Elden Ring: Nightreign - Ironeye Preview - IGN First

In the expansive world of Elden Ring, the bow traditionally serves as a supportive tool, ideal for drawing enemy attention or softening foes from a distance before engaging with your primary weapon. This approach is perfect for tactics like luring enemies or even exploiting environmental hazards, such as causing a bird to plummet for rune farming. However, when you dive into Nightreign as the Ironeye, the bow becomes the core of your gameplay. This class offers a unique playstyle, distinct from the other eight classes in Nightreign, and it's the closest the game comes to a support role. To see the Ironeye in action, check out the exclusive gameplay video below.

Playing as the Ironeye, I quickly realized this class is notably fragile. While capable of wielding any weapon, the bow is essential for keeping your distance and avoiding damage, as Ironeye can't withstand many hits, especially early in the game. Thankfully, the starting bow is reliable, offering solid damage and the Mighty Shot skill, allowing for long-range attacks with additional damage and poise impact.

It's important to note that bows in Nightreign have been significantly revamped. They now shoot faster, and you can move more swiftly while targeting locked-on enemies. A key change is the removal of the need for arrows, though this means you're limited to the type of arrows your bow comes equipped with. This change is a boon, eliminating the worry of running out of ammunition during critical moments like boss fights. Other enhancements include a new animation for shooting arrows mid-roll, the ability to perform acrobatic feats like wall-running and shooting, and the option to aim without switching to first-person view, all while moving faster. The strong attack now fires a spread of three arrows, capable of hitting multiple targets, and you can even execute backstabs or visceral attacks on downed enemies with arrows. These updates make the bow a formidable primary weapon in Nightreign, addressing the shortcomings it had in base Elden Ring.

As the Ironeye, the bow is not just a weapon but the essence of the class. The Ironeye's primary skill, Marking, is a swift dagger dash that pierces through enemies, marking them for increased damage from all sources. With a short cooldown, you can keep this debuff active on bosses continuously, enhancing your team's damage output. It also serves as an excellent mobility tool, allowing you to escape dangerous situations by passing through enemies.

The Ironeye's ultimate ability, Single Shot, is a powerful, concentrated attack. It's an enhanced version of Mighty Shot, requiring a charge-up time during which you're invulnerable. Once released, it delivers massive damage and can penetrate through multiple enemies, making it ideal for crowd control.

The Ironeye truly excels in team play, particularly with their ability to revive allies from a safe distance. In Nightreign, reviving a downed ally involves depleting a segmented circle above their character through attacks. While most classes must risk close combat or use valuable resources to revive, the Ironeye can do so safely and without expending any resources. This capability can be crucial for the success of a run. However, reviving an ally becomes more challenging with each additional segment added to the circle upon subsequent deaths, as the Ironeye's ranged damage may not suffice for multiple segments without using their ultimate.

Although the Ironeye may not match the raw damage output of other classes, their utility on a team is unparalleled. From enhancing team damage with their marking ability, increasing item drops for the squad, clearing mobs with their ultimate, to safely reviving teammates, the Ironeye's contributions are vital and unique among Nightreign's nightfarers.