While it may still carry the moniker of its predecessor,Elden Ring Nightreigndiffers pretty dramatically from Elden Ring, and I’m not referring to how the game is structured. In the base version of Elden Ring, consumable items are oftenprettyunderwhelming. However, while Nightreign’s consumables may share the same names, they are considerably more useful.
The truth is, players are still leaving too many items behind in the mad dash to hit every boss. Even the boxes found in churches - where premium consumables reliably drop - are often left untouched by players. It is time to end this silliness. There are a ton of items that you should almost always be snagging, and we’re here to tell youexactlywhy.
We are specifically talking about the more common items you’ll frequently encounter in this list. If you are leaving a Crystal Tear behind, then there is quite simply no hope for you.
8Boluses
More Than Just An Antidote
For those not in the know, every Bolus you encounter does more than cure the associated ailment: they also permanently increase your resistance to the associated status effect. Which means that every Bolus you leave behind is a conscious choice to be less durable. I’m not going to lie, I struggled to figure out where this one should go.I feel like this was the first big Nightreign pro-tip to proliferateall around the internet.
Yet, despite everyone seemingly talking about this, I stillfrequentlysee people leave Boluses behind. I get it, the boost is minor, but it only takes a second to grab them off the ground and eat them. I promise you, the boost is worth a second, especially since you’ll encounter dozens of these in a run. Look, you don’t want to bother with them, fine. But know that I’ll be judging you if I see you leaving them behind and then dropping dead from scarlet rot.
It is also worth noting that Boluses also regenerate HP, meaning they can be used as a poor man’s flask as well.
7Pickled Turtle Neck
Sprinting Is The Name Of The Game
This one is absolutely baffling. The Pickled Turtle Neck causes your stamina to regenerate quicker. Since combat is largely built around stamina management, it is easy to see how incredibly useful that is. But hey, maybe your pockets are full of other highly useful items. Well, in that case, you should just gobble it off the ground.
Do you know what you do more than anything else in Nightrun? Run from place to place. Do you know what running drains? Your stamina! Every time I see someone leaving one of these behind, I feel lost and confused. Snack on any Pickled Turtle Neck you see and prepare to run like the wind. It is as useful outside of battle as it is in.
6Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot
A Golden Opportunity To Put Your Best Foot Forward
So, I hear you. What’ssogreat about a ten percent boost to experience? Well, let me answer your question with another question - why are you intentionally leaving runes on the table? Using a Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot during the first night’s boss will give you around 2,500 runes. Using it during the second night’s boss will get you something closer to 4,000 Runes. That’s aprettynice boost for an item you’ll find all over the place.
But hey, maybe you are loaded up with Starlight Shards. Okay. Cool. Use it now, then. Why wouldn’t you? For the next minute, everything you kill will give you more Runes. And even if you only get a thousand or so, more runesarebetter than fewer runes.
5Exalted Flesh
A Buff That Makes You Buff
If you are playing a non-magic-using character, then this should be one of your go-to items to snag and hold onto. The Exalted Flesh gives you a flattwenty-percentboost to your physical attack power. In the early game, when you haven’t built your character up much, that’s a damage buff that rivals gaining a couple of levels. That’s good!
But here’s the real kicker, because this buff is percentage-based, and stats gradually increase less with each level, chewing on a piece of Exalted Flesh will take a level 10 melee fighter and make them hit like a level 15 fighter. What starts off as a nice buff gets exponentially better as you level up and find better equipment. During those encounters where a boss is taking a touch too long, this flesh will help down bosses quicker so that you may move on to the next one. Best of all, the merchant always has some on hand on the final night, so you can reliably take them into the final encounter with you.
4Weapon Grease
It’s Time To Oil Up For Battle
Greases of every element can be found all over the world of Nightreign. They are some of the most frequently encountered items in the game, and yet, they often go unused. This is, frankly, a little absurd. Adding grease to your weapon will give them that element type for thirty seconds. During that time, your weapon will hit harder in general.
Naturally, if you have the right element for the boss you are fighting, it can dramatically reduce the difficulty of a fight. Night Lords are almost always staggered once they are afflicted by the element they are weak to, and using their elemental weakness will often prevent them from using their most powerful attacks. And, of course, you are told what element every boss is weak to at the roundtable hold, so it isn’t exactly a mystery.
So, instead of hoping you get lucky and stumble upon a legendary weapon with right element, you are going to be far better off snagging the right grease type and taking it into battle. Hell, even if you find a grease that the Night Lord you are chasing down isn’t weak to, it will still most certainly be useful when fighting some of the other bosses you’ll encounter on your road to the Night Lord.
Shield Grease isn’t nearly as useful, unless, that is, you areplaying the Guardian. However, if youareplaying the birdman, then acquiring that should be a priority.
3Boiled Crab
It’ll Save You In A Pinch
The Boiled Crab is the other half of the Exalted Flesh, reducing physical damage dealt by twenty-percent instead of increasing it. However, unlike the Exalted Flesh, this is something that everyone can benefit from. Melee warriors? Well, being able to tank more hits is never a bad thing. Squishy DPS? That twenty-percent can be the difference between being one shotted and surviving a big hit.
Additionally, this is another item that you can purchase from the merchant before the final boss. And with how hard every Night Lord in this game hits, you should dojustthat. Best of all, you can have both the Boiled Crab and Exalted Flesh boosts active at the same time. Just don’t try to stack the Boiled Crab with the Boiled Prawn, the one you use second will cancel out the first.
The damage negation isspecificallyfor physical attacks, so don’t expect the Boiled Crab to save you from the giant AOE attacks so many Night Lords use. They are almost always magic-based.
2Stonesword Key
Evergaols Are The Meta After All
For those not in the know, the Stonesword Key is how you activate Evergaols, which will summon a boss. If you have the relic that increases your attack power withevery Evergaol boss you defeat, this makes Stonesword keys a high-priority item. However, even if youdon’thave that relic equipped, Evergaols are still absolutely worth completing.
Evergaol bosses scale to your level, so you know that you won’t get curb-stomped upon summoning them. Additionally, you don’t need to search for the boss, or fight through their minions. You get to cut the fat and jump right to the boss battle. If you see a Stonesword Key, don’t leave it lying on the ground. Snatch it up, mark the nearest Evergaol on the map to signal that you have one, and grab those easy runes.
1Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot
Take Fate Into Your Own Hands
Once again, I am befuddled by how many people just leave these beauties lying around. Do younotwant better weapons? Are you not interested in acquiring legendary weapons? I think it has a lot to do with players not realizing how dramatically they can improve loot. Whenever you head to a fort, you should try to bring a Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot with you. Your chances of getting something good from one of those premium chests increasedramatically.
It is hard to calculate just how much impact the Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot has with any precision, as there is still some level of mystery surrounding this item (and luck still plays a part). However, I challenge you to go out, and chew on one before opening the premium fort chests. I promise you’ll spot the difference. It isn’t subtle.
