Elden Ring Nightreign’s first DLC quietly reshapes endgame — and the new duo is wild

Why The Forsaken Hollows actually matters – fast

The Forsaken Hollows isn’t just another chunk of content bolted onto Elden Ring Nightreign – it quietly changes how the late game and multiplayer feel. The Shifting Earth event functions like a distinct new map, new swamp biomes crank up status pressure, and two Nightfarers – the Scholar and the Undertaker — introduce synergies that can rewrite how teams approach Nightlords. This caught my attention because a DLC that alters meta, team composition and map-level strategy is rare; FromSoftware is underpromising and, again, overdelivering in a way that actually matters to players.

• Shifting Earth behaves like a whole new map, changing endgame flow and coop tactics.
• Scholar and Undertaker add deliberate late-game power and explosive synergy respectively.
• Swamp biomes put status effects back into play as meaningful threats, not background flavor.
• Yes, there’s asset reuse — but smarter design makes the package feel bigger than its parts.

Breaking down the announcement (and what really changes)

GameSpot previewed six hours of The Forsaken Hollows and interviewed director Junya Ishizaki, who said the expansion has “more or less … been in line with our expectations.” FromSoftware’s careful framing matters: Nightreign was developed under constraints and the studio has been candid about that. Still, what I played didn’t feel like a simple add-on — it felt like deliberate design choices that feed directly into the multiplayer core.

The big functional headline is the Shifting Earth event. This isn’t a cosmetic weather change or a small map tweak — it effectively becomes its own battleground with different chokepoints, item placement and multiplayer implications. Expect teams to rethink routes, ult timing and summon behavior when the Earth shifts. In short: endgame Nightreign strategy can now hinge on an environmental macro-mechanic, which is exciting and rare for a DLC of this scale.

New Nightfarers: Scholar and Undertaker — support and chaos in one update

The two new characters are where the expansion both shines and proves FromSoftware still knows how to design interlocking gameplay. Scholar looks underwhelming on paper — a buff/debuff support who pockets items more efficiently — but his Analyze skill and Bagcraft passive are built around delayed payoff. Early runs will feel slow if you try to sprint past items, but a patient Scholar turns consumables into scaling assets. By day three, buff stacking and shared effects like Communion (which links allies and enemies so damage and healing ripple across targets) can swing multi-enemy encounters and boss phases.

By contrast, the Undertaker is hyper-aggressive. Think Wylder-level momentum: Trance gives sprint-level movement without stamina drain, and Loathsome Hex is a high-speed slingshot ultimate that can reposition, revive, or delete threats. The kicker is her passive, Confluence — when allies pop ultimates she gets a short window to fire hers for free. With coordination, you can chain multi-ult combos that feel utterly devastating. Running two Undertakers? It’s viable and terrifying.

Swamps, bosses, and the niggle about assets

Swamp biomes return and this time they make status effects relevant again — slower movement, poison-like stacking, and environmental hazards that reorder how you approach encounters. There are also multiple new mini-bosses and third-day bosses that feed into these systems. Critics calling Nightreign an “asset flip” have a point: some content repurposes existing Nightreign pieces. But the expansion’s clever ability synergies and the Shifting Earth macro-event elevate reused parts into something that plays distinctly different. It’s not a miracle of new geometry, but it’s a meaningful recontextualization of the base game.

What this means for players

Casuals who want a fresh reason to jump back into Nightreign will find it: new Nightfarers alone refresh pick-and-ban dynamics and team comps. Competitive co-op groups will be most excited — the Shifting Earth event forces macro-level adaptation, and the Undertaker’s ultimate-chaining opens up coordinated burst windows that reward timing and communication. Solo or pickup groups should beware: the Scholar’s payoff is team-dependent and slow to ramp, so newcomers might feel underpowered at first if teammates don’t play to those strengths.

TL;DR — The Forsaken Hollows in two sentences

The Forsaken Hollows is more impactful than its modest billing suggests: two Nightfarers that reshape team dynamics, swamps that make status a gameplay factor, and a Shifting Earth event that behaves like a new map and changes endgame math. Yes, there’s reuse of assets, but smart design and potent synergies make this DLC feel like a meaningful expansion of Nightreign’s multiplayer fabric.