Summary
- Night's Cavalry boss fights in Elden Ring offer a unique challenge with escalating difficulty.
- Each encounter tests player skills and progression, showcasing how much players have improved over time in the game's world.
- Exploring and facing these bosses not only strengthens the player, but provides valuable rewards like powerful weapons and skills.
A common complaint for the boss roster of Elden Ring is how many of these imposing enemies are reused throughout The Lands Between, with Night's Cavalry often being chosen as an example of these repeated fights. However, in the case of the Night's Cavalry specifically, the repetition of these bosses can offer players a unique opportunity to really see how powerful Elden Ring's builds can become, as well as how they are individually improving.
With nine total encounters against Night's Cavalry bosses across Elden Ring, these enemies offer unique combat experiences that mostly only escalate in health and damage instead of evolving movesets over time. Additionally, each of these boss fights continue to reward players with powerful weapons and Ashes of War that can lean towards some powerful builds in exchange for venturing out into the dangerous nights of The Lands Between.
The Lands Between Tests the Tarnished's Might at Night
Every Night's Cavalry Appears to Test the Player's Mettle
The presence of Night's Cavalry encounters in each open world region puts these bosses in a unique position to offer a familiar challenge with consistently elevating enemy stats from location to location. This means that while the Night's Cavalry encounters don't become any more difficult mechanically, the simple addition of rising numbers means that players get fewer opportunities to make mistakes and have to remain engaged in the fight for longer. Even if the actual fight itself is repeated, the threshold for victory becomes tighter and tighter after clearing everything in Limgrave and challenging more Night's Cavalry in later regions.
In contrast with the escalating strength of the Night's Cavalry in each of these regions, however, is the natural progression that players will be experiencing as they move on to more challenging areas. As new weapons appear to improve Elden Ring's various builds players will have access to more strength on their own end. The result is an equal escalation on the player's side that could showcase exactly how much stronger they've gotten, as tougher Night's Cavalry bosses can be beaten even faster than previous versions.
Mighty Rewards for Braving Elden Ring's Deadly Nights
Beyond the challenge, each of the Night's Cavalry offers powerful rewards in exchange for heading out after dark and seeking out these powerful bosses. In some cases, these are powerful weapons like one of Elden Ring's stronger standard halberds, while other encounters give players access to Ashes of War with impressive utility. These include skills like Barricade Shield, Bloodhound Step, and the often overlooked Ice Spear, all of which can empower any standard weapon.
The improvements that come with the Night's Cavalry's drops also compound with a major aspect of FromSoftware's world design philosophy. Players are always rewarded for taking the time to fully explore the world of Elden Ring the same way that they've previously been rewarded in everything from Dark Souls to Bloodborne. So, not only will players be more powerful as a result of exploring as they find extra smithing materials and new weapons, but taking that boost in power to the Night's Cavalry will help gain the rewards these bosses offer.
Proof That a Tarnished Can 'Git Gud'
Though the 'git gud' adage from the Soulsborne fan community is often used as a dismissive way to comment on enemy difficulty, the core of the advice does stand. There are few ways to get through a game as challenging as Elden Ring other than simply improving at gameplay and learning bosses. This is where the Night's Cavalry's repeated encounters shine, as each new fight allows players to see how much their skills have improved from region to region.
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. And BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.
George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- How Long To Beat
- 58 Hours
- Metascore
- 96
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
