How To Defeat Everdark Sovereign Gnoster
Elden Ring Nightreign’s Everdark Sovereigns (ES) are harder versions of the game’s notoriously challenging bosses. The third ES has been cycled in and it’s a buffed up version of the Sentient Pest battle. This pesky bug and scorpion combo wasn’t all that troubling in the original fight, but the Everdark Sovereign version throws in the biggest twist so far that we’ve seen.
Read More: Elden Ring Nightreign’s New Superpowered Moth Boss Keeps Breaking
Here are some tips on how to beat the Everdark Sovereign version of the Sentient Pest: Gnoster, Wisdom of Night—provided it doesn’t keep breaking on you.
Preparation
Just like in the original fight, ES Gnoster is still weak to fire elemental attacks, so it’s incredibly important that you pick one up during your expedition. The relic you earned from defeating Tricephelos grants your starting weapon fire damage, so that’s helpful. Now that you can change Shifting Earth events through the Sign Collector outside of the Roundtable Hub, you can summon the Crater during your expedition. Completing the Crater will let you upgrade one of your weapons to its maximum power. Applying that boon to your starting weapon with fire damage is a viable strategy to make sure that you have an advantage against Gnoster.
Having poison resistance is helpful as well, as the moth monster likes to spew clouds of poison that can infect you. However, do not equip any weapons that deal Magic damage, as Gnoster is resistant to them, given that it’s a magic-based enemy.
Fighting ES Gnoster
ES Gnoster has some of the biggest differences from its original version that we’ve seen in an ES so far. In the original fight, Gnoster was split into two enemies, the scorpion and the moth. They both shared a single health bar. After about 50% of their HP was gone, they’d combine into a single entity, activating the second half of the fight.
Read More: How To Defeat Gnoster, Nightreign’s Dual-Bug Boss Battle
However, the ES version starts off with both enemies combined. Luckily, there aren’t really any new attacks (yet), so whatever strategy you used for the original fight will work during this part.
You should still watch out for its light pillar attack. When activated, your screen will light up, signaling that you’ve been targeted. The light will follow you for a few seconds before shooting down a laser in your direction. This is easy to dodge if you simply just avoid where the light lands.
Gnoster can also charge at you while shooting out magical projectiles right out in front. This attack is easily avoided by dodging to your sides. Don’t dodge backwards as Gnoster will just bulldoze right through you.
A new challenger approaches
After defeating ES Gnoster’s first phase, a third enemy will come into play! ES Gnoster will split into three entities:
- Gnoster, Wisdom of Night (moth)
- Faurtis Stoneshield (scorpion)
- Animus, Ascendant of Light (spirit)
The scorpion and moth’s attacks are largely the same as they were in the original fight. Gnoster can shoot out magical projectiles at you, which are easily avoided by dodge rolling at the right time. Faurtis can conjure up earth spikes from the ground, but these are easily dodged as well by timing your dodge rolls.
The new wrinkle in this fight is Animus. Animus actually doesn’t do anything by itself. It’ll start with a full bar of health while Gnoster and Faurtis will have around 25 percent.
The trick here is to attack Faurtis. When Faurtis is killed, Animus will possess it and revive it, using a portion of its HP to do so. You can attack Animus while it’s in the process of reviving a boss, and it’ll actually take some time before the boss reanimates, so take advantage of the opening. However, you’ll still have to be aware of Gnoster floating around and firing attacks at you. Also, any damage you inflict on a possessed boss impacts both the boss and Animus’s health bars.
Possessed Faurtis is much more powerful, and has some new attacks. Mainly, it can create fissures from the ground to attack you, and you’ll have to dodge-roll out of the way. It can also go on a temper tantrum and stomp the ground. Simply just run away when it does that.
After possessed Faurtis has been felled, Animus will leave its body and the fight resumes as normal. If Gnoster is dead, Animus can possess it too. It doesn’t really have any new attacks, but its current ones are buffed. For example, its magical projectiles are much faster so you’ll have to react much quicker and dodge roll sooner. Additionally, it’ll now try to grab you twice in a row instead of the usual one attempt.
Eventually, you’ll take down both possessed bosses, as well as Animus itself. After winning the fight, you’ll get 25 Sovereign Sigils as well as access to the new corresponding Relic at the Collector’s Signboard: Dark Night of the Wise.
- Increased Maximum FP
- FP Restoration upon Successive Attacks
- Max FP permanently increased after freelancing Sorcerer’s Rise mechanism
Everdark Sovereign Gnoster will be available to fight until July 9 at 6pm PT, which then it’ll be cycled out for a new Everdark Sovereign.
.
