents [hide]

• How to get Relics in Elden Ring Nightreign

How to get Relics in Elden Ring Nightreign

For starters, Relics can only be accessed and equipped at the Roundtable Hold in Nightreign. To find the spot to equip Relics, go to the central part of the Roundtable Hold and look around at the circular walls for a carved-out area with blue candles. Approach this area, interact with the altar that's there by choosing to "Perform Relic Rites," and you'll bring up the Relics menu.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Healing is one of the most important elements of Elden Ring Nightreign. You need to ensure you're staying healthy all throughout a run so you have the best possible chance of surviving the nights and making it to the next day to square off against the boss you're hunting. However, by default in Elden Ring Nightreign, you're only given three Healing Flask Charges, which are enough for the early stages of an expedition, but not nearly enough for the final battle.

To ensure you have the most Healing Flasks possible in Nightreign, check out the guide below to see how to get more of them, and check out our roundup of Nightreign tips to help you get started.

How to get more Healing Flask Charges in Elden Ring Nightreign

Fortunately, there are a couple of concrete ways to increase your flask charges, and neither is overly difficult.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Elden Ring Nightreign is designed as a three-player co-op journey that aims to challenge players' combat abilities, having them work together to bring down tough bosses and explore a shifting map. While you can play Nightreign as a solo player, the game is focused on pairing you with two other players for you all to fight and explore together. Fortunately, both the single-player and multiplayer functions in Elden Ring Nightreign are easy to use, allowing you to minimize your time between expeditions into the Living Lands.

Below, we'll show you everything you need to know about how to start expeditions and how to set up both single-player and co-op multiplayer runs in Elden Ring Nightreign, as well as the lack of proper cross-play support.

Table of Contents [hide]

• How to start expeditions in Elden Ring Nightreign

How to start expeditions in Elden Ring Nightreign

First and foremost, let's go over how to actually get into expeditions once you're past the tutorial of the game that occurs within the first 10 or so minutes.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Deep Rock Galactic celebrated its 5-year anniversary in May 2025. Below, we look at how it has maintained its identity as one of the best co-op shooters around.

Before any round of Deep Rock Galactic, my friends and I have a little ritual. We'll pile into the bar at HQ and order a drink. Sometimes, it'll be Deep Rock's equivalent of a seasonal draft--complete with buffs that'll carry over into the next few expeditions--but other times it's just a brew with a silly effect, like a drink that'll freeze the player or shrink them. We'll hoist our mugs into the air, shout, "Rock and stone," and then chug our virtual ale of choice. Shortly thereafter, one of us moseys over to the jukebox and drops a coin in. Before I know it, one of us is twirling like a ballerina while the other twerks adjacent to them. Someone else is doing the robot or some move reminiscent of Gangnam Style. Everything's alright.

For this reason, and countless others, I feel it's about time we talk about Deep Rock Galactic in the same vein as the greats. Since it's 1.0 launch five years ago, the cooperative shooter has proven time and time again that it is more than just another novel (yet niche) take on the formula once perfected by titles like Left 4 Dead. It has instead carved out a unique and approachable vision of what this kind of game can be, filling titanic shoes and all the while paving a brighter and more inclusive road forward. That's especially difficult given the obnoxiously dark tunnels under Hoxxes IV in which Deep Rock Galactic takes place. But by sticking to its guns and never kowtowing to the pressure of chasing trends like countless other live-service titles around it, Deep Rock Galactic has succeeded where many have failed, and stands to continue longer than many of its contemporaries.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Nvidia's GeForce Now app lets players stream games to devices to take advantage of Nvidia's powerful cloud hardware, but Steam Deck users have historically had to jump through some hoops to get it working. Today, Nvidia finally launched a native GeForce Now app for the Steam Deck.

In a press release marking the app's launch, Nvidia highlighted that GeForce Now lets Steam Deck players take advantage of much more powerful hardware and more advanced technical features than can run locally on the handheld. Nvidia also states that GeForce Now lets you play games at up to 4K/60FPS if you connect the Steam Deck to a TV.

Perhaps its most impactful feature is that GeForce Now enables you to play games that are nearly (or completely) impossible to play, either due to performance issues, lack of support, or incompatibilities with Steam Deck's Linux-based operating system. Destiny 2, for instance, is blocked from running locally on Steam Deck (unless you go through the process of installing Windows), but I confirmed that it is now playable through the native GeForce Now app.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

One of the most infamous items in Call of Duty is the riot shield, and it's making its Black Ops 6 debut--but not how you might think.

Now that the Season 4 update has gone live, the new battle pass is out, too, and one of the rewards is a riot shield-themed finishing move. As you can see in the video below, the finishing move animation involves the attacker smacking their foe with the shield and then hitting them with a pipe. The finishing move is called "On the Ground" and it's on page 9 of the battle pass.

People have pointed out that it appears to be the Call of Duty: Vanguard-era riot shield that's now in Black Ops 6.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Hitman: World of Assassination is a beautiful game when it comes to virtual tourism, and one of the best destinations in the game is currently available for free. Sapienza--the quaint Italian coastal town from the 2016 Hitman game--is currently being given away as part of the free-to-play Hitman: World of Assassination starter pack. Normally, this edition of the game only gives you a barebones experience with the ICA training missions--and Sapienza on its own is a $10 purchase--but for the low price of absolutely nothing, it can be yours if you claim it before 9 AM PT / 1 PM ET on May 30.

See on Steam

Even after nine years, Sapienza is still regarded as one of the all-time best Hitman maps. It has everything you could ask for, from beautiful architecture to secret underground labs, and there are multiple ways to take care of the targets in this map. These range from booting scientist Silvio Caruso off of a cliffside after you feed him tainted spaghetti to disguising yourself as his therapist and smothering him to death with a pillow.

As mentioned above, you're only getting Sapienza and the ICA missions in this download. Hitman: World of Assassination has a confusing pricing model, as there are currently five different editions of the game to purchase with varying levels of content spread across them. World of Assassination is a compilation of Hitman 1-3, the soft reboot of the game series that began in 2016.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Kaitlyn Dever made a big impact on The Last of Us Season 2, and she seems to be poised to have an even bigger role in The Last of Us Season 3. But the actress who portrays Abby on the show recently revealed that she needed a little CGI help in her one of her first episodes on the show.

While speaking with The Los Angeles Times, Dever noted that a spider bit her face while she was at home in-between her episodes on The Last of Us Season 2. Apparently it was so noticeable that only computer generated imagery could get rid of it in time.

"It's in the first episode with the Fireflies," recalled Dever. "I had gone home for a few weeks and got a spider bite on my cheek. I thought it was a pimple. It was not a pimple. It was a huge spider bite and... I hate to use this word, but it was oozing. And the CGI is amazing. You can't even tell it is there. I still have a scar on my face because they had to cut it out."

Continue Reading at GameSpot

There can often be a romanticized mystique to games in which you're a solo watchman or explorer--games like Firewatch and Subnautica have always been compelling to me for that reason. The Last Caretaker seems to scratch a similar itch, having you take on the role of the last hope of humanity: a sentient machine. It's an intriguing premise for a sci-fi survival action-adventure, and one that's dripping with atmosphere and mystery. After seeing a 40-minute preview of The Last Caretaker, I'm hooked. I want to play more, if for no other reason than to figure out what's going on.

The debut title for Finnish game studio Channel37, The Last Caretaker sees you play as the titular machine, who has awoken after centuries to find themselves in the room of a facility long devoid of power. As you explore, you find more machines like you, now powerless and frozen in place--some so old that they're falling apart like decomposing corpses. A voice tells you that you're the last of these caretakers and it's your responsibility to continue the mission of revitalizing humanity, who fled from a flooded Earth centuries ago to live in space stations. You can't make babies in space, so the caretakers must grow new humans and send them up to the stations to keep humankind going. You're given a ship and tasked with sailing the endless sea in search of the research stations and labs that will allow you to locate and grow the last embryos, as well as a means of fixing, fueling, and launching a rocket that will take the grown humans into space.

You'll spend a lot of time out on the water, traveling from one station to another.

How did the world end? No idea. Is humanity still alive in the massive space stations orbiting the Earth? Unknown. Are we truly the only caretaker bot still functioning, and why were we kept in sleep mode for so long while the other machines were evidently activated long ago? Who could say. These mysteries and more can be investigated while you're completing your tasks, and keeping a careful eye out for collectibles can uncover logs of humankind's last few years on Earth, and provide answers about your own origins.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Severance, the popular psychological thriller produced and sometimes directed by Ben Stiller, would make for a good video game. That's according to Stiller and Severance star Adam Scott.

Stiller told Variety that it would "be great to have a Severance video game," while Scott concurred. "I think it lends itself to one," he said.

No game based on Severance has been announced, however, or even teased, but there is an official minigame based on Severance you can play online. You can also play a video game called Severance in the form of 2001's action-adventure game Severance: Blades of Darkness, but it has nothing to do with the Apple TV+ show.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Bandai Namco Entertainment and From Software have released patch notes for Elden Ring Nightreign's day-one update. The patch notes post also suggests that certain players with high-end PC may run into performance issues while playing Elden Ring Nightreign.

Bandai Namco says the goal of this update, which brings the multiplayer Elden Ring spin-off to Version 1.01, is to "improve gameplay and stability." On that front, Bandai says it is making some pre-release balance adjustments and bug fixes while also adjusting the handling of player-controlled characters.

The notes don't go into too much more detail than that, though, as you can see the whole list of patch notes below:

Continue Reading at GameSpot