I have a confession: I now measure the gap between a new FromSoftware release and the moment a parry specialist makes me feel inadequate. In 2026, that gap feels shorter than ever. This week, Ongbal—the same player who turned Sekiro’s deflect system into a spectator sport—posted a no-hit solo of Heolstor the Nightlord in Elden Ring Nightreign as the Executor. No damage. No panic. No ‘Defeat’ screen. Just a masterclass in timing, spacing, and the kind of confidence I can only dream about.

The run is not a one-off flex. Ongbal also shared a hitless solo of Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow, another of Nightreign’s most punishing encounters. That one-two punch matters because it shows the Heolstor clear is not a lucky boss pattern or a single generous opening. It is a player who has internalized the game’s rhythm, learned the punish windows, and turned the Executor’s parry kit into a precision instrument.

Why the Heolstor run is so impressive

At first glance, the health bar looks wrong. Ongbal’s HP ticks down during the fight, which usually signals a player in trouble. In this case, it is deliberate. The Executor’s Cursed Sword stance trades a little self-inflicted damage for extra offensive pressure. The only red on the screen is the cost of doing business. Everything else is clean, frame-perfect parrying.

Heolstor gets repeatedly rebuffed. Big swings are met with perfect guards. Combos that usually force panic rolls are answered with calm footwork. The boss’s most aggressive sequences become opportunities rather than emergencies. That is the part I find most aspirational: Ongbal is not just surviving Heolstor. Ongbal is dictating the pace.

Element	What Ongbal does	Why it matters
Parry timing	Meets Heolstor’s attacks with consistent perfect parries	Turns defense into damage and posture pressure
Spacing	Stays just outside the boss’s most dangerous follow-ups	Creates safe windows without giving up aggression
Cursed Sword stance	Accepts small self-damage for extra output	Shows risk-reward mastery, not a mistake
Ultimate usage	Uses transformation iframes to dodge a powerful AoE	Converts a defensive tool into a tempo swing
Weapon art	Switches back to parrying immediately after the dodge	Keeps the pressure loop intact

My favourite part of the run is the ultimate. I had not fully appreciated that the Executor’s transformation has iframes, but Ongbal uses them beautifully. Faced with a powerful area-of-effect attack, Ongbal transforms into the canine form, avoids the blast, then immediately uses the form’s weapon art to get back to parrying. It is the kind of inventive, system-literate play that makes me want to open the game and lab a build—right before I remember that my parry timing is closer to a suggestion than a guarantee.

The runback problem is real

There is one part of the achievement that does not feel celebratory: the runback. As Ongbal noted in the video description, the journey back to the boss is brutal, and a practice mode would be welcome. I agree completely. Nightreign already asks a lot of challenge runners. Making them spend minutes walking back after every failed attempt adds friction to the exact process that makes these runs possible: repetition.

That is not a knock on the game’s difficulty. It is a knock on the cost of learning. Hitless runs are built on dozens, sometimes hundreds, of small experiments. Every experiment needs a clean reset. When the runback is long, those experiments become expensive. A practice mode would not make Nightreign easier. It would make mastery more accessible, and that is good for the community.

My own parry build is calling

I have been running a status-focused Executor, leaning on relics and steady pressure rather than perfect guards. After watching this, I am tempted to rebuild. The tanky, parry-based cousin of my current setup looks like a different game: less about stacking effects, more about reading the boss and trusting the timing. I have enough relics to try it. What I do not have is Ongbal’s patience, but that is what practice is for.

The broader lesson is simple. Elden Ring Nightreign’s challenge scene is maturing. Players are no longer just clearing bosses. They are dissecting them. They are finding iframe tech, optimizing stances, and turning runbacks into content. Ongbal’s Heolstor and Fulghor clears are the latest proof that the Executor is not just a tanky class with a fancy stance. In the right hands, it is a scalpel.

I will not pretend this makes me want to chase a no-hit run tomorrow. I know my limits. But it does make me want to practice one boss, learn one pattern, and land one perfect parry without flinching. That is the real power of a run like this. It does not just impress. It pulls other players back into the game with a new goal.

So yes, Ongbal has made me feel bad about my own skills again. But this time, the feeling comes with a build idea. That is progress. 🎮