How Nightreign Compares to Elden Ring (Mechanics)

Characters are set in stone classes, called Nightfarers.

Customize your character to your liking.

Your progression is tied to your player account and you can switch freely between classes.

Progression is tied to one character for a save file.

There is no starting gift, your starting weapons are predetermined based on your chosen class.

You can choose a starting gift to start your run off with.

You are on a timer, having only 10 minutes to get through the day. After which, a boss will spawn to end the day. On Day 3, you are taken to the final boss of your run!

You have all the time in the world to explore the game at your own pace, beating the game when you are ready (and able to).

All items are randomized; you make your build around what you find during the run.

Find items on set positions and gather your build through either exploration or a guide.

Co-op with either 3 players or none. These players play in the same world as you, and there is no limit to where they can follow you. 2-player Co-op does not exist.

Co-op in specific areas with up to 3 people, which puts you at risk of being invaded.

Bosses drop random loot with varying rarity, and a passive that will help you during the rest of your run.

Bosses drop souls and rewards that are typically predictable.

Beating bosses will make you stronger for your run, but nothing is carried over into the next run from that.

Beating bosses will make you stronger throughout the rest of the game

You are dropped from the sky from positions where you have the freedom to choose where you drop.

Set in stone the spawn location where the game begins.

The world “reshuffles” means that every run has a different feel, where items and locations are never the same.

The world is always the same, no matter how many playthroughs you do of the game.

The map is fully unlocked, and you can see where the circle of fire is on this map.

You have to find map fragments to unlock the map of the game slowly.

Leveling is simplified to happen automatically. You still put in the souls for leveling near a Site of Grace, but you don't have to choose the stats now; the game does that for you.

You spend time leveling your build, choosing what stats you want to level up.

Bosses old and new have a ton of new attacks that are AOE. Since the game is intended for 3-player co-op, it makes it easier to hit players. This means older bosses you might encounter have new attacks to look out for.

Bosses are balanced for single player and have mostly single-target attacks, with some being AOE

Instead of rings, you have something more along the lines of blood stones from Bloodborne. These can be slotted before the run to make you stronger and are earned on either successful or unsuccessful runs.

You can equip rings to enhance your playthrough and give you increased stats, damage, or resistance.

There are different colors of rarity, much like Diablo or Path of Exile. This means higher rarity has better stats, passives, or ashes of war.

You can find weapons/loot of a single rarity. This means that the weapons' stats will always be the same.

You have a passive, an ability, and an ultimate besides your weapon you wield.

No abilities aside from Ashes of War and your trusty weapon.

You can sprint without Torrent to the same speed, fly with your spectral bird through air springs, and climb objects and walls to have even more mobility than you had on Torrent. Also, NO FALLING DAMAGE.

Slower movement complemented by having Torrent to ride around with.

Bosses drop random loot with varying rarity, and a passive that will help you during the rest of your run.

Bosses drop souls and rewards that are typically predictable.

All weapons come randomly made with an Ash of War already attached. This Ash of War cannot be removed or placed on another weapon. These weapons can also have a passive effect to make them even better.

Weapons are always the same and can get any Ashes of War attached to them that work with that weapon type.

Weapons do not require stats and can be wielded by any build.

Weapons require specific stats to be able to wield them.

After you die, if you are 1 player, you restart the run; if you are with 3, hitting the downed player can revive them, requiring more hits after every death.

When you die, you have to respawn at a Site of Grace

If you die and you're revived, you lose a level in the process, making dying more punishing.

Dying causes you to lose a percentage of your Runes before you respawn at the latest Site of Grace, or Stake of Marika.

You can find Consumables, but they have a limit of only allowing 3 to be carried at a time. They are much stronger now and have big effects, making them much more important to find.

You can craft or find consumables which can help you, but players usually don't use these cause their effects are small.

Nothing has an equip load anymore, meaning you don’t have to deal with managing your carry weight.

Weapons and armor all have equip load making you need to manage it together with leveling your stamina to keep up.

You only have 1 armor set, the one you start with. You can however buy customization in the Roundtable Hold. This is however purely cosmetic.

Finding different armor can help you against specific opponents, depending on what type of damage they deal.

Spells are bound to the staff now, making for a less diverse building for spellcasters. The Recluse, however, already has a ton of variety in her spell, being the spellcasting character.

You pick a staff that is right for the magic type of build you are doing. Meaning it will differ between the type of magic you use, for instance, Glintstone sorceries, or Volcano Manor sorceries.

Characters generally have less Stamina, meaning you have to be more selective.

With more Stamina, you can roll, etc more often.