Elden Ring Nightreign’s Forsaken Hollows DLC will bring, new Nightfarers, tougher challenges, and most importantly, poison swamps.
FromSoftware didn’t need to add a poison swamp to Elden Ring Nightreign. Hidetaka Miyazaki wasn’t even directing this game. So what did we have to worry about, right? Surely this would be the studio’s chance to break the cycle.
Yet here we are, one day away from the release of The Forsaken Hollows DLC, and FromSoft is about to drown us in toxic swamps. According to the developers, this wasn’t even planned; it’s “always how it kind of ends up.”
Elden Ring Nightreign Is Finally Getting Poison Swamps
If you hadn’t noticed yet, Nightreign doesn’t have any poison swamps in the base version of the game. And while players celebrated not having to deal with the tedium of going through them, we also know Hidetaka Miyazaki’s history and his compulsion to add poison swamps to every game he touches. That absence didn’t last long.
Of COURSE there's gotta be a poison swamp its miyazakis fetish https://t.co/lFyOMex5YG
— bamboeng (@bamboeng4) December 3, 2025
The Forsaken Hollows will bring new areas in Limveld with brand-new swamp zones that slow movement, build status effects like poison, scarlet rot, and frenzy. But why would we go through that trouble? Well, it will tempt us with hidden loot that could potentially be hiding in its great dangers.
In an interview with GameSpot leading up to the DLC release, game director Junya Ishizaki admitted that the dev team is fully aware of the meme that is FromSoftware’s swamp habit. He insists that there’s no rule for a poison swamp to be mandatory, but also says that somehow a swamp always ends up being designed.
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It’s a tradition, even when accidental, and one that fits perfectly with Miyazaki’s fondness for toxic landscapes. We avoided them in Nightreign for a while, but the DLC restores balance to the universe. Miyazaki may not be working on Nightreign. But wherever he is and whatever he is working on, we can already see him smiling.
The Forsaken Hollows DLC Also Brings More Difficulty
Difficulty-wise, Ishizaki promises a bump, but not an unreasonable one. The team wants experienced players to feel that sense of early-game uncertainty again, but they’re careful not to make it too hard as well. So you can expect something harder than the base game, but still fair, well, at least by FromSoftware standards.
The poison swamp is only one part of what’s coming in The Forsaken Hollows. It seems like the early trailers for this DLC may have undersold it a bit because the early previews look and feel a little more than what was promised.
The official release schedule of #ELDENRING #NIGHTREIGN The Forsaken Hollows is now available.
Learn how to access the content of The Forsaken Hollows here: https://t.co/YKcgUiynX1 pic.twitter.com/RJafPEq0dV
— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) December 2, 2025
In terms of main content, our big focus is naturally on the two new Nightfarers. The Forsaken Hollows brings us the Scholar and Undertaker, and both new classes could be a big game-changer.
Scholar is a tactical support class that buffs allies, weakens enemies with its abilities, and can turn consumables into powerful versions. On the other hand, the Undertaker is an aggressive bruiser-type class that can chain multiple ultimates thanks to a crazy passive ability. Both characters will require good teamwork between players.
Another big addition is the Great Hollows, which will be part of how the game will become more difficult. Technically part of the Shifting Earth system, this new area is very much like a new map. Expect to see thick ash on the ground, mysterious cathedrals, and a sense of danger.
The Forsaken Hollows launches December 4, 2025, and it brings a tougher, stranger, and swampier version of Elden Ring Nightreign. It might not be as big as an entirely new game, but it brings big changes. And for better or worse, poison swamps are officially back, just the way Miyazaki likes it.
Will you be trying out the new DLC? Let us know in the comments!
