Elden Ring Nightreign Gaping Jaw: How to Beat Adel, Baron of Night

Elden Ring Nightreign Gaping Jaw is the expedition that ends with Adel, Baron of Night, a gigantic lesser dragon with a jaw built to swallow anything in its path. The official description adds that he is "imbued with lightning when enraged", and that is exactly how the fight goes: a grab-heavy first phase, then an electrified second one. Bring poison. It is his weakness and it opens him up.

Adel at a glance

Expedition	Gaping Jaw
Nightlord	Adel, Baron of Night
Type	Lesser dragon
Weakness	Poison
Resists	Lightning (about 50%), fire (about 20%)
Other statuses that work	Scarlet rot, frostbite, sleep
Immune to	Madness, death blight
Difficulty	Medium
Reward	Night of the Baron relic

Note the lightning resistance. His second phase is lightning-themed, and lightning weapons lose half their damage against him.

Phase 1: the grab

Adel charges, bites and, most dangerously, grabs. The grab inflicts blood loss, and if it completes he gains an attack buff. It is the single attack most likely to end a run.

• Keep your HP high and stamina in reserve for an emergency dodge. A grab at low health is usually fatal.
• Anti-dragon weapons deal extra damage to him and can interrupt the grab animation.

Attack	What it looks like	How to avoid it
Snout slam	Roars, then slams his head down	Get behind him or roll left
Snout combo	A sweep of the snout, then a lunge	Move behind him or to his right during the wind-up
Snout charge	Jaws wide open, charges in a straight line	Roll to the nearest side
Double bite	Two quick bites	Roll away, attack after the second
Roaring attack	Two roars that stun nearby players, then a grab	Sprint away as soon as the stun ends
Lunging bite	One snap, then a fast lunge	Roll left
Tail spin	Runs, then spins his whole body	Move to the nearest safe side
Shockwave slam	Buries his jaw and heaves it up	Move to his side or behind during the wind-up

His reach is limited. Staying beside or under him, away from the direction his jaw faces, avoids most of phase 1.

Why poison matters

When poison takes hold, Adel regurgitates: he stops to vomit and is left vulnerable. That animation is your biggest damage window of the fight. Poison damage also keeps ticking even while he tries to cure it. Apply it early and keep reapplying it.

Phase 2: electrified

In the second phase Adel becomes charged with lightning.

• Ground-striking leaps leave lightning-infused fissures across the arena. The fissures can be jumped over; rolling through them is not enough.
• Lightning snout slam leaves electrical fissures. Roll toward him on impact and stay underneath.
• Lightning crashout: he channels a wide lightning blast. Sprint as far away as you can.
• The regurgitation window disappears. Poison still does damage, but it no longer stops him.
• The fight speeds up. Play more defensively and wait for the recovery after each leap.

Strategy

Solo. Dodge the grab above all else. Hit him after a charge or a leap, never during his combos. A ranged character with poison, such as Ironeye with a poison bow affinity, can stay out of grab range for most of the fight.

Trio. Let one player hold his attention while the others stack poison from the sides. When he regurgitates, everyone commits. Save revives: if someone gets grabbed at low HP, a Guardian or Revenant ultimate brings them back.

Preparation on Days 1 and 2.

• Find a poison weapon, affinity or consumable. It is worth more than a bigger weapon without it.
• Pick up an anti-dragon weapon if one shows up.
• Do not rely on lightning or fire.

Rewards

Defeating Adel gives the Night of the Baron relic and counts toward the four Nightlords needed to unlock the final expedition against Heolstor.

Gaping Jaw as an Everdark Sovereign

Gaping Jaw was the first Everdark Sovereign, the stronger versions of Nightlords that arrived in patch 1.01.3. The enhanced Adel has new moves and more power, and you need to have beaten the normal version first. See Everdark Sovereign for how the rotation works.

Every other Nightlord is on the all bosses page.