Elden Ring Nightreign: Shifting Earth Tips and Tricks

After you defeat the Nightlord, Gladius, Beast of Night (Tricephalos), your runs will begin to have a chance to be affected by a Shifting Earth event.

You can also trigger a Shifting Earth event by using Sovereign Sigils from defeating Everdark Sovereigns.

Shifting Earth events cause parts of the map to transform, greatly affecting your gameplay in terms of potential routing and overall gameplan.

Due to their challenge level, you should save them for Day 2 and avoid entering them until you're around level 8-10 (depending on the event).

If you're able to clear them, you get access to powerful rewards such as permanent buffs, legendary weapons, and even a one-time resurrection.

In this guide, we'll cover the four events, their rewards, and tips and tricks you should know.

The Crater Shifting Earth event effect causes a massive volcanic chasm to open near the upper center of the map. Completing it will grant you access to the Special Smithing table that grants you a Legendary weapon.

Quick Tips

• Aim to be around Level 9 or 10 before attempting The Crater.
• Enter from the southwest
• Ignore the bosses at the top, especially if they are the Gargoyle or Starfallen Beast.
• • They can be time-consuming, and you'll need the time to reach the bottom before the end of Day 2.
• Your main goals are:
• • Killing the Flame Knight minibosses in the temple (easy to kill for high rune amounts and boss rewards.
  • Killing the Magma Wyrm boss to secure the free Legendary weapon by using the Special Smithing Table.

How to Enter and Navigate The Crater

The Mountaintop Shifting Earth creates an icy mountain range at the northwest quadrant of the map. Completing it gives you the Favor of the Mountaintop, which reduces Frostbite damage and Frostbite buildup, and provides boosted damage when Frostbite triggers near you.

Quick Tips

• The Mountaintop is the easiest of the Shifting Earth events, you can feel good about attempting it at level 8.
• Enter near the south.
• Ignore everything and rush straight to the top to get the reward.
• • The Giant Dog and Giant Crows can be especially annoying.
• Don't fight the dragon that's chasing you before you have the buff. You'll beat it a lot easier once you can resist its Frostbite.
• After getting the buff, you can also get a good amount of runes from the bosses. They're mostly dragons and trolls.
• • Trolls are weak to charged attacks to their legs, makes them fall down for a critical attack. For Dragons, just hit their heads - it breaks their stance easily and does much more damage than attacking their legs.
• Enemies will often fight each other here, so use that to your advantage.

How to Enter and Navigate The Mountaintop

The Rotted Woods Shifting Earth event transforms the southeast quadrant of the map into a Scarlet Rot forest. Its reward features the Favor of the Forest buff, which grants Scarlet Rot immunity, increases max HP, and causes you to recover HP when you attack after taking damage.

Quick Tips

• Similar to The Crater, you can feel good about attempting the Rotted Forest at a minimum level of 9-10,
• Ignore everything and head straight for the castle in the center unless you can spot the tree with the buff before that.
• • The castle gives you a map with the location of the tree.
• After you get the buff, you can consider clearing out bosses, but consider skipping the Draconic Tree Sentinel and the Black Gargoyle - they aren't worth the effort and time investment.
• Note that bosses from this area can include any boss from the elite boss pool, so keep that in mind because they can wander and aggro onto you.
• As you explore the area, look for small bushes below the trees that can help cleanse the buildup of rot from the area.

How to Enter and Navigate The Rotted Woods

Noklateo, the Shrouded City, is a Shifting Earth event that spawns a city at the southwest quadrant of the map. Its reward grants Favor of Noklateo, the Shrouded City, which gives you a one-time revival and an increase of power for a short duration after resurrecting.

Quick Tips

• This is the most difficult of the Shifting Earth events, so we recommend facing it at a minimum level of 10.
• Rush to the end of the city because it takes a very long time to get through - the reward is on the outer edge of the map.
• • If you're unlucky, the circle will start moving before you reach it, cutting off your access to it.
• After getting the buff, and if the circle permits, consider farming loot and runes.
• When facing Astel, aim for his head. The rest of his body takes reduced damage, and if you overwhelm him, he can be easily staggered, making this fight a cakewalk with three people.

How to Enter and Navigate Noklateo, the Shrouded City

By sleeping in the bed at the Roundtable Hold, you can skip the upcoming Shifting Earth event. However, since the rewards are so good, we advise against doing so.

The only case where you might not want to is if you're queueing with a new friend to fight Gladius.