Elden Ring Nightreign Raider Class Preview - IGN

One of Elden Ring's greatest strengths is enabling diverse playstyles, and my personal favorite involves maxing Strength, wielding the heaviest weapon available, and demolishing foes with crushing jump attacks and charged heavy strikes. If this resonates with you, let me introduce Nightreign's Raider class (as shown in the video below).

While the Guardian – Nightreign's other tanky class with high HP and affinity for massive weapons – focuses more on defensive play with its starter shield and party-wide damage mitigation ultimate, the Raider specializes as an offensive juggernaut.

The Raider's most crucial ability is Retaliate, which initially appears deceptively simple – just two stomps dealing physical and poise damage. The real value comes from the Raider's passive: complete knockdown immunity during Retaliate. This essentially provides free damage absorption against virtually any enemy or boss attack, with the added benefit that absorbing significant damage transforms the weaker second stomp into a devastating punch capable of staggering even towering foes.

The Raider's ultimate, Totem Stela, sees them slam the ground to summon a massive, damaging totem. Like all Nightreign ultimates, this game-changing ability not only deals massive damage but creates a climbable structure offering both defensive positioning and an attack vantage point. Additionally, it grants the entire party a damage buff, making it a priority ultimate for coordinated team play.

Among all Nightreign classes I've tested, the Raider delivered the most satisfying gameplay experience.

Starting with the Raider's Greavtaxe – a serviceable fire-damage weapon featuring the Endure skill as backup protection when Retaliate is cooling down – players will still want to upgrade to superior strength-scaling weapons as difficulty increases, staying true to the Raider's heavy-weapon specialization.

No other Nightreign class has matched the Raider's pure enjoyment factor for me. Its dueling-focused design perfectly suits one-on-one combat, reflected in its Remembrances (which we'll cover later) that pit players against solo boss battles in gladiator-style arenas for refreshing gameplay variety.

This concludes our class impressions, but stay tuned throughout the month for deep dives into Nightreign's mechanics, developer interviews, and more IGN First coverage.