Elden Ring Nightreign Dreglord: How to Beat Traitorous Straghess

Elden Ring Nightreign Dreglord is one of the two expeditions added by The Forsaken Hollows DLC. Its Nightlord is Traitorous Straghess, a creature the game describes as formed from the traces of past battles: "this mixture of remorse, desperation, and sorrow eventually formed legs, stood of its own accord." The expedition hint suggests he has no weakness. He does, and knowing them is most of the fight.

Straghess at a glance

Expedition	Dreglord (The Forsaken Hollows DLC)
Nightlord	Traitorous Straghess
Phases	Two; the second is Pure Impulse Straghess
Weak to	Holy (about 25% extra), fire (about 20% extra)
Slightly weak to	Slash, pierce (about 10% extra)
Resists	Lightning (about 10%)
Statuses that work	Blood loss, frostbite, sleep; poison and scarlet rot more slowly
Immune to	Madness, death blight
Reward	The Night of Dregs

How to unlock Dreglord

You need the DLC installed, then:

1. Defeat at least two Nightlords, one of them Gladius from Tricephalos.
2. Unlock Scholar and Undertaker by speaking to the Iron Menial after Tricephalos.
3. Use the chapel behind the Small Jar Merchant in the Roundtable Hold to reach the DLC expeditions.

Details are on the all characters page.

The bosses before Straghess

Like every expedition, Dreglord has a boss at the end of each night before the Nightlord on Day 3. Reported encounters include:

Night	Boss	Key tip
Night 1	Death Knights	Wave fight; spread out so you are not surrounded
Night 1	Great Red Bear	Roll toward its attacks to end up behind it; poison helps
Night 2	Divine Beast Dancing Lion	Constant movement; punish recovery frames
Night 2	Knight Artorias	Dodge thrusts sideways; spread out in phase 2

Which one you get varies between runs.

Phase 1: Traitorous Straghess

Straghess summons minions and uses environmental hazards, so the arena gets crowded quickly.

• Kill the summoned zombies fast. Left alone, they turn the fight into chaos and split the team's attention.
• Use holy or fire on the boss itself. Both deal clearly more damage than anything else.

Phase 2: Pure Impulse Straghess

The second phase brings a new set of attacks with the same resistances. Keep the same damage plan and focus on learning the new patterns before committing.

• Coordinate ultimates for the vulnerable windows after his bigger attacks.
• Keep a revive ready. New patterns catch teams that have not seen them.

Strategy

Solo. Prioritise the summons, then fight Straghess at mid range. Fire and holy incantations or weapons shorten the fight considerably.

Trio. Assign one player to clean up summons while two work on the boss. Scholar's Communion is especially strong here, because it spreads damage across threaded enemies.

Preparation on Days 1 and 2.

• A holy or fire weapon for each player if possible.
• Area damage for the summons.
• Ignore lightning; he resists it.

Rewards

Beating Straghess gives The Night of Dregs. See every other Nightlord and their weaknesses on the all bosses page.