Elden Ring: Nightreign - Ironeye Preview - IGN First

In Elden Ring, the bow has traditionally served as a support weapon—ideal for drawing enemy attention, softening them up from a distance before closing in with your primary weapon, or exploiting environmental hazards for rune farming. However, when you step into the role of the Ironeye in Nightreign, the bow transforms into the core of your gameplay, setting this class apart from the other eight classes in the game. It's arguably the closest thing Nightreign has to a support class. Dive into the unique experience of playing as the Ironeye with the exclusive gameplay video below.

One of the first things you'll notice about the Ironeye is their vulnerability. While they can wield any weapon, the bow becomes indispensable for maintaining a safe distance from combat, minimizing the risk of taking damage—a few hits can be fatal, especially early in the game. Thankfully, the starting bow is robust, offering solid damage and the Mighty Shot skill, which enables long-range attacks with increased damage and poise impact.

It's important to highlight that bows in Nightreign have been significantly enhanced. They now fire more rapidly, and you can move more swiftly while targeting locked-on enemies. Additionally, the need for a constant arrow supply has been eliminated, though you're limited to the arrow type of your equipped bow. These changes, along with new features like an animation for shooting mid-roll, acrobatic maneuvers such as wall-running and leaping shots, faster movement during manual aiming without entering first-person mode, a spread shot for multiple targets, and the ability to backstab or perform visceral attacks with arrows, make the bow a formidable primary weapon in Nightreign, addressing the limitations it had in base Elden Ring.

As the Ironeye, the bow is not just a weapon; it's the essence of your class. The Ironeye's main 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, enhancing your team's damage output. It's also a great tool for mobility, allowing you to escape dangerous situations effortlessly.

The Ironeye's ultimate, Single Shot, is a powerful, concentrated attack. It's an enhanced version of Mighty Shot, taking time to charge but rendering you invulnerable during the process. Once fired, it delivers massive damage and penetrates through obstacles, making it ideal for clearing groups of enemies.

What truly elevates the Ironeye's role in a team is their ability to safely revive allies from a distance. In Nightreign, reviving an ally involves depleting a segmented circle above their fallen character. While most classes must risk close combat or use precious resources to revive, the Ironeye can do so safely from afar without expending any resources. This capability can be the deciding factor in a team's success. However, reviving an ally who has fallen multiple times, requiring multiple segments to be cleared, can be challenging for the Ironeye due to their limited long-range damage output, unless they utilize their ultimate for the revival.

Though the Ironeye might not match the raw damage output of other classes, their utility in a squad is unmatched. From enhancing team damage with their marking ability, boosting item discovery for everyone, clearing mobs with their ultimate, to their unique skill in safely reviving teammates, the Ironeye's presence significantly enhances group dynamics.