Elden Ring Nightreign Equilibrious Beast boss guide: How to beat Libra

The Equilibrious Beast expedition is undoubtedly one of the coolest—but also seemingly most challenging—in Elden Ring Nightreign, at least if you don't know how to beat Libra. Once you understand his mechanics, he's actually one of the easier Nightreign bosses on your hitlist, if you can believe it.

Like other Nightlords, your work starts right away as you enter the expedition, where you should visit the best rune farming routes and hunt for legendary weapons. However, as I'll go over later, this goat-headed beast actually offers various deals before the fight that you might want to accept.

Elden Ring Nightreign Libra tips

Here's how to best prepare for Libra throughout the Equilibrious Beast expedition:

1. Get a madness weapon or spells

Despite this beast dealing madness damage, it's actually weak to it as well. In fact, dealing madness damage can temporarily make Libra enter a frenzy where it'll attack with a staff, rather than its terrifying AoE spells. Plus, Libra creates madness-repelling crystals that help keep both the madness buildup from its attacks or any of your spells under control.

Unfortunately, madness gear is among the rarest to find in Limveld. Nevertheless, cross your fingers and use the map overlay to find locations that reward madness affinity gear, or you can visit merchant locations since they sell at least one item with the boss' weakness.

2. Holy and fire damage are good backups if you don't have madness

Since madness weapons are rare, you'll likely need to rely on holy and fire damage, which Libra is also partially susceptible to. You won't be able to cause the unique frenzy interaction, but you'll still deal bonus damage.

These weapons are much easier to find during expeditions, and you can also get relics that apply them to your starter weapon, which you can upgrade by finding smithing stone locations. The best Wylder build is also fantastic for dealing fire damage thanks to various unique relics that affect his abilities, while the best Recluse build masters all kinds of magic and incantations.

3. Get madness damage negation

Libra deals hefty madness damage almost constantly from its wide array of spells. No matter how good you are at dodging, you're likely to take a hit at some point. As well as picking up the madness-reducing crystals Libra creates, you'll also want to pick up any madness-resistance gear you find on the expedition.

4. Level up and get flask upgrades

Like most bosses, you'll want to be at least level ten before fighting Libra. With how oppressive this boss can be, I'd even suggest aiming for level 12 or more if you can, just to speed things up. Earn as many runes as you can and take out expedition bosses along the way for passive upgrades. You should also pick up as many flask charges as you can by visiting all the churches.

How to beat Libra, Creature of Night in Elden Ring Nightreign

Even more so than most Nightlords, your team composition is vital in beating Libra, at least in any kind of efficient manner. This is largely due to a move that allows it to buff its defences if you fail to interrupt it properly. It's pretty in line with the best characters in our Elden Ring Nightreign tier list, but here's who I recommend for Libra:

• Ironeye: His ultimate can also completely interrupt Libra's meditation, so you don't need to break runes. If that's on cooldown, then ranged weapons in general are perfect for destroying the necessary sigils (explained below), even those that spawn in the air. He can also mark enemies so they take increased damage from the entire team, and it's not hard to see why that's handy.
• Wylder: He's an easy-to-gear character with great damage and stagger potential, especially from his ultimate, which can interrupt Libra's mediation, bypassing the need to break sigils. Plus, his unique relics can also add fire damage to his skills, which helps negate the reliance on RNG drops.
• Duchess: Her Restage skill not only repeats recent damage against targets (including the affinity boost from using fire against Caligo), but can also reapply status ailments.
• Recluse: By using madness incantations and fire spells, alongside her Magic Cocktail, Recluse can dish out incredible pain. Plus, her ultimate also gives your team healing and FP restoration.

Now that you've got an optimal team assembled, get to a Libra-ry because it's time to study its moveset. More so than most bosses, you won't be able to brute force the Equilibrious Beast; you effectively have to counter certain attacks to beat him. Unlike other Nightlords, Libra is also a one-phase fight, so he won't change his moveset. Before you get too happy, it's not really giving you less to remember, as the Equilibrious Beast has a stacked list of abilities that it'll quickly swap between.

1. Watch out for these attacks

Libra is incredibly oppressive at all ranges. Throughout the fight, Libra also periodically creates crystals that reduce your madness buildup. Be sure to pick these up to avoid going mad, as you'll take damage and enrage the boss.

• Shotgun: Libra's main attack is a golden glyph that shoots out projectiles like a shotgun while it rotates. To avoid it, dodge through it in the opposite direction it's rotating so you're not caught out again as it spins. There's a slight delay between Libra creating the glyph and it beginning to fire, so you've got time to react and reposition.
• Rain: Another of Libra's common attacks is a madness shower. Keep an eye on the sky so you can see when this attack is being used, and then run away to avoid the impacts.
• Geyser: Libra can create large golden glyphs on the ground that erupt a moment later, requiring you to move outside of the geyser to avoid damage. Avoiding one is simple enough, but be careful, as Libra often creates several runes back to back, so don't stop moving until it's safe.
• Meditation: Libra's signature move sees it meditate inside a shield. The shield absorbs nearly all damage, and if it completes the mediation, it gets a temporary defence buff, which you want to avoid at all costs. To counter this move, you have to either use Wylder or Ironeye's ultimates to break the shield, or destroy the various sigils that spawn around Libra. These sigils can be broken by walking into them or attacking them, but some can spawn in the air, so using a ranged weapon like a bow is best. If you successfully interrupt Libra's meditation, it will enter a frenzy.
• Frenzy: Dealing enough madness damage to the boss, interrupting Libra's meditation, or even being afflicted with madness yourself, causes it to enter a frenzy. In this enraged state, Libra gains a temporary damage buff and attacks in melee range.
• Fog: Libra occasionally pounds the ground and creates a thick fog that quickly builds up your madness, but also creates a lot of the crystals you can use to reduce your madness. Collect enough crystals to survive and wait out the attack, or you can interrupt the boss using charged attacks from heavy weapons.

2. Interrupt Libra's meditation

I'm repeating this point for a good reason: in my experience, it's pretty much game over if Libra successfully completes its meditation, as the defensive boost lasts a significant amount of time and drastically reduces the damage you can deal. Whether you break the sigils or use an ultimate, stop this attack at all costs.

3. Libra's double-edged deals

When you enter Libra's arena, it'll actually be a rare peaceful encounter. Instead of outright attacking you, you can speak to it, where you'll be offered a series of random trades, but each one comes with a catch. These can range from surviving death once but reducing your max health, to gaining bonus levels but having each flask use reduce your level by one.

Most of the time, I recommend refusing a deal altogether. While some can be great boosts, the drawbacks are large and not easily avoided. If you're a very skilled player and can avoid taking damage, then sure, getting bonus levels or tweaking your stats is a good choice, but otherwise it's a death sentence.

4. Stay close to Libra

While Libra's arsenal is almost entirely made up of large AoE attacks, the safest place to be is at close to medium range, where it's easier to kite around the boss. This is also where a mix of melee and ranged Nightfarers comes in handy, so you can have the likes of Wylder or Raider brawling while Ironeye or Recluse chip away slightly further back.