Did you like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice? If you do, you’re in luck because Elden Ring Nightreign has the perfect character for you: Executor. This class focuses on parrying with a dash of inflicting status ailments.
Ability: Tenacity
The Executor’s passive ability is called Tenacity, which boosts his damage output and stamina recovery after being hit with a status effect. There’s more nuance to this, though. For status ailments like poison and frostbite, the build-up bar on the Executor must be depleted completely before Tenacity’s buffs take effect. For other more immediate ailments like Blood Loss and Madness, Tenacity will activate right away.
Ability: Cursed Sword
The Executor’s character skill is called Cursed Sword. When activated, the Executor will unsheathe his sword and assume a special stance. His movement speed will decrease, but he can now parry almost any attack. However, he cannot deflect magical projectiles and grabs, so be sure to dodge those.
When parrying attacks, damage will be negated and enemies will suffer stance damage, making them more susceptible to guard breaks and critical hits. After several deflections, his sword will start glowing, making his attacks stronger. You can also use the Weapon Skill to make the Executor do a powerful sword dash attack, depleting the glow.
Cursed Sword is also a bit different from other character skills. The ability has no cooldown period and the Executor can go into and out of his special stance at any time. Any charge that’s built up in the sword is preserved, even if you exit out of Cursed Sword or die. The only time the charge goes away is when he uses the Weapon Skill.
Ultimate Art: Aspects of the Crucible: Beast
The Executor’s Ultimate Art is called Aspects of the Crucible: Beast. Here, the Executor unleashes his inner alpha and turns into a gigantic monster. In this form, the Executor attacks with huge arms, covering a wide arc and dealing tons of damage. The block button also becomes a roar, which can help fight enemies from long-range. The Ultimate Art gauge will automatically deplete as he’s in this form until it runs out and he turns back to normal.
Turning into the beast will also temporarily increase the Executor’s HP and fully restore it. The beast can also be utilized defensively, as he can constantly attack his teammates to revive them. However, he’s not invincible and can still be downed while in this form, so don’t be too reckless.
His Weapon Skill in this form sees him charging an energy blade and slicing in front of him, inflicting some big damage. This will automatically drain the entire Ultimate Art gauge, so only use it when the form is about to end.
A look at the Executor’s attributes
- HP: B
- FP: D
- Stamina: B
- Strength: C
- Dexterity: S
- Intelligence: D
- Faith: D
- Arcane: S
The Executor’s best stats are Dexterity and Arcane, which makes katanas his weapons of choice. Not only do they scale well with dexterity, but the Executor’s high Arcane stat impacts how fast status ailments build up on enemies. While on your runs, be sure to pick up a weapon that can inflict a status infect and watch enemies crumble.
Read More: Elden Ring Nightreign: A Beginner’s Guide To Mastering Wylder
The Executor takes a while to learn and isn’t beginner friendly like the Wylder class is. You’ll also have to be familiar with enemy attack patterns to bring out his full potential. But in the hands of the right player, the Executor will succeed in doing what his name suggests.
Elden Ring Nightreign is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PCs.