There are eight playable characters in Elden Ring Nightreign, also known as the eight Nightfarers. Each one has a set of unique skills and arts, and weapons. This tier list will showcase all these characters from best to worst.
S-tier characters
Duchess
The fastest and safest choice among all the Nightfarers is, of course, the Duchess. Her biggest selling point is her passive ability, which benefits from i-frames and distance. She's also great at supporting her allies, and she's the only character in the game who should actually use daggers instead of other seemingly more powerful weapons. If you don't want to use her as a melee character, then the next best build for her would be the Sorcerer variant with the Glintstone Staff.
Wylder
This Nightfarer may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it's undeniable that he's actually a universal pick with zero downtime and has no problems with stamina whatsoever. Although his initial greatsword weapon isn't too impressive, no other character beats Wylder when it comes to traversing the map. You can pull yourself using the ground and jump to cover huge distances in mere seconds. On top of that, Wylder's passive can save you from death, which is a very useful skill in a game like Elden Ring.
A-tier characters
Ironeye
Bow-wielders never had much success in the previous From Software games, but here they finally nailed this type of build. The marking is so on point, and the single-target DPS is super strong, dealing massive critical damage. But wait till you try his ultimate art, Single Shot, which is very effective for interrupting bigger enemies and taking out hordes of smaller enemies. But, of course, since this is a very new set of mechanics for the Elden Ring game, it's not perfect... just yet.
Raider
This is probably the best choice for players who want to run the game in solo mode. He's just extremely tanky and does a ton of damage, which is very efficient for stunlocking bosses. Raider also has the highest Poise among all Nightfarers, which makes him extremely hard to take down. The only thing you must watch out for when creating a build for him is to make sure it's bleed-resistant, as bleeding-type damage can really hurt him.
Recluse
Here's one of the more complicated characters in the game, as Recluse doesn't use weapons but instead utilizes Magic Cocktails. It's important to distinguish different elements and what they do, or you could get into trouble. However, once you nail down all the elements, their sequences, and effects, it'll be such a rush playing as Recluse. Just remember one thing when you combine different elements: always put the primary element first. For example, if you want the cocktail to explode in fire, put Fire first; if you want Lightning, put that element first; and so on.
B-tier characters
Revenant
A great conceptual character that's slightly undercooked. Her summons are particularly weak to bosses, so they can't be of any help. But Revenant can definitely work as a supporting character in a team, and, of course, it's totally useless in solo play. There are also very few weapons that she can use right now, and her total HP pool is really low. At this point, there are much better options, such as Recluse or Ironeye, if you specifically prefer long-range combat. So skip Revenant unless you really want her unlocked.
Executor
It's such a shame that the dexterity-based character in Nightreign is so weak. All of the Executor's weapons deal almost no damage, which makes parrying the most awkward part. It seems that his moveset was mostly borrowed from Sekiro rather than Dark Souls or Elden Ring, which is why you can't cancel attack animations with deflections. However, both his sheath and unsheath animations deflect attacks, so you don't have to retrigger them to achieve this effect. It's just one of the tips for those struggling to master Executor.
Guardian
Last but not least is the Guardian, a solid supporter tank that, unfortunately, deals very little damage. However, his healing and resurrection arts are extremely useful in a team setup, so bring him over just for that alone. But don't rely too much on his shield guarding when facing bosses, as they'll easily break it in a couple of hits. What you need to do instead is to evade while guarding. As a result, this will change your stance, but your stamina and HP will be almost intact.