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 Nightreign bosses you unlock after beating Gladius for the first time. Then, you need to defeat three more Nightlords to unlock Night Aspect, the true final boss. Although Sentient Pest can be tough, at least it’s not the 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
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To beat the bug duo, you need the right equipment. Of course, this includes taking the best rune farming route and keeping an eye out for legendary weapons that suit your build, but there are a few specifics to understand too:
- 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 smithing stones (and possibly the 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.
- 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 passive 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.
- 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
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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 Nightreign tier list will do good, I recommend the following for a good 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.
- 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:
|
Attack |
Explanation |
Counter |
|---|---|---|
|
Magic missile (moth) |
The moth’s basic attack is a quick barrage of magic bolts that track towards you. |
Dodge towards them or run in any other direction to cause the bolts to hit the ground next to you instead. |
|
Magic rain (moth) |
When the moth flies even higher into the sky (and the scorpion hardens), it will unleash a barrage of magic that rains down on the ground and spreads out further as the attack goes on. |
To avoid this move, dodge towards the wave of rain so that any remaining bolts hit the ground behind you. If you try to dodge or run away, you’ll only be keeping yourself in the danger zone. |
|
Poison mist (moth) |
When the moth flies down to the ground, it can breathe poisonous mist that hangs around before it dissipates. |
You’ll want to get out of this mist by dodging and running backwards as quickly as you can to avoid being poisoned. |
|
Grab (moth) |
If the moth quickly flies towards you, it’s going in for a grab attack. This deals damage and can poison you. |
You can avoid being grabbed by dodging or running to the side. It’s tricky to time it right, so it might take a few attempts. |
|
Burrow (scorpion) |
The scorpion will occasionally burrow underground and begin to charge at you, where it will then erupt from the ground. |
Keep an eye out for the dust trail as the scorpion burrows, so you know who it’s targeting and where it’ll emerge. Spread out if multiple people are fighting the scorpion. Dodge and run away when you notice it stops, just before it emerges. |
|
Slam (scorpion) |
When the scorpion stands up on its hind legs, it’s preparing to smash on the ground ahead of it, dealing damage on impact and creating a small wave of damage. |
This attack impacts a small radius directly ahead of the scorpion, so you can roll forwards to get under and around the sides to avoid being caught in the shockwave. |
|
Stomp (scorpion) |
Using its many legs, the scorpion can quickly stomp to its side. This attack can follow the slam, so be careful if they come in quick succession. |
This attack is easy enough to avoid by dodging to the side of the stomping leg. |
|
Orbital laser (combined) |
A small patch of light appears on the ground before a laser beam begins firing. |
When you see the beam of light appear on the ground, run away quickly to avoid the subsequent laser. These only have a small radius and short duration, so they’re easy enough to avoid. However, be careful as multiple lasers can be activated at once. |
|
Charge (combined) |
One of its most deadly attacks, the scorpion stands up and roars before they both charge at you several times. The scorpion stomps while the moth fires a barrage of magic. There is a second variation of this attack where the moth fires a barrage of projectiles, followed up by the scorpion jumping at you immediately after. |
As soon as you see the scorpion roar, stop attacking and be prepared to move. Repeatedly dodge sideways to avoid being hit by the charge and the magic bolts. |
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
