After slaying Gladius, Beast of Night, one of the very next Nightlords you're likely to come across in FromSoftware's new co-op roguelike spinoff Elden Ring Nightreign is Adel, Baron of Night. The Gaping Jaw Expedition you hunt it in is the first of the six additional missions you unlock after beating Gladius, though it's not easier than the other ones you can embark upon by any means.
In fact, I'd say Adel is actually one of Nightreign's harder Nightlord bosses, even if its overall moveset is on the simpler side. It hits very hard and is very mobile compared to some of your other targets in your quest to dispel the Night, but luckily, also has some very pronounced weaknesses and is very punishable once you know how to avoid its most lethal attacks.
In the guide below, you'll find a complete review of Adel's damage type weaknesses, attack moveset, and more. All of that information should help you significantly if you're stuck on this boss, so read on and read closely if you are.
Adel, Baron of Night weakness and best classes
- Adel has weaknesses to several status effects, with the most prominent being a major susceptibility to Poison and Scarlet Rot. Here's how each affects it:
- Poison & Scarlet Rot: Causes Adel to lay down and vomit; the vomit deals high damage and Poison buildup, but dissipates quickly and gives you several seconds to freely hit the boss before it gets back up.
- Sleep: Stuns the boss for a few moments, making it easy to damage; less effective than Poison, but still very useful.
- Frostbite: Extremely easy to inflict, resulting in a chunk of extra damage as well as a defense debuff that will raise your team's damage output for a while.
- A mix of melee and ranged Nightfarers is best, with Executor and Ironeye particularly good due to their high Arcane and status effect buildup. Both of these characters can apply the aforementioned statuses to Adel very quickly if their armaments inflict them. Wylder in particular is another good choice, as his grappling hook helps him keep up with Adel's high mobility.
- Adel primarily deals Physical damage as well as Lightning damage in Phase 2, and has a grab attack that inflicts severe Bleed. Try and build into resistances for these damage types and ailments with the upgrades you find during your run to Adel if you can.
Boss guide: How to beat Adel, Baron of Night
- In Phase 1, Adel tends to attack players by trying to bite them with its massive jaws; these chomps are telegraphed by big stretches of its mouth. Roll forward and through the bite (or bites if it performs a combo), then counter-attack by hitting its jaws, neck, or legs. Don't roll backwards in the direction Adel is moving in, as you'll likely still get clipped by its attack hitboxes when coming out of your dodges.
- If you see Adel stretching its jaws from medium range, it's about to perform a leaping bite at you. Dodge through this in the same way you'd avoid its regular chomps, and punish with a few strikes of your own.
- Adel may also open its mouth very wide and charge at you, potentially knocking you down. Once again, roll through this, but roll one or two more times as during this move his entire hitbox can damage you. Chase after him once his charge ends.
- A deadly grab variation of Adel's bite sees it lift its head into the air and gather blue lightning in its jaws, then lower it to the ground and pull back before surging forward with a chomp. This is avoided in the same way all the other aforementioned attacks are, but dodging it is crucial; if the grab lands, Adel will heavily damage you for multiple seconds and inflict Bleed buildup, and the Bleed is likely to kill you unless you have Bleed resistance.
- Notably, teammates can save you from the grab if they hit Adel's head with a heavy strike. Heavy jump attacks, powerful spells, and shots from large ranged weapons like Greatbows or Mighty Shot hits from normal bows are the best for this. Ironeye's Single Shot and Wylder's Onslaught Stake Ultimate Arts also accomplish this easily.
- Adel might also roar twice before charging at you two times, then ending the combo with a grab similar to the previously mentioned one. The roars do no damage but do stagger you so you can't try to stagger it out of this move; dodge through the charges and grab attempt as they come.
- The one non-bite or charge attack Adel does in Phase 1 sees it lift its head high into the air before slamming it down, creating a large circular shockwave. You can roll through the quake if you'd like, though you also have the option of jumping over it; the latter allows you to perform a jump attack on the boss as you land.
Adel, Baron of Night Phase 2
At about 50% health, Adel will begin stamping its feet and generating a huge field of purple energy around itself; when it stretches its jaws wide and then clamps them shut, this field will erupt with purple lightning and call down multiple lightning strikes around the arena, signaling the start of Phase 2. Avoid the phase transition by Surge Sprinting away from the boss and rolling away from lightning strikes that come down near you.
- Immediately after the Phase 2 transition described above, Adel will soar into the air before crashing down onto a player and sending out huge delayed lightning blasts; the lightning strikes after the shifted earth on the ground glows bright purple. Dodge roll the initial slam and then either roll through the delayed lightning blast or jump over it. Jumping is generally the safer option, but both methods work.
- Note that Adel can perform the phase transition attack and this follow-up one periodically throughout Phase 2. Watch for the growing field of purple energy that serves as its telegraph.
- Several of Adel's bites and his head slam attack gain some area-of-effect purple lightning in Phase 2, making them more powerful. Keep this in mind, and make sure you avoid these attacks properly.
- Adel also adds a second grab attempt to his grab attack from Phase 1 in this phase, telegraphed by him spinning around before going for another chomp. This is another thing to remember as the fight goes on; wait for and avoid the second attempt before punishing the move with your own offense.
As long as you roll through Adel's aggressive chomp and charge attacks while applying consistent pressure with your damage, you'll eventually emerge from this bout victorious. If you're having trouble, I can't stress enough how useful status effect-focused builds are, though ultimately you can only use one if you're lucky enough to find Poison, Sleep, or Frostbite-applying gear while zipping around Limveld. Status effects are far from required, however, and ironically, my first kill on Adel was in an Expedition in which nobody was applying any.
Elden Ring Nightreign is a bold new experimental spinoff from FromSoftware that spices up the original game's Soulsborne combat with a roguelike, co-op driven twist. Though it has sizable issues like only having one map or underwhelming enemy variety, it's nevertheless going to be one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games for Souls fans craving action. It's $39.99, but you can get it for $33.99 at Newegg with the promo code XVSAVE.
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