The Duchess is a quick assassin-type character you can unlock and play in Elden Ring: Nightreign. She’s all speed, swift combos, and dodging attacks with ease. If you like fast combat and enjoy using bleed effects and daggers, the Duchess is perfect. Throughout this guide, we will take you through the process of how to unlock her, what the best weapons, relics, and talismans to use, and how to maximize her special skills during combat.
How To Unlock Duchess In Elden Ring Nightreign
To unlock the Duchess in Elden Ring: Nightreign, you must first complete the Tricephalos expedition at least once. During that expedition, you’ll face the Night Lord boss, defeat him, and he’ll drop an item called the Old Pocketwatch. Once you have the pocketwatch, take it to the Priestess at the Roundtable Hold. After a cutscene plays, the Duchess will become available as a playable character for your future expeditions.
How To Play Duchess In Elden Ring
If you’re playing as the Duchess and prefer a fast, agile playstyle, it’s best to build her around weapons like daggers, katanas, and curved greatswords. Bleed effects work really well with her Restage ability, so whenever you’re unsure what to go for, try to find weapons and relics that can apply bleed damage; it’ll make a big difference in your fights.
Duchess Passives, Skill, and Ultimate Art
The Duchess comes with a unique set of abilities that really suit her agile, assassin-style gameplay. Her passive ability, Magnificent Pose, lets her dodge more effectively and more often than most characters. This makes it easier to avoid taking damage, especially in fast-paced fights where constant movement is key.
Her character skill, Restage, lets her summon a phantom that repeats her recent attacks, damaging nearby enemies without her needing to get in close again, perfect for dealing extra damage while staying safe. Finally, her Ultimate Art, Finale, cloaks both the Duchess and nearby allies, making it great for sneaking past enemies, escaping dangerous situations, or shifting a boss’s attention to someone else.
Best weapons for Duchess
For the Duchess, your best bet is to dual-wield daggers. When she uses two daggers, she gets special off-hand attack combos that let her strike quickly and often. This is great for building up status effects especially when you’re using her Restage ability.
When you’re looting boss Caches, always look out for daggers that cause status ailments or come with bonus effects. If you don’t find those, go for weapons that increase physical damage or boost your stamina. Since the Duchess relies on staying fast and mobile, those extra stats will really help you stay on the move and keep up the pressure in fights.
Best relics for Duchess
You should travel to the Small Jar Bazaar and purchase the Duchess’ Goblet for 1,200 Murk if you want to get the most out of the Duchess in Elden Ring: Nightreign. This item unlocks a new set of Relic Rites with two orange slots and one green slot.
One Relic you definitely want to use is the Old Pocketwatch, it’s practically made for the Duchess. It goes in the green slot and gives you two big advantages: it restores FP with each successive hit, and it adds +3 to Dexterity, which is the Duchess’s main stat. This works perfectly with her fast-hitting dagger and any other quick weapons you find during your expeditions.
Another must-have is the Golden Dew, an orange Relic Rite unlocked through the Duchess’ Remembrance quest. It boosts her Character Skill Attack Power and increases the strength of Affinity Attacks, making her hits even more effective.
You can use any Relic you obtain while playing as the Duchess to use the third Relic slot. Just focus on ones that enhance Dexterity, boost dagger damage, or reward fast, repeated attacks; they’ll all help you play to her strengths.
Best talismans for Duchess
When it comes to talismans for the Duchess, there are a few top picks that really boost her performance. Millicent’s Prosthesis is a must-have; it increases Dexterity and gives you a damage boost when landing successive attacks, which fits perfectly with her fast, combo-heavy style.
Next, the Twinblade Talisman is great for strengthening the final hits in your attack chains, making your combos hit even harder. Finally, Lord of Blood’s Exultation increases your attack power whenever there’s blood loss nearby, which pairs nicely with bleed-focused builds and weapons. Together, these talismans help the Duchess hit faster, harder, and more often.
