The Goddess of Rot in the Elden Ring’s Malenia boss fight
Interested in learning how to play the role of Malenia, Blade of Miqeulla in Elden Ring? Malenia is widely considered to be one of the most difficult bosses in FromSoftware’s history, bringing a variety of mechanics that take advantage of your expectations for Elden Ring’s bosses. Malenia is one of the most difficult bosses in the game’s history. You, on the other hand, can take advantage of the tools Elden Ring provides you in order to make Malenia appear to be any other boss. Even in a pure melee duel, there are strategies you can employ to deflect her most lethal attacks from hitting you. If you’re having trouble dealing with the Goddess of Rot, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to defeat her successfully.
Walkthrough for the Elden Ring Malenia and Blade of Miquella boss fights.
Malenia is divided into two phases, as are most late-game bosses. The first encounter is a straightforward sword fight. Malenia does not have any magic or ranged attacks available to her during this phase. This is just a pure duel to the death in melee, with lightning-fast, high-damage bursts of strikes to end the game early.
Malenia, on the other hand, is capable of healing herself when struck. It makes no difference how much damage she does, whether or not she hits a Spirit Ash summon, or even whether or not you block the entire amount of damage she deals. If Malenia’s sword comes into contact with you or your allies, she will recover approximately 200 health. Every hit becomes even more punishing as a result, and many summonses become liabilities as a result.
As soon as Malenia’s health bar is completely depleted, she will transform into her Goddess of Rot form, which you will be able to witness in a cutscene. She’ll regain about three-quarters of her health bar before launching a dive-bomb attack to deal immediate damage. Malenia still recovers health when hit in this form, but she also gains a new set of scarlet rot attacks that can be used from a distance. The majority of her abilities will cause scarlet rot buildup, but they will also make her more vulnerable to counterattacks.
Malenia has one attack in particular that you should be on the lookout for, and she can use it at any time during the game. In this case, the Waterfowl Dance, a swirl of sword strikes that hits the target multiple times and keeps track of it throughout the combo, becomes even more infamous. Despite the fact that this deadly attack appears to be unavoidable, there are a few tricks you can use to avoid it, cheap Elden Ring runes which we’ll cover below. Watch our guide’s editor Ollie defeat her in the video below.
How to defeat Malenia, the Blade of Miquella: the most important strategies for success.
Here are our top tips for overcoming Malenia’s final boss battle.
- Stay away from Malenia’s Waterfowl Dance
- Discover how to decipher Malenia’s grab
- Rolling under Malenia will help you survive the beginning of her second phase
- Make use of weapon skills that can take Malenia out
- Malenia’s healing can be countered by using Blood Loss or Frostbite
- 1st and foremost, Stay away from Malenia’s Waterfowl Dance
Waterfowl Dance is by far the most dangerous attack Malenia can launch. When the battle begins, Melania will leap into the air and hover for a split second, her sword drawn and ready to strike. Unless you’re out of range or know exactly what you’re doing next, you’ve already lost your life.
The first thing you should do is flee. Despite the fact that Waterfowl Dance covers a lot of ground, it is entirely possible to get far enough away from Malenia that she cannot catch up with you. When she jumps, you must, however, be either already at a safe distance or ready to run as soon as she does. The word “immediately” here really does mean “immediately.”If you are in the middle of an attack, roll, or heal animation when Waterfowl Dance begins, you will not have enough time to flee before it ends.
This brings us to our next option, which is to roll through the assault. Yes, it is possible to do so. Rolling straight at Melania while passing under her as she begins to swing is the key to this maneuvering strategy. By waiting until the moment she lunges and rolling under her, you will be able to avoid the first part of her attack. But there are two more lunges after that, and you will need to roll past her during both of those as well as the first. In the event that you attempt to roll away from or perpendicular to Melania, the secondary slashes will catch you as you emerge from your roll. There is only one way out, and that is through.
Finally, it is possible to prevent Waterfowl Dance from occurring. Without the Barricade Shield skill, you will not be able to complete the quest without resorting to extreme measures such as max-endurance or New Game+ builds. The attack hits you nearly a dozen times, depleting your stamina bar and causing your block to break if you do not have Barricade Shield’s added durability. Because of Malenia’s healing, PC Elden Ring Runes for sale it is difficult to recommend blocking because she will regain health for every hit she takes from your shield. Nonetheless, it is a viable option to consider if the first two methods have failed to satisfy your needs.
Acquire the ability to read Malenia’s grab.
Waterfowl Dance is a more dangerous attack than Malenia’s grab attack, but nothing in Elden Ring is particularly dangerous. However, it has the potential to and will one-shot lower-health builds, so it is worth mentioning. If you’ve ever played a fighting game before, the fact that you can’t block grabs won’t come as a surprise. This attack will ignore your shield and will punish you severely if you are sitting behind your defense.
Fortunately, it is not difficult to comprehend. The only trick is distinguishing it from Melania’s lunging thrust attack, which is very similar. Both moves begin on the ground, where she will rear back and then lunge across the arena in the opposite direction. She will turn to her right and draw her sword back in preparation for the thrust. Melania will turn slightly to the left before grabbing you with her off-hand, which she will keep at her side throughout the grab. Once you’ve identified these two attacks, you shouldn’t have any trouble dealing with them.
Roll under Malenia to avoid being hit by her during the start of her second phase.
In Malenia’s second-phase arsenal is a dive bomb that deals massive damage on impact before unleashing a scarlet rot explosion. This is one of the newer attacks in the country’s arsenal. This attack always initiates the second phase of the fight, and it can be frustrating to be smashed by it before having a chance to study the phase in question. Fortunately, there is a straightforward method of avoiding it.
Just like with Waterfowl Dance, all you have to do is roll at and under Melania to get her to dance. Regardless of the reason, the secondary explosion appears to consistently catch rolls that are directed away from Malenia. It appears that rolling under her will allow you to avoid both hits and give you enough time to back away as the rot flower blooms. For those of you who have the ability to deal ranged damage, the long bloom animation is an excellent opportunity to get some damage in.
Employ weapon skills to take Malenia out of the game.
Malenia staggers almost as easily as a regular enemy, rewarding your aggression to a point… but only to a certain extent. She also recovers quickly from staggers and delights in punishing you if you try to sneak in an extra hit without being noticed. She is, on the other hand, equally easy to knock down or launch, allowing for larger, safer entrances.
Certain weapon skills are particularly effective in this situation. The Taker’s Flame skill of the Blasphemous Blade, the Prelate’s Charge skill, and even a simple Stamp (Uppercut) can all be used to effectively control a crowd. You can use this combination, along with a Mimic Tear or other hard-hitting Spirit Ash, to put Malenia on the defensive for the majority of the fight.
Blood Loss or Frostbite can be used to counteract Malenia’s healing abilities.
Malenia’s healing can be frustrating, but there are some things you can do to make it less frustrating. Of course, the most important of these is “don’t get hit,” but there are also more practical approaches. Due to the fact that Blood Loss will deal a percentage of Malenia’s health, it is a consistent source of additional damage that can burst through her healing. Weapons such as Boody Helice and Rivers of Blood perform particularly well in this situation.
Frostbite deals less damage up front, but it reduces the target’s ability to resist damage. The ability to deal more consistent damage throughout the fight will allow you to heal less frequently, reducing the impact of each heal. Despite the recent nerf, the Hoarfrost Stomp skill continues to be one of the most effective ways to apply Frostbite.