Raider Character Guide

Elden Ring Nightreign brings some unique characters to the world of Limveld. This Raider character guide gives you insight on the game's "bruiser" type character. That is to say, all the Raider really wants to do is get up close and personal and make big smash, his own safety be damned. That's what a giant health bar and flasks are for, after all.

Perhaps the most useful Relics for the Raider are the ones that allow him to sustain himself while taking damage.

• HP Restoration upon Colossal Weapon Attacks
  • Always try to use a Relic that mentions a weapon that the Raider is most likely to use in an Expedition, such as Colossal Weapons or Great Hammers.

Relics that generically increase damage output are also great options, and they come in many varieties. Some of the best ones are:

• Improved Attack Power with 3+ Colossal Weapons Equipped
  • Try to focus on Relics that mention weapons that Raider is most likely to equip during an Expedition, such as Colossal Weapons.
• Improved Attack Power when Two-Handing
• Physical Attack Up +2

When playing in groups, Relics with effects like Items confer effect to all nearby allies or Increased rune acquisition for self and allies are great for increasing player power over the course of an Expedition. Lastly, Raider has a couple of decent options when it comes to class-specific Relics.

• [Raider]Damage taken while using Character Skill improves attack power and stamina
  • If you're actively using Retaliate, this is a free boost to both attack power and stamina that is up quite often.
• [Raider] Duration of Ultimate Art extended
  • Situational, but having more uptime on the 15% damage boost the aura provides is never a bad thing.

Teardrop Scarabs can be found throughout Limveld and always drop a talisman when killed. Look for Talismans that increase health to boost Raider's already high HP to absurd levels, which enables a more reckless style of play and more mileage out of Retaliate. You can also use things like the Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent's Prosthesis to gain a significant damage boost. Claw Talisman is also a decent option to boost jump attacks, which are very good on Raider.

Use Stamina enhancing Talismans like Green Turtle Talisman or Viridian Amber Medallion to ensure you have plenty of stamina to attack often, as Raider's heavy weapons can drain stamina quite quickly. Defensively, look out for a Pearldrake Talisman or Dragoncrest Shield Talisman to bolster your damage mitigation. It's also generally a good idea to look out for damage reduction against attacks that your target Nightlord uses, for example, a Flamedrake Talisman to protect against frequent fire attacks.

Raider has a stat template that is great for any weapon that has high Strength scaling. This primarily includes Colossal Weapons, Greataxes, and Great Hammers, and to a lesser extent, Colossal Swords, Greatswords, and Hammers. Although Raider specializes in and should mainly focus his efforts on close quarters combat, it's important to note that he is quite good with a Greatbow equipped as a secondary weapon for situations that favor ranged combat.

Colossal Weapons

This category is what Raider's signature default weapon (confusingly called Raider's Greataxe) belongs to. Colossal Weapons in general boast high raw base attack power and great weapon range, with few exceptions. This weapon class has access to every Elemental and Attack Affinity across its 16 available in-game options, 11 of which have S-Rank Strength scaling, which makes it the more versatile option. There are many good choices here, including the Legendary Axe of Godfrey.

Greataxes & Great Hammers

These weapons are pretty similar to each other, the main difference being the Attack Affinity they specialize in; Greataxes tend to lean toward Standard while Great Hammers favor Strike, so this should be one of the main things to consider when picking up either of them. Generally, both weapon types have a shorter attack range compared to Colossal Weapons (with a few exceptions, of course), and have fewer options when it comes to Elemental Affinity. Greataxes in particular, other than a single outlier, deal pure Physical damage. A stand out option for the Great Hammer is Cranial Vessel Candlestand, which comes with Surge of Faith, a skill that is capable of huge burst damage in situations where it can be used to completion. The Greataxe category features two Legendaries, Winged Greathorn and Axe of Godrick, which are both very solid if you can get them. Wild Strikes from the Great Omenkiller Cleaver also pack quite a punch.

Greatbows

Having a decent Greatbow tucked away should always be a consideration. Most of these have B-Rank Strength scaling, so they're more than capable of dealing damage from range as needed. In a group setting, Bosses move around a lot, especially if the party is constantly split up. To help avoid damage downtime outside of melee range, whip out the Greatbow instead of chasing a Boss across the arena.

Other Weapons

Since you don't always have full control over the weapons you find, you may need to improvise at times. Aside from passive effects, certain weapons are better candidates than others just because of the way they scale. Colossal Swords, Greatswords, and Hammers are among the best since they typically have either A or B-Rank Strength scaling; other decent options include Axes, Great Spears, and Halberds.

Weapon Passives

All equipment found has a passive effect, most of which are active regardless of whether the item is equipped or not. For Raider, take items that help him sustain HP, mitigate incoming damage, or raise attack power (especially when Two-Handing). The equipment doesn't have to be weapons typical to the character; on Raider, a Staff's passive is just as strong as a Colossal Weapon's passive. There are only six equipment slots, so use them wisely. If a passive effect has a symbol of a red hand next to it, that means it is only active while you are using the weapon.

Raider usually uses weapons with slow attack animations, which might make it seem as though he can't make the most of effects that trigger on successive attacks. While true to an extent, these slow animations also allow him to trigger the effects on every hit - which is not the case for weapons with faster animations. HP Restoration upon Successive Attacks in the picture above is an example of one such passive that the Raider benefits nicely from. Defeating Enemies Restores HP is a decent alternative, but is useless against bosses.

Since Raider has a huge HP bar, passives that enhance Flasks are actually quite decent as well, such as Improved Flask HP Restoration and Gradual Restoration by Flask. Aside from passives related to health, one of the best modifiers you can get is Taking Damage Boosts Damage Negation, as it provides significant mitigation and meshes pretty well with Raider's style of play. Lastly, generic attack increases, like Improved Attack Power when Two-Handing are pretty solid for increasing your damage output.

Raider is a strong melee character with a large HP pool, so it makes the most sense to play him aggressively to take advantage of his highly damaging single hits and ability to break enemy poise. This playstyle is further encouraged with the addition of his Retaliate skill, which grants "super armor" and a large amount of damage reduction during its animation. Use this to counter incoming heavy blows and knock down the opposition to continue your assault. Totem Stela can be used for an extra damage boost as needed; it's especially useful when encountering Bosses that have a lot of minions surrounding them, as its impact can sometimes just outright kill them, or at the very least knock them down to give the party some breathing room. Be careful when casting this directly on top of a high priority target though, as it can sometimes be detrimental to the group by obscuring line of sight or even making the enemy untargetable.

Abilities

Raider's character skill, Retaliate, is a counterattack that grows stronger over time as more damage is taken. You can tell when it has reached full power by the smoke-like aura that forms around the Raider's body. When used at this stage, a long wind-up animation occurs before unleashing a powerful blow that inflicts heavy poise damage and often completely breaks an enemy's stance. When using this skill, whether it's fully charged or not, the Raider is granted a large amount of damage reduction and "super armor" (he can't be interrupted), which makes this a great option for enduring incoming heavy attacks.

Ultimate Art

His Ultimate, Totem Stela, is a giant pillar that forms underneath him that heavily damages and knocks back enemies while elevating all nearby party members. This can serve as a defensive barrier and can even provide a safe vantage point for ranged characters like Ironeye. Additionally, the red aura that surrounds it grants a 15% damage buff to anyone in its range. During its animation, Raider is immune to all incoming damage, so it functions as a decent panic button as well. Be careful when using it in tight spaces though, as it may hinder you and your allies' ability to inflict damage if it blocks the target.

Summary

Raider is a fairly tanky, melee-focused bruiser with a pretty straight-forward, easy-to-understand playstyle, which makes him a great choice for beginners and players who aren't the most mechanically inclined. In fact, taking hits on this class is not even necessarily a downside, since this is the only way to fully power the Raider's Retaliate skill, which is great for incapacitating even the toughest of enemies. With practice, even expert players can find enjoyment with the Raider with strategic use of Retaliate, since it allows you to constantly be on the offensive with the damage reduction it grants during its animation, as well as the ability to survive an otherwise lethal hit. In a group, the Raider can offer terrain advantage and a damage buff via Totem Stela, as well as give the party more openings to attack with his natural ability to inflict heavy poise damage. All-in-all, Raider is a very solid choice for any team composition.

Credits

Written by: snail
Reviewed by: IBoilerUp