Summary
It wouldn’t be accurate to sayElden Ring’s Night Sorceries are underrated since most experienced players know how dominant some of them can be. However, in keeping with their sneaky theme, these Sorceries are fairly unassuming.
As such, new players probably wouldn’t expect them to be theabsolute world-beatersthey turn out to be with the right setup. For their benefit, it’s worth looking at the strengths and weaknesses of this Sorcery type, and why the best of them are truly so great.
35
25
Effect
Create a void that attracts spells
Eternal Darkness is one of several tools in Elden Ring for countering enemy spells, and it’s far from the best of them. The spell doesn’t appear to work as consistently as you want it to, and even when does, sometimes the spell it pulls will hit you anyway if you’re standing too close to the void.
And of course, you have to stand near it, because otherwise, it won’t pull spells away from you at all; it doesn’t move with you, either, which makes it tough to gain ground on the person throwing spells at you. There are just too many awkward things about Eternal Darkness, even if it looks cool, but if you want to test it for yourself, it’s on a corpse in the Swamp Lookout Tower in central Caelid.
16
20
Make yourself semi-invisible
Unseen Form is a useful tool for stealthy playthroughs in both PvE and PvP, giving you some measure of invisibility. Of course, the Sorcery does not make you completely disappear, so in PvP, most players are still going to see you if they’re paying attention.
The Sorcery also doesn’t make you silent, so you’ll need something like Soft Cotton if you want to be fully stealthy. Even so, if you’re aiming for a sneaky build, it’s probably going to be one of the main components, and you can get it by finishing the Mirage Rise puzzle in Altus Plateau.
12
13
Make your weapon invisible
As you could probably guess, Unseen Blade doesn’t have much of an effect in PvE, since computer-generated enemies can’t see anything. As a result, the Sorcery is mostly for messing with people in PvP; it can’t be cast on weapons that aren’t buffable, so that does limit how it can be used.
However, if you use it on weapons that have exceptional range, like the Urumi or Pike, you can surprise people, and having the element of surprise in PvP can be enough to win fights. It may not be the most practically powerful Sorcerery, but it is fun, and that alone makes it worth considering; you can pick it up along with Unseen Form after finishing the puzzle required to reveal Mirage Rise in Altus Plateau.
23
Fire a shard of magic from behind your enemy
There are two main use cases for Ambush Shard: getting around Shields and catching PvP opponents off-guard (although its casting animation is fairly recognizable, so that’s easier said than done). Unfortunately, while those features can be useful, the Sorcery suffers from relatively low damage.
That is largely because it counterintuitively is not buffed by theStaff of Loss, as some of the other damage-dealing Night Sorceries are. Additionally, Shields are rarely a significant problem for spellcasters, as they only do so much against massive explosions, but if you want to test this tricky Sorcery, head down to the Weeping Peninsula, where you may find it on a corpse in the Witchbane Ruins.
14
Create a silver mist that eats away at the health of those inside it (including the caster)
Night Maiden’s Mist is a weird spell that deals Physical damage rather than Magic, making it a great option for Sorcerers struggling with Magic-resistant enemies. Additionally, its damage is largely unaffected by scaling or buffs, allowing low-level builds to take advantage of it.
There are some problems with the Sorcery, though; namely, the fact that it creates a stationary cloud means it will only deal its maximum damage if your opponent stays in it for a long time, and as such, it’s best against enemies that are either really big or don’t move all that much. It’s sold by Gowry after you’ve progressed his questline to the point that he starts offering spells.
18
7
Swiftly fire a semi-invisible projectile
Night Shard is one of the fastest Spells in the Lands Between, and when combined with the Staff of Loss (or better yet, two Staffs of Loss), which will buff its damage by 30 percent, this little Sorcery can punch way above its weight.
Additionally, enemies that would normally dodge your spells, likeGodskin Apostlesor Malenia, don’t react to it, which makes fighting them much less frustrating. It’s one of the cheapest, most unassuming spells in the Lands Between, but also one of the most impactful, and like Night Maiden’s Mist, getting it requires you to progress Gowry’s questline until you’re able to buy it from him.
38
21
Fire a powerful, semi-invisible projectile
As its name implies, Night Comet is the bigger brother of Night Shard; it comes with most of the same advantages; it’s buffed by the Staff of Loss, and enemies won’t dodge it. The only tradeoff between the two is that Night Comet exchanges the speed and ridiculously low FP cost of Night Shard for even more damage.
That’s a deal you’ll often take, especially since Night Comet is still fairly fast and cost-effective. To get what many consider to be one of Elden Ring’s best Sorceries, head to Selia, Town of Sorcery, where you may find it hidden behind one of the barriers you can unseal by lighting the rooftop braziers.
