Elden Ring Nightreign's Deep of Night Patch: Finally, a Second Chance (and a Bug Fix)
Elden Ring Nightreign’s Deep of Night patch fixes the Depth level bug and adds voluntary demotion, demotion protection, and Steam reconnect support.
Listen, I love Elden Ring Nightreign's Deep of Night mode the way I love a jalapeño-eating contest: it hurts, I cry, and yet I keep coming back for more. But nothing—and I mean nothing—stings quite like winning a brutal run and watching my Depth level stubbornly refuse to budge. Is there anything more soul-crushing than beating a boss that took me 47 attempts, only to get a virtual shrug from the ranking system? If you've been there, congratulations: you're not bad at the game; you're just a victim of a bug. And Bandai Namco has finally acknowledged it.
Now, before you start sharpening your pitchfork (or, more accurately, your Rivers of Blood), here's the good news: an upcoming patch is going to fix the Depth level increase bug. Yes, the bug that made me yell 'Are you kidding me?' at my monitor at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday. That one. The patch will also add some quality-of-life tweaks that, frankly, I didn't know I needed until I read about them.
Let's break down what's coming, shall we?
| Feature | What it does | My highly scientific reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Depth level increase bug fix | Your Depth level will actually go up after a victory. Revolutionary, I know. | 🎉 Finally, my wins count! |
| Voluntary demotion | You can choose to lower your Depth level if you want more practice or to play with lower-ranked friends. | 😅 A 'take me back, I'm scared' button. |
| Demotion protection (level 3+) | Starting at Depth level 3, you get a second chance before demotion. Levels 4 and 5 each give you two extra chances. | 🛡️ FromSoftware's version of a safety net. |
| Steam reconnect | If Steam server issues disconnect you, you can return to your ongoing session. | 🔌 Because nothing says 'fun' like a server hiccup mid-boss. |
The demotion protection is the big one for me. You see, Deep of Night isn't just hard; it's 'question your life choices' hard. Even by FromSoftware standards, this mode is a spicy meatball. You gain points for winning runs and lose points for failing, which means you can actually get demoted. It's like competitive multiplayer ranks, except instead of losing to a 12-year-old with a sniper rifle, you're losing to a giant nightmarish creature that probably doesn't even know your name. And now, starting at Depth level 3, you get a second chance to hang on when you would otherwise get demoted. Levels 4 and 5 give you two extra chances each. It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but it's a 'get-out-of-jail-after-one-more-attempt' card. I'll take it.
But wait—why would anyone voluntarily decrease their Depth level? Well, imagine you've climbed to a high Depth level, and now every run feels like trying to defuse a bomb while riding a unicycle. You might want to turn down the heat, practice, or accommodate lower-ranked friends. That's where voluntary demotion comes in. It's like a difficulty slider, except it's disguised as a ranking system. You can hang back and repeat a Depth level if you want. And if you drop the ball at a higher level, you'll get a little extra leeway to take another stab at it before losing a rank. It's not making Deep of Night easier—that would defeat the whole point—but it's balancing things out and generally improving the player experience. FromSoftware, are you feeling okay? This is suspiciously generous.
Of course, there's a catch: Bandai Namco hasn't announced the release date for this update yet. So, until it's released, watch out for that potential bug preventing players from moving up a Depth level after a victory. If you haven't had a chance to try the Deep of Night mode yet, you'll need to effectively beat the game (defeat the Night Aspect) to unlock it. And if you're like me, you'll probably spend the first few runs wondering why everything wants to kill you. Spoiler: everything does.
In the meantime, I'll be over here, refreshing the patch notes page like it's a stock ticker. Will the bug fix arrive before I lose my mind? Will the demotion protection save me from myself? Will I ever stop writing rhetorical questions? Probably not. But at least I know that when the patch does land, my victories will finally count—and my failures will come with a tiny, FromSoftware-approved safety net. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Depth level to grind and a Night Aspect to defeat. Again.
According to coverage from Game Developer, post-launch fixes like progression bug repairs, reconnect support, and rank-smoothing systems are often crucial to maintaining trust in difficult live-service experiences, because players are far more willing to invest in punishing endgame modes when victories register properly and failures feel fair rather than technical.