Elden Ring is not short on enemies. There seems to be an enemy at every corner, from the raging dragons found throughout the Lands Between to the giant Trolls lurk around.
Amongst those challenging enemies is the Night’s Cavalry. Although they might seem intimidating, with the right strategies in place, you can beat the Elden Ring Night’s Cavalry with no problem! Let’s dive right in.
Night’s Cavalry Overview
Night’s Cavalry is a tall, dark hunk with a dark steed, appearing only at night. Led by the Fell Men during the Shattering, they are said to be the deliverers of death. Their horses can be re-summoned if killed amid battle.
Health Bar:
Both the rider and the mount have separate health bars. The HP can vary depending on which version you are fighting. But in general, it is about 2200 HP.
Damage Types:
It is mostly physical damage as the Night’s Cavalry uses leaping attacks and a giant Flail or Glaive, depending on which version you fight.
Weakness:
Night’s Cavalry IS weak against Holy, Lightning, and Thrust damage. The Rider in Caelid is weak to Frostbite as well.
Weapons:
The Night’s Cavalries wield the Nightrider’s Glaive or the Nightrider’s Flail. They both deal the same amount of damage and have quite similar move sets, with the only major difference being their animations.
Parrying:
Almost all of the Night’s Cavalry’s attacks can be parried. Just look out for any sudden moves and keep a close eye as he pulls back for an attack.
Elden Ring Night’s Cavalry Locations:
There are nine potential Night’s Cavalry encounters throughout the Lands Between. Let’s get into each Night’s Cavalry locations in Elden Ring.
- Limgrave: If you head towards the bridge near Agheel Lake North, you should encounter him.
- Weeping Peninsula: Wielding the Nightrider Flail, you can find this variant lumbering along Castle Morne Rampart.
- Southern Liurnia: You can find this variant guarding the broken Gate Town Bridge in Southern Liunia.
- Northern Liurnia: You will find him roaming around the south of Bellum Church. However, be a little extra careful with this fight as there are a lot of pillars nearby, making it harder to move around.
- Caelid: The next Night’s Cavalry can be found in Caelid, south of the Caelid Highway. Be careful of the Decaying Ekyzkes when approaching the Night’s Cavalry. He will be wielding the Nightrider’s Flail.
- Dragonbarrow: Lurking near Lene’s Rise, this Night’s Cavalry wields the Nightrider’s Glaive. But be careful as you fight him on the bridge; if you fall to the sides, there is no coming back!
- Altus Plateau: You will run into the Night’s Cavalry just south of the Altus Highway Junction Site of Grace. Unlike the fight in Dragbarrow, you will have quite a lot of room to fight.
- Forbidden Lands: The Night’s Cavalry will be standing in your way as you move towards the lift. Be careful. The fighting arena is narrow, with trees and mist blocking your vision.
- Consecrated Snowfield: You will be facing two Night’s Cavalry, guarding the Hearse southwest of the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace. With one of them wielding the Flail and the other using the Glaive., this will be one of your toughest Night Cavalry battles.
To top it off, there will be other enemies guarding the Hearse. So, try to draw the Night’s Cavalry out individually. Doing so will make each fight a lot easier.
Moveset:
- Leap Attack: When on his steed, he can lunge forward in an instant for a piercing attack. You can easily avoid this attack by rolling to either side or moving around on your horseback.
- Sweep: He uses his weapon in a wide arch to try to attack you—a move he performs both on and off horseback. The only possible counters to this move are jumping or rolling backward.
- Mace Swing: This is another horseback attack where he swings his weapon down and towards the player. You can avoid this with a sidestep.
- Side Swing: This is one of his basic attacks, mainly when off his horse. He swings his weapon for a basic melee attack, which you avoid by dodging backward, rolling, or jumping.
- Lunging Sweep: The Night’s Cavalry leaps into the air and comes down with a huge impact. Just as he’s about to land, the only possible counter is jumping.
- Left-Hand Melee Combo: The Night’s Cavalry will come at the player with a short sweeping combo. Stick to the right side, and you should be able to avoid it.
- Horse Summon: If the Night’s Cavalry is taken down from his horse, he can re-summon it. But if you quickly land a heavy attack, you can interrupt him from doing so.
Pre-fight Strategy
Lock on to Night’s Cavalry
One general tip is always to be locked on to the Night Cavalaries as they can easily ride in and out on their horsebacks. Unless you’re a masochist or over-leveled for these fights, you should also be on horseback, allowing you to take a step back and heal if you get hit.
But in areas where the arena is quite narrow, you might be better off on foot. So, assess your situation carefully before jumping into the battle.
Elemental damage
Night Cavalry is weak to Holy, Lightning, and Thrusting damage. So, if you have any weapons or spells capable of dealing those damages, make sure to use them!
Staying to the right of the Cavalry
You can avoid many of Cavalry’s devastating attacks by remaining on his right, as most attacks come from his left. By simply shifting the direction, you can make a huge difference.
Fighting Strategy
Time to plan. If you are rocking a melee-focused build, your strategy will differ from a spell caster. Let’s consider both scenarios.
Unfortunately, you cannot use your spirit summons to help you here, but you can summon other players to fight alongside you.
General Strategy
Knock him off his horse
Night’s Cavalry horse can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the fight, regardless of the variant. He can ride in, deal damage, and ride out instantly. Besides, the horse and the rider have separate health bars. Although dealing damage to one diminishes the overall HP, you should target just the horse’s health before going for Night’s Cavalry.
By attacking the horse, you can eventually kill it, knocking the Cavalry off. The fight becomes much easier during those few moments as he is open to any critical hit. So, take advantage of this state and deal as much damage as before he re-summons his horse.
Magic and Ranged Players
The fight will be relatively hard if you do not have a melee build. You cannot use many of the counters only melee players are privy to. It is best to maintain distance and get enough distance to punish his leaping attacks.
Be patient
As the boss moves around quite often, open fire only when you are certain your attacks will land. There can be instances when he charges directly at you or those rare moments when he stands still.
Spells
If you have any spells like the Carian Greatsword, utilize them as your opening attacks or whenever he gets too close to you.
Incantations
If you are using incantations, try to use spells that deal Holy Damage, as that is one of his weaknesses.
Use Shortbows
If you are working with a bow, use bows with the ability to fire more arrows in quick succession. Short bows, in our opinion, are best for the job.
Use Glinstone Arc
You can also use Glinstone Arc, a spell that should hit both the horse and rider simultaneously and deal more overall damage. Another great spell against the Night’s Cavalry is the Lightning Spear. Just make sure to line it up accurately. Charge directly towards the Night’s Cavalry and create some distance once you’ve landed a hit.
Melee Users
The fight for melee users is relatively easy if you keep in mind that the Night’s Cavalry is a capricious creature. Just look out for his sudden leap attacks, and you should be fine.
Use your mount
The main strategy is to ride Torrent and target Cavalry’s horse. The sooner you take it down, the better will be your chances of landing a critical hit or totwo
Defensive Strategy
You can parry all the Night’s Cavalry attacks, but blocking works just as fine if parrying is too difficult for you.
Stagger
The Night’s Cavalry can easily be staggered—a weakness you should be ready to pounce on. With a charged, heavy attack, you can interrupt his attacks and go in for a couple of your strikes. If you are rocking a heavy build, you should be able to stagger the Night’s Cavalry more often.
Rewards
Of course, the rewards for each Night’s Cavalry will be different. Here is what you can expect at each location.
- Limgrave: Ash of War: Repeating Thrust and 2,400 Runes.
- Weeping Peninsula: Ash of War: Barricade Shield, Nightrider Flail, and 3,400 Runes.
- Southern Liurnia: Ash of War: Ice Spear and 5,600 Runes.
- Nothern Liunia: Nightrider Glaive, and 5,600 Runes.
- Caelid: Ash of War: Poison Moth Flight and 8,500 Runes.
- Dragonbarrow: Ash of War: Bloodhound’s Step and 42,000 Runes.
- Altus Plateau: Ash of War: Shared Order and 10,000 Runes.
- Forbidden Lands: Ash of War: Phantom Slash and 36,000 Runes.
- Consecrated Snowfield: Night’s Cavalry Set, the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, and 84,000 Rues.
You know everything there is to know about defeating the Night’s Cavalry. They certainly can be challenging, but you can beat them with ease with the right strategy and preparation. Good luck!
