Elden Ring Nightreign Sentient Pest boss guide: How to beat Gnoster

Ever wondered what a mech would look like if it were made of bugs? No? Well, it would be the Sentient Pest, a big scorpion with a moth on top that drives it around like a magic tank. Considering it's two bosses combined into the ultimate fighting bug, working out how to beat Gnoster is quite a challenge in Elden Ring Nightreign.

Gnoster is one of the six Darkdrift Knight, so I recommend prioritising learning how to kill it to tick off another Nightlord.

It's also worth noting that the Sentient Pest can invade expeditions against other Nightlords, where they'll appear as an enemy stealing your runes via a plague of locusts. Dealing with this invasion is completely different from their dedicated boss, so I won't go over that here.

Elden Ring Nightreign Sentient Pest tips

To beat the bug duo, you need the right equipment. Of course, this includes taking the legendary weapons that suit your build, but there are a few specifics to understand too:

1. Get a fire weapon or spells

Gnoster is weak to fire damage, which is no doubt music to your ears as it's generally the easiest affinity to come across. Use the map overlay to search locations marked with the fire symbol during a run, or simply use the Night of the Beast relic you got from defeating Gladius to get guaranteed fire on your starting weapon and upgrade it using Shifting Earth: Crater event if it's active).

You can also get a specific buff on relics unique to Wylder that give his abilities fire damage, making him one of the stronger melee picks for this boss.

2. Prioritise poison resistance and magic damage negation

Gnoster deals two different damage types beyond pure physical: the scorpion and moth both spread poison clouds, but the moth also fires magic projectiles. Talismans, relics, and ive upgrades can give you poison resistance and magic damage negation, but don't overlook neutralising boluses. These cure poison, but also sneakily heal you and improve your resistances.

3. Level up and get flask upgrades

While Gnoster isn't the hardest boss, I recommend reaching level 12 before battling the bugs, simply because it can be quite a drawn-out fight and splitting up from your allies is a key strategy. Taking relics with increased rune acquisition will help with this, as will grabbing the buff from small trees surrounded by a golden glow. You should also max out your flask charges by visiting churches, so you've got as much healing as you can.

How to beat Gnoster, Wisdom of Night, in Elden Ring Nightreign

The Sentient Pest is perhaps the most unique boss in Nightreign, and it requires an equally unique approach to take it down. While most of the characters at the top of our team composition:

• Ironeye: Ranged weapons are the only way to damage the moth when they're flying, and no one does this better than Ironeye. Add his Marking skill into the mix, which increases the damage your entire team deals to the target, and he's a must-pick against the Sentient Pest.
• Wylder: He's a mobile fighter who can keep up with the pace of the fight much more than other melee characters. His ultimate art also deals massive damage, including high stance damage. If you have his unique relics that add fire damage to his skills, even better.
• Duchess: Her Restage skill repeats recent damage against targets (including the affinity boost from using fire against Gnoster), easily adding bonus burst damage when you get an opening. Thanks to her high intelligence stat, Duchess is just as good with a staff as she is with daggers, so she works well against both bugs, and she has decent dex, so she can use a bow in a pinch.
• Raider: His slow, hard-hitting melee playstyle largely limits him to dealing with the scorpion (unless you find a great bow), but that's not an issue when he does it this well. High stagger damage and survivability mean he can go toe-to-toe with the scorpion while your ranged allies focus on the moth.

You'll generally want to have two ranged characters and one melee fighter (or hybrids like Duchess), and split your team in two. The ranged players take on the moth while the fighter keeps the scorpion busy until the bugs combine.

1. Watch out for these attacks

Since Gnoster is technically two bosses in one, there's quite a bit to keep track of depending on which one you're fighting. Once the shared health bar reaches around 60%, the bugs will combine into one and share some abilities:

2. Split up in phase one

Facing one boss is often hard enough, so don't even attempt to fight both the scorpion and the moth during phase one. One or two people should fight the moth, who takes the most damage, while another player should duke it out with the scorpion elsewhere in the arena. By keeping the bugs separate, you're keeping your allies safe from their attacks. Don't drop your guard, though, sometimes they'll change their target and randomly lash out, so always keep an eye on the boss you're not actively fighting.

3. Bring ranged damage

Don't repeat what happened on my first attempt, where I had a team full of melee characters swinging at the clouds. It's incredibly hard to beat Gnoster without at least one ranged damage dealer, in fact, the easiest way is to bring multiple. Sure, you could technically ignore the moth entirely during phase one and only damage the tanky scorpion, but this means you'll have to deal with both bosses attacking you. This inevitably leads to pure chaos and taking way more damage than you have to, plus it takes even longer because the scorpion is more resistant to damage.

4. Save ultimates for phase two

With the moth flying about and teleporting, and the scorpion burrowing or hardening its carapace, it's not always easy to land an ultimate ability, or follow up on any potential stagger. You're best off saving high HP and stagger damage ultimates like Wylder's Onslaught Stake or Ironeye's Single Shot until the bugs combine, where it's much easier to land both and capitalise on these key attacks.