How To Defeat The Night Aspect In Elden Ring Nightreign

After successfully completing four distinct adventures in Elden Ring Nightreign, you now have the unique opportunity to repeatedly challenge one of its toughest boss encounters: Heolstor the Nightlord. His combat style resembles Artorias, yet incorporates aspects of the Soul of Cinder, enhanced by a Radahn-style transformation and a more potent Moonlight Greatsword. Best of luck!

You’ve already advanced this far, so you should be able to handle it as long as you arrive equipped with status effects that he’s vulnerable to, and a well-balanced team. Keep in mind, if your goal is to uncover the conclusion for all Nightfarers, you’ll need to conquer the Night Aspect with each one of them.

Heolstor’s Strengths And Weaknesses

As you can see on the Expeditions tab, the Night Aspect is weak to Holy, just like Tricephalos.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Magic Sleep Fire	Holy Lightning Fire

In this case, ‘Heolstor will change his Moonlight Greatsword-style blade to a fiery greatsword during the second phase.’ This means that while Fire can be extremely damaging, it’s not advisable due to Heolstor’s ability to wield fire. Instead, focus on finding Holy and Lightning weapons for more consistent results.

Recommended Characters

With Heolstor’s massive damage output, it might seem like health isn’t crucial, but it’s still a good idea to bring Raider along to attract the enemy’s attention. This way, a ranged character such as Ironeye can attack safely from afar without drawing unnecessary aggro. Since Heolstor is vulnerable to Holy, Revenant makes a strong choice due to her high-scaling Faith. It’s also important to save up on Incantations and Sacred Seals for the fight.

Raider is also very good at staggering Heolstor, allowing you to regain control of the fight.

If you find yourself under attack by Heolstor, Revenant may not stand a chance with only a few hits, even at higher levels. In such cases, Executor serves as a reliable alternative, thanks to its high Dexterity scaling and speed that can effectively match Heolstor’s swift attacks.

Heolstor’s Moveset

Unlike other Nightlords, Heolstor possesses an unusual health structure with two phases. In his initial stage, known as The Shape of Night, he presents a relatively straightforward challenge. He lacks showy attacks and fights primarily with one arm until he loses approximately a quarter of his health. At this point, he switches to wielding two swords. It’s crucial to avoid being hit during this phase because you’ll need every healing item and support for the significantly more challenging second phase that follows.

The Shape Of Night

Attack	Description	Counter
Lunge	The Shape of Night slides to the side while lifting their sword in the air, preparing to lunge forward with a jab attack.	It’s fairly easy to roll out of the way, given how slow the wind-up is.
Roar	After pulling out his second weapon, The Shape of Night unlocks a new moveset in which he lets out a roar that stuns and deals minor damage to anyone caught in its vicinity. Afterwards, he drags his sword directly towards an opponent in a rapid-fire dash and swings it three times.	Run away from the roar attack and dodge in the opposite direction of each swing.
Dash	The Shape of Night dashes forward, covering a decent distance, and swings his sword at you. If it collides, you’ll be sent flying backwards.	Roll through the swing, as they can easily close the distance if you try to run away.

After The Shape of Night is vanquished, the arena will turn pitch-black and then fade to show Heolstor the Nightlord. This second stage is similar to other Nightlords, divided into two parts. Initially, he wields a weapon that resembles the Moonlight Greatsword, boosting some of his initial moves’ power, before switching to a flaming greatsword.

Phase 1

Attack	Description	Counter
Magical Lunge	Heolstor aims his sword forward and lunges towards you, letting out an explosive AoE burst of magic. Afterwards, he swings his sword overhead and stabs it into the ground for a second explosion.	This lunge is much slower than in the first phase, giving you ample time to roll out of the way. So long as you dodge just as the explosion begins, you won’t take damage.
Crescent Arcs	Heolstor swings his sword and hurls two crescent-moon-shaped magic blasts at you. This is followed up with a charged lunge that sends forward a devastating vortex.	Roll through each arc, and then to the right or left of the vortex.
Improved Dash	Heolstor dashes past you, turns around, and leaps forward with one swing, followed up by an overhead attack and a subsequent delayed dash attack.	This is one of Heolstor’s simpler moves, without any magical AoE flavouring, so simply dodge each swing as you would any other boss.
Shrouded In Darkness	Heolstor hunches down, enveloping the arena in darkness, lit up only by flying magical blue darts that swirl around him and damage you if you come into contact with them.	Run away from Heolstor and you’ll be out of range of his flying streaks of magic.

Phase 2

Attack	Description	Counter
Sky Rend	After losing a quarter of his health, Heolstor flies into the air and rips open the sky with his sword, before crashing into the ground and causing the entire arena to erupt. From here, he begins to use a fiery greatsword instead of his Moonlight one.	Roll or run out of the way of the giant streaks of raised, fiery ground, and roll through any eruptions you get caught in. Afterwards, avoid the leftover fire geysers.
Smouldering Blade	Each attack with Heolstor’s fiery sword sends forth streaks of raised ground that erupt in fiery geysers.	Be extra careful when dodging, as you’ll need to roll a second time to avoid the follow-up attacks.
Flaming Lunge	Heolstor swings at you three times and then lunges forward with his flaming sword. This sends forth a streak of raised ground that erupts shortly after.	Dodge each swing and subsequent eruption, run backwards when he lunges, and then roll to the left or right of the final eruption.
Fiery Slash	Heolstor strengthens his engulfed blade, swinging it rapidly at you while unleashing flaming streaks.	Dodge the blade, and then make sure to avoid the lines of fire that follow.
Eruption	Heolstor leaps into the air and raises his sword into the sky. After gaining enough power, he crashes into the arena, causing everything in his vicinity to erupt. Afterwards, he returns to using his Moonlight Blade.	When you see Heolstor hovering in the air, run to the edges of the arena.

In this intense battle, it appears that Heolstor’s flamboyant moveset might seem daunting due to his ability to tear open a rift in dimensions to enhance his weapon and shatter the arena around him. However, there is a greater margin for mistakes when executing Heolstor’s attacks compared to many of the Shadow of the Erdtree bosses, especially considering that three players are splitting the aggro (attention) among them.

Tips For Beating Heolstor

Heolstor is extremely agile, which might make you feel frantic as you dodge its attacks. However, be mindful of the signs for each move it makes. Pause and analyze before acting, to avoid using up all your healing resources haphazardly.

In the initial stage, The Shape of Night isn’t robust, which might make you want to launch multiple attacks to finish faster. However, this could lead to unnecessary harm and leaving you vulnerable during the more challenging Heolstor phase.

As a fellow caster like Revenant, I’d advise you not to squander your Focus Points (FP) during his initial stage. The Shape of Night is feeble enough that your companions could eliminate him without your assistance, particularly with the aid of your spirits.

In essence, Heolstor is a battle of endurance, yet his strategies exhibit an unexpected leniency, providing ample room for evasive maneuvers. If you have encountered humanoid Souls bosses before, such as Gwyn, the Abyss Watchers, or even the Dancer, this duel follows similar patterns. Maintain your concentration and refrain from hasty actions, and you’ll emerge victorious.

2025-05-30 00:36