Elden Ring Nightreign: What Shifts In Limveld Between Runs

The February network test for Elden Ring Nightreign left fans asking a key question, how different will Limveld be in the complete game?

Since Nightreign is designed with roguelite principles in mind, it embraces the randomness and procedural elements that make each run feel quite distinct.

You can see Nightreign’s roguelite influences in the way loot is distributed differently with every run, requiring adaptive builds, and in how bosses and enemies vary, except for the Day 3 Nightlord fight. What we didn’t get during the Network Test was a real sense of how Limveld might shift between playthroughs.

Well, after logging two days of playtime and completing ten full playthroughs at FromSoft’s office, I came away with the answer. Here’s what you can expect to change in Limveld with each new run in Elden Ring Nightreign.

Elden Ring Nightreign: What’s Different In Limveld Each Time?

Before diving into the dynamic aspects of Limveld, let’s briefly highlight the parts that remain fixed

• The basic framework of Limveld remains unchanged. The island’s contours, key geographic features, and the locations of cliffs, rivers, and lakes will stay consistent, except for a handful of major exceptions we’ll get into shortly.
• From sites of grace to evergaols, spirit springs, cave entrances and exits, spectral trees, and wind currents, all these locations remain unchanged and are consistent across runs
• At the center of the map sits a grand castle that promises tough challenges and great rewards, and this feature remains unchanged in every run

From the locations of various points of interest to the types of rewards they offer, as well as the wandering mini-bosses and the bosses you’ll face at the end of Day 1 and 2, everything else is randomized.

In addition to the above, there also happen to be at least two significant elements that can dramatically impact a run. The first is a world event known as “Shifting Earth.”

Before beginning a level, you may be informed that this modifier is in effect. In our playthrough, we saw a “Crater” event, which transformed the northern map by placing a huge crater at its center, with rivers of lava flowing.

We quickly realized that the enemies around and inside the crater are no slouches, as they wiped us out the moment we tried to get near it on Day 1.

You’ll definitely want to check out the crater, and if you’re feeling brave, start your investigation as soon as Day 2 begins. It consumed almost the entirety of our second day.

Upon making it to the bottom, we defeated a boss that not only gave us an epic rarity-level reward but also the rare chance to upgrade any weapon in our arsenal to its maximum level for free! That said, it’s a risky endeavor, as escaping the crater proves to be difficult.

Now, in order to break free, you’ll rely on spectral trees and hawks to leap across platforms, turning each escape attempt into a tense race against the clock as the circle shrinks around you.

However, the most significant of these random events was the arrival of a mysterious boss that launched mortar strikes from miles away, unleashing level-draining bugs. That’s right—get hit by one of these telegraphed mortar blasts, and you lose a level. And it doesn’t stop there, another hit, and you lose yet another level.

Now, to recover those lost levels, you need to find and kill the boss, following the bugs back to his lair. Sadly, I don’t have any footage of this, nor do I know what the reward is for his defeat, as by the time we located him, the circle was closing in, and we didn’t have enough time to finish the fight before it consumed us.

Many more of these events remain unseen by me, like the Forest of Corruption and Madness Towers, as well as others hinted at in the overview trailer released by FromSoftware

If the Shifting Earth modifier isn’t to your liking, you can rest in the bed at Roundtable Hold to either get rid of it or swap it for another modifier.

Even though these modifiers can be brutal, I’m excited to see more of them. They bring a refreshing chaos to the game, preventing it from becoming too predictable, and resulted in some incredible, emotionally charged moments as my team and I scrambled to escape the crater.

These are the kinds of moments that define a great roguelite, and I’m excited to see Nightreign keep delivering them at a constant pace.

Elden Ring Nightreign

Also Read: Elden Ring Nightreign Trailer Highlights Changes to Limveld Map & Drops Lore Clues