Elden Ring: Nightreign Does Have a Relic Limit—And You Can’t Ignore It Anymore

Elden Ring: Nightreign has quietly become one of FromSoftware’s most layered and replayable projects. Its roguelite structure, built around branching Expeditions and unlockable modifiers, adds something entirely new to the world first defined by open-ended, lonely exploration. One of those modifiers is the Relic system, which powers up your character between and during runs. Now, the community has found out that the system comes with a hidden catch: you can’t hoard Relics forever.

We’ve talked about Nightreign before, especially after one YouTuber proved that reaching the game’s level cap has no real gameplay value. This time, though, the news is about something that does matter: inventory capacity. According to Reddit user Scufozzover1, the game has a hard cap on Relic storage, and if you hit that cap, you’ll be completely blocked from starting new Expeditions until you clean it out.

This is the first confirmed limit in a system players assumed was bottomless. There’s no visible counter, no storage meter, and no warning—until you try to launch into a mission and the game stops you cold. The number is reportedly around 1,000 stored Relics, which most players won’t reach unless they’ve been holding on to nearly every drop since the first run. But now we know the ceiling exists.

Relics in Nightreign function like modular perks. Some enhance elemental resistances or buff your dodge speed. Others might increase damage output with specific weapon classes or offer passive healing while exploring. Because of the procedural structure of Expeditions, it makes sense that players would save Relics for specific builds. If you don’t play a shield-focused style but pick up a high-tier Shieldmaster Relic, it’s smart to stash it for later. And as those builds rotate, the pile grows.

This isn’t the first time a modern game has punished excessive hoarding. Titles like The Witcher 3 and Skyrim are infamous for letting players pick up junk until it slows or halts movement. Destiny 2 uses vault space as an indirect balancing tool for gear management, with its own soft caps and restrictions. Even Resident Evil 4 Remake forces inventory decisions through grid-based storage. Nightreign takes a different route—it lets you keep everything without penalty, right up until it locks you out of core gameplay.

The difference is psychological. Because Nightreign never showed a Relic counter or displayed warning text, players assumed they could keep collecting indefinitely. That was part of the fun. The twist here is subtle but meaningful—it turns hoarding from a habit into a risk.

“Having a full inventory of Relics means you won’t be able to go on Expeditions.”

That’s the message Scufozzover1 shared from their error screen. It’s not just a warning—it’s a hard stop. The game directs you to the Relic Rite system, a vendor-style mechanic that lets players break down unwanted Relics. But most ignored it because the rewards are low, and because you never had to use it. Now it’s mandatory.

This is one of the cleaner examples of FromSoftware designing around discovery instead of instruction. The game never told players there was a limit, because the limit wasn’t meant to be seen during casual play. It was buried deep, only visible after dozens of hours and passive collection. And when it’s finally triggered, it reframes the Relic system—not just as a customization tool, but as something that needs pruning.

Compared to other Soulsborne titles, this is new territory. In the original Elden Ring, item weight mattered, but inventory bloat didn’t. You could pick up hundreds of materials, talismans, and gear pieces without any mechanical penalty. Same in Dark Souls 3. Nightreign shifts that entirely. It’s the closest FromSoftware has come to managing roguelite bloat—where the very thing meant to help your next run starts preventing it.

This also connects with the recent update that added the Everdark Sovereign bosses. These are elite, remixed versions of existing Nightlords, with new attacks and deeper health pools. To beat them, players need tighter builds and well-planned loadouts. Hoarding Relics you don’t use only dilutes your setup. The game is now clearly encouraging players to specialize, not stockpile.

There’s also an indirect message about how roguelites handle player freedom. Games like Hades, Returnal, and Dead Cells all offer between-run unlocks, but they also gate those systems with upgrade costs or RNG rebalancing. Nightreign walked a more generous path—no Relic cap, no crafting limits, and constant rewards. That generosity now has a subtle edge.

This isn’t a punishment. It’s a push toward intentionality. It’s FromSoftware saying: You don’t need everything. You need what works.