Elden Ring: Nightreign - Ironeye Hands-On Impressions – IGN First

In the world of Elden Ring, bows have traditionally served as support weapons, used to draw enemy attention or weaken foes from a distance before engaging with your primary weapon. However, when you take on the role of the Ironeye in Nightreign, the bow becomes the central element of your playstyle, offering a unique experience distinct from the game's other eight classes. This class comes closest to embodying a support role in Nightreign. To see the Ironeye in action, check out the exclusive gameplay video below.

One of the first things you'll notice about the Ironeye is their vulnerability; they are a very squishy class. While they can wield any weapon they find, the primary advantage of using a bow is the ability to stay out of harm's way. This is crucial because it doesn't take much to bring them down, particularly in the early stages of the game. Fortunately, the starting bow is quite effective, delivering solid damage and featuring the Mighty Shot skill, which allows you to attack from an impressive distance, deal additional damage, and inflict extra poise damage.

It's also important to note that the mechanics of bows have been significantly revamped in Nightreign. They now shoot much faster, and you can move more quickly while targeting locked-on enemies. A notable change is that you no longer need to manage a supply of arrows, although this means you're limited to the arrow type your weapon comes with. This change eliminates the worry of running out of arrows during critical moments like boss fights. Other enhancements include a new animation for shooting arrows during a roll, the ability to perform acrobatic maneuvers such as running up walls and shooting arrows for flair, the option to aim without switching to first-person mode while moving faster, and the ability to fire a spread of three arrows with a strong attack to hit multiple enemies simultaneously. Additionally, you can now execute backstabs or visceral attacks on downed enemies using arrows. These updates make the bow a more viable primary weapon compared to its role in base Elden Ring.

As the Ironeye, your main skill is Marking, a swift dashing dagger attack that pierces through enemies, leaving them marked to receive increased damage from all sources. This skill has a short cooldown, enabling you to keep it active on a boss if you're attentive to the debuff's duration. It also serves as an excellent mobility tool, allowing you to pass through enemies to escape dangerous situations.

The Ironeye's ultimate ability is Single Shot, a powerful, single-arrow attack that can be considered an enhanced version of Mighty Shot. It requires some time to charge, but you're invulnerable during the animation. Once fired, it delivers significant damage and penetrates virtually everything in its path, making it ideal for clearing groups of enemies.

What truly sets the Ironeye apart in a team setting is their ability to revive allies from a safe distance. In Nightreign, reviving an ally involves emptying a partitioned circle above their character by attacking them. While most classes must risk close combat or use mana for ranged spells, the Ironeye can revive allies safely and without expending any resources. This ability can be the deciding factor between success and failure in challenging encounters. However, the task becomes more difficult if an ally has fainted multiple times, as additional partitions are added to the circle, requiring more damage to clear. In such cases, the Ironeye may need to use their ultimate ability just to revive an ally.

While the Ironeye may not match the raw damage output of other classes, their overall utility in a team is unparalleled. From their marking ability that enhances everyone's damage output, to their passive that boosts item discovery for the entire squad, to their crowd-clearing ultimate, and their unique capacity for safe, resource-free ally revivals, the Ironeye's presence significantly enhances group dynamics in Nightreign.