Elden Ring Nightreign matchmaking isn’t as simple as pressing a button and letting the game take care of everything. That’s especially true if you’re looking to tackle specific fights against the Night Lords, or want to play with people from other regions.

In addition to how to play solo and multiplayer, there are a few matchmaking rules that aren’t explained in too much detail. If you’re only getting your bearings around the game, the process might lead to some frustrations. Fear not, though, as we’ll explain everything you need to know about how matchmaking works in Elden Ring Nightreign.

How Elden Ring Nightreign matchmaking works

At its core, matchmaking in Elden Ring Nightregin is fairly straightforward. Interacting with the Table of Lost Grace at the Roundtable Hold opens up the Expeditions menu. From there, you can select which boss you want to tackle and immediately start matchmaking, which will search for two other available players who are on the same hunt as you are.

If you’ve enabled the cross-region network option, you might be matched with people from, well, other regions. I’m based in Argentina, and I’ve primarily played with people from the United States, but latency was rarely an issue.

Now, here’s where matchmaking in Elden Ring Nightreign gets tricky: The first available Night Lord is Tricephalos. You won’t gain access to other bosses until you’ve beaten it at least once. As such, if you want to matchmake with people who have other Night Lords unlocked, you’ll first need to tackle that requirement. This can be bypassed if you’re matchmaking through specific platforms’ party invites, but it won’t apply to random matchmaking with players outside your friends list.

Shifting Earth events are another condition. These are random instances that affect maps in an array of ways, which also become available after defeating our pal Tricephalos. Now, these are in rotation, and there are a few different conditions to unlock them all. You can matchmake with people who have a Shifting Earth event active, even if you don’t, but you must have encountered it at least once before.

Then, there are also Character Remembrances. These lore snippets, which are different for each playable class, lead to unique objectives on your next expedition. If you have one active, you won’t be able to matchmake with other players who also have an active objective. Once again, you can bypass this step by inviting folks through your platform’s party system. If you do, only the first person to start the matchmaking process will have their objective on the map.

In short, if you’re matchmaking with friends in Elden Ring Nightreign, you’ll largely be able to join each other’s games without too many hurdles. When trying to find matches with random people, however, it might be tricky. At the very least, the more progress you make, the easier this will become. If you’re looking for more tips, we have guides covering the best way to farm runes, where to find smithing stones, and how to use relics.