In Elden Ring, the bow traditionally serves as a supportive tool—ideal for drawing enemy attention, softening foes before close combat, or even strategically eliminating creatures like birds for rune farming. However, in Nightreign, when you play as the Ironeye, the bow transcends its usual role, becoming the core of the class and offering a unique playstyle that distinguishes it from Nightreign's other eight classes. This class arguably provides the closest experience to a support role in Nightreign. Dive into the exclusive gameplay video below to see Ironeye in action.
Playing as the Ironeye, I immediately noticed their fragility. While they can wield any weapon, the bow is essential for maintaining distance and avoiding damage, which can be lethal, especially early in the game. Fortunately, the starting bow is robust, delivering solid damage and featuring the Mighty Shot skill. This allows for long-range attacks with increased damage and poise impact.
It's worth noting that the mechanics of bows have been significantly enhanced in Nightreign. Bows now fire more rapidly, and movement speed while targeting locked-on enemies is improved. A major convenience is the elimination of the need for arrows, although this limits you to the bow's default arrow type. New features include a unique animation for shooting mid-roll, the ability to perform acrobatic maneuvers like wall-running and jumping shots, faster movement during manual aiming without entering first-person view, a strong attack that disperses three arrows to hit multiple targets, and the capability to execute backstabs or visceral attacks on downed enemies with arrows. These enhancements make the bow a formidable primary weapon, addressing its limitations in base Elden Ring and making it a central element in Nightreign.
When you’re playing as the Ironeye in Nightreign, the bow is the heart and soul of the class. The Ironeye’s primary skill, Marking, is a swift dagger dash that pierces enemies, applying a debuff that amplifies damage from all sources. With its short cooldown, this skill can be consistently active on bosses, enhancing your team's offensive capabilities. It also serves as an excellent mobility tool, allowing you to navigate through enemies to escape danger.
The Ironeye's ultimate, Single Shot, is a powerful, concentrated attack. It's an enhanced version of Mighty Shot, requiring time to charge but granting invulnerability during the animation. Once fired, it pierces through everything in its path, ideal for clearing groups of enemies.
What truly elevates the Ironeye in team settings is their proficiency in safely reviving allies from a distance. In Nightreign, reviving involves depleting a segmented circle above a downed ally. While most classes must risk proximity or expend resources to revive, the Ironeye can do so effortlessly from afar without consuming any resources. This ability can be crucial for a squad's success. However, the challenge increases with each ally's faint, adding more segments to the circle, making it difficult for the Ironeye to revive allies requiring all three segments without using their ultimate.
Although the Ironeye may not match the raw damage output of other classes, their utility is unparalleled. From boosting team damage with marking, increasing item drops, clearing mobs with their ultimate, to safely reviving allies, the Ironeye's versatility and support capabilities are unmatched among Nightreign's classes.
