Elden Ring Nightreign has a key item inventory that players will slowly accumulate a few items in throughout their expeditions as they complete the main story and remembrance quest lines for each character. While the rest of your inventory is lost at the end of an expedition, your key items will stay with you forever.
One of the first key items players will get in Elden Ring Nightreign is the Trace of Night. The uses for this item aren't immediately clear, but it is very important and tied to the main story of the game; here's what it's used for.
***** This article does spoil the name of the final expedition of the game *****
All Elden Ring Nightreign Unique Relics & Effects
There are about 40 unique relics Elden Ring Nightreign players can collect from a variety of sources.
What Is The Trace of Night In Elden Ring Nightreign
Players will get their first Trace of Night upon clearing the first expedition against Gladius. The Trace of Night will be in your key inventory, and the main use for this item is to power it up with additional Traces of Night to eventually unlock the final boss of the game. That being said, the actual mechanics of everything the Trace of Night does happen behind the scenes.
No matter how many Nightlords you beat, you'll only ever have one Trace of Night in your Key items. As you defeat additional Nightlords, it's implied that those Traces of Night merge with the one you have to further power it up, but there is no marker or indication to let you know this is happening. To reach the final boss of the game, you'll need a Trace of Night with four Nightlord charges in it. This means defeating any of the three additional Nightlords that unlock after defeating Gladius, who acts as everyone's first Trace of Night.
After defeating a total of four Nightlords, you'll gain access to the final expedition against the Night Aspect. This expedition will act similarly to all others, but the Nightlord is the final boss of the game, and defeating him will roll credits on the game.
You can complete as many expeditions as you want before facing the final boss, and you can continue doing any expedition after beating the game.
Elden Ring Nightreign: Hardest Nightlords Tier List
The hardest Nightlords in Elden Ring Nightreign present a significantly higher challenge, and more mechanics, than the easiest bosses in the game.
How To Check How Many Nightlords You've Defeated In Elden Ring Nightreign
The Trace of Night will offer no indication of how many Nightlords you've beaten, but you can see how many you've beaten at the expedition menu.
- Interact with the roundtable to open the expeditions menu.
- In the, "Targets" tab you'll find every expedition you can complete and the Nightlord for that expedition.
Should there be a black cut through the boss's icon, that means you've defeated it. To unlock the final expedition of the game, you will have to defeat four different Nightlords, as defeating a Nightlord again won't reward you with another Trace of Night.
Elden Ring Nightreign
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 78%
- Released
- May 30, 2025
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Soulslike, Roguelite
