Hi, fellow Nightfarers. I have a message for you, from one Elden Ring: Nightreign player to another: please stop beelining chapels at the start of every single match just to collect flask charges. I know that little golden sip of extra healing feels like a warm hug from Marika herself, but we need to talk about what it is doing to our runs. 🛐🧪

I am not the only one saying this. Over the last few days, the community has been passing around the same PSA, and every time I queue with randoms, I see the same pattern. We land, someone pings a chapel, we sprint for two minutes, grab a flask charge, then sprint another two minutes to the next chapel, and suddenly the first night is falling and we are level three with starting weapons. That is not a strategy. That is a pilgrimage, and the Nightlord is not impressed by our devotion. 😩

Here is the thing: chapels are genuinely great. In Nightreign, every map has a handful of small churches or chapels that contain a free upgrade to your healing flask, adding an extra charge. That is a real reward. You should absolutely grab those charges when they are on the way. The problem is not the chapel. The problem is the beeline. The problem is skipping camps of monsters, ignoring sub-bosses, running past loot, and doing literally nothing else while the clock ticks down. It is a five-minute sprint for one charge, then another five-minute sprint, repeat until nighttime. And when the boss shows up, you have a bigger flask and no damage, no levels, and no hope. 💀

Why is that bad? Because healing only matters if you survive the hit in the first place. If Wormface sneezes in your direction and you get one-shot, an extra flask charge is just a souvenir on your corpse. Good Nightreign play is a balancing act. You have a limited amount of time before night falls and the big boss arrives. You need to spend that time wisely: fighting increasingly difficult monsters, raiding camps, collecting better weapons and items, and leveling yourself up. If you are not at least level five or six by the time the first night falls, the boss is going to smash your face in with one shot. The extra flask will not save you. ⚖️

So what is the ideal strategy? Simple: spend as little time running across the map as possible. Instead of treating chapels as the main objective, try to flow easily from place to place in close proximity to one another. Grab flask charges where it makes sense, in between raiding camps and fighting sub-bosses. Route efficiently. Use your map pins to mark a cluster of objectives, not a cross-country tour of every holy site on the continent. 🗺️

Here is a quick comparison I wish more random teammates would study before we drop:

Priority before first night	Why it matters
Leveling up to 5 or 6	Prevents the first Nightlord from one-shotting you
Raiding camps	Gives runes, gear, and upgrade materials
Fighting sub-bosses	Drops strong weapons, talismans, and map rewards
Grabbing nearby flask charges	Useful, but only if it is on the way
Beelining every chapel	Wastes time, leaves you underleveled, and often ends in a wipe

And yet, despite all of this, every three or four times I queue, I end up with someone who aggressively drops map pins on chapel after chapel and then runs off on their own when we do not agree with the plan. Bud, I am playing Recluse! I do not have any HP to heal in the first place. I need levels, staffs, and a team that stays together, not a solo pilgrim sprinting toward the next flask upgrade while I get chewed on by a camp of enemies. 😤

There is also the social side. Nightreign is a co-op game, and the best runs are the ones where the squad moves with purpose. If you want to hit a chapel, ping it and see if the team is nearby. If we are already fighting a sub-boss, maybe finish the fight first. If the circle is closing and night is coming, maybe skip the chapel. Communication is free. Regret is expensive. 🎮

I want to be clear: I am not saying ignore chapels forever. Going to church and getting right with our lord Marika is fine. It is good, even. But it is also okay to have other, non-religious hobbies. Like beating the snot out of this Abductor Virgin in the courtyard so we can get the map at the top of the tower and I can grab a new staff off the rack next to it. That is a real power spike. That is a run-defining moment. That is worth more than one extra sip from a flask when I am already dead. ⚔️

If you are still queuing with randoms in 2026, the meta has only gotten clearer: tempo wins. The teams that clear camps, chain sub-bosses, and level efficiently are the ones that reach the Nightlord with a real build. The teams that treat every chapel like a mandatory checkpoint are the ones who get flattened. It is not about being sweaty. It is about respecting the clock. ⏳

So please, fellow Nightfarers: stop beelining chapels at the start of every game. Grab flask charges when they fit your route. Fight the camps. Kill the sub-bosses. Level up. Then go to church if you still have time. Your Recluse teammate will thank you. Your future self, standing in front of the first Nightlord with actual stats, will thank you too. 🙏

And if you are looking for more ways to improve, there are plenty of Nightreign tips and tricks to help you take down all eight Nightlord bosses. If you are wondering how to unlock the two locked Nightfarer classes, check out how to unlock the Revenant and how to unlock the Duchess, plus how to change characters. But first, maybe just stop running to every chapel. Thank you for your consideration on this matter. 🧙‍♂️