When the Night Rain DLC first dropped, I honestly thought the game already felt like its own standalone expansion. Now we’ve got a DLC for that DLC, and it’s hard not to laugh at the whole “I heard you like DLCs so we put DLC in your DLC” energy. But jokes aside, the real question is whether this new content actually delivers anything meaningful for players who’ve already sunk hours into Night Rain’s systems. After playing through the entire pack and revisiting key areas multiple times, I feel pretty confident about what it does well, where it stumbles, and who will get the most out of it.
A Surprisingly Good Value, Even If It Leaves You Wanting More
First off, the pricing. Fifteen dollars isn’t nothing, but considering the kind of content we get—new characters, new maps, new raids, and a handful of returning bosses—it sits comfortably in the “worth it” category. If you’re already deep into the loop of leveling, exploring, and experimenting with builds, the DLC gives you enough toys to stay entertained for a while. It doesn’t feel like filler content.
I also found myself farming quite a bit during my early hours with the new zones, partly because the enemy density is high enough that I kept getting pulled into fights whether I wanted to or not. That’s also where I ended up stacking a decent haul of elden ring runes without even planning for it. The DLC’s design kind of encourages this loop: get lost, fight everything that moves, collect your rewards, move on. It’s a familiar rhythm, but still fun.
Two New Characters That Actually Change How You Play
The headliners are clearly Scholar and Undertaker. They couldn’t be more different in terms of how they approach combat.
Undertaker is the kind of character anyone can pick up. She hits hard, plays fast, and her relic effects aren’t tied to obscure conditions. Instead of dealing with weird trigger requirements or timing-based buffs, she just rewards you for playing aggressively. She has that “plug-and-play” vibe that appeals to players who want to feel strong without memorizing complicated mechanics.
Scholar sits on the complete opposite end. He’s deep, he’s weird, and he turns consumables into an entire subsystem of their own. The way consumable categories gain levels and unlock new effects gives you real reason to change your loadout depending on the situation. Fire pots, crabs, buffs—they all grow into something more than what you’re used to. It feels like a miniature skill tree tied entirely to items you previously treated as throwaways. It’s incredibly fun, though I do wish he had just one more inventory slot to make experimenting easier.
The Shifting Earth Map Is the Star of the Show
The new area feels huge. Not in a “big empty fields” way, but in a “dense vertical puzzle-box” way. The verticality alone makes it feel fresh; you’re constantly weaving up cliffs, ducking into caves, or circling around structures you didn’t even notice from the path below. The atmosphere is one hundred percent its own thing too. New soundtrack, new biomes, new lighting—it feels distinct, not recycled.
It’s definitely confusing at first, but in a good way. Getting lost is half the fun, and the more you explore, the more natural the layout becomes. I also appreciated how the DLC doesn’t abandon the old map. Instead, it sprinkles in new points of interest, new enemies, and new layouts, which helps the whole game feel refreshed instead of siloed.
Bosses: A Mix of Nostalgia and Spectacle
The devs brought back some familiar faces—Moog, the Divine Beast Lion, Artorius, and the Demon Prince—and all of them fit surprisingly well into Night Rain’s style. Moog in particular gets a nice tune-up, with extra mechanics that make the fight feel new even if you’ve already fought him a dozen times in Elden Ring.
The brand-new bosses are where things get wild. The Balancers fight—seven Valkyries at once—sounds like a cruel joke at first, but their AI is tuned so they don’t all dogpile you. The coordinated team attacks are flashy without being unfair. The other new boss, while mechanically excellent, doesn’t quite have the same emotional punch. It’s good, maybe even great, but just lacks that big “finale feeling” some players were hoping for.
The Parts That Feel Incomplete
Even though the DLC is fun, it’s hard to ignore the feeling that the whole thing was meant to be bigger. You can see hints everywhere—story threads that don’t fully resolve, enemy types that never drop their weapons, missing weapon categories from Shadow of the Erdtree, and returning bosses that make you wonder why certain other fan-favorites didn’t make the cut.
Every time I spent hours clearing new content and gearing up, a familiar issue kept popping into my head: players still ask where to buy runes elden ring on certain platforms because the grind can get real, especially if you’re trying to test multiple builds. This DLC could’ve eased that pressure by adding more gear variety or more drops from newly added enemies. Instead, it stops short, like a puzzle missing its final few pieces.
The Community’s Reaction and the Strange Sense of Finality
Some players are thrilled with what we got, others are disappointed with what didn’t make it in, and both sides have valid viewpoints. The director himself said the team had limited resources for the DLC, which explains the somewhat unfinished vibe. But because this is likely the last real Elden Ring content we’ll ever receive, the conversation feels heavier than usual.
Speaking personally, I enjoyed everything here. The new characters, the map design, the bosses—they’re fun. They’re genuinely good additions. But at the same time, it’s hard not to daydream about what could have been if they were given twice the resources and twice the development time. The foundations are so strong that every missing element feels twice as noticeable.
A Quick Word on Loadouts and Progression
If you’re planning to start the DLC fresh, I recommend bringing a build you’re already comfortable with before experimenting. Once you get your footing, this is a great time to try out unusual strategies, especially with consumables. Just keep in mind that the DLC doesn’t magically solve the early-to-midgame grind, so many players still turn to services like U4GM when they want to jump into late-game experimenting instead of spending hours farming. The DLC doesn’t change that dynamic, but it definitely gives you more tools to play with once you’re geared.
The Night Rain DLC is absolutely worth the price and delivers a solid amount of high-quality content. But it also carries this bittersweet feeling of “what could have been.” If you go in expecting a compact but polished set of additions, you’ll have a great time. If you expect a massive expansion that finally ties up every loose end, you might walk away wishing for just a bit more.
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