Comparing Elden Ring: Nightreign’s Raider to Ironeye

FromSoftware has now revealed a wealth of information regarding the upcoming Elden Ring: Nightreign, with the game’s unique gameplay premise seeming like a revolutionary new step in terms of what can be expected from the studio. With a large focus on multiplayer gameplay with a mix of traditional FromSoftware elements alongside battle royale and roguelike mechanics, it is clear to see why so much attention is surrounding the Elden Ring spin-off as it gears up for its release on May 30.

The fast-paced gameplay formula of Elden Ring: Nightreign has done away with the studio’s traditional character customization, with players instead having a choice of eight distinct playable characters to tackle the game’s challenges. This number of characters is only likely to rise through post-launch content, with FromSoftware now having revealed comprehensive overviews of several launch characters, who are officially known as Nightfarers. Two of the revealed classes are the Ironeye and Raider Nightfarers, with both characters offering their own unique combat roles that benefit any given team dynamic.

Elden Ring Nightreign May Struggle To Match the Original in One Area

Elden Ring Nightreign is one of 2025’s most hotly anticipated releases, but it likely won’t live up to the original Elden Ring, at least in one way.

Elden Ring: Nightreign’s Ironeye and Raider Classes Offer Their Own Unique Purposes

The successful gameplay tests for Elden Ring: Nightreign only featured four playable characters, meaning a world of fresh opportunities will be available to players with the eight Nightfarers that are reported for the game’s full launch. As things stand, the confirmed launch classes for Elden Ring: Nightreign are the Wylder, Guardian, Duchess, Recluse, Ironeye, and Raider, with each Nightfarer offering something for fans of Elden Ring‘s many different approaches to combat.

While Nightreign can be played solo, it seems clear that the title is largely designed for its other option of three-player PvE co-op, meaning players only have a small selection of character choices to make the most ideal team synergy. Thankfully, all Nightfarers can use any weapon available throughout Nightreign, offering a bit more freedom to players, though each class comes with its own unique set of starting stats, skills, and passive abilities.

The Raider class was the most recently revealed class for Elden Ring: Nightreign, being a Viking-inspired figure clearly designed for strength builds, two-handed weapons, and high DPS. Raider’s unique character skill is Retaliate, a powerful punch that staggers most enemies, with his passive ability meaning that he cannot be knocked down while Retaliate is being used. The ultimate ability for Raider also has massive potential, with Totem Stela summoning a massive rock platform that damages enemies and can crucially be used as safer high ground for ranged teammates.

Ironeye’s Ranged Approach Can Be a Huge Benefit to a Nightreign Team

Nightreign‘s Ironeye Nightfarer is another class that was only recently revealed, being billed as a dedicated sniper archer with a focus on dexterity. Ironeye can be played largely as a DPS or support character, with his unique passive ability increasing the likelihood of enemy loot drops, being a big potential boost for teams trying to optimize their gear before Nightreign‘s intimidating boss battles. Ironeye’s skill marks enemies to create a temporary weak point, with his ultimate ability firing a charged arrow that deals huge damage while ignoring enemy defense.

Elden Ring: Nightreign‘s boss battles are taken from a wide range of past FromSoftware titles, particularly the Dark Souls series, making the upcoming game a kind of love letter to the best boss experiences of the studio’s past.

With Ironeye largely catering to ranged combat, the elevated platforms created by Raider’s ultimate offer a fantastic team composition between the two Nightfarers, despite their massively different builds. This is just one example of the many different combinations that Nightreign‘s character classes can offer for co-operative gameplay, with players having an excellent choice between a traditional high-damage tank and a ranged support class with the recent reveals of both Raider and Ironeye.

Elden Ring Nightreign

Released: May 30, 2025
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op
Number of Players: 1-3
Steam Deck Compatibility: Unknown
PC Release Date: May 30, 2025
Xbox Series X|S Release Date: May 30, 2025