Malenia, Blade of Miquella |
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| Location | Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree |
| Drops |  480,000Malenia's Great Rune Remembrance of the Rot Goddess |
| HP | 33,251 |
| Stronger VS | Weaker to |
FireMalenia, Blade of Miquella and Malenia, Goddess of Rot is a two-phase Demigod Boss in Elden Ring. She is the Empyrean twin sister of Miquella and gained renown for her legendary battle against Starscourge Radahn during the Shattering, in which she unleashed the power of the Scarlet Rot and reduced Caelid to ruins. This is an optional boss, as players do not need to defeat her in order to advance in Elden Ring.
See Malenia, Blade of Miquella Lore
...Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat.
Elden Ring Malenia, Blade of Miquella Boss
- This is an optional boss
- After you empty Malenia's first health bar, she will heal 80% and enter phase 2
- Phase 2 of this boss is called Malenia, Goddess of Rot
- Closest Site of Grace: Haligtree Roots
- Multiplayer is allowed for this boss
- You can summon Spirit Ashes for this boss
Elden Ring Malenia, Blade of Miquella Location
Malenia is located at the bottom of Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. Her arena is immediately down the stairs from the Haligtree Roots Site of Grace. [Map Link]
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Combat information
- Health: 33,251 HP (Phase 1: 18,473, Phase 2: 14,778)
- Defense: 123
- Stance : 80
- Parryable: Yes, but 3 parries are required per stance break
- Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken or parried
- Damage:
Standard, 
Slash, 
Pierce
(Phase 1),Standard, Slash, Pierce
,
Holy (Phase 2) - Inflicts:
Scarlet Rot (Phase 2) - Drops 480,000, Malenia's Great Rune, Remembrance of the Rot Goddess
Negations (or Absorptions)
Strike
Magic
LightningThe negation numbers are the % of your damage that gets blocked. For example, if a negation is 60, 40% of that damage by that type will go through and 60% will be negated. Bigger number = less damage. A negation of 100 means no damage goes through, and a negation of -100 mean the enemy takes 2x damage from that source. 0 means damage goes pretty much as is.
Resistances
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Poison: 1481 / 1938 - Scarlet Rot: 1481 / 1938
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Hemorrhage: 421 / 519 / 809 / 1266 -
Frostbite: 306 / 348 / 446 / 736 / 1193
The resistance numbers are the buildup amount to trigger it. For example, if a resistance is 100 you must deal 100 points of the given buildup to trigger it. Note that these go down over time, and increase each time the effect procs. The values after the "/"s indicate the increased resistances after each successive proc.
NG+ and Beyond (click to reveal)
| NG | NG+ | NG+2 | NG+3 | NG+4 | NG+5 | NG+6 | NG+7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 33,250 | 33,749 | 37,124 | 38,811 | 40,499 | 43,874 | 45,561 | 47,249 |
| Defense | 123 | 147 | 151 | 155 | 162 | 170 | 177 | 192 |
| Runes |
480,000 | 960,000 | 1,056,000 | 1,080,000 | 1,152,000 | 1,176,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,224,000 |
Resistances |
||||||||
| Poison |
1481 / 1938 | 1481 / 1938 | 1504 / 1961 | 1526 / 1983 | 1548 / 2005 | 1570 / 2027 | 1592 / 2049 | 1615 / 2072 |
| Scarlet Rot |
1481 / 1938 | 1481 / 1938 | 1504 / 1961 | 1526 / 1983 | 1548 / 2005 | 1570 / 2027 | 1592 / 2049 | 1615 / 2072 |
| Hemorrhage |
421 / 519 / 809 / 1266 | 421 / 519 / 809 / 1266 | 427 / 525 / 815 / 1272 | 434 / 532 / 822 / 1279 | 440 / 538 / 828 / 1285 | 446 / 544 / 834 / 1291 | 452 / 550 / 840 / 1297 | 459 / 557 / 847 / 1304 |
| Frostbite |
306 / 348 / 446 / 736 / 1193 | 306 / 348 / 446 / 736 / 1193 | 311 / 353 / 451 / 741 / 1198 | 315 / 357 / 455 / 745 / 1202 | 320 / 362 / 460 / 750 / 1207 | 324 / 366 / 464 / 754 / 1211 | 329 / 371 / 469 / 759 / 1216 | 334 / 376 / 474 / 764 / 1221 |
 Sleep |
689 / 979 / 1436 | 689 / 979 / 1436 | 699 / 989 / 1446 | 709 / 999 / 1456 | 720 / 1010 / 1467 | 730 / 1020 / 1477 | 740 / 1030 / 1487 | 751 / 1041 / 1498 |
 Madness |
Immune | |||||||
Elden Ring Malenia, Blade of Miquella Boss Guide
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Boss Video Guide
[video coming soon]
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Tips & Strategies
General Tips
- Malenia damage is physical only, so stack reduction against it such as the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, the consumable Boiled Crab, the Opaline Hardtear in your Flask of Wondrous Physick, or the incantations Black Flame's Protection or Golden Vow.
- 50-60% damage reduction should make this fight slightly easier
- Malenia has low Poise so it doesn't take much to break her stance and leave her open to a critical attack, so builds with good physical damage may want to use Stonebarb Cracked Tear. Additionally, she is vulnerable to knockdown attacks in her first phase, so using a weapon or Spirit Ash that abuses this can be helpful.
- Malenia heals herself on every hit even if her attacks are blocked. The amount she heals is a fixed percentage of her maximum HP depending on the attack. This means that co-op summons as well as NG+ cycles increase the amount she heals proportional to the increase to her max HP from scaling. Albinauric Pot does not stop her from healing.
- Inflict status effects. Malenia is weak to Frost and neutral to Fire. You can Frostbite Malenia, which deals 7% of her maximum health on its own, then remove the frostbitten debuff by inflicting fire damage, then repeat the process. Malenia also has relatively low resistance to Hemorrhage, inflicting bleed on her can allow players to outpace her self-healing, this makes the Rivers of Blood's unique skill Corpse Piler a good option against her as it deals Physical and Fire damage and inflicts Bleed buildup.
- Frost or hemorrhage can be used to stun her from Waterfowl Dance
- Frost can be also used for minor damage buff when non-fire weapons/spells are used
- Players can use summons such as Redmane Knight Ogha Ashes, whose great arrows will often stagger Malenia and can even interrupt her during the Phantom Spirits attack. Additionally, he will stay in the back, and she will focus on you as long as you keep her attention. Black Knife Tiche is also a good option, as she can dodge Malenia's attacks and limit her self-healing. Latenna The Albinauric is also a good option as she can be summoned by the door while the player keeps Malenia away from her. Summons that are more focused on tanking are not recommended, as Malenia will just heal herself off of them. Dragon Knight Kristoff can stagger Malenia reliably, especially when chain casting Thunderbolt. He is also very tanky and can usually stay alive for the fight.
- Malenia is able to dodge spells, what makes most of spells useless
- Incantation users should consider Flame of the Fell God. Because it triggers Malenia's dodge on cast, she is then incapable of dodging the explosion, which also knocks her down during her first phase if she isn't attacking with super armor.
- Sorceries users should consider spells that get around her input reading such as Night Comet.
- When buffed with Bloody Slash, items that can stagger her and consistently hit her are
- Lion's Claw and Gravity Bolt, once fully prepared respectively completing Phase One and Phase Two
Fight Breakdown
Malenia, Blade of Miquella is a two-phase fight, with the second phase beginning once her health is reduced to zero for the first time.
Phase one: Malenia is slightly less aggressive and will mostly only attack if the player tries to attack her. Additionally, if the player does not target lock the camera on her, she is likely to stay away from the player just walking left and right. Use this to your advantage when you need some breathing room - for example, to drink a healing flask. If attacked with projectiles, she will attempt to dodge them and then rush at the player to attack them. Malenia has a few attacks that she can use to quickly close the gap, the most notable of these is her grab attack, which deals obscene amounts of damage, thus healing her for a big amount. If Malenia takes too much damage, she will attempt to disengage by jumping backwards 2 times, distancing herself from the player.
Once Malenia goes below 75% HP, she unlocks her Waterfowl Dance attack: she leaps into the air with her sword ready and, after a brief pause, lunges at the player four times with a flurry of cuts. The third leap has more range than the two before it. The fourth leap has massive range, and Malenia will attempt to get behind the player with it. After this final fourth flurry, a final cut strikes around her. All steps of this attack deal massive damage, getting hit by it all will very likely kill the player even at full health. Read the attacks & counter section for tips on how to avoid this attack.
After getting Malenia to 0 health, a cutscene plays and phase 2 starts with Malenia at 80% health. Note that critical attacks will not trigger phase 2, and Malenia will survive them even if she has 0 health. Only a non-critical attack will work.
Phase two: Malenia, floating in the air, rapidly crashes on the player using Scarlet Aeonia dealing massive damage, then blooms into an orange flower which deals massive damage and inflicts massive amounts of Scarlet Rot. To dodge it, simply run towards Malenia and get behind her, she will miss because she cannot steer that much while charging the attack. Malenia will repeat this attack every 3 minutes.
Each of Malenia's attacks in this phase inflicts Scarlet Rot, the player should ensure they have Preserving Boluses to cleanse this condition should they be afflicted.
In addition to all her previous attacks and the aforementioned Scarlet Aeonia, Malenia gains a few new attacks in this phase. Most notably, as a follow-up to other sword attacks, Malenia can jump and then slam her sword into the ground to create a delayed explosion. Finally, Malenia can leap very high into the air, leaving behind her a small vortex of rot that deals massive damage, she will then summon phantoms of herself to lunge at the player one after the other, before finally lunging herself.
Advanced notes
While standing on the shallow water puddle in the middle of the arena, Malenia (and the player) gain 10% damage reduction to Fire Damage and lose 10% damage reduction to Lightning Damage.
When you use ranged attacks, perfumes, or throwables, Malenia will dodge to the side and then charge at you. It’s best to use spells or incantations that can follow her movements. When her health drops to 75%, she starts using Waterfowl Dance. She will still dodge ranged attacks but might follow up with this powerful move. You can also use summons to distract Malenia — this allows you to use ranged attacks safely off of distance. Also, Night Sorceries will not trigger her evasion, as they are invisible to NPCs.
After dodging Malenia’s Scarlet Aeonia attack by moving behind her, you’ll have about 5-7 seconds to attack her. This is a good time to use strong ranged attacks or spells with DoT area effects. If you have enough FP, using Comet Azur can take a big chunk of her health before she becomes active again. You can repeat this strategy each time she uses Scarlet Aeonia for heavy damage.
If Malenia is running at you at the start of the fight, she will proceed to rush you with a horizontal spinning attack once you are in range. This attack is telegraphed and easily parried. If you're not good at parrying, then dodge toward Malenia's left side (the player's right). If she slows down or starts moving left or right, she will not do the spin attack.
In order to avoid her Waterfowl Dance combo you must start running away from her while maintaining lock-on as soon as she leaps, which will let you avoid the first two spin attacks entirely if done soon enough (if not you will have to roll the second one). The third spin attack has to be rolled through, and make sure to stay away from her until the final AoE triggers. If you are caught by the attack, it is better to roll towards her than away; the extreme edges of the attack seem to have more hitboxes.
Ash of War: Bloodhound's Step makes dodging Waterfowl Dance significantly easier. Using that ability, you can completely avoid the combo, even if you're close to Malenia when she starts its windup. Dash away from her, out of range of the first and second flurries (possibly multiple times depending on how far away she is), and toward her (once) to avoid the third flurry. (During the third flurry she jumps to you regardless of the distance, but the first and second flurries have a fixed jump range.)
In Phase 2, make sure you are constantly topped up to full HP. Many of her basic combo attacks are strong enough to deal well over 1000 damage to heavy armor users very quickly, so sitting at 80% HP or below to save on flasks is liable to get you killed.
A weapon with the Ash of War: Wild Strikes and the blood affinity can trivialize the first phase of the fight.
Ash of War: Golden Parry is useful for easily parrying most of her attacks. The increased parry range and window can be of tremendous help to players with less experience in parrying her attacks.
Melee Strategy
The main trick here is to attack her when she's not in an attack animation in order to stagger her, typically after she is done with a combo. Once you hit her and it staggers her, keep attacking to keep the stagger going while paying attention to when she side hops as this interrupts the stagger. When she does so, roll out of the way, keep some distance, and dodge her attacks until you get another opening, while keeping a keen eye on the startup for her waterfowl dance, to which you should run away from the first two volleys and dodge through the final volley. Be mindful of your positioning at all times, you do not want your back to a wall when she does her waterfowl dance. Stay calm, do not panic, watch some videos of her attacks, and you'll realize her flashy moves just seemed intimidating/impossible at first. Do not rely on a shield to do the work for you due to her healing ability, at most you should only use it to block the stray hit. Talisman suggestions would be Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman (or your best one), Ritual Shield Talisman, and Green Turtle Talisman to help mitigate damage and improve stamina regeneration. The Prelate's Charge skill can be used to stagger her by driving her into a corner as long as you have enough FP.
In her second phase her attacks start to flow together more, but good ones to punish are her slamming attacks as she takes some time to create a rot burst in front of her.
Rivers of Blood and Blasphemous Blade are great options for weapons. If focusing on bleed damage, Curved Swords are a good choice as their dual-wielded jumping attack hits four times allowing quick Bleed build-up. This can be paired with the Raptor's Black Feathers, Claw Talisman, Beastman's Curved Sword, and Rotten Winged Sword Insignia for high DPS. The Scavenger's Curved Sword dual wielded with a curved sword with bleed affinity is a good choice for such a build. For Strength Arcane builds, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear can be used for inflicting bleed from a distance rapidly by using the Bloodboon Ritual weapon skill.
Magic and Ranged Strategy
For Incantation users, Swarm of Flies is a good option when summoning, especially Black Knife Tiche Ashes. Once Malenia focuses on Tiche, start casting Swarm of Flies. A slight delay between casts is a little more effective than constant spam, as it seems to catch her fully in each swarm rather than clipping her as she dodges out. If she leaps, just keep your distance and get ready to dodge Waterfowl Dance. With luck, one of your swarms will cause blood loss and she'll be staggered, but because you're keeping range, you should be able to dodge much, if not all, of the Waterfowl Dance. On phase 2, the recovery of Scarlet Aeonia is the perfect time to spam Swarm of Flies.
Other good incantations are Borealis's Mist to inflict Frostbite, Giantsflame Take Thee for its massive damage and high chance to knock Malenia down, Aspect of the Crucible: Tail and Aspect of the Crucible: Horns to knock down Malenia, or Dragonmaw which deals good damage and knocks her down. Protect yourself with both Golden Vow and Black Flame's Protection as they stack. Don't use offensive Holy incantations because Malenia has 40% damage reduction against Holy damage. Rotten Breath or Ekzyke's Decay are not terrible, but Malenia does have very high resistance to Scarlet Rot and Poison. For INT+FTH builds, Ancient Death Rancor is also a very good option, as it deals good damage, has good poise damage, and good tracking.
For Sorcery users, starting the fight with Ranni's Dark Moon can be helpful as it lowers her magic resistance and deals frostbite damage.
Do not use projectile attacks such as Great Glintstone Shard because she will just dodge them. Instead, use sorceries with good tracking capabilities such as the aforementioned moon or Stars of Ruin. Malenia, as all other NPCs, cannot see Night Sorceries so she will not dodge them, making Night Comet a fantastic option especially when paired with a Staff of Loss on the other hand to buff its damage (or, even better, with two Staves of Loss if you can get a second one from another player or a new game + playthrough).
Other good sorceries against her are Greatblade Phalanx for its high stance damage, which can be good if playing with a weapon that can inflict critical attacks once you stagger her, but this is not as good for pure mages that only use staves. Carian Piercer and Cannon of Haima are also good for knocking her down. For INT+FTH builds, Ancient Death Rancor is also a very good option, as it deals good damage, has good stance damage, and good tracking.
If using summons, Malenia might dodge fewer projectiles as she's busy focusing on the summon. This opens the door for spells such as Comet or Shard Spiral. Alternatively, spamming Ranni's Dark Moon while Malenia focuses on the summons is also a valid strategy, though this requires a lot of FP. If not spamming Dark Moon, Glinstone Icecrag can help trigger Frostbite. Finally, Comet Azur can be considered for phase 2 to punish Malenia after dodging her Scarlet Aeonia.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Description | Counter |
| Malenia's Dance (1.00 only) | Malenia raises her sword to her left and makes 4 long steps - after each step, she attacks with a flurry of attacks. After that, she jumps towards the Tarnished with an attack and performs a final whirl strike, knocking down the target. | Attack not used in current version of the game. However, if player wants to face her in 1.00 version of the game, it is best to simply run away |
| Waterfowl Dance | Malenia leaps into the air. After a short pause, she dives onto the player and slashes around her in an AoE. She then slashes two more times, closing the gap with a smaller dash each time. Her final slash is then followed with a short AoE that she doesn't move for. This attack also builds up scarlet rot very quickly in phase two. This attack can be blocked, but it is not recommended as she will recover a large amount of HP if the attacks connect. | There are several methods in dodging the attack, the method depends on the distance between you and her: 1) If you are distanced about four or more meters out of her sword's reach, immediately start running back the moment she leaps in the air. The first two slashes will miss as long as you keep running. Immediately stop running after she finishes her second slash and roll towards her, the third slash will miss since it's programmed to send her behind you. If you've timed this right the fourth slash will miss as well without requiring any additional inputs from you. 2) If she jumps up while you're within her sword's reach, immediately start running back. The timing is precise and requires some training. The moment her foot touches the ground to begin the first slash, jump or roll away from her, this move will dodge the first slash. She'll now wind up her second slash, move towards her while keeping your eyes on her sword arm, then roll towards her left arm (right side from your POV) the moment her sword arm starts to move for a second slash. If timed right this will dodge her second slash. For the third slash, simply roll towards her again and then roll away from her to avoid the fourth slash. 3) If you have a weapon with high bleed build-up (such as dual curved swords with Ash of War: Seppuku), the bleed effect will stagger her out of the Waterfowl Dance attack. 4) Ash of War: Bloodhound Step can also be used to easily dodge through this attack. You can apply the Ash of War to an off-hand dagger and quickly switch to it whenever she begins the Waterfowl Dance animation. 5) Ash of War: Vow of the Indomitable can be used to partially dodge the first volley with the right timing. The I-frames don't last long enough to completely dodge the first volley, but you can dodge afterwards and still take no damage. Another way to dodge this attack when you're at close range (albeit a lot more difficult), is to circle her (without locking-on) when she's in the air, double roll away from her for the first dash, lock-on to her again and do the same thing as above for the other three dashes. Alternatively, block with a shield that has relatively high stability. She will recover her health, but it is more preferable than dying. At this point in the game you should deal enough damage to make up for health regained. Note: She tends to use this attack more often, if she is engaged with range weaponry/spells (needs further testing). Note: The healing values on waterfowl dance requires more testing as it is very difficult to ensure the entire attack connects and be able to tell which attacks are healing her. Datamining indicates that there is an internal 0.3 second cooldown on each of Malenia's healing effects which would explain why she only heals from some of the hits. Testing with her animation speed slowed 50x suggests that waterfowl dance dance hits up to 18 times, healing her for either 1.6% or 0.4% each hit. The internal cooldown only affects attacks using the same healing effect (so after she heals for 1.6%, she cannot trigger another 1.6% heal for 0.3 seconds, but there is no delay between triggering heals for different amounts). |
| Kick | Malenia will rush the player before she swipes at the player with her leg (unparryable), which can then be followed up by one of four attacks. A slightly delayed stabbing dash attack, a sword swipe followed up by an overhead slam on the ground, or two quick slices followed by another slice. It can also be followed up with a grab attack (see below). |
The kick is fairly easy to avoid. Creating distance can keep you safe from the latter two follow ups. The stabbing dash attack is telegraphed by a small flash on her sword, helping you time a roll. The kick can also be blocked, but consumes high amounts of stamina. Heals Malenia for 1.6% max HP |
| Thrust | Malenia will slightly jump into the air, followed by a very quick thrusting attack, dealing a huge amount of pierce damage. This attack usually catches player off-guard. Can be parried at melee. |
Malenia usually does this attack when the player is healing at mid-range. So if you want to heal, make sure to run far away from her first before healing, or wait for the thrust before healing. To avoid the thrust, simply roll left or right (backwards works as well but it's a bit risky). Because of pierce damage, this attack deals increased damage if the player is in counterattack frames. If the player is far enough away from her, it's possible to jump over the thrust. If the player is close enough, they can parry it. Heals Malenia for 6.4% max HP |
| Rapid Prosthesis Slices | Malenia will shorten her blade (indicated by a ping sound) then rush the player, do three quick attacks in succession, followed by a final horizontal attack that can be delayed. This attack can end up quickly healing her along with devastating the player's health. This attack can also occur on its own, in the middle of a combo, or to end a combo (usually indicated by her delaying the final sweep). Can be parried. |
Malenia uses this attack only if her blade is to her right (the player's left if they are looking at her) which means you can be better prepared for it. Listen for the ping sound to indicate the weapon change, then roll towards her (into the attack) to her right. Back up and if needed roll away from her once you are clear to avoid the final sweep. Do not rush in for an attack unless the final sweep is delayed, which would indicate the end of a combo and an opening for the player. Avoid dodging backwards, as the third hit will clip you. She may sometimes follow it up with the same attack - this can happen multiple times in a row. Heals Malenia for 1.6% max HP per swing |
| Uppercut + Slam OR Charge + Spin | Malenia will hold her sword back, then do one of the two damaging attacks depending on the player's location: (i) If the player is at close range, she will do an uppercut, then leap upwards and slams down. (ii) If the player is at long range, she will charge towards the player at fast speed, then spin her sword, followed by a slam. |
The two attacks are very delayed and extremely damaging, so make sure you recognize the starting animation (indicated by her holding her sword back) immediately and be prepared for the attacks. For Uppercut + Slam: Roll backwards to avoid the uppercut, then wait for her to slam down and roll forward left or forward right. If you are brave enough, you can get a few hits in before her uppercut, then dodge at the very last second. For Charge + Spin: Roll twice as soon as you see her charging towards you to dodge both the spin and the slam altogether. Malenia will be wide open for attacks after performing these two attacks. You can either do a charged strong attack or even a weapon's skills such as Lion's Claw or Spinning Slash. Heals Malenia for 1.6% max HP per swing, Overhead slam heals for 3.2% max HP
|
| Lunging Grab | Malenia will raise her hand in preparation for a grab attack, then lunge in a straight line towards the player very quickly. If the grab connects she will toss the player into the air and impale them, dealing 2225 base thrusting damage, before tossing their body onto the ground. During Phase two, this attack can be immediately followed by a flying sweep + thrust attack. This attack cannot be blocked or parried. |
Dodge roll when Malenia lunges, preferablyto the sides (backwards works too if you time it right). During Phase two, be prepared for the flying sweep + thrust attack (See below) as it may catch the player off-guard. While this attack can be interrupted by most player attacks while she winds up the grab, it's not suggested to do so because of the risks. Heals Malenia for 10.6% max HP |
| Scarlet Aeonia | Phase two only. Malenia will dive onto the player and summon a giant flower that explodes around her. This leaves a lingering mist that applies scarlet rot and a DoT effect in the area. This attack is always used as her first attack in phase two. | Roll as soon as you see her sword is lifted, then sprint away for her for a little bit (around half a second), then roll away from her again. Remember to not attack her right away after the explosion as the rot will linger for quite a bit (around 4 - 5 seconds), use this time window to heal, recover FP, reapply buffs, or even cast some spells if you're a ranged user. After the scarlet rot is gone (indicated by the flower disappearing), she will be unable to move for a while, and is wide open for attacks, use this time window to use your skill (or a charged strong attack) on her to deal massive damage in a single hit. The initial impact heals Malenia for 4.8% max HP |
| Scarlet Explosion | Phase two only. Malenia will retain its original moves from Phase one, however there is a chance that she will do a follow-up on most attacks, where she flies up into the air briefly, then slams down her sword, dealing a huge amount of damage and creating on the ground a small vortex of rot, which then explodes after a brief delay and builds up scarlet rot. The explosion can also occur from the slamming attacks from Phase one, which she can follow up and result in a double Scarlet Explosion. | This attack usually occur when she is done with her regular Phase one combo. Roll in any direction to avoid the slam, roll again if you're unsure whether exploson will hit you. This attack can be heavily punished if you roll into her and get to her back, as she will be wide open for attacks after the slam. To differentiate between this attack and the Waterfowl Dance (as these two attacks have similar starting animation), if she twirls before flying up, it's the Waterfowl Dance; if she flies upwards without twirling, she's doing the Scarlet Explosion attack. The slam heals Malenia for 3.2% max HP |
| Flying Sweep + Thrust | Phase two only. Malenia will fly up into the air, and glides down onto the player from the left, followed by a very quick thrust attack. This attack can be followed up with the Scarlet Explosion attack. | She will usually do this attack when you're at long range. Roll left to avoid the first sweep, then roll left or right to avoid the thrust. Or, roll the sweep, then jump the thrust. See above to learn how to dodge the Scarlet Explosion follow-up. Because of pierce damage, the follow up thrust attack deals increased damage if the player is in counterattack frames. |
| Counter Kick | Phase two only. Sometimes, when the player hit Malenia, she will follow-up by countering the player with a kick (different from a regular kick). Although this kick doesn't do a lot of damage, it'll usually catch the player off guard and stagger them greatly. | Never attack twice in a row when she's in a walking/running animation and always be prepared for the counter kick, roll backwards when she begins to lift her leg to avoid the attack. Unlike the regular kick, Malenia will not follow this up with another attack and will stand still for a solid second. You can exploit this weakness by doing an attack after dodging the counter kick (either doing a running attack, quick weapon's skills, or just a simple attack if you have a long weapon). |
| Phantom Spirits | Phase two only. Malenia will fly into the air, creating a pool of scarlet rot on the ground below her, and consecutively fire out four phantom versions of herself that will do two horizontal sweeps, a vertical slam, a third horizontal sweep followed by a quick thrust, one final thrust, before Malenia herself comes down with a high speed flying thrust to player, dealing high damage. The first and last phantom will stay longer in order to do a single thrust attack each, occurring after the fourth's sweep attack. | Roll in the directions as the following order: Backwards twice (delay a bit between these two rolls), followed by two forward rolls (immediately after one another), then roll to the left twice (immediately after one another). The timing for the third and fourth roll might be a bit difficult to get a grasp on (and will usually result in death as you'll get hit by two phantoms), but once you get those two rolls right, you'll never get hit by the phantoms. Note: This attack can target more than 1 player. The final dive attack heals Malenia for 10.6% max HP The spirits do not heal Malenia on hit |
Elden Ring Malenia Notes & Trivia
- "In the first year after launch, From Software reported that Malenia had killed players 329 million times" - How Many Times Players Attempted Malenia
- In version 1.04 of Elden Ring, there was a bug related to the healing mechanic, which was present only when players fought Malenia in co-op - each attack would result in heal, even if the attack missed due to i-frames. This has since been fixed as of update 1.04.1
- Melina's armor set can be found in the area directly before Malenia's boss room. This and the similarity of their names has led many fans to speculate that they are related in some way.
- In the Elden Ring trailer shown at E3 2021, Malenia's arena is slightly different, with a much darker appearance and fewer roots in the background. However, the clip from her pre-battle cutscene has the final arena design.
- First phase can't be finished with a critical strike or damage caused by inflicting status effect - Malenia will remain with 1 HP left, even with poison or rot damage. In a very earlier version of the game, if the player managed to finish that phase with critical strike, 2nd phase Malenia would spawn with 1 HP.
- After the player parries her three times and she enters the animation that allows for a critical hit, she can be staggered by any attack (including things like throwing knives), knocking her out of the critical animation.
- Malenia is featured in the game's Collector's Edition, which includes a statue of her and a replica of her helmet.
- Bug: If player depletes her poise while she performs attack with hyper-armor, she will not be put in a state that allows to perform a riposte.
- Bug (possible only in co-op or with Spirit Ash): If player manage to end first phase with a riposte while Malenia's HP is 0, she will spawn with 1HP in 2nd phase.
- This can cause some odd situation in her attacks, as her first one will not be Scarlet Aeonia.
- Voice Actress: Pippa Bennett-Warner
Dialogue
Introduction:
I dreamt for so long.
My flesh was dull gold...and my blood, rotted.
Corpse after corpse, left in my wake...
As I awaited... his return.
... Heed my words.
I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella.
And I have never known defeat.
During Fight
Defeating player in phase 1 (1.00): Now do you understand? I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella...
Defeating player in phase 1 (after 1.00): I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella...
Defeating player in phase 2: Let your flesh be consumed. By the scarlet rot.
Intermission
Wait.
The scarlet bloom flowers once more
You will witness true horror.
Now, rot!
After Fight
Your strength, extraordinary...
The mark...of a true Lord...
O, dear Miquella...
O, dearest Miquella, my brother...
I'm sorry. I finally met my match...
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Lore
Lore Items Related to Malenia, Blade of Miquella
Remembrance of the Rot Goddess
Remembrance of Malenia, Goddess of Rot, hewn into the Erdtree.
The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader. Alternatively, it can be used to gain a great bounty of runes.
Miquella and Malenia are both the children of a single god. As such they are both Empyreans, but suffered afflictions from birth. One was cursed with eternal childhood, and the other harbored rot within.
Malenia's Great Rune
A Great Rune of the shardbearer Malenia. The blessing of this half-rotted rune reduces the healing power of Flask of Crimson Tears.
And yet, due to the infusion of Malenia's spirit of resistance. attacks made immediately after receiving damage will partially recover HP.
Malenia is daughter to Queen Marika and Radagon, and her Great Rune should have been the most sacred of all.
Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom
A talisman engraved with a scene from a heroic tale. Raises dexterity.
Though born into the accursed rot, when the young girl encountered her mentor and his flowing blade, she gained wings of unparalleled strength.
Valkyrie's Prosthesis
Golden prosthesis once used by the one-armed valkyrie. A masterwork of craftsmanship, with practice and skill it can be used as proficiently as a real arm.
When Maleigh Marais, Lord of the Shaded Castle, embraced this prosthesis, he claimed to feel the presence of his personal goddess.
Marais Robe
Robe with a black mantle across the shoulders. Customarily worn by the head of House Marais.
The sons of House Marais are all sickly born. Little wonder that Maleigh Marais would be so beguiled by the beautiful and fierce goddess who was born into rot.
Radagon's Rings of Light
One of the incantations of the Golden Order fundamentalists. A gift of gratitude to the young Miquella from his father, Radagon.
Produces a golden ring of light and fires it across a wide area. Charging enhances range.
And yet, the young Miquella abandoned fundamentalism, for it could do nothing to treat Malenia's accursed rot. This was the beginning of unalloyed gold.
Hand of Malenia
Blade built into Malenia's prosthetic arm. Through consecration it is resistant to rot.
Malenia's war prosthesis symbolized her victories. Some claim to have seen wings when the weapon was raised aloft; wings of fierce determination that have never known defeat.
Winged Sword Insignia
A talisman depicting a raised prosthetic blade. An honor bestowed upon the knights who fought alongside Malenia the Severed.
Raises attack power with successive attacks.
The wings symbolize Malenia and her undefeated prowess. Though she never knew relief from the accursed rot she was born into, her blade was forever beautiful - and relentless.
Cleanrot Armor
Armor of the Cleanrot Knights, celebrated for their undefeated campaign in the Shattering.
The Cleanrot Knights vowed to fight alongside Malenia, despite the inevitable, if gradual, putrefaction of their flesh. Their acceptance of their fate made these battles fiercest of all.
Scarlet Aeonia
Technique of Malenia, the Goddess of Rot.
Creates a gigantic flower that blooms into an explosion of scarlet rot.
Each time the scarlet flower blooms, Malenia's rot advances. It has bloomed twice already. With the third bloom, she will become a true goddess.
Aeonian Butterfly
A butterfly with withered, scarlet wings found in the swamp of Aeonia. Material used for crafting items.
According to myth, these butterflies were once the wings of the Goddess of Rot herself.
Cleanrot Knight Finlay Ashes
Legendary ashen remains. Use to summon the spirit of the Cleanrot Knight Finlay.
Finlay was one of the few survivors of the Battle of Aeonia, who in an unimaginable act of heroism carried the slumbering demigod Malenia all the way back to the Haligtree. She managed the feat alone, fending off all manner of foes along the way.
Malenia's Winged Helm
Winged helm made of unalloyed gold. Worn by Malenia, Blade of Miquella.
Malenia awaited Miquella at the foot of the husk.
“My brother will keep his promise. He possesses the wisdom, the allure, of a god – he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all.”
Unalloyed Gold Needle
An intricately crafted needle of unalloyed gold. Removed by Millicent from her flesh.
Bears no trace of befouled blood, but is faintly moist with dew.
"There is something I must return to Malenia. The dignity, the sense of self, that allowed her to resist the call of the scarlet rot."
Young Lion's Armor
The golden armor worn by Radahn in his younger years. Proudly adorned with heroic red accents, it is fitting attire for a lion.
When Malenia, Blade of Miquella, let the rotflower blossom in Aeonia, Radahn heard a murmur in his ear— "Miquella awaits thee, O promised consort."
Dialogue Related to Malenia, Blade of Miquella
Sage Gowry
Do you have an interest in rot incantations? Then you might like to learn something of the history... of Malenia, goddess of scarlet rot. Queen Marika and her King Consort Radagon were blessed with twin demigods, and Malenia was one of them.
She was born an Empyrean, carrying the scarlet rot. An Empyrean...is no mere demigod. In the age of the Elden Ring, and Queen Marika, the precious Empyrean was born. A new god to forge a new Order.
Since Malenia fought Radahn, and the great scarlet flower blossomed in Aeonia, I have dedicated myself to her. And to the resplendence of the Order of Rot. The cycle of decay and rebirth.
Sever that trust. Nurtured by betrayal, her bud will flower most vividly. When Malenia ascends to godhood, Millicent too shall be reborn. As a scarlet valkyrie.
Would you disown us too? As your Mother did? We children of the scarlet rot? Millicent... Malenia... Do you detest us, so utterly?
Millicent
Now, I'm tracing the path Malenia took, after unleashing the power of the scarlet rot, during her battle with General Radahn,in the Caelid Wilds. I should like to meet her, this vanished woman. I think she's in the north. In the lands that lie beyond the Erdtree.
I'm searching for a fort to the north of the ruins. I heard the master of the fort was given a medallion that allowed him to visit the Haligtree. Indeed, I believe that is where Malenia will be found. The Haligtree is hidden somewhere in these Northern lands.
I am of Malenia's blood. But in what capacity I know not.I could be sister, daughter, or an offshoot... Whatever the case though, I am certain of a kinship between us.
There is something I must return to Malenia. The will that was once her own. The dignity, the sense of self, that allowed her to resist the call of the scarlet rot. The pride she abandoned, to meet Radahn's measure.
Gideon Ofnir
There are four more demigods yet to be located. Miquella of the Haligtree, the Unalloyed. His twin, Malenia, the undefeated swordswoman.
Ahh, so the secret medallion led you to the land of the Haligtree? I'd expect to find Malenia there. She who fought Radahn to a standstill.
Well, if the scarlet rot hasn't eaten her away completely. But...with the Haligtree as it is... I suppose Miquella must already be...
Ah, my apologies. Lost myself, for a moment there. The information you've shared is of great value. As promised, your reward:
A secret rite known only to me. You are a true fellow. All I ask is that you remain constant.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Image Gallery
Anonymousim convinced yall are just bad at the game. melania, while not being the most well crafted fight, is still very fun once you get her flow down, and i beat her without status on several files and NG+ iterations. the only argument i can see for the quality of this boss is waterfowl, but that can still be dodged.
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I LOVE HELPING PEOPLE!! I LOVE ENGAGING IN JOLLY COOPERATION!! AIDING THOSE WHO STRUGGLE AGAINST A HARD BOSS IS INCREDIBLY FUN AND GRATIFYING!! I AM A FURLED FINGER ENJOYER AND I LOVE THIS COMMUNITY!!!!!
- Anonymous
Frost her early and often and then just beat on her. When she starts up phase 2 I hit her with frost dragon again and then chased her around with cold piercing fang great katana. Feels like there's an element of luck with what she chooses to do, so it will take a few tries.
- Anonymous
No one ever seems to mention that she would be like 3x fairer if her healing actually worked like it should and the way it works on her actual rune effect.
You hit her, she can attsck and heal that back, but if you hurt her again first or avoid her for long enough she can no longer regain that portion
Would be totally fine even with a mechanic people think is unfair.
But instead she can waterfowl and gain 2500 hp if host or summons can't dodge enough
- Anonymous
My main two complaints with this boss
Heal on hit, I think this should have been limited to a few moves as this makes the fight linger much longer than it has to
Her little fucking flower guy summons, how does anyone dodge this lmao
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Genuinely one of the worst bosses in gaming. The only thing that makes her bareable is the fact you can become so OP you don't see her moveset, even at level 1. This is a perfect example of a horribly made hard boss
- Anonymous
a boss so dogshit even the deflecting tear cant make it fun lmao even pcr is fun with that thing
- Anonymous
If you summon some one, PLEASE at least attempt to fight her for like 15 times
- Anonymous
I tried sorcery build to beat malenia today. Got her on 2nd try. (Lvl 125, int 70). I use Dungeater+10 spirit ash, he can survive to phase 2 or even until end of battle depending on your DPS. For DPS i use Terra magica, night comet, and comet Azur. In phase 1 after summoning DE, I use freeze pot on her, then cast terra magica followed by night comet. In phase 2 after her first scarlet bloom, i immediately use mixed physik and cast comet azur. Afterwards, freeze her again with pots, use Ranni/Rennala full moon followed by night comets until the fight ends. Terra magica in phase 2 isn't worth it because she's way too aggressive and her shadows are deadly for sorcery build. Hope this helps.
- Anonymous
She don't need eyes to see her waterfowl dance swings because it's invisible anyway. Those extra slashes come from beyond or she hides 99% of her speed power during the other moves just to make the fight enjoyable for her.
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'You will witness true horror' is such a cringe line that doesn't even make any sense. Clearly made for streamers and epic reactions of dudes screaming like monkeys.
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I am going to skin you and your family alive.
Makes the BoC look like Miyazaki's magnum opus.
- Anonymous
If you’re trying to learn to parry her, here’s what I learned:
You need to keep a small distance between you and her in order for the parries to strike correctly.
How much of a distance? A small gap (small enough for a phantom Malenia to stand between you and her)
You’ll get a feel for it with practice: If your parry timing is correct but you still take damage, you’re either a little too close or too far.
The safest one to parry is where she charges towards you with a horizontal sweep (slash-slash-slash—slash!).
If she dashes to the side the upcoming attack is parryable too, just make sure you’re tracking her so that the shield will strike her hand when you parry.
Small shields and bucklers are best, but if you want to use a medium shield I recommend having carian retaliation on it for more parry frames.
Personally I never tried Golden Parry since it uses up FP for every parry.
Dagger talisman is recommended even if you’re not using a dagger, and also Crimson dagger talisman to get some health back after a successful riposte.
It took some time, and was frustrating at points, but overall it was also strangely addictive.
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I was playing this game for the first time recently and honestly this rotten woman wasn't that much of a challenge. I 1st tried her with my level 273 build using flame art star fists with endure, stormhawk summon and ironjar aromatic; didn't even use a dedicated bleed build which seems to be meta against her. Sipped all my flasks by the end and got nearly demolished by big flower attack at the start of phase two, but thankfully I had some spare anti-rot boluses and managed to recover in time. I think this boss is overrated in terms of difficulty, even godskin cardinal took me at least 20 attempts.
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This boss would always been remembered by me as unremarkable and only remembered because of one attack that is hard to dodge and nothing else.
It isn’t bad, it’s not good, it’s not hard, it’s not easy, it is just a boss that exists
- Anonymous
Most overrated boss of all time, not even top five in base game
- Anonymous
I just block the first flurry, roll under the second, then just hold the left stick back to walk backwards and avoid the rest lol, it's not the best tactic but it's the easiest.
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I just realized that "Maleni" is the German word for rot. Malenia is the plural of it. This is insane
- Anonymous
I WANT REVENGE MALENIA YOUR NAME AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
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I'll eventually "fight" her. Once I've gotten through the DLC and I'm like level 250. I'm not playing around anymore. She has waterf*** dance, I'll have everything else, including the kitchen sink.
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The people complaining about Malenia, is sad. If Malenia had no hyperarmor in some of her attacks she would be too easy and not worth an actual fight. Waterfowl isn't insufferable if you take the time to actually dodge and learn how to dodge. the inconsistent hyper armor may actually be a good thing, for if she had complete hyperarmor with how she moves, she would be too hard, if she had no hyperarmor she would be too easy. From my stand point it just seems that the people complaining don't know how to handle bosses in the soulsborne genre. Like My favorite bosses in Elden Ring are Godfrey, Godskin Duo, Malenia, Starscourge Radahn, Messmer, Rellana, Bayle, and Midra. sure those bosses are very hard, maybe a little unforgiving but that's the thing, they're MEANT TO BE HARD, so when you beat them it feels like a true victory over a challenge. Now not every boss is good or shouldn't be "that hard" but Malenia is not one of those bosses when you actually turn your brain on and use strategies, which is how I view every boss in these games, a strategy based fight. The bosses that DO NEED TO BE COMPLAINED ABOUT are Consort Radahn, Midir, and Laurence as some of the stuff they do are just utter bs and unfun. but remember this when you fight a boss in a souldborne game or soulslike, you must think of a strategy, you cannot always just press attack, heal, sometimes dodge or use a shield all the time, the bosses will get smarter, harder, and they will find a way to counter what you do to previous bosses. I do wish for you all to beat Malenia and bosses like her, and may you too have a great time playing these game.
- Anonymous
??? tf is "The scarlet bloom flowers once more" shouldnt it say "The scarlet flower blooms once more"?
- Anonymous
Over 70 attempts and I've finally defeated her by myself! :D
- Anonymous
I remember being very excited about fighting Malenia because she was apparently the hardest boss in the game, so when I finally reached and fought her I found out that she was difficult because of all the wrong reasons. Some things I noticed;
-Can lifeleech through a shield with 100% physical block
-Can randomly gain hyperarmor during attacks where she previously had none
-Waterfowl Dance being akin to an inescapable woodchipper.
Eventually just brute-forced her with a pair of max-level Great Stars (Mimic doing the same) but this wasn’t the intention. Not the fun, challenging fight I was expecting.
- Anonymous
she lifesteals even if I shield-blocked 100% of her physical damage. lmao
- Anonymous
She’s like that annoying 10/10 she’s sexy but she’s annoying as hell 8/10 bossfight
- Anonymous
There is absolutely nothing worth noting in this boss other than Waterfowl jank and seeing a naked woman in phase 2, thing most fromsoftware fans won't ever see in real life. Yet, for some reason, there are people who think this is the best boss in the game. She doesn't deserve top 5 not even in the base game.
Everything she does is outclassed by other main game bosses like Morgott, Maliketh, Godfrey or Mohg. Lore, OST, moveset, gameplay itself, design... All outclassed.
Am I missing something? Is this boss REALLY that special to deserve top 5 in base game? "Oh but she has a unique lifesteal ability!" Yeah yeah, but I bet you don't even notice it in-game most of the times because the only way she can possibly hit you is with Waterfowl and maybe the clone attack in 2nd phase.
Don't care about what you say, this boss is B tier at best, and that's being VERY generous.
- Anonymous
My biggest problem is that the method to dodge waterfowl feels janky and unintuitive, and the clone attack feels 50/50 on whether I'll be hit.
YES, there are people who have no hit the boss, but that doesn't change the fact that on a first playthrough, the average player will just play very passively from afar whilst waiting for her to use it.
- Anonymous
Fun fact: without Waterfowl jank attack, she is not harder than a Black Blade Kindred
- Anonymous
I rushed Miquella's Haligtree/Elphael to find Malenia before exploring the area. I went through those waterfall of rotten water, I walked from the water drenage site of grace to the room with some kindred of rot then I took the elevator to front of Malenia's fogwall. Now that I explored everything, I found an elevator down the place where you find Miquella's Knight sword. You can rush from the prayer room "straight" to that elevator and activate Haligtree Branches site of grace to fight Mylenia.
- Anonymous
Finally got her with the club. She was frustrating at first but after a few hours of practicing the fight becomes very enjoyable. Once you learn how to dodge wfd point blank without ash of war the fight becomes easy. Just keep practicing!
- Anonymous
Fun fact: Malenia says "wait" because if the player had just left after beating her first phase, it would have technically counted as her losing and therefore knowing defeat.
- Anonymous
Kinda wish she was friendly like she was intended to be. Save her with an alternative Millicent Questline and put a secret ending where you replace Marika's order with Malenia's own by ascending her into Godhood since she's an Empyrean like Miquella and Ranni. Would've made the DLC end boss fight more interesting too, maybe Miquella could've had a secret dialogue about us being Malenia's Lord, the same way Friede has different dialogue if you're the Lord of Hollows. Would've been cool in my opinion
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I just realized that this MIGHT be the character with the most plot-armour in the history of souls games.
-Blind, doesn't have an arm and basically crippled, yet still is the Elden Ring version of Isshin.
-Had to nuke herself to bring Radahn down, got unconscious and only survived because of Finlay carrying her back to the Haligtree.
-Has a f*cking outer god within.
In game:
-Steals HP on hit
-Busted hyper-armor
-Waterfowl Dance (speaks for itself)
-2 phases
-Shadow clone jutsu bs
-Can't die from ripostes in phase 1
-Goes full anime-like naked hot woman fanservice in phase 2...
- Anonymous
He was freed. He was locked up for too long in a different dimension, thanks to the work of every single outer god.
Malenia when she eventually had to face the wrath of the freshly unshakled god:
" jus slide that shi in already PLS </3 "
you might be asking, who is him?
HIM.
Godefroy, the Goated.
- Anonymous
You can do it, fellow Tarnished. Don't come here hoping to validate your excuses with others' complaints.
You're meant to take. So take it. Take it all, from her and from any other god on your path. The true Golden Lands are within us.
- Anonymous
I did not win this fight honorably but sometimes two 7+ blasphemous blades are required.
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Black Knife Tiche absolutely shreds her. I summoned her to get to 2nd phase faster so I could practice and give Malenia some distraction, but she did so good that I had to kill myself or the fight would be over in barely a minute.
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after two days of trying i summoned someone by the name of "let me solo her". I felt very satisfied.
- Anonymous
so the flower after she died just blocked me from getting my runes.... theyre in the middle of the flower... there goes my 2 mil
- Anonymous
I found a new strat that's quite noob friendly. Using morgot's cursed sword and mimic tear. Basically you need to trade blows with malenia while proccing bleeding on her multiple times (bleed proc will stun her). Works very good in phase 1 but you need to watch out in phase 2 when malenia decide to fly and or using phantom attacks. Need 45-50vig. Just enough stat to use morgot sword is enough. 20-25 stamina is recommended. Talismans i used: great jar to equip heaviest armor set you could. Erdtree blessing +1. Dragon greatshield. Immunity horn charm +1 (exchangeable with carian talisman to reduce FP cost, not that you need too much FP). Right as phase 2 begin use mixed potion (crimson whorl and another one to increase resistance). Using black flame protection for further tanking purpose is also fine. Hope this helps.
- Anonymous
If it wasn't for Waterfowl Dance, she'd be my favorite boss. However, Waterfowl Dance is still in the game, so she's in my top 10 bosses I despise the most
- Anonymous
For the most part, you can definitely learn most of her attacks with good old trial and error, but honestly, I loathe that for the most part her difficulty boils down to whether or not you can get past waterfowl dance and phantom spirits, which seems very lame in my opinion. Other than that, fight is fun, until she can decided it's not, and while it's rare, I'm very sure I've had her throw both moves neatly close to each other.
- Anonymous
already beaten her but i still have to say this boss is what happens when you don't grow a pair and learn to tell miyazaki no, joke's on us consoomers though cause now this game's one of the best selling of all time and trash like this and radahn'll be the norm from now on
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The reward is not high enough to keep trying.
Oneshot combos really grind my gears grrr
- Anonymous
The fact that the community absolutely loves this boss makes me fear for the future of games. However, Miyazaki could do something really funny by making a boss that's literally impossible to beat. You just know people would defend it.
- Anonymous
i look forward to fighting her again. before her mohg was my favorite boss but the saga this boss beat him out. i shall claim the rotussy again and again until the end of time
- Anonymous
First time fighting her today, took me about 7 tries I think. Pretty easy if you just stagger her with a big sword while bleeding her.
- Anonymous
I've yet to fight her but just looking at her weapon tells me she a spastic. Gotta love the balance of enemies with a rhythm to their attacks, mixed in with those that are essentially a walking aneurysm. So question, I'm assuming slow lumbering weapons make this fight harder? As I'm sure she's going to be the type that hops away as soon as you attack.
- Anonymous
The hardest part of this boss is your mimic tear rushing her no matter what
- Anonymous
Me and my mimic boi just cheesed her by just standing next to each other and spam spinning our maxed out peelers. Lady was just nonstop yeeted into the air and barely got a chance to heal herself. I don’t feel bad about
- Anonymous
I wonder if there is a single person ever who discovered how to perfectly dodge waterfowl by themselves without using ERTool/cheat engine to showcase hitboxes and testing that attack for hours, or watching video guides from someone who did find out or shared the knowledge. People defending this attack and saying that it's FUN and FAIR are more delusional than bloodborne fans. I will never accept that Malenia is top tier boss, no matter how many fanboys with Stockholm syndrome are out there, she simply doesn't deserve it.
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If you use How of Shabriri after riposting her end of phase 1, her phase 2 health doesn't reset. If a riposte fully depletes her phase 1 health you have to hit her with a normal attack to trigger phase 2. Using Howl of Shabriri at point blank as she stands up glitches out the phase 2 transition and she'll start phase 2 with almost no health.
- Anonymous
If you get rid of the tantrum combo and tune the healing properly (and some other things in the second phase), its a good fight. Unfortunatly that bs combo and the superficial balancing this would be on the same level as a Lady Maria or Gael, shame that they wasted it with some questionable decision making
- Anonymous
If she doesn't dodge an attack with WFD and hit you point blank you're good. If she does you're pretty much done. The heal on hit combined with the large health pool feels like Fromsoft just gave us the middle finger with this one.
- Anonymous
Decent boss if not for the random hyper-armor and Waterfowl Dance. There are too many times where she reacts to your swing with WFD and kills you if you aren't at full health. The healing on hit if you even survive feels like a spit in the face. Feels like it's a game of chance and most successful attempts on her are where she only uses WFD 1-2 times and doesn't do them at point blank.
- Anonymous
waterfowl dance worst move in From history. fine boss otherwise, yes the healing is annoying and the aggression in phase two is tough, but nothing unfair. it is just categorically unfun to spend an entire fight thinking "gee I hope she doesn't decide to use a certain move when I'm animation locked or when I'm standing too close"
- Anonymous
Her whole difficult can be resumed with waterfowl dance and to a lesser extent her inconsistent stagger (sometimes you hit her mid move and she staggers, other times she just ignores your attack and hits you). Honestly, after 20+ ng+s the learning process wasnt fun and with those 2 she just drops to B tier for me, even learning how to get around these 2 problems and consistently beating her, didnt make me liker her very much at all.
- Anonymous
Just defeated her with my RL80 +15 coop twink. This is my 4th kill on her.
Took ~15 attempts. No cheese strats - full cosplay fighting style involving Twinblade with Quickstep AoW, periodically buffing it with Black Flame Blade and occasional Black Fireball / Scouring Flame when i felt like it.
Honestly? I'm coming to a conclusion that WFD is literally the only problem with her. Whenever she jumps up in the air while i'm right next to her - my heart sinks because it has NO counterplay.
If she does it at a slight distance - i can at least run away, with mixed results, but if she pulls it while being point blank to you? You're a dead man. No matter what direction i quickstep into - that's at least 80% of my HP bar gone, and then then she usually scratches me with the rest of the combo to finish off the rest.
I think i only won because she forgot to use WFD in Phase 2, instead opting to spam the flower and the ghosts instead, both of which i reliably dodged with barely any damage taken.
Remove WFD and she becomes a genuinely well designed boss with unique, fun rhytm. I *Genuinely* enjoy fighting her, EXCEPT for when she pulls her bullshit insta-win move.
The easy fix is to remove god-like tracking on the first combo, so that if you dodge into/past her - she just passes you by, before turning around to do the rest of the combo.
Another fix is to forbid her from using WFD if the player is within ~7 meters of her, to guarantee that "run away" strat is reliable and does not end with your ass getting sliced off.
But alas... These fixes were never delivered. And so she is the only boss in FromSoft history to dishonorably ignore The Dodge Roll and to punish players for not hamfisting high stability shields into their builds.
I'm an assassin, FromSoft, i don't f*cking use shields, what are you talking about?!
- Anonymous
beating her first phase on my first attempt had me feeling pretty stoked. that lasted about seven seconds longer than the following cutscene did...
- Anonymous
This boss would be fun if she didn't have that healing ability. Done plenty of other bullshit things to drag myself through the souls series, but this life steal takes the ****ing cake. "Let's give the boss with life steal the 15 hit combo attack" - Fromsoft employee of the year.
- Anonymous
I'm not 100% sure but I think I was able to knock her out of her Waterfowl Dance with the Guts Sword.
- Anonymous
so how does she float cuz those wings are not doing anything!!!
- Anonymous
They must have thought having a boss tell you the name of the boss you were fighting every time you died was sooo badass
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Why doesn’t her Great Rune give us the exact same effect as her own healing effect? She gets healing on every hit, we get healing on hit but only after we get smacked. Would it be overpowered or something?
- Anonymous
Thw worst boss in souls series ever. Bed of Chaos is a pinnacle of game design compared to this crap. Literally 'nothing personel, teleports behind you' meme. But with bullshit lifesteal. Garbage bossfight. Felt no satisfaction killing her. Will just summon someone else on my next playthrough.
- Anonymous
It's hilarious when you can stunlock her with the mimic tear and the both of you using waterfowl dance on a build optimized for it.
- Anonymous
She is why I no longer feel bad about using OP fire builds and Bleed.
My fav girl and boss! So much so I think I might have severe problems as I'm pretty sure I've fought her over 100 times now. Always enjoy getting people over the finish line with her in co-op.
Hmmm, how long has it been when you last encountered Radan soldiers, Malenia? Well it just so happens that i have two of them WITH ME! It's time, for their revenge!!
- Anonymous
I see all the complaining in here about easy builds not being able to take down Malenia, "oh you cant medium roll and survive waterfowl dance". Man try the Elon musk build against her where you're heavy rolling and don't have a mimic tear to take aggro off you. She's one of the best designed fights if even this awful build can take her down with patience and skill.
- Anonymous
Seems bloodblade dance is a bit OP. Every one of its attacks staggers Malenia, allowing you to use the whole chain easily and do ridiculous amount of hemmorage, damage and stance damage (works for the second phase too). Combine it with mimic tear ashes with all spells removed (except Flame, cleanse me) and you can get this boss pretty easily.
- Anonymous
Holy **** I did it. After many attempts I got an an idea to trying something different. Cold uchigatana with flame art nagakiba - frostbite her then switch to flame and repeat - using spinning slash on both to poise break. Went in without high hopes but won on the first try with this setup. Probably some luck but too but I'll take it !
- Anonymous
Ohh the flashbacks of ass whoopings of sister friede are coming back after this fight. I learned today that with this boss too, I must concede I’m not good enough to beat on my own.
Guess I went in way over leveled. Especially with a mimic tear.
I expected... Something much tougher than I encountered.
Dex Arcane build with Margott's Cursed Sword and +25 Uchigatana. RL184
Kinda wished I hadn't been so overleved.
- Anonymous
Changing stats at Rennala only to absolutely destroy Malenia with busted bleed builds out of hatred is one of my favorite activities
Used to hate this boss fight before DLC solely based on waterfowl. After DLC, deflecting hard tear made Malenia my favorite fight in the game. Sure, she heals a bit during waterfowl even if you block, but you can roll after the first flurry of slashes making the healing not insane. Most fun Ive had the entire game after I figured that out. Really makes me wonder why they kept waterfowl like that because it really is one move ruining the entire fight.
- Anonymous
RNG for the win. I eventually killed her with dual wield Hoslow whips with fire ashes and +10 mimic tear, but it was a random event. Would love to say it was skill, but it really came down to how many times she triggered various undodgeable attacks, and whether RNG made her move against the rock wall of the stadium, and you could chain stun her. After fighting her numerous times with the same gear and the same skill set, and dying many times when she barely got below 50% health on stage one, I finally killed her with my mimic tear still alive at the end of stage 2. That kind of variability does not come from gameplay, but rather from random game design.
- Anonymous
What a damn shame what they did to her. She would have been the best fight in the whole series. And what a cool character she is too, through the whole game you hear about this legendary figure. The boss arena is beautiful and the introduction cutscene when you first enter the fight gives you chills. The fight is fast paced and unforgiving, but you can learn her moves and eventually dodge everything.
BUT THEN. Some bastard in the development team says: Hey let's give her a practically undodgeable move that either kills you instantly or deals two flasks worth of damage. That way the fight is RNG-based and completely up to how often she uses the move! Surely that's a good idea!
Waterfowl dance wouldn’t even be so bad if she only did it a couple times in a row, but she does it like 4 times, then finishes with a spherical slash. Getting older means you don’t have the time or the patience to be spending hours learning one move so I ended up sommoning my boi Oleg to lend a hand
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