Elden Ring Nightreign new character movement explained – surge sprint, wall jump, spectral hawks, and spiritstreams

While the combat and movement in Elden Ring Nightreign feels familiar to those who’ve played through the original Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s co-op spin-off has a few new moves. These exist to make traversing the brand new Limveld map easier and to escape the closing Night’s Tide circle’s lethal blue flames especially as you don’t have access to your trusty steed Torrent.

As is customary for a FromSoft game, there’s not much in the way of hand-holding so getting to grips with the expanded character movement is very much a baptism of fire. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the new traversal methods – surge sprint, wall jump, spectral hawks, and spiritstreams – to help you get your head around them.

Surge Sprint

The Surge Sprint is a souped up sprint that significantly increases your movement speed to make getting across Limveld quicker, while also serving as an evasive move in combat. Surge Sprinting costs stamina in and out of combat but differently. Using the move when fighting enemies will drain your stamina in the same way attacking does, while outside of combat starting Sprint Surge costs stamina but won’t as you continue to run. To Surge Sprint, press L3 on PS5 or the left thumbstick on Xbox.

Wall Jump

The Wall Jump is effectively a double jump that allows you to jump at a vertical surface, then jump again to get over obstacles. It works on any obstruction with a height that exceeds that of a normal jump and can be used to scale anything from low fortifications to small rock formations. To perform a Wall Jump, jump towards the wall and tap the jump button (X on PS5, A on Xbox). You can then tap jump again while in the air to jump even higher. Wall Jumping can also be used to climb cliffs and walls when they are marked by yellow and white-ish rocks with runes carved into them.

Spectral Hawks

A Spectral Hawk will hold you in its talons and swoop you into the air, allowing you to travel across large distances fast. The hawk’s path is predetermined and you have no control over the direction of travel or the route. You can, however, choose to disembark early. Unlike the Surge Sprint and Wall Jump that can be used at any time, the Spectral Hawk is situational and only available at preset spots across Limveld, as denoted by a spectral blue tree. These are marked on the map with corresponding icons and their respective flightpaths.

Spiritstreams

Spiristreams are Nightreign’s version of Shadow of the Erdtree’s Spiritsprings, retooled to accommodate the absence of Torrent. They launch you into the air, allowing you to quickly scale a vertical obstacle, such as a massive rock face, to reach elevated areas. They appear as a swirl of rushing blue air at set points across Limveld and are marked on the map by icons depicting blue flames. To use a Spiritstream, approach it and tap X on PS5 or A on Xbox. During the jump, you have some control over the direction of travel, letting you more or less aim for a specific spot as required.

Note that expanded character movement is available to all 8 classes in Elden Ring Nightreign, including the Duchess and Revenant, which you’ll need to unlock as you play.