Elden Ring Nightreign Ironeye Build Guide and Tips

Everything you need to know about playing as Ironeye, the bow-wielding ranger class, in Elden Ring: Nightreign.

Abilities and Relic Effects

Ironeye’s abilities and relic effects are centered around dealing (mostly) single-target damage with Bows and making your fellow Nightfarer’s more effective.

Eagle Eye grants a buff that increases everyone’s Item Discovery stat, making it more likely that the whole group gets better loot drops.

There are 2 exclusive Relic effects that affect your passive performance:

• [Ironeye] Improved Arcane, Reduced Dexterity
• [Ironeye] Improved Vigor and Strength, Reduced Dexterity

These effects allow you to build for status effect buildup and improve Greatbow damage and HP in exchange for reducing your proficiency with regular Bows and should make you more effective with Quality weapons (STR+DEX) as opposed to pure Dexterity weapons.

The cutting animation causes you to slide forward at your target, damaging any enemies along the slide for an amount similar to 2 regular bow shots. Marked targets take ~10% more damage from all sources for 17s.

There are 3 exclusive Relic effects that strengthen Marking:

• [Ironeye] +1 additional Character Skill use
• [Ironeye] Extends duration of weak point (by 5s)
• [Deep][Ironeye] Character Skill Inflicts Heavy Poison Damage on Poisoned Enemies

The Deep Relic effect really just adds a variant of Ash of War: Poison Moth Flight to your Marking skill, so it applies a decent chunk of poison status buildup and deals a more damage to poisoned enemies. Unlike Poison Moth Flight, it does not remove the poisoned status.

Like all Ultimate Arts, you are immune to damage during the activation animation, but the base effect makes you fire a giant, piercing arrow that deals ~500 damage to everything in the path of its shockwave.

Single Shot can revive downed party members from afar and deals roughly 2 chunks of damage.

There are 2 exclusive Relic effects that strengthen Single Shot:

• [Ironeye] Art Charge Activation Adds Poison Effect
• [Ironeye] Boosts thrusting counterattacks after executing Art (by 20% for 30s)

From the name and description, one might think “thrusting counterattacks” refers to the poking you can do with things like spears and rapiers while blocking with a shield, but that is not the case.

Thrusting counterattacks is just the term FromSoftware uses to describe how you deal ~7% more weapon damage to enemies if you hit them while they are mid-attack animation. It does not apply to spells or status effects.

Since Ironeye attacks from range and performs best with DEX weapons, he is well-poised to benefit from thrusting counterattack damage.

Ironeye Unique Relics

Ironeye has 2 unique Relics you get from his remembrance quest, and you can purchase a few others with unique Ironeye effects from the Collector Signboard for 3 Sovereign Sigils.

Attributes and Weapons

A Nightfarer’s attribute scaling, described with tier letters, determines which weapons they will be most effective with, defining their playstyle. Everyone wants to use weapons that scale well with their stats.

Ironeye Attribute Scaling

Ironeye is a ranger. He’s well equipped to deal damage with Bows and melee weapons that require high Dexterity. His default Dormant Power helps discover Bows. Each number in parentheses describes the associated attribute point value at level 15.

• A: Dexterity (57)
• B: Arcane (13), Endurance (28)
• C: Strength (19), Vigor (37), Mind (14)
• D: Faith (13), Intelligence (7)

Weapon Types

As a Ironeye, you primarily use Bows alongside a melee weapon that scales strongly with Dexterity. Other weapon types can be put to better use by other Nightfarers.

Stats-wise, Ironeye is extremely similar to Executor. It’s really only the unique capabilities provided by their passives, Relics, and abilities that distinguish them, so Executor can make good use of Bows just as Ironeye can make good use of Katanas.

Still, give the Executor first dibs on Katanas and they’ll probably give you the best Bows they find.

Bows (Not Greatbows or Crossbows)

Ironeye also has a faster rate of fire with regular Bows compared to other Nightfarers. Since it does not apply to Greatbows, it is prudent to stick to regular Bows.

Bow damage primarily scales with Dexterity in Nightreign, whereas Greatbows scale primarily with Strength, and Crossbows and Ballistas deal flat damage.

At the time of publishing, there are no legendary Bows, so look for the purple ones. It doesn’t matter too much which one you pick, as all have identical firing rates and damage dropoff, though there are a few considerations.

The Black Bow and Pulley Bow have higher base damage but no built-in affinity scaling or status effect application. This can be an advantage against bosses that are resistant to Poison or Holy, but the opposite can be true for bosses weak to those kinds of damage.

The Serpent Bow scales partially with Arcane and applies Poison buildup baseline, but it will deal less damage per hit. Since you can apply Poison with your Relic effects, this bow is more situational.

The Erdtree Bow scales partially with Faith and deals Holy damage, which is useful against Heolstor, Tricephalos, and to a lesser extent, Libra.

Melee Weapons

Since he has roughly the same Dexterity as Executor and a bit more than Duchess, Ironeye can be quite effective with weapon types like Daggers, Thrusting Swords, and Katanas.

That being said, Executor has a unique moveset (preference) for Katanas and Duchess prefers Daggers, so you should offer those weapons to them first.

Ironeye can also do well with Curved Swords, Reapers, Whips, or Claws, but the scaling isn’t quite as good unless you use his Relics to modify his stats.

Greatbows and Quality Weapons (Relics only)

If you’re using Ironeye’s Relics that boost Strength, Vigor, and Arcane at the cost of Dexterity, you can make better use of Greatbows and Quality weapons.

Quality weapons favor having a roughly equal amount of Strength and Dexterity, as opposed to emphasizing one or the other.

Weapon damage scaling is largely determined by the weapon type in Nightreign and the following weapon types have quality scaling:

• Straight Swords
• Greatswords
• Curved Greatswords
• Heavy Thrusting Swords
• Poleblades
• Flails
• Spears
• Greatspears
• Axes
• Halberds
• Fists

To be clear, I don’t recommend using these weapon classes unless you’re using both Relic effects. Your Dexterity will plummet as you’ll trade a combined 22 Dexterity for 5 Vigor, 20 Strength, and 15 Arcane.

If you prefer Ironeye’s unique capabilities, this remains a completely valid way to play him and is probably one of the better Relic transformations out there.

Recommended Relic Effects

We’re going with an ice cream sundae metaphor for Relic effects. You have your foundational effects that you really need to have as the ice cream, followed by the fudge and sprinkles as necessary to make them worthy of use, and finished with the cherries on top turning them into the delicious god roll sundae.

The sundae metaphor only applies to Relic effects that are particularly beneficial to Ironeye. Generic or universally useful effects will be listed afterwards.

Ice Cream

These are the foundational Relic effects you should seek out and equip as Ironeye. If the Relic does not have at least one of these buffs, your Relic probably isn’t all that great.

• [Ironeye] +1 additional Character Skill use
• [Ironeye] Art Charge Activation Adds Poison Effect
• [Deep][Ironeye] Character Skill Inflicts Heavy Poison Damage on Poisoned Enemies
• Improved Bow attack power
• Improved Attack Power with 3 Bows Equipped
• Attack power up when facing poisoned | rotting enemy
• Physical Attack Up
• Improved initial standard attack

Fudge and Sprinkles

If a Relic has one of these effects, on top of the ice cream, it’s a pretty solid roll and may be worth equipping even if there isn’t a third effect.

• [Ironeye] Boosts thrusting counterattacks after executing Art
• [Ironeye] Extends the duration of Weak Point
• Poison and Rot in Vicinity Increases Attack Power
• Character Skill Cooldown +X
• [Deep] Arcane increased for each great enemy defeated at a Ruin
• Arcane +X

Cherries on Top

The following are nice to have, and while they don’t contribute enough to be worth seeking out on their own, they are probably necessary to qualify as a god roll if they come in concert with the ice cream, the fudge, and the sprinkles.

• HP | FP restoration after Bow Attacks
• HP Restoration upon Thrusting Counterattack
• Continuous HP recovery
• Starting Armament inflicts Bleed | Poison | Rot
• Starting Armament deals Holy damage
• Change compatible armament skill to Rain of Arrows at start of expedition
• [Ironeye] Improved Arcane, Reduced Dexterity (if you want)
• [Ironeye] Improved Vigor and Strength, Reduced Dexterity (if you want)

Generic Useful Relic Effects

These Relic effects are useful regardless of what Nightfarer you’re using:

• Ultimate Art Auto Charge
• Increased Maximum HP | FP | Stamina
• Vigor | Mind | Endurance +3
• Attack power increased for each Night Invader defeated
• Attack power increased for each evergaol prisoner defeated
• Improved Poise and Damage Negation when knocked back by damage
• Increased Rune acquisition for self and allies
• Partial HP Restoration upon Post-Damage attacks
• Character Skill Cooldown Reduction +X (if your skill has a cooldown)
• Continuous HP Recovery
• Slowly Restore HP for self and allies when HP is low
• Improved Skill Attack Power
• Improved Melee Attack Power
• Physical Attack Up

Talismans Tier List

Below, you’ll find the tier list for talismans. Keep in mind that this is just a default list. Ironeye benefits most from talismans that buff Bow performance, followed by stamina and damage boosts.

He can benefit from survivability buffs, but they aren’t as important thanks to his range and mobility and will probably be more useful to other Nightfarers.

Tier Legend

Many of you probably know how tier lists work, but there’s more meaning you can glean from one of my lists than simple “S is better than A is better than B and so on”.

• S: These are the best talismans in the game for Ironeye. If you ever find one of these, it’s always worth equipping. Non-Ironeye players should give these to you if they ever find them.
• A: Great talismans that might be the best you’ll find in your run. They are second only to the exceptional.
• B: Good talismans for Ironeye, but they are more situational or have less impact than A or S-tier options.
• C: Weak talismans for Ironeye that are better than nothing but have limited impact and situational.
• D: Minimally useful for Ironeye, likely far more useful for another Nightfarer.
• F: Talismans that are useless or detrimental to Ironeye.

Talismans Tier List

I only recommend holding onto S, A, and, situationally, B tier Talismans. Everything below that should be given to whoever else in the group can use it more right now.

Addressing Hot Takes

I want to comment on a few hot takes embedded in this tier list:

• You need to be fairly close to the Poisoned | Bleeding event to trigger Kindred of Rot’s Exultation | Lord of Blood’s Exultation, closer than you’ll usually be when you’re firing your bow.
• Bows can’t (reliably) trigger effects reliant on successive attacks, so Millicent’s Prosthesis and Winged Sword Insignia provide almost no benefit
• Skills (Ashes of War) are a lot more integral to other Nightfarer’s kits than they are to Ironeye.
• Crucible Feather Talisman is better than it used to be, but you’re gonna be at range and can dodge easily with your Mark, so it’s not as valuable

Priority Locations for Ironeye

Ironeye benefits more than others from visiting Poison and Bleed Ruins and makes it more valuable that others manage to visit their priority locations. To be clear, other locations are fine, but these places are particularly worth visiting as Ironeye. 

Others’ Priority Locations

Ironeye’s Eagle Eye passive ability improves the whole group’s drops. It’s important that you swing by your groupmates’ priority locations as well as your own because they will be more likely to get something good.

Encampments

I hesitate to include it, but Encampments have a lot of Bow racks, so they’re a solid stop at the beginning of Day 1 when you don’t even have a blue bow yet, or have a perk that provides a boost if you have 3 Bows equipped.

Frenzied Flame towers and some starter camps also have Bow racks in them. Neither are marked on the map.

Beyond that, Ironeye really isn’t too picky.

Essential Weapon Passives

Weapon passives are buffs granted to so long as they’re in your inventory. Unless they have the little hand next to the icon, your Nightfarer doesn’t need to be physically holding them in their hands. In most cases, these buffs will increase your chances of success more than Relic effects.

Ironeye doesn’t have very many relevant weapon passives, so the few that work at all are the ones you should take. Thankfully, there is little competition for these options.

• Projectile Damage Drop-off Reduced
• Improved Ranged Weapon Attacks
• Attacks Inflict Poison | Blood Loss | Rot
• Less Likely to Be Targeted
• Improved Attack Power at Full HP
• Improved Damage Negation at Full HP
• Continuous HP Recovery

Improved Attack Power at Full HP is a sleeper pick because he has an easier time avoiding damage while still dealing it. The other HP-oriented passives support it by helping you to return to Full HP as soon as possible.

Essential Non-Weapon Passives (Dormant Powers)

These passives drop directly from defeating bosses and are the only thing that drop from the end-of-day bosses. You can pick up one of them instead of a weapon, which is usually the way to go.

You should prioritize these Dormant Powers as Ironeye whenever you see them. They’re pretty generic. I wouldn’t agonize over taking one over the other. It’s more important to make sure you’re getting something that will actually benefit you.

• Improved Physical Attack Power
• Improved Thrusting Counterattack
• Improved Dodging
• Improved Flask HP Restoration
• Improved Stamina Recovery
• Ultimate Art Gauge Charge Speed Up
• Character Skill Cooldown Reduced
• Increased Maximum HP | Stamina
• Improved Stance-Breaking
• Improved Physical | Affinity Damage Negation
• Creates Holy Ground at Low HP
• Poison and Rot Trigger Continuous HP Recovery
• Blood Loss in Vicinity Increases Attack Power
• X upon Precision Aiming

FP-related effects are really only valuable if you find an Ash of War that you use a lot or are playing him as a melee.

Ironeye Costumes

Below are all 6 of Ironeye’s appearances. Remembrance skins are unlocked after completing his quest. Dawn and Darkness skins are available as soon as you unlock the appearance changer. The named outfits are based on characters from Dark Souls and unlocked after you defeat Heolstor for the first time.