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Now that you’veconquered four different Expeditions, you have the privilege to die over and over again to one ofElden Ring Nightreign’shardest boss fights,HeolstortheNightlord. He fights a lot like Artorias, spliced with the Soul of Cinder, if they were given a Consort Radahn-style overhaul and a juiced-up Moonlight Greatsword. Good luck.
But you’ve made it this far, so you should manage just fine, so long as you come prepared with status effects that he’s weak to, and a good team composition. Granted, if you want to see every Nightfarer’s ending, you’ll have to triumph over the Night Aspect with each and every one of them.
Heolstor’s Strengths And Weaknesses
As you’re able to see on the Expeditions tab,the Night Aspect is weak to Holy, just like Tricephalos.
However, you’ll notice that ‘Fire’ is listed in both strengths and weaknesses, and that’s becauseHeolstor will swap his Moonlight Greatsword-style blade for a fiery greatswordmidway through his second phase. As such, Firecanbe devastating, but it’s ill-advised.Focus on finding Holy and Lightning weaponsfor more reliable results.
Recommended Characters
Health matters little with Heolstor, given the sheer amount of damage he deals, but it’s stillworth bringing Raider with youto keep aggro so that a ranged character,preferably Ironeye, can focus their attacks safely from a distance. And since Heolstor is weak to Holy,Revenant is a strong pickthanks to her high-scaling Faith. Just ensure that youhoard Incantations and Sacred Seals.
Raider is also very good at staggering Heolstor, allowing you to regain control of the fight.
However, if you’re caught in any of Heolstor’s attacks, Revenant will go down in just a couple of hits, even at higher levels, soExecutor is a good backup. With high Dexterity scaling and speed, they can keep up better with Heolstor’s rapid-paced attacks.
Heolstor’s Moveset
Unlike other Nightlords,Heolstor has two health bars.His first phase, dubbed The Shape of Night, is fairly simple. He doesn’t have any flashy attacks andonly uses one arm until he loses a quarter of his health, after which he pulls out a second sword. Try not to get hit during this phase, asyou’ll need all the flasks and support you’re able to get for his much harder second.
Counter
Lunge
The Shape of Night slides to the side while lifting their sword in the air, preparing to lunge forward with a jab attack.
It’s fairly easy to roll out of the way, given how slow the wind-up is.
Roar
After pulling out his second weapon, The Shape of Night unlocks a new moveset in which he lets out a roar that stuns and deals minor damage to anyone caught in its vicinity. Afterwards, he drags his sword directly towards an opponent in a rapid-fire dash and swings it three times.
Run away from the roar attack and dodge in the opposite direction of each swing.
Dash
The Shape of Night dashes forward, covering a decent distance, and swings his sword at you. If it collides, you’ll be sent flying backwards.
Roll through the swing, as they can easily close the distance if you attempt to run away.
Once The Shape of Night is ‘defeated’, the arena will darken to a black screen, which fades away to reveal Heolstor the Nightlord. This second phase is, like most other Nightlords, split into two. He’ll begin with a weapon reminiscent of the Moonlight Greatsword, enhancing several of his original attacks, before swapping to a flaming greatsword.
Magical Lunge
Heolstor aims his sword forward and lunges towards you, letting out an explosive AoE burst of magic. Afterwards, he swings his sword overhead and stabs it into the ground for a second explosion.
This lunge is much slower than in the first phase, giving you ample time to roll out of the way. So long as you dodge just as the explosion begins, you won’t take damage.
Crescent Arcs
Heolstor swings his sword and hurls two crescent-moon-shaped magic blasts at you. This is followed up with a charged lunge that sends forward a devastating vortex.
Roll through each arc, and then to the right or left of the vortex.
Improved Dash
Heolstor dashes past you, turns around, and leaps forward with one swing, followed up by an overhead attack and a subsequent delayed dash attack.
This is one of Heolstor’s simpler moves, without any magical AoE flavouring, so simply dodge each swing as you would any other boss.
Shrouded In Darkness
Heolstor hunches down, enveloping the arena in darkness, lit up only by flying magical blue darts that swirl around him and damage you if you come into contact with them.
Run away from Heolstor and you’ll be out of range of his flying streaks of magic.
Sky Rend
After losing a quarter of his health, Heolstor flies into the air and rips open the sky with his sword, before crashing into the ground and causing the entire arena to erupt. From here, he begins to use a fiery greatsword instead of his Moonlight one.
Roll or run out of the way of the giant streaks of raised, fiery ground, and roll through any eruptions you get caught in. Afterwards, avoid the leftover fire geysers.
Smouldering Blade
Each attack with Heolstor’s fiery sword sends forth streaks of raised ground that erupt in fiery geysers.
Be extra careful when dodging, as you’ll need to roll a second time to avoid the follow-up attacks.
Flaming Lunge
Heolstor swings at you three times and then lunges forward with his flaming sword. This sends forth a streak of raised ground that erupts shortly after.
Dodge each swing and subsequent eruption, run backwards when he lunges, and then roll to the left or right of the final eruption.
Fiery Slash
Heolstor strengthens his engulfed blade, swinging it rapidly at you while unleashing flaming streaks.
Dodge the blade, and then verify to avoid the lines of fire that follow.
Eruption
Heolstor leaps into the air and raises his sword into the sky. After gaining enough power, he crashes into the arena, causing everything in his vicinity to erupt. Afterwards, he returns to using his Moonlight Blade.
When you see Heolstor hovering in the air, run to the edges of the arena.
It might seem like an overwhelming fight given his showy moveset, as he rips a hole between dimensions to strengthen his blade while causing the arena itself to rupture, but there’s a lot moreroom for error with Heolstor’s attacksthan there is with a lot of theShadow of the Erdtreebosses. Especially with three players sharing the aggro.
Tips For Beating Heolstor
Heolstor is an incredibly mobile opponent, so it can be easy to fall into a frantic panic as you desperately attempt to roll through every attack, but there are plenty of tells for each move. Pay close attention andtake things slowly.You don’t want to rush in and waste all of your healing.
That goes double for the first phase.The Shape of Night doesn’t have much health, so it can be tempting to go all out and spam attacks to get through the fight quicker, but you risk taking needless damage and being left in a weakened state for the much harder Heolstor segment.
Similarly, if you’re a spellcaster like Revenant,don’t waste your FP against the first phase. The Shape of Night is weak enough that your teammates can take him out alone if need be, especially with the help of your spirits.
Heolstor is a war of attrition,but his moves are surprisingly forgiving and leave plenty of leeway for dodges. If you’ve ever fought humanoid Souls bosses in the past, like Gwyn, the Abyss Watchers, or even the Dancer, this fight is very much along those lines. Keep your focus tight and avoid rash moves, and you’ll come out on top.
