I’ve spent a lot of time banging my head against the Balancers in Elden Ring Nightreign’s Forsaken Hollows DLC, and I’ll be honest: the first few attempts felt like trying to fistfight a tornado. These glaive-wielding valkyries are part Deacons of the Deep, part Cleanrot Knights, and all chaos. But once I figured out their weakness, the fight went from nightmare to manageable. So here’s the short version: the Balancers are weak to sleep. Yes, sleep. The status effect you probably ignore in most runs is the key to shutting down this mob boss.

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Why Sleep Is Their Kryptonite

When you examine the Balancers in the expedition menu at the table, you’ll see a closed-eye symbol. That’s your cue. Unlike most Nightlords, who fold to damage types, the Balancers have a status weakness. Sleep doesn’t just tick damage; it puts them into a slumber, which thins out the chaos and gives you breathing room. I’ve seen people try to brute-force this fight with raw damage, and it works sometimes, but sleep makes it far more consistent.

That said, sleep is a tricky weakness to build around because it isn’t an affinity. You can’t just slap a sleep whetblade on your favorite weapon and call it a day. It’s mainly RNG whether you find the right ruins or happen to stumble onto the Sword of St. Trina, the only weapon in Nightreign that’s guaranteed to apply sleep. But when it lands, it lands hard. Unlike poison against Gaping Jaw or madness against Libra, sleep doesn’t radically change their moveset, but it removes them from the fight temporarily. And in a mob fight, that’s huge.

Where to Find Sleep Tools

Your first move should be checking the map for ruins with the same closed-eye symbol. Those sleep ruins usually have a Runebear boss, and they often reward weapons that inflict sleep. I’ve had runs where a single sleep ruin completely changed the trajectory of the expedition. Smash every container you see and search the chests in the cellar. That’s where I’ve found Soporific Grease, which you can apply to your weapon, and Sleep Pots, which you can throw. The new maps also have sleep cathedrals, so keep an eye out for those.

Here’s a quick reference table I wish I’d had earlier:

Tool What it does Where to get it
Soporific Grease Applies sleep to your weapon Containers and chests in sleep ruins
Sleep Pots Throwable sleep buildup Same ruins, plus cathedrals
Sword of St. Trina Guaranteed sleep application Random drop, so pray to RNG
Sleep ruins Map locations with closed-eye icon Look for the symbol on your map

Best Classes and Tactics

I haven’t worked out whether the Scholar can link status effects on enemies, but if it can, you should be able to sleep all the Balancers at once. Even if that doesn’t pan out, the Scholar is a strong pick because linking the Balancers lets you damage them simultaneously. Since the Scholar can upgrade items through use, he’s also better at using Sleep Pots. I’ve had good results with that.

The Undertaker is another excellent choice. The Balancers love grab attacks, especially after they buff their attack, and Undertaker gets a free art cast when she dodges a grab. If you’ve cracked those timings, she can punish the Balancers hard. Just don’t get greedy.

Remember that killing the central, most aggressive Balancer with the enhanced attacks will stun them all, but before long, it reincarnates as another Balancer. That’s the Abyss Watchers-style twist. With that in mind, the best tactic is to kite the main one while the rest of your team takes out the others. Don’t try to solo the whole pack. Communicate when that main Balancer suddenly switches aggro to another player. It’s a chaotic fight, but easily survivable provided you know who the most aggressive Balancer is attacking.

Final Tips for Keeping Your Sanity

  • 🛌 Prioritize sleep buildup over raw damage in the opening phase.

  • 🗺️ Check the expedition menu for the closed-eye symbol before you commit to a route.

  • 🧪 Save your Sleep Pots for the second phase when the super Balancer appears.

  • 🏃 Kite the aggressive Balancer away from the group while your team cleans up.

  • 🎧 Use comms if you can. Call out aggro switches.

I won’t pretend this fight is easy. It’s still a chaotic mess of glaives and grab attacks. But once you lean into the sleep weakness, the Balancers become a puzzle you can solve rather than a wall you slam into. Good luck out there.