How to Unlock the Duchess in Elden Ring Nightreign

By Elijah | May 30th, 2025 | Categories: Elden Ring

The Duchess is one of the Nightfarer classes players can use in Elden Ring Nightreign. If you want to play a stealthy rogue in the game, unlocking the Duchess should be your priority. Here’s a guide on how to unlock the Duchess.

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How to Unlock the Duchess

Unlocking the Duchess should be done at the early stages of the game. It’ll require you to defeat a boss, but it’s nothing complex that will take you hours to complete.

Acquire the Old Pocketwatch

To unlock the Duchess, you need to acquire the Old Pocketwatch; it’s one of the equipable Relics you can find in the game. The Old Pocketwatch is unique since it gives the same bonuses as other relics, but it isn’t easy to obtain.

Completing Expeditions is one way of acquiring the Old Pocketwatch. To help you acquire the Old Pocketwatch, you need to clear the Tricephalos Expedition and defeat Gladius, Beast of the Night. It’s the only available Expedition at the start of the game. Completing the Expedition will reward you with the Old Pocketwatch.

If you keep dying or failing at the Expedition, don’t worry. The failed attempts will still give you a random reward. You’ll have to grind for it until you get the pocketwatch as a drop.

Interact with the Priestess

After acquiring the Old Pocketwatch, you’re close to unlocking the Duchess. You need to head to the Roundtable Hold and interact with the Hooded Priestess. Engage in dialogue with her and bring up the Old Pocketwatch in the dialogue. She’ll talk about how she lost the pocketwatch and ask if you could give it back to her. You’ll have the option to give her the pocketwatch or to keep it; choose to give it to her. The game will transition to a cutscene, revealing the Hooded Priestess is the Duchess. After the cutscene ends, the Duchess is now a playable Nightfarer class.