Solid instrument flying skills are IMO a non optional requirement for safe night flight
The only night flying I've done was on some IMCr lessons. Immediately after take-off, nothing to see, I went straight onto instruments. (Instructor, a few seconds later, "you might want to go onto instruments".)
I can't imagine being happy trying to do even a night take-off without instrument capability! And that's before you worry about flying into a cloud you didn't see.