How To Defeat Darkdrift Knight Everdark Sovereign In Elden Ring Nightreign

At the close of the Gaping Jaw, the Darkdrift Knight made his debut in Elden Ring Nightreign as the second official Everdark Sovereign. Given only one week to try their hand at defeating him, players from all over attempt to put the centaur in his place. Unfortunately, like Gaping Jaw’s Everdark form, Everdark Fulghor is no pushover.

A tanky threat with the ability to seemingly fire nuclear weapons from his holy bow at a whim, this explosive fight will have you screaming to the edges of the arena with clouds of fire at your back. If you want to survive Darkdrift Knight and claim his unique prize by the end of his challenge, a good strategy will be a must.

How To Prepare For Everdark Sovereign: Darkdrift Knight

Before you walk into this Everdark Sovereign’s fight blindly, there are a few things you should take the time to settle first:

1. You should study the second phase and strategy for the Darkdrift Knight from our original official guide.
2. You should have a relic build of at least two grand relics, ideally three.
3. Set a plan on how to acquire access to Lightning damage (either through Relics or in strategy of which locations you’d like to visit).
4. Keep Holy and Physical damage negation as a second priority when making your map attack plan.
5. Consider using Sovereign Sigils to change the map to Shifting Earth: Noklateo and receive a free party-revive.

This is a tough fight, and while doing it solo is an option, this is a fight we absolutely recommend bringing a team of three for.

For incantation casters like Recluse and Revenant, the only way besides random boss drops (which are rare) to reliably acquire seals with Lightning damage are in the basements of broken cathedrals and in a hermit’s shack.

Recommended Characters

While many of our suggestions remain for the Darkdrift Knight, the health and damage increase, as well as the knight’s movement call for some slight tweaks in strategy.

Many squishier characters struggle against the knight without skilled gameplay, as one or two shots are common. But, these squishy characters are the ones that can chip through damage the best.

Therefore, an optimal team for this fight looks like:

• Two frontlines
• One ranged support

Keep in mind that any spellcasters should choose their spells carefully, as Fulghor’s constant movement can make targeting tricky. Spells with tracking or large area attacks are optimal.

If you have a talented frontline unit that can keep Fulghor’s aggression consistently, you can get away with two ranged supports and one frontline.

Ironeye and Duchess can be weak for this fight. While Duchess performs well at dodging the attacks and can apply status effects early on, she falls off sharply by Phase Two and instead becomes a tool for reviving teammates and keeping aggro.

Ironeye fares a little better with his ability to stagger and apply Poison from a distance, but he also struggles to take a hit from the knight and does not deal impressive damage when compared to other characters.

Everdark Sovereign: Darkdrift Knight’s New Moveset

Attack	Wind-Up Tells And Attack Description	Suggested Counters
Dramatic Introduction	This appears as the only new move in Phase Two (which he begins the fight with). This happens at the beginning of the fight, Darkdrift Knight appearing from the sky and slamming down on the center of the arena with a purple cloud. It releases a medium-sized shockwave.	When reaching the Everdark Knight, either hold back on your running forward or take a side approach.
Phase Transition	At approximately 60-70 percent health, Fulghor will rise into the air shrouded in gold. This deals no damage as he softly lands back on the ground. Gold From Above always follows up after this transition.	Set off ranged attacks. Do not back away and let go of the opening. Prepare for his follow-up.
Gold From Above	Raising his golden bow above his head, Fulghor shoots into the sky. Waves of arrows begin to fall and slowly move outward from around him, spreading out and creating openings between. Getting struck by these arrows can easily stagger and add-up damage quickly.	Continue using ranged attacks if a support character, and run or sidestep out of the way when they reach. If in melee, back up and look for an opening between the arrows as the waves split to dive back in.
Golden Shot	Holding out his bow as he rears, the centaur fires a quick holy arrow toward a target in his sights.	As he rears, hold for breath and then dodge through the arrow.
Waves of Wind	Gathering wind energy around his spear, Fulghor lets out three waves of wind energy along the ground with each swing of his weapon. The pattern is a slow 1-2-3, with the centaur spinning in a full circle between each attack.	Dodge forward through the wave just before it reaches you. If close enough in melee, press into Fulghor’s side and dodge into that side with each attack to avoid being struck by his weapon.
Gold Spears (Simple)	Without rearing, Fulghor’s spear is cloaked in gold to appear like a twinblade. He performs a diagonal	Backstep twice, mindful of the slight delay between audio and visual cues.
Golden Spears (Complex)	Fulghor rears up and cloaks his spear in gold to give it the appearance of a twinblade. He spins twice, attacks around him as his blades swirl, and then leaps into the air for a third attack: a downward stab.	Dodge back as the blades near you, mindful of the slight delay in the second attack. Then, dodge forward as Fulghor lands on you.
Fulghor’s Assault	Holding his golden twinblade above his head, he performs a quick rapid series of crossing diagonal slashes numbering a potential of seven hits in total. Then, he holds his twinblade above again and circles around for four more attacks, circles a third time, and closes out the combo with a dashing two-hit combo.	If not the target, stay far away and wait for the combat to end; the strikes can hit behind him. If the target, backstep dodge (or parry, if Executor) the first seven attacks. Then, begin dashing away to put in as much distance as possible during his circle. If needed, backstep through the next four attacks. Then, rest and wait to dodge forward through the final two-hit combo.
Rushing Nightglow	Stomping his feet, Fulghor begins to charge and cloaks himself in gold. He races toward his target, dealing damage on impact but also leaving a wide, delayed explosion trail of holy damage along his path. He repeats this three times. After the third charge, Fulghor turns around and unleashes a final short and extremely wide wave of gold in front of him.	Lock on and prepare to dodge roll to the side just as he passes. Run out of the golden wave’s range before it explodes. After the third pass, begin dashing diagonally forward to Fulghor’s far side to avoid being in the way of the final wave of gold.
Leaping Strike	Jumping into the air, Fulghor performs a single downward plunge that creates a small shockwave on impact.	Dodge forward just as Fulghor lands atop you.
Simple Strike Combo	Fulghor rises onto his back feet and pulls his blade back over his head. He performs a lunging upward slash followed by a turn and a forward lunging stab. This combo can also be taken apart, allowing both moves to be performed individually.	Dodge forward through the slash and then again through the stab.
Interrupting Slam	When in melee combat with Fulghor, he may rise onto his back feet and perform a quick slam on the ground that generates a short shockwave.	Dodge forward as his feet hit the ground.
Tactical Arrow Nuke	Raising into the air like his phase transition, the centaur chooses one target marked with a red icon. He then begins to race in a circle in the air before pausing and drawing his bow. After a delay, he unleashes the arrow to cause a large and devastating explosion on impact.	Keep locked on to the centaur and race toward him to keep close. As he charges his attack, sprint under him and as far as you can to his other side. If not his target and you’re too far away, dash away from him as far as you can go.

Fulghor feels like an entirely different fight with his new third phase – perhaps a more faithful representation of a proper second phase to his original fight.

Rather than his slightly difficult and unpredictable dark attribute from the second phase, this new form introduces Holy damage and large sweeping attacks that can hit players that aren’t even his target.

How To Defeat Everdark Sovereign: Darkdrift Knight

While the first part of Darkdrift Knight’s fight is business as usual, you need to conserve resources for the much larger and more dangerous third phase. Items like the Boiled Crab or Boiled Prawn should not be used at the beginning.

Likewise, you should either:

• Use your Art right at the beginning (giving it time to recharge), or
• save it for the third phase.

As Darkdrift Knight begins that third phase, you’ll be tempted to run away like you have for other boss phase transitions. However, this one is completely harmless.

While melee characters might not reach him, ranged characters should press the attack with confidence, as this is the best opening for ranged characters to get good damage in.

Beware that the phase transition is always followed up with the rain of golden arrows. So, melee characters should keep distance while ranged characters should be ready to cease attacking and look for a better position.

Your best openings for attacks are after the following attacks listed in the section above:

• Rushing Nightglow
• Waves of Wind
• Tactical Arrow Nuke

These attacks have wide windows of opportunity for damage that any character can take advantage of.

Ranged characters also have more flexibility, allowing for opportunities to attack even during combos targeting other players. They should remain aggressive, dealing damage quickly to shorten the fight.

Standard tips for this fight to always keep in mind are:

• If two party members are downed at three bars, it is usually better to focus on Darkdrift Knight than reviving (unless you have the Art to do so).
• Do not rush this fight. Wait for your moment.
• Frostbite can be very useful for getting through health quickly without pushing into danger.
• Do not rely on heavy attacks for stagger; Darkdrift Knight has a lot of poise.
• Attacking behind Darkdrift Knight is as risky as in front. Never assume he can’t reach you, even if you aren’t his target.

Your reward for clearing Darkdrift Knight’s Everdark Sovereign version will be 25 Sovereign Sigils and unlocking a new relic at the Collector Signboard vendor: