Honestly, the internet has a weird way of turning every FromSoftware announcement into a chaotic game of telephone. When the Elden Ring Nightreign network test was first announced back in January 2025, half the community thought we were getting Shadow of the Erdtree 2, while the other half was convinced FromSoftware had finally pivoted to making a hero shooter.
Neither was true.
If you spent any time in the technical sessions during that messy, fascinating weekend in February 2025, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It wasn't a demo. It was a stress test in the truest sense—complete with server crashes and that infamous "Session 1" login bug that had the official Elden Ring X account apologizing before the sun even came up. But beneath the technical hiccups, the Elden Ring Nightreign network test gave us our first real look at how Miyazaki’s team was planning to dismantle their own formula.
The Reality of the Elden Ring Nightreign Network Test
People keep calling Nightreign a DLC. Stop. It’s a standalone, co-op survival roguelike. The network test was the first time we realized we weren't playing as our custom Tarnished anymore. Instead, we were handed a roster of "Nightfarers"—specific characters with fixed kits. I remember jumping in as the Revenant for the first time and feeling completely lost because the movement felt... fast. Like, really fast.
The test took place in a distorted version of Limgrave called Limveld. It looked familiar, but everything was wrong. The geography was shifting. The enemies were randomized. And most importantly, you had exactly 30 minutes to survive three in-game nights before the "Nightlords" descended to kick your teeth in.
Why the Multiplayer Felt So Different
If you’ve played Dark Souls or the base Elden Ring, you’re used to the "summon and hope for the best" loop. Nightreign killed that. During the Elden Ring Nightreign network test, the focus was entirely on three-player synergy.
- Class Roles: You couldn't just have three guys with katanas. Well, you could, but you’d die. The test showed that having a Scholar for analysis or a Recluse for status effects was basically mandatory for the higher-difficulty "Night Tide" events.
- The Extraction Loop: It felt a bit like a "Souls-ified" extraction shooter without the PvPvE toxicity. You’d gather treasure, fight a mini-boss at the end of the first and second nights, and then pray you had enough buffs for the final encounter.
- The Nightlords: These weren't just recycled bosses. The test introduced us to Adel and Fulghor, and let me tell you, fighting them with two other people felt more like a Monster Hunter raid than a traditional Souls duel.
The servers were a disaster for the first few hours of the test, but that’s kind of the point of a network test, isn't it? Bandai Namco even considered adding an extra session because the stability was so rocky.
What the Test Taught Us About the Final Game
Looking back from 2026, the Elden Ring Nightreign network test was actually a massive indicator of the "Everdark" updates we see now. The data FromSoftware gathered from those thousands of players getting slaughtered by Caligo, Miasma of Night directly led to the balancing of the "Shifting Earth" mechanic.
One thing most people forget is that the test was only on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. PC players were left out until the full launch on May 30, 2025. This caused a lot of friction in the community, but it allowed FromSoftware to focus on console stability first. It's funny to think back on the "Relic Rites" from the test version—they were so basic compared to the 100+ presets we have now in version 1.03.
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Misconceptions That Still Persist
Even now, months after the The Forsaken Hollows DLC dropped in December 2025, I still see people asking if they can play Nightreign solo. Yes, you can. The network test actually allowed for solo play, but it was brutally difficult because the boss scaling hadn't been fully tweaked for lone players yet.
Another big one? Microtransactions. People were terrified that a "co-op survival" game meant a battle pass or $20 skins. The network test proved that was a lie. Everything you earned was through gameplay, specifically by dispelling the "Primordial Night" that has plagued the Lands Between in this alternate timeline.
How to Prepare for the Current Meta
If you’re just jumping into Nightreign now because you missed the original hype or that first test, you have a lot of catching up to do. The game has evolved significantly since that February weekend.
- Master the "Ultimate Art": Each Nightfarer has a transformation or a high-impact skill. During the test, people barely used them. Now, if you aren't timing your Executor’s transformation to clear out the "Parasite" condition, your team is going to wipe in minutes.
- Understand Shifting Earth: The map isn't static. Landmarks move. One session you might find the Eastern Underground Fort, the next it’s a Great Hollow.
- Respect the Dreglord: The newest DLC boss, Straghess, is a nightmare. He’s essentially a merger of victims from the Night, and he makes those early network test bosses look like tutorial mobs.
The Elden Ring Nightreign network test wasn't perfect, but it was the sandbox FromSoftware needed to build their most successful spin-off to date. It sold 5 million units for a reason. If you want to get good at the current version of the game, start by looking into the character Remembrances. They’re the key to unlocking the true endings that weren't even present in the test build.
Focus on building a versatile Relic kit that accounts for "Attribute Attack Power" rather than just raw physical damage. The game is much more of a numbers game than the base Elden Ring ever was. Dig into the patch notes for version 1.03.1 to see how they've fixed the hit detection on bosses like Gaping Jaw, which was a major complaint during the early days of the game's life cycle.