The Recluse is a spell-casting Nightfarer in Elden Ring Nightreign, and thus, well-suited to anyone who likes having high Intelligence and/or Faith and loves to sling spells at foes. That said, her kit is quite complex to use effectively, and she requires some getting used to if you wish to really maximise what she’s capable of.
The mysterious mage is a ranged attacker through and through, and doesn’t lend herself well to any melee armaments, so prepare to use a mixture of Staffs and Seals as you get used to her abilities. To help you with that, here’s our Elden Ring Nightreign Recluse build guide.
Elden Ring Nightreign Recluse build guide
Nightreign Recluse skills, passives, and art
The Recluse’s kit consists of the following Passive Ability, Skill, and Ultimate in Nightreign:
- Passive Ability: Elemental Defense – Recluse can discover affinity residues that can be collected to restore FP. Affinity attacks on allies and enemies create collectable affinity residues.
- Character Skill: Magic Cocktail – Collect the affinity residues of targets to fire an affinity-exploiting magic cocktail. Cocktails can consist of one, two, or three affinities; the more affinities, the more powerful the spell produced. We list all Magic Cocktail concoctions below.
- Ultimate Art: Soulblood Song – Unleash a forbidden blood chant to brand nearby foes with blood sigils. These blood sigils increase damage taken and restore both the FP and HP of the caster.
As you can see, Recluse has a very interesting kit, especially the combination of her Passive Ability and Magic Cocktail. One of the most versatile skills in the game given that the Recluse can use this to cook up and conjure all manner of powerful spells in exchange for affinity residues, which she collects from enemies and allies who have been affected by elemental attacks. To make the most of these, there are a few Magic Cocktail recipes you’ll want to start learning which we’ve listed below.
Let’s talk about the Recluse’s Ultimate first, though. An incredibly useful Ult, that not only boosts the damage taken by the enemies it brands with blood sigils, but is also capable of reviving downed teammates in a pinch. It’s a lot like Revenant’s Ultimate (which grants temporary immortality and can raise downed players) but provides a bit more utility, in my opinion.
On top of that, attacking a branded enemy will also restore the HP and FP of the attacker, which is highly useful to allies who need to top up their HP without wasting a Flask. When not using the Ultimate to try and revive allies, it’s best used as you break an enemy’s stance so the team can attack the enemy with ease and benefit from the Ult as much as possible.
Nightreign Recluse Magic Cocktail recipes
The Recluse has an array of different affinity combinations she can collect in Nightreign, all resulting in some useful and powerful spell-casting. The various Magic Cocktail recipes that she can make use of and what they do are as follows:
Single Affinity Magic Cocktails:
The below Magic Cocktails require you to collect three affinity residues of the same type.
- Pure Magic: Coat an enemy in magic that deals damage over time, circling and attacking the foe.
- Pure Fire: Hurl a whirlwind of fire at a target. This causes the surrounding area to burn over time.
- Pure Lightning: Coat the caster in lightning, improving dodging.
- Pure Holy: Coat the caster in holy light, improving poise and increasing damage negation.
Double Affinity Magic Cocktails:
The below Magic Cocktails require you to collect two affinity residues of one type, and a single affinity residue of another, second type. (Note that it doesn’t make a difference where the 2/1 split falls; you’ll always get the same result combining, say, Fire and Magic, regardless of which contributes two residues to the mix.)
- Magic/Fire: Conjures a wraith flame that pursues enemies.
- Magic/Lightning: A magic blade is conjured and slashes at enemies. You can hold to move with the magic sword drawn.
- Magic/Holy: Covers the nearby area with a magic veil, fully conserving FP for self and allies temporarily.
- Fire/Lightning: Turn into a fireball and lunge forward, raining lightning on nearby enemies.
- Fire/Holy: Temporarily raise a torch that increases max HP and reduces status ailment buildup for allies, while also lowering the max HP of enemies.
- Lightning/Holy: Create a layer of lightning capable of parrying enemy attacks temporarily.
Triple Affinity Magic Cocktails:
The most complex of Magic Cocktails, the below require you to collect three different types of affinity residues, and result in some impressive spells:
- Magic/Fire/Lightning: Summons an exploding gravity orb that pulls enemies towards it, expands, and then explodes.
- Magic/Fire/Holy: Fire a mixed-affinity breath attack at enemies, which also happens to restore the HP and FP of any allies it comes into contact with.
- Fire/Lightning/Holy: Create a lightning rod that can be thrust forward into the terrain. After a short delay, multiple lightning strikes hit the area.
- Magic/Lightning/Holy: Create an icy storm where you can retreat into a block of ice, making you temporarily invulnerable.
When it comes to the best Magic Cocktails to try to aim for with Recluse, it largely depends on the situation at hand. That said, single-affinity Fire and Magic cocktails are both easily attained, damaging attacks.
The triple-affinity cocktails for Recluse are without a doubt the best, but hard to pull off given that they need three different affinities to be collected. You can make collecting these easier by trying to line your inventory with weapons of different affinities and switching between using them, or by coordinating with your team and asking them to use weapons of varying affinities instead. Don’t forget that you can collect affinities from your allies too, if the boss strikes them with lightning or fire, for example.
My favorite triple-affinity cocktails for Recluse are Magic/Fire/Lightning, because there’s something so satisfying about watching this huge gravity orb pull foes towards it and quickly do huge amounts of damage to them. Similarly, Magic/Fire/Holy is great if your teammates are up close and personal with the boss: the fire breath it unleashes not only damages the enemy, but will restore HP and FP for your teammates if it comes into contact with them. And if they’re melee attacking the boss, it’s likely they’ll come into contact with it!
Best Recluse team synergies in Nightreign
The Recluse relies on strong teammates that will maintain the enemy’s aggression in Nightreign, given that she has one of the lowest HP values in the game and very little Physical damage resistance. In an ideal world, Recluse will play at range using Staffs and Seals, keeping a safe distance from the enemy, while throwing together and using her Magic Cocktails.
It’s also worth noting that Recluse is not great with melee weapons, but you simultaneously don’t want to needlessly waste her FP using the likes of Glintstone Pebble or other spells to revive teammates. With this in mind, consider bringing a bow along to safely revive allies from a distance, even if it’s a basic bow.
With the Recluse’s squishy stature in mind, it’s for the best that you bring along a strong, hard-hitting, aggro-maintaining Nightfarer such as Raider, Wylder, or Guardian with their tanky HP bars. You can also consider melee characters such as Duchess, Executor, and even Ironeye (who does very well with Dexterity melee weapons, as well as bows), as these will also be able to maintain enemy aggro. They do, however, come with less HP for tanking than the likes of Raider and co.
I wouldn’t recommend bringing Recluse alongside a team of ranged fighters; Recluse, Revenant, and Ironeye, for example. In that composition, you’re reliant on Revenant’s summons (and their poor HP) to maintain aggro until Ironeye finds a decent weapon and/or some HP buffs, and even then, your team will still be quite a fragile one. That doesn’t mean this isn’t possible though! I’d simply suggest swapping Revenant for Wylder, Executor, or someone that can at least keep the enemy busy more than Revenant often can. This way, the Recluse can remain safely at range for the most part.
Best Recluse relics and passive effects in Nightreign
The best passive effects and relic traits for Recluse will depend on how you like playing her and what you feel her kit lacks when you do. If FP consumption and regeneration isn’t an issue for you thanks to Relics or whatever else, you can look out for HP-boosting traits, or traits that boost the Recluse’s damage output and vice versa. That said, FP is no doubt one of Recluse’s most important stats given that she completely relies on it.
Relic traits, dormant powers, and passive effects to consider are as follows:
- Increased FP or FP Restoration – Recluse relies on FP, so anything that increases her Maximum FP or FP Restoration Rate is great.
- Reduced FP Consumption – Same as above, the Recluse will benefit from anything that maintains FP.
- Increased HP – Recluse’s HP leaves a lot to be desired, so if you can find any passives or equip any Relics that increase her Maximum HP, this gives her further survivability.
- Increased/improved Spell-Casting Speed, Magic Attack Power, Sorceries, or Incantations – As a mage through and through, the Recluse will benefit from any passive effects or relic traits that enhance Sorceries, Incants, Magic Damage, and Spell-Casting Speed.
Some specific, fixed Relics you can equip to Recluse and how to get them are as follows:
- Bone-Like Stone (complete Recluse’s Remembrance) – [Recluse] Activating Ultimate Art raises HP, [Recluse] Suffer blood loss and increase attack power upon Art activation, Intelligence +3
- Vestige of Night (start Recluse’s Remembrance) – [Recluse] Collecting affinity residue activates Terra Magica, Magic Attack Power Up +2
- Night of the Fathom (defeat Augur) – Increased Maximum HP, Flask also heals allies, Items confer effects to nearby allies
The former two Relics suggested – Bone-Like Stone and Vestige of Night – are built for the Recluse and her kit. Meanwhile, Night of the Fathom is a Relic useful to almost anyone, given that it’s a supportive Relic allowing Flasks to also heal allies, items to confer effects to nearby allies, and lastly, it raises the Recluse’s Maximum HP, which we certainly cannot complain about.
All in all, those trying out Recluse want to quickly identify which Magic Cocktails they want/need to use and begin gathering affinity-dealing weapons – or having their allies gather weapons – that will allow them to quickly collect the necessary affinities and restore FP consistently.
On top of that, relic traits and passive effects that support the Recluse’s HP and FP, as well as anything that increases the damage of her sorceries and incantations will never go amiss. She takes some getting used to, but once you’ve become accustomed to her complex kit and array of cocktails, she can be a powerhouse in battle provided you’re able to – ideally – not let her get hit.
For more on Elden Ring Nightreign, take a look at our tips and tricks for successful runs, how to unlock skins for your Nightfarers, and our list of all the Nightlords ranked.