Imagine pulling up to Heolstor the Nightlord, a boss who can cut through dimensions with a sword, with nothing more than a book. Yet that’s exactly what Elden Ring Nightreign‘s upcoming Scholar class will have players doing — and based on early gameplay footage, the mechanics are looking juicy.
The Scholar will be a part of The Forsaken Hollows DLC, which brings with it two Nightfarers, new fights, and another Shifting Earth event. The Scholar is billed as an academic with high Arcane levels, and he’s supposed to study the battlefield to gain powers. In the new trailer for the Scholar, we see him wielding light swords and daggers, much like the Duchess does. He can also be seen reading tomes and picking plants from the ground, at one point swaying his arm to seemingly read his opponents. The ability places a visual timer on enemies, and when the camera pulls out, it seems like the victims are debuffed somehow. The scholar is also pictured throwing a jar, which makes one wonder if perhaps the Nightfarer will have bonuses tied to the weapon.
But the star of the show is the scholar’s Ultimate ability, where he can summon Condemned to fight for him, much like Everdark Libra, Creature of Night does during that boss fight. Actually, the Scholar is shown fighting Libra for much of the trailer. As fans know, Libra and his madness elemental attacks are one of the toughest encounters in the game, especially if you’re doing the Everdark version. Perhaps the Scholar is a direct answer to those complaints? I can only imagine the chaos of having a team with multiple condemned-summoning Scholars in it.
The other Nightfarer, which FromSoftware has not yet unveiled in full, is the Undertaker. Rather than being a master of Arcane, the Undertaker is strongest when it comes to Faith. She also wields a mace… and that’s about all we know so far. But with The Forsaken Hollows dated for Dec. 4, I’m sure we’ll be told all about her imminently.
