Nightreign Nightfarers, Relics & Remembrances
Elden Ring Nightreign keeps almost nothing from one expedition to the next. Your level, runes and weapons reset every run. What stays is the account side of the game: the Nightfarers you have unlocked, the relics you have collected, the vessels that decide which relics fit, the Murk in your pocket and the story chapters each hero has finished. This glossary explains those words, because they are what players compare in LFG chat and what most "how do I get" questions are about.
It helps new players who want to know what to spend Murk on first, and returning players who missed the two DLC characters or the Deep of Night relics. Everything is checked against the game as of November 2026: base game released on 30 May 2025, The Forsaken Hollows DLC of 4 December 2025, balance patch 1.03.2 of 15 January 2026 and Hotfix 1.03.5 of 31 March 2026. For the runs themselves, see the expeditions and Nightlords glossary.
| Term | In short | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Nightfarer | One of the ten playable heroes | Character select in the Roundtable Hold |
| Character Skill and Ultimate Art | The two abilities that define a hero | Every fight in Limveld |
| Duchess unlock | First locked hero, freed with a pocket watch | Roundtable Hold, after the first Nightlord |
| Revenant unlock | Second locked hero, bought and fought for | Small Jar Bazaar, then a short duel |
| Scholar and Undertaker | The two DLC heroes | The Forsaken Hollows |
| Remembrance | A personal quest line for each hero | The Journal |
| Relic | Permanent passive bonus item | End-of-run rewards |
| Relic colors | Red, blue, green, yellow scenes | Relic Rites slots |
| Grand relic | Top quality relic with three effects | Late-run rewards, shop |
| Relic Rites | The menu where relics are equipped | Central room of the hold |
| Vessel (Urn, Chalice, Goblet) | Decides a hero's slot colors | Relic Rites, Bazaar, Remembrances |
| Depth relic | Relic that works only in Deep of Night | Deep of Night rewards |
| Murk | Permanent currency for the hold | Earned every run |
| Garb (skin) | Cosmetic outfit for a Nightfarer | Dresser, Collector Signboard |
Nightfarer
A Nightfarer is a playable character. Nightreign has no character creator: you pick a hero with a fixed weapon, fixed abilities and a fixed stat spread, then level that hero inside a single run. The base game ships with eight. Six are open from the start (Wylder, Guardian, Ironeye, Raider, Recluse and Executor) and two are hidden behind unlock steps (Duchess and Revenant). The Forsaken Hollows DLC added two more, Scholar and Undertaker, for ten in total as of November 2026.
Each Nightfarer comes with a starting weapon, a passive, a Character Skill and an Ultimate Art. Wylder carries a greatsword and a small shield, Guardian a halberd and greatshield, Ironeye a bow, Duchess a dagger, Raider a greataxe, Revenant cursed claws plus incantations, Recluse a staff, Executor a katana-style blade. Patch 1.03.2 in January 2026 adjusted seven Nightfarers, five of the eight base heroes plus Scholar and Undertaker, so tier lists from 2025 are out of date. A typical team line in matchmaking: "Need a Guardian, we already have Ironeye and Recluse."
Character Skill and Ultimate Art
Every hero has two buttons that nobody else shares. The Character Skill is a short-cooldown move used many times per fight, and the Ultimate Art is a big move that charges as you deal and take damage. Together they define a role far more than the weapons you pick up, since weapons change every run but these two never do.
Examples from the base cast: Wylder's skill is Claw Shot, a grappling hook, and his Ultimate Art is Onslaught Stake. Guardian has Whirlwind and Wings of Salvation, which can revive allies. Ironeye marks weak points with Marking and fires Single Shot as the ultimate. Duchess replays recent hits on a target with Restage, Revenant summons spirits, and Executor turns into a beast with Aspects of the Crucible. On a voice call this sounds like "hold your ult for the second phase", meaning save the Ultimate Art for when the boss gets dangerous.
Duchess unlock
The Duchess is the first hidden Nightfarer and the one most new players ask about. She stands in the Roundtable Hold from day one as a hooded figure. To recruit her you need the Old Pocketwatch, a relic that drops from expeditions against the first Nightlord, Tricephalos. You do not have to win: reaching the Nightlord is enough. Then you talk to the hooded woman, hand over the watch and she becomes selectable. You keep the pocket watch as a relic.
She plays as a fast dagger user whose Restage skill replays recent hits on an enemy, and she is the key to the next unlock, because the Revenant path only opens once the Duchess is free. Our characters unlock lot covers exactly these two heroes. In chat you will see "just reach Gladius, you get the watch even if you wipe".
Revenant unlock
The Revenant is the second hidden Nightfarer. With the Duchess unlocked, a relic called the Besmirched Frame appears at the Small Jar Bazaar for 1,500 Murk. Buying it lets you use the mirror near the ghostly girl in the hold, which sends you to a small area outside the Roundtable Hold where the Revenant attacks you together with her summoned spirits. Win the duel and she joins the roster.
The fight is short but trips up players who arrive with a fresh, unleveled hero: the usual advice is to kill the spirits first and keep moving through her spells. As a Nightfarer she is a summoner who fights with cursed claws, casts incantations and calls spirits to fight beside her. Because the Frame costs Murk, many players unlock her after a few evenings of runs rather than on the first day.
Scholar and Undertaker
Scholar and Undertaker are the two Nightfarers added by The Forsaken Hollows on 4 December 2025. They need the DLC, which is included in the Deluxe and Collector's editions or sold separately. Scholar starts with a thrusting sword and a skill called Analyze, and has a passive called Bagcraft. Undertaker swings a hammer, uses a skill called Trance and the Ultimate Art Loathsome Hex.
Each brings a full set of new vessels (seven apiece on the community wiki tables) and a Remembrance line; Scholar's runs to nine chapters, longer than most base heroes. Community wikis describe the unlock trigger in slightly different ways, but both agree it happens early in the DLC through the Roundtable Hold. In a party finder you may see "Undertaker main, looking for Balancers runs", since the DLC heroes are usually played on the DLC targets.
Remembrance
A Remembrance is a Nightfarer's personal story quest. You open it from the Journal in the Roundtable Hold. Chapters advance as you play that hero: some need a Nightlord kill with the character, some need a special task inside an expedition, and some are short solo episodes outside Limveld. Switching heroes simply pauses the quest. Quest lines run to roughly chapter 7 to 9 depending on the hero; Guardian's last quest opens at chapter 9.
The rewards are why players care. A Remembrance gives fixed relics that cannot be rolled anywhere else (Guardian ends with the Witch's Brooch, Wylder with Wylder's Earring), a hero's Chalice vessel along the way, and a Remembrance garb after the last quest. These fixed relics cannot be sold. Our Remembrance lots are split by Nightfarer for all eight base heroes. A typical question: "Which chapter gives Duchess' Chalice?" Answer: her second quest.
Relic
A relic is Nightreign's main form of permanent progress. It is a small item with one to three passive effects that apply at the start of every expedition, such as more attack power, a different starting armament infusion, extra HP when a skill lands, or a bonus that only one Nightfarer can use. Relics are never used up.
You earn random relics at the end of every run, win or lose, and the deeper you got, the more relics you get and the better their quality. Beating a Nightlord for the first time gives a fixed relic, Remembrances give fixed relics, and the Small Jar Bazaar sells a Scenic Flatstone for 600 Murk that becomes a random relic. Random rolls follow rules: no effect repeats on one relic, and only one character-exclusive effect fits. Players describe a good drop as "god roll" or simply post a screenshot in the relic thread.
Relic colors (scenes)
Every relic has one of four colors, named after a scene: Burning (red), Drizzly (blue), Tranquil (green) and Luminous (yellow). The color has nothing to do with the effects. It only decides which slot the relic fits, because each slot in Relic Rites has a color too. A great red relic is useless on a vessel with no red slot.
That is why the same effect can be worth a lot to one player and nothing to another. Wylder's starting Urn, for example, is red, red, blue, and Recluse's starting Urn is blue, blue, green. A white slot is universal and accepts any color, which makes vessels with white slots popular. In trading talk you will see "need a yellow with HP restore for Duchess", meaning a Luminous relic for her yellow slot.
Grand relic
Relics come in three sizes that tell you how many effects they carry. A Delicate relic has one effect, a Polished relic has two and a Grand relic has three. Grand is the top quality, so it is what players chase once they have a basic setup. Size and color are separate: you can have a Grand Burning relic or a Delicate Luminous one.
Grand relics drop more often when a team reaches the Day 2 boss or the Nightlord, which is why late failures still feel worth it. Since patch 1.02 you can sell unwanted random relics, so a stash full of Delicate leftovers becomes Murk instead of clutter. Our relics lot is counted in random Grand relics. A common post: "three Grands this run but all blue, and I play Wylder".
Relic Rites
Relic Rites is the menu in the central room of the Roundtable Hold where you equip relics. You choose a Nightfarer, choose a vessel, then drop relics into slots of the matching color. Effects that do nothing for the chosen hero or gear are dimmed. If two effects clash, a red mark appears and the relic further left wins.
Patch 1.02 (31 July 2025) added better filters and relic presets, and patch 1.03 in December 2025 let you name and reorder presets, which matters once you keep separate setups for normal runs and Deep of Night. The far-right tab of the same menu sells random relics. Relics from the Bazaar, from Remembrances and from Nightlord first kills cannot be sold. A typical tip: "set your Rites before you queue, you can't change them in Limveld".
Vessel (Urn, Chalice, Goblet)
A vessel is the container that sets a Nightfarer's three slot colors. Each base hero has an Urn to start, a Chalice from their Remembrance, a Goblet bought at the Small Jar Bazaar for 1,200 Murk, and two harder ones, the Soot-Covered Urn and Sealed Urn, sold for 4 Sovereign Sigils each at the Collector Signboard. The DLC added more vessels for every hero.
Example: Duchess' Chalice is blue, yellow and white, her Goblet is yellow, yellow, green, and her Urn is red, blue, blue. Picking a vessel is the first decision of any build, because it decides which of your relics you can wear at all. Players ask "which vessel for Raider?" long before they ask about weapons.
Depth relic
A Depth relic (also called a Deep relic) comes only from the Deep of Night mode, added in September 2025. It works only inside Deep of Night expeditions, where every vessel gains three extra slots reserved for these relics. Depth relics carry stronger bonuses than normal ones, but many also carry a detrimental effect that weakens your hero in some other way.
The trade-off is the point: a good Depth relic gives a big bonus with a drawback you can live with. You can earn them from reaching Day 2 even without beating the Nightlord. The mode itself is described in the Deep of Night entry. In chat: "great bonus, but the downside hurts casters, so it goes on my Raider".
Murk
Murk is Nightreign's permanent currency. Runes power you up inside a run and vanish when it ends; Murk carries over and is spent in the Roundtable Hold. You earn it from expeditions and by selling relics, with rarer relics selling for more.
The Small Jar Bazaar is where most of it goes: Scenic Flatstones (600 Murk, a random relic), Goblets (1,200), gestures (200) and the Besmirched Frame (1,500) for the Revenant. The dresser sells garbs for Murk too, and those prices are much higher, from 7,500 to 35,000. Because Bazaar purchases are permanent, the usual advice is Goblets first, Flatstones later. Our Murk lot sells the currency by amount.
Garb (character skin)
A garb is a cosmetic outfit for a Nightfarer. It changes only the look, never stats or skills, and you swap it at the dresser in the Roundtable Hold. Each base hero has five garbs. The Dawn and Darkness garbs open after you beat any two Nightlords and cost 14,000 and 35,000 Murk, or 10 and 20 Sovereign Sigils. Two more open after the final Nightlord and cost 7,500 Murk or 5 Sigils.
The fifth, the Remembrance garb, cannot be bought: you get it only by finishing that hero's whole Remembrance. That makes it a small badge of progress, and the reason "how do I unlock the skin" usually means "how do I finish the story". For general background on cosmetics, see transmog.
FAQ
How many Nightfarers are in Elden Ring Nightreign?
Ten as of November 2026. The base game has eight (six open from the start plus Duchess and Revenant), and The Forsaken Hollows DLC adds Scholar and Undertaker.
How do you unlock the Duchess?
Reach the Tricephalos Nightlord to get the Old Pocketwatch relic, win or lose, then give it to the hooded woman in the Roundtable Hold.
How do you unlock the Revenant?
Unlock the Duchess first, buy the Besmirched Frame at the Small Jar Bazaar for 1,500 Murk, use the mirror near the ghostly girl and win the duel.
What is a Grand relic?
The highest relic quality, with three effects. Delicate relics have one and Polished relics have two.
What should I spend Murk on first?
Most players buy the Goblet for their main hero at 1,200 Murk, because a vessel with better colors makes the relics you already own usable. Scenic Flatstones come after that.
Related terms
Elden Ring Nightreign services on Onlyfarms
- Nightreign Murk
- Nightreign Expeditions
- Nightreign Relics
- Nightreign All Remembrances
- Nightreign Hourly Boosting
- Nightreign Duchess Remembrance
