Maliketh, The Black Blade |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Crumbling Farum Azula |
| Drops | |
 220,000Remembrance of the Black Blade |
|
| HP | 10,620 |
| Stronger VS |
Weaker to |
StrikeBeast Clergyman and Maliketh, The Black Blade is a two-phase Legend Boss in Elden Ring. The Beast Clergyman is found at the end of Crumbling Farum Azula and is revealed to be Maliketh, the Black Blade once you deal enough damage to him. Similar to how Blaidd is to Ranni, Maliketh is Queen Marika's shadow-bound beast. He was tasked to guard the Rune of Death, but his failure to do so led to the Night of the Black Knives. In order for this to never happen again, he imbued the rune into his very flesh.
This is not an optional boss, as players must defeat it to advance to Leyndell, Ashen Capital and finish the game.
Gurranq, Beast Clergyman is an NPC variant of the first phase of this boss.
Cower before Maliketh, Marika’s Black Blade.
Elden Ring Maliketh, The Black Blade Boss
- This is not an optional boss
- Closest Site of Grace: Beside the Great Bridge
- Multiplayer is allowed for this boss
- You can summon Spirit Ashes for this boss
Elden Ring Maliketh, The Black Blade Location
From the Behind the Great Bridge Site of Grace, head west and then south up the stairs, then up the ramp past the Draconic Tree Sentinel and into the door to Beast Clergyman's boss room. [Map link]
Maliketh, The Black Blade Combat information
- Health: 10,620 HP
- Defense: 120
- Stance: 80
- Parryable: No, but can be staggered with a well-timed use of Blasphemous Claw
- Is vulnerable to a critical hit after being stance broken
- Damage:
Standard, 
Slash, 
Magic (Clergyman), Standard, Slash, 
Pierce, 
Holy (Maliketh) - Drops 220,000, Remembrance of the Black Blade
Negations (or Absorptions)
Fire
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
Poison: 351 / 449 / 739 / 1196
Scarlet Rot: 351 / 449 / 739 / 1196
Hemorrhage: 574 / 864 / 1321
Frostbite: 574 / 864 / 1321
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 | 10,620 | 10,631 | 11,694 | 12,225 | 12,757 | 13,820 | 14,351 | 14,883 |
| Defense | 120 | 120 | 123 | 126 | 132 | 138 | 144 | 156 |
| Runes |
220,000 | 440,000 | 484,000 | 495,000 | 528,000 | 539,000 | 550,000 | 561,000 |
Resistances |
||||||||
| Poison |
351 / 449 / 739 / 1196 | 375 / 473 / 763 / 1220 | 380 / 478 / 768 / 1225 | 386 / 484 / 774 / 1231 | 391 / 489 / 779 / 1236 | 397 / 495 / 785 / 1242 | 403 / 501 / 791 / 1248 | 408 / 506 / 796 / 1253 |
| Scarlet Rot |
351 / 449 / 739 / 1196 | 375 / 473 / 763 / 1220 | 380 / 478 / 768 / 1225 | 386 / 484 / 774 / 1231 | 391 / 489 / 779 / 1236 | 397 / 495 / 785 / 1242 | 403 / 501 / 791 / 1248 | 408 / 506 / 796 / 1253 |
| Hemorrhage |
574 / 864 / 1321 | 614 / 904 / 1361 | 623 / 913 / 1370 | 632 / 922 / 1379 | 641 / 931 / 1388 | 650 / 940 / 1397 | 660 / 950 / 1407 | 669 / 959 / 1416 |
| Frostbite |
574 / 864 / 1321 | 614 / 904 / 1361 | 623 / 913 / 1370 | 632 / 922 / 1379 | 641 / 931 / 1388 | 650 / 940 / 1397 | 660 / 950 / 1407 | 669 / 959 / 1416 |
 Sleep |
2277 / 2277 | 2436 / 2436 | 2472 / 2472 | 2509 / 2509 | 2545 / 2545 | 2582 / 2582 | 2618 / 2618 | 2655 / 2655 |
 Madness |
Immune | |||||||
Elden Ring Maliketh, The Black Blade Boss Guide
Maliketh, The Black Blade Boss Video Guide
[video coming soon]
Maliketh, the Black Blade fight strategy
Fight Overview
You begin the encounter fighting his Beast Clergyman form. The fight takes place in a large round arena, with tall pillars throughout and a dangerous open pit around the edge. It is highly recommended to move forward into the arena as soon as you enter through the fog gate. Don't let the Clergyman engage you on the short bridge right in front of the fog gate. Beast Clergyman has several low horizontal swinging attacks, most of which you can safely jump over to close distance and counterattack. The boss also has several rock sling and air burst ranged attacks, all can be dodged by rolling forward through the animations. Occasionally, Beast Clergyman will plunge his dagger into the ground, ripping large boulders into the air at the end of the animation. These boulders float above the camera and crash back down, the damage is avoidable. Strong attacks allow for a posture break, where the player has enough time to riposte and land a heavy attack while Beast Clergyman is in recovery animation. Posture break buildup carries over into phase two, which can score you an easy riposte during the most dangerous phase of the fight.
At roughly half health, the second phase of the encounter begins. A brief cutscene takes place and Maliketh, the Black Blade is revealed. Sword damage from Maliketh will temporarily reduce your max health, and cause a damage over time effect. Many of Maliketh's sword attacks cause frontal cone area of effect damage that can be avoided by staying under and rolling behind the boss. Maliketh will jump high into the air and use the pillars to travel around the room during this phase of the encounter. While airborne, Maliketh uses the Black Blade to sling multiple black blades at the player, which may be dodged by rolling.
If Maliketh jumps into the air and plunges the Black Blade into the ground, be prepared to avoid the delayed explosion by rolling or moving away. Otherwise, pushing forward into melee range is recommended at all times. Maliketh is more likely to use regular sword attacks while in melee range, these attacks are easier to avoid. Many of the frontal cone Destined Death attacks can be avoided at the feet of and behind the boss. Strafing forward and to the right of the Maliketh will cause some sword attacks to miss completely, leaving openings to score damage. You can also roll into the boss to avoid the 360 spinning attack, and be in range to retaliate. Maliketh is most dangerous at a distance, as the boss is more likely to use ranged Destined Death attacks. Press forward and close distance as often as you can.
The Best Tips for Maliketh, The Black Blade:
- Use the pillars in the arena to block his projectiles if you need to heal.
- Practice posture breaking Beast Clergyman with heavy attacks to learn the requirements, then work on forcing phase 2 of the fight to start with the boss near a posture break. This will allow you to stun Maliketh early with only one or two heavy attacks.
- Blasphemous Claw lets you do a special kind of parry on Maliketh.
- There are only two parriable attacks: Black Blade attack (ending part, both slash and dive attack). This is indicated by white aura around his sword.
- A parry may also be performed briefly during Maliketh's vertical double-spin attack, which often follows the moment he lands on his sword. This window is much smaller than the Black Blade attacks, and may damage the player even on a successful parry.
- A successful parry stuns Maliketh for few seconds and deals minor damage to him. Also makes his damage resistance lower for the duration of stun (around 20 percent).
- There is some risk that the player will receive damage despite a successful parry. This is because you are parrying too late. It depends on the distance where you parry which can effect the parry window
- The Crimsonburst Crystal Tear can offset the damage-over-time effect of Maliketh's attacks.
- 2nd phase: It's possible to put his AI in "pacing" mode if you unlock the camera and position a pillar between you. He will circle around trying to find sight, and if you change direction repeatedly it stalls the fight completely. Delaying allows time for his HP defuff which removes max HP% (lasting 10-15 seconds) to wear off, and gives you room to plan the next move. This mostly works if fighting without summons.
Melee Users
A shield can negate his dagger swipes but be aware that his incantations will still inflict some chip damage through a 100% physical negation shield. His forward dagger lunge can be dodged by rolling into him, but be aware that he will back up a little bit with a quick sideways dagger swipe or follow up with Bestial Sling. His dagger plunge is easiest to punish.
A lot of his incantations have very obvious tells, usually involving plunging his claw into the ground. His Bestial Sling has him hold his claw across his chest, and can be difficult to dodge given how fast it comes out. Stone of Gurranq uses a slow projectile that can be evaded easily. Both Beast Claw variations are slightly delayed after he plunges into the ground, sometimes dragging along the floor, but have a blind spot right in front of him and can be safely evaded by rolling forward.
He doesn't take too much to force to his second phase. Stagger him with a few good heavy attacks and he can easily fall to the phase change threshold.
Maliketh is a lot more mobile and is more of a test of patience. However, he retains some of the blind spots of his first phase and will whiff if you get up close or behind him. He'll frequently start with a jumping wide slash that can be rolled into. A lot of his attacks will inflict a max HP debuff and a damage over time which can be lethal if his sword combos left you near death.
Try to stick up close or behind him while he's on the ground. Wait for him to finish his airborne attacks before moving to strike.
You may notice his blade glow gold during some of these attacks; these show that it can be parried with the Blasphemous Claw. Catch him on the descent and he'll be stunned for a long time.
Magic and Ranged Users
Use high-speed, low-recovery spells like Lightning Spear or Night Comet as your main offense, because the punish windows at range are fairly short.
The Beast Clergyman's attacks all have relatively short range, so if you can outspace him you have plenty of room for long-reaching projectiles. Use the pillars to create space if you need it. Bestial Sling is the toughest to dodge due to the speed of the projectile, and any one clipping you can interrupt your casting animation.
The Clergyman begins the fight by moving towards you. If you notice he's not at full sprint, you have the room to set up and unleash a Comet Azur or Crystal Torrent to force him to phase two right away. Incantation users can use this opening behavior to inflict Scarlet Rot on him with Ekzykes's Decay. If the Clergyman starts with a full sprint, you may not have the time to pull this off.
The second phase is a lot tougher due to Maliketh's greater reach and mobility. Refrain from casting while he's in the air and only do so right after you've dodged his attacks. Again, the pillars can block his Black Blade projectiles but don't hug them too closely as his slashes can clip through and get you.
Maliketh, the Black Blade Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Description | Counter |
| Side To Side Swipe | Swiftly swings his sword either side of him directly in front of him. | Either roll into or away from him |
| Forward Ground Stab | Lunges forward a short distance to stab the ground | Roll to either side (preferably right) |
| Bestial Sling | Collects rocks from the ground with his hand and throws them at the player | Expect either this or a boulder toss, dodge a second before they hit you due to the speed |
| Bestial Sling (Variant 2) | Swiftly circles the player and collects rocks while jumping and throws them as soon as he lands | Roll a second after he lands from his dash |
| Bestial Sling (Variant 3) | Executes a Forward Ground Stab but follows it up with a Bestial Sling directly afterwards |
Dodge directly into your left (his right) to avoid the rocks |
| Beast Claw | Raises his hand over his head and slams into the ground, once he withdraws his hand shockwaves travel towards the player | Avoid dodging to the side as it can catch you easily. Roll forward into his blind spot instead. |
| Lunge Swipe | Very similar to the Bestial Sling Variant however he doesn't throw rocks but swiftly slashes from his left to his right | Stay a mid-long distance from him or dodge into his belly |
| Ground Rupture | With both hands he reaches up and grabs the ground, bringing up huge chunks of earth which crash down after (similar to Fallingstar Beast), however he occasionally follows this attack with a Bestial Sling so be ready to dodge | Observe the ground as he hits the floor, there should be visual columns of dust, this is where the rocks will come from so try and stand somewhere with no dust and keep rolling away from him |
| Stone of Gurranq | With one hand he grabs a boulder and chucks it at you in a straight line | Easily dodged by rolling forward or to the side |
| Quick Slash | Much like Sif from Dark Souls 1, he quickly slashes in front of him and backflips away from the player | Try and block it with a good shield or simply roll into or away from it |
| Sword Drag | Stabs sword into the ground and drags it around him from right to left | Stick to his left hip and roll into his left buttock to avoid the blade |
| Gurranq's Beast Claw | Similarly erupts Beast Claws from the ground however, these travel in a circle around him, tends to occur more at close range | Roll forward into his blind spot or jump over the ground-based projectile |
| Slash and Stab | Quickly slashes in front of him followed by a forward stab | Either block with a good shield or simply dodge to the right |
Maliketh Attacks And Counters
| Attack | Description | Counter |
| Flip And Slash | Often the opening move to the second phase, he flip towards the player with a low sweep of his sword, may often follow it up with another swipe/ overhead slam | Roll through the first slash and dodge the slam to punish. Maliketh appears to always start phase two with this attack. If you simply hold forward at the end of the cutscene, you can safely position yourself behind him to punish as the attack ends, no dodging necessary. |
| Piledriver | Very similar to Black Blade Kindred he jumps into the air and lands on his sword which is followed by an AOE explosion | Dodge the initial slam and roll away from the boss If you move about 2 rolls' distance from Maliketh while he is still on top of his sword, he will transition into 2 overhead sweeps followed by a flurry, rather than jumping away. By rolling toward Maliketh and through the flurry, you can punish this move. |
| Black Blade | Backflips into the air and slashes his sword at the player, blades will shoot from the blade towards the player at high speeds, can vary from 2-3 blades however, If it is 2 blades he will most likely follow with a Piledriver which has an AOE. If it is 3 blades he will charge towards player and perform the "Double Spin" attack while moving through the air. | Do not panic roll, wait for about half a second after the slash begins to start rolling and count the slashes. If it is 2, copy the advice from the previous row. If it is 3, roll towards Maliketh when "Double Spin" is about to hit you. Since he is moving during the attack, the second slash will not hit you. Be careful not to stand close to an edge, since Maliketh will simply stop moving forward making the second hit near impossible to dodge. You can parry this attack on the descent with the Blasphemous Claw. |
| Quick Black Blade | Quick flip with a single Black Blade | Simple to roll through or block |
| Roar | Roars at the player which knocks them back a few meters. | Keep your shield up to reduce the impact, no damage is taken though. |
| Destined Death | The most punishable attack, he slashes the floor in front of him and follows it with a overhead slam leaving his back exposed | For the swipe simply roll to your right and get a hit or two and for the slam roll into his rear to avoid it and punish carefully. It's best to wait a moment to punish in case he follows up with his deadly variant described below. |
| Destined Death (followup) | Same as previous row however, he follows with the blade circling himself twice and stabbing the ground in front of him, creating a cloud of slashes, rapidly cutting through anything in front of him. | If he begins to circle the blade around himself simply stay close to him and either block or dodge the swipes and dodge the stab and punish. If there is time, move behind him before the stab to avoid the slashes. |
| Double Spin | Simply spins around twice with the blade in hand | Roll twice. The timing of the second swing perfectly matches the timing of your second roll if you successfully rolled the first swing. |
| Blind Swings | After successful parry, Malekith covers his eyes and performs a slow slash (Multiple slashes, if the player parried Piledriver attack). | Stay under him and attack before he recovers |
Maliketh, The Black Blade Lore, Notes & Other Trivia
- Voice Actor: Jonathan Keeble
- Maliketh was the half-brother and sworn Shadow of Queen Marika, to whom she entrusted the Rune of Death. Ranni the Witch stole a fragment of the Rune of Death to forge the daggers used during the Night of the Black Knives, causing a series of events that resulted in the Shattering. After which, she gave the Blasphemous Claw to her brother Rykard, to give him the power to challenge Maliketh.
- In order to ensure that the Rune of Death was never stolen (again), Maliketh bound the blade that contained it to his own flesh.
- Bug: If Tarnished dies during the second phase with the "debuff" on, they will not spawn with max HP. This applies to cooperators as well.
- Bug (rare): During the second phase, sometimes there is no music (probably related to co-op).
Dialogue
INTRODUCTION
Thou, who approacheth Destined Death. I will not have it stolen from me again.
INTRODUCTION
(if Gurranq is given all Deathroots)
Tarnished, why wouldst thou... Why... Tis no matter. I hereby vow, that Destined Death shall not be stolen again.
DURING FIGHT:
Defeating player in phase 1:
I shall not part with it again.
Defeating player in phase 1
(if Gurranq is given all Deathroots):
Stay away from Destined Death.
Defeating player in phase 2:
Cower. Before Maliketh, the Black Blade.
Defeating player in phase 2
(if Gurranq is given all Deathroots):
Cower. Before Maliketh, Marika's Black Blade.
PHASE TRANSITION:
O, Death. Become my blade, once more.
AFTER FIGHT:
Witless Tarnished... Why covet Destined Death?
To kill what?
(if Gurranq is given all Deathroots):
Forgive me, Marika... The Golden Order... cannot be restored.
Maliketh, The Black Blade Image Gallery
AnonymousWhy is the beast clergymans attacks above malikeths, when the beast clergyman has its own page with the attacks and counters. Nonetheless the table is headed Maliketh the black blade for Gurranq, and just Maliketh for Maliketh the black blade?
- Anonymous
I made a comment before (I would just reply to it but it won't let me, I just appears but reloading the page deletes it.) but I said, "WHY IS HIS FIRST PHASE SO MUCH EASIER THAN HIS 2ND???" I meant harder not easier i can beat 2nd phase easily but 1st gives me trouble still.
- Anonymous
dying to him about 100 times made me realize that this game is not for me.
- Anonymous
Probably the most difficult fight in the game on my first playthrough. I think I would've been stuck a lot longer if it wasn't for the blasphemous claw
- Anonymous
Maliketh is bullshit half his attacks one shot and are almost none dodge able I am all for hard fights but oneshot mechanics are not hard they are just a lazy and boring excuse for "hard"
- Anonymous
For those that are looking to get all items in one playthrough and are checking this page for any missable items, I suggest you check the wiki page for the ashen capital instead.
- Anonymous
Easily one of the coolest looking bosses, and most exciting fights in the game. Took me a few attempts over 2 days, but I got a good rhythm and took him down today.
- Anonymous
Easily one of the coolest looking bosses, and most exciting fights in the game. Took me a few attempts over 2 days, but I got a good rhythm and took him down today.
- Anonymous
Mele fighter's experience: dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, run to him, dodge, run to him, try to hit him, he flies 100 meters away, repeat. Absolutely garbage fight
- Anonymous
What are all missable things (quest, weapons, armor, spells, etc...) with the death of Maliketh ?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I swear this fight was tweaked over the last few patches. Killed him 4-5x in the couple months after launch, and I don't remember dying more than once at the time. Felt the fight was way too easy.
Just came back to a ng+ character after a year away and I went 10 straight fights getting him into the 2nd phase without getting hit myself, then getting slaughtered in that phase without even touching him. The Claw parry window seems shorter and his movement seems quicker. I eventually had to use mimic (normally never use summons) and pelted him with lightning bolts while mimic had his aggro.). Tried Garg Twin Blades, Bloodhound Fang, Giant Crusher, Executioner Axe, various katana's with various ashes... Wish I'd have dropped a save onto my ssd so I could continuously fight him until I get his timing's down.
- Anonymous
first encounter I really did not like playing on mouse/keyboard, stressed the slightly awkward default layout to the limits, was not gonna rebind 100hours in
phase one: light roll + fast-ish weapon with some reach, greatsword/katana works, stay in the face. jumping is fine for the ground spikes but the dagger swipes sometime combo into spike throw, which you will eat if you are unlucky, i preferred to just roll. if you need a break, hide behind a pillar or wait for the rock lift/slam move. takes some time to get hang of, but eventually you can dance like normal and just aggro him down
phase two: this feels initially much harder than it really is, if you take advantage of the parry he will go down in maybe 2 cycles. when not baiting aerial combo into parry, stay close and behind, or you will have bad time
died many times trying to parry with flask active or heal with claw active, fun times
took by far the most attempts of any boss so far, but then again, not very good at this
still felt great in the end, looking forward to ng
- Anonymous
If they could just nerf phase 2 a LITTLE bit. Lower damage or aggression. This is the primary difficulty of this game.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
well I just realized that Maliketh is also the name of a Warhammer Fantasy character, specifically the leader of the Dark Elves. I'm mad I didn't make the connection before
- Anonymous
Would be cool if 90% of the fight time wasnt running towards him...
- Anonymous
weird that he specifies he's marika's black blade if you give him all the deathroot, is it to show he's still that loyal to her or that he trusts you enough to give away that knowledge or something?
- Anonymous
Since most of Beast Clergryman's attacks can be avoided by jumping, I've found double halbers/greatswords with claw talisman really effective. Jump to dodge and land attacks when its safe at the same time
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Would be cool if he just being the black blade the whole fight, he would be tankier bc he not suffer from haft hp bar and not forced you to fight though Beast Clergyman just to fight him against.
- Anonymous
ng+3 this boss has no attack window for strength builds. hopefully don't have to become a stupid mage just to beat him
- Anonymous
he is NOT your cute husband he is NOT your fuzzy wuzzy boyfriend he is Maliketh the Death of the Demigods an-STOP PETTING HIM
- Anonymous
I think we can all agree that Maliketh is a cool asf boss design, but imo his first phase is unnecesarily hated. He has plenty of punishable attacks, it's just that most of them aren't that obvious. The claw attack for example can be jumped over. I agree that his pebble spam is annoying, but it's something that's not that hard to get used to. And it doesn't even deal that much damage. First phase was fun to fight too after all imo. I imagine it's much easier with faster weapons, but colossal ones tend to take too long to attack resulting in unnecessary damage. Fallingstar Beast Jaw still works decently though, but the ash of war is basically useless against him. Takes too long to cast against such a fast boss.
- Anonymous
boss is decent in first phase with the exception of a seemingly unreactable back-dodge attack. second phase suffers from long airborne combos that, once finished, simply launch into the same thing with a different finisher giving you next to to no window of attack. this causes the fight to drag along for far too long and overall feel dissatisfying when there is rarely any reward for perfectly dodging his long anime combos. maybe more enjoyable on a ranged build? 5/10
- Anonymous
imo you shouldn't have to fight his first phase if you kill him in Beast Sanctum.
- Anonymous
this fight and the next few fights all felt like MMO bosses. Like something you'd find in a FF14 Savage fight or something. Mad fun.
- Anonymous
To the guy below me.
You are playing a game where there exists a spell that turns you into a dragon that shoots golden lasers, a sword that makes you a red thunder mist cloud and a talking turtle with a pope hat, and your problem is enemies flying from attacks?
- Anonymous
Attacks in this game sometimes make no sense. Gravity defying enemies and bosses are fine, as long as they're well made bosses with a good lore explanation like General "gigachad" Radahn. This guy and Malenia don't use any gravity attacks or magic as far as I'm aware, but both of these bosses routinely defy gravity and common sense, even in a fantasy context. It kind of just makes me question why they don't just float in mid air or fly during the entire fight. Pontiff Sulyvahn in Dark Souls 3 gained wings in his second phase, which added context to his gravity defying moves, because he has wings now. Maliketh has no wings and Malenia only gains wings in her second phase, so it doesn't make any sense for them to do these anime style flying attacks where they don't touch the ground for 10 seconds while you have to dodge their magic projectiles or wind slashes with near perfect timing.
- Anonymous
Die, respawn, run past SENTINEL BASTARD, go through fog wall, get hit by fireball through fog wall, jump attack.
- Anonymous
Maliketh, the Black Blade, wielder of Maliketh's Black Blade and Black Blade
- Anonymous
Why is beast clergyman harder than Maliketh? For Maliketh you can just bait the triple projectile into spin attack and use the blasphemous claw to have a massive punish window, but for beast clergyman the only consistent method I've found was just spamming comet shards and hiding behind pillars.
- Anonymous
I’ve beaten every boss with bloodhounds fang in about at most 20 tries on some. Mohg, second try, 1 minute fight. Renalla, 3 tries 20 second fight. Maliketh? Over 100 tries and still no win. I got him super low once but then he did the projectile attack thing. I hate this game but it is also my favorite game of all time
- Anonymous
This boss would be so, so much better if he was the entire fight instead of having to suffer through beast clergyman every time you die
- Anonymous
maliketh is really fun and good but he also has like 2 health, if ur not playing like a dumbass u could easily kill him like 20 seconds in
- Anonymous
How to make Maliketh's second phase fun: Imagine he's just really good at the game. When he procs Bloodflame on your summon and then backflips across the entire arena to slice you in half, say out loud, "He's cracked!" When he jumps away from your melee strikes 50 times in a row, say, "Nice dodge!" or, "Outstanding!" every time. And when you finally, FINALLY beat Maliketh, send him off with a good-natured Casual Greeting. Follow this simple guide -- I guarantee you'll want to fight him again.
- Anonymous
This sucks using shield only... maybe I'm an idiot but I feel like my attacks hit his character (sometimes phases through his legs) but not his "hitbox"... but what do I know... this wolf has been the sole reason for my rage in every play through... but still one of the coolest bosses not just the art style, the moves, story, but the music too <3
- Anonymous
phase 2 is really fun but sadly i beat him in less than 30 seconds with the guts greatsword
A superb boss, although for me, fighting Beast Clergyman is a little bit of a chore. It's not that he is by any means unreasonably difficult - in fact he has many moves that are extremely punishable - but after the first playthrough, it doesn't build up to Maliketh's fight as much as I'd like it to. Although I think the first phase sort of brings out the better things in Maliketh's fight, making the climax of the fight all the more appreciable. Then there's the Blasphemous Claw, which really makes you feel like a badass while fighting another badass. Fromsoft really nailed Maliketh's design and bossfight on top of each other, they are both some of the best this game has to offer.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Reckon some could see your (blind) loyalty as admirable and it's certainly tragic, but you were deceived and used from the very beginning. It's time for you to finally rest, the most goodest of boys.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I hated this boss. Found it absolutely unbelievable. I am a die-hard caster player... But, that being said, I think he is supposed to be hard for those types of builds. Forces you to stay close. I am on him on a lvl 65 char with +5 Royal Greatsword. By no means am I a good melee player, especially with UGS. But I see what people mean by a glass cannon. I staggered him at the end of phase one, one more hit transitioned to phase 2. Then a rolling R1 staggered him, again! Keep in mind I have the stonebarb cracked tear. But this is truly a fanstatic and still tense fight for melee players, and by no means do I feel cheated out of the deaths that came with it.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Nihil him through a pillar and move on. This spammy nonsense isn't worth the effort of learning.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Something helpful for first phase: every time he steps forward with an attack, he has a chance to throw stones (aka Bestial Sling) as a combo finisher. With slower weapons, you will get hit here unless you look to punish the stone throw. Nice thing to keep in mind to help save estus for phase 2
- Anonymous
Everybody gangsta till uncle mal brings out the death belt.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Malketh is kinda like sif, both guard something for their masters and would die for them
- Anonymous
For me... most Badass Elden Ring Boss.
Amazing fighting... amazing visual, amazing strong and hard.
A love that boss...
- Anonymous
At level 149, with mimic, godskin duo and maliketh were beaten on the first try. Placidux took me about eight tries by comparison. So, if you're struggling, you might just need more levels and a summon.
- Anonymous
It’s amazing how many buffs slower weapons got and there are people still coping that it’s because of them they can’t kill this boss and not because they can’t learn him.
- Anonymous
Easily amongst the best bosses in the entire series. Wish he had more health since you can easily blast him in 30 seconds on a normal playthrough.
- Anonymous
boy I sure love chasing around this furry with my collosal weapon and getting punished for every single hit I try to land on him
- Anonymous
This comment section is saltier than the PKCS's page. I'm impressed.
- Anonymous
The first phase of this fight is honestly extremely unenjoyable, with constant spammy attacks with 0.5 second windups. The second phase is 100x bettter though. Not only does he look like a badass knight instead of some homeless person, but his attacks are well timed and don't feel unfair.
- Anonymous
It’s crazy how much I love this character but hate this boss
- Anonymous
Pretty annoying. I don't see i'm getting any better fighting him. Defeating him felt very random. As Melee i find it often pretty hard to get close enough to him to hit him. And even if i do i feel like clear hits sometimes just don't count which makes it pretty frustrating fighting him.Not my favorite boss..
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Once you reach him, the game is pretty much over. It's 4 straight bosses with nothing needed to be done in between. You go right from maliketh to all knowing to hor-lu to elden beast.
- Anonymous
Use Kukri, it induces an easily dodged attack which you can punish
- Anonymous
Maliketh is so fast, and so relentless, that basically anything with a windup+recovery of more than about half a second in total is completely useless - he will either never stay still long enough for the attack to hit him, or will kill you with a counterattack before your animation-lock ends. This alone is enough for me to think that he really shouldn't have been a mandatory boss in his current state: it inevitably penalises some play-styles more than others, far more harshly than any other main story boss I can think of.
If you don't have a certain build / play-style, you have to resort to weirdly specific, often counter-intuitive tactics to get anywhere with his second phase (or spend 5 days figuring out the exact frame you need to push the dodge button for all of his attacks, turning the fight into little more than a tedious memory game). I can see why some would argue that it forces people out of their comfort zones, but in reality it just makes it more an exercise in blind luck and RNG for most. Bosses that require either hyper-specialised builds and / or backwards logic to reliably beat are fair game in side-dungeons, but not the main story IMO.
- Anonymous
The only boss I can think of where his first form is way worse than his second, or is that just me?
- Anonymous
This is more aggravating than Malenia. At least I could see myself making progress against her. This is just dumb af.
- Anonymous
His aerial combos look hard as hell to animate. Props to the animators
- Anonymous
Anyone notice if you get a good melee dps window on him, it will consistently trigger the roar?
- Anonymous
Despite the fast pace of the 2nd phase, his melee attacks are quite slow and well-telegraphed. Whenever he does one or two melee attacks, anticipate an aoe and back away. The range on the aoe is not very large, but running behind him from the front when he rears back is dangerous while pre-positioning and backing off is easy and safe, and you can counter with an attack of your own.
When he lands from the air, he can land with his feet on his sword (as opposed to his sword being stabbed into the ground). It is imperative that you stay close-by to bait an explosion and roll it. If you run away from him when he does this, he will do a double sideways twirl into an aoe that will kill you without exception, the explosion won't. Stay behind him, as the explosion sends him backwards and you can attack.
His melees have a blind spot at his crotch, with the exception of his grounded spin attack. The roll on that also happens sooner than you think. The range on it is also massive and shoves him forward: you will likely need to double roll if he chooses it.
The grounded aoe from his sword stabbed in the ground is easily rolled, as is his spin attack from the air.
If he's in the air, anticipate 1 or 3 projectiles, the 3rd one is always faster than the first two. They're very delayed, so make sure you can see the projectile before rolling, as they will roll-catch.
Healing and long animations are best done after the boss safely lands, or from a successful spin attack or aoe dodge. Healing at melee range otherwise is not recommended.
Maliketh is a very psychological fight, as the punishment for failure of certain mechanics is high. But with correct baiting and anticipation, his aoes are consistently avoidable and the fight becomes much more reliable. However, there is one exception of a double twirl he can do somewhat arbitrarily at melee range. This one does not have a follow-up aoe. It's extremely fast with almost no telegraph, so you must have enough bulk to survive that at least, or the fight will be rng dependent for any melee build.
Hope this helps.
- Anonymous
Easy cheese for this boss: don’t make eye contact and make sure you keep your body sideways and back away slowly. Try not to make any sudden movements that might startle the boss. Also do not start running, he may try to chase you.
- Anonymous
this *one* ****er has always short-circuited my brain. I can get into a pretty great flow with Malenia and Radagon and Godfrey and Placi, but every time i fight Maliketh is so, so painful
- Anonymous
Had lots more problems in NG+ for some reason (maybe luck in NG). Phase 1 easy but phase 2 died quickly. In the end Holy protection +2 helped Greatshield no weapon. Alternate healing mimic and attacking with lightning spells (spear, strike and Fortissax) hiding behind pillars to heal and buff. Level high faith 65 dex 48 strength 34 vit 53 end 48 mind 43 so should have been easy but mostly got annihilated except the final winning try. Other talismans: crimson+2 radagon soreseal old lord.
- Anonymous
I’m gonna start by saying I have around 400 hours in total on Elden ring with about 350 of those on Xbox and 50 on PlayStation. On Xbox I’m on ng8 and let me just say I have never encountered a boss I hate more than this price of garbage. I’m stuck on him right now again. He seems to always be a roadblock in all my runs. I prefer to use Greatswords and colossal swords as I enjoy hitting things hard and slow. I’ve enjoyed since ds3. But let me tell you it is complete and utter bs that I am getting 2 shot in his second phase with full beastman armor, 60 vigor, and haligdrake+2. This boss has never not even once been fun for me to fight he has maybe one very small opening every 10 attacks and he flips around like a goddamn anime character. I would prefer fighting Malenia any day as she’s actually fun to fight.
- Anonymous
Did this get harder?? I swear im better and at a higher level than before and am so stuck
- Anonymous
Hmm... after my pure caster has beaten malenia, fighting this one is minda tricky. As expected from an enemy with the word "beast" on it's name, high aggresiveness and damage were expected, but the rithm of the fight and telegraphing it's melee attacks is hard as hell. Takes patience and good positioning to find the one and only opening he gives you between his combos.
For phase 2... this was the hardest for my mage. Keeping your distance from maliketh is a grat mistake for the huge range his greatsword has, and the fact that destined death is located wherever he sinks the blade. Dodging towards him or to the side and keeping as close as possible did the trick. Blasphemous claw was a great help too.
Imo, this boss has the adequate difficulty for the point of the game you're at, and it's only a matter of time to keep up. But since no other boss (not even radahn) engaged the player in such a frenetic manner, everyone is caught off guard.
- Anonymous
Maliketh needs to be nerfed!! this boss doesn’t need to be ‘difficult’ just to be a rage quit magnet! NERF THIS FÛĆKER ALREADY!!!!!
- Anonymous
There needs to be a "No fun allowed" sign in front of the fog gate
- Anonymous
Which of his attacks deal magic damage? This page says he deals magic damage in his first page.
- Anonymous
use anything with high poise dmge (guts with giant hunt or lions claw) and make easy work of him
- Anonymous
Fun boss if you learn him but fromsoft seems to want to make it as hard and annoying as possible to learn him so he ends up feeling spammy and unbalanced to new players
- Anonymous
They really should've given him much higher physical damage negation in his second phase. He's too much of a glass cannon at the point you're at in the game, so your average player can breeze through him easily and if you know what you're doing, the fight becomes almost entirely scripted.
- Anonymous
“O, crippling financial debt, become my blade once more.”
Maliketh, The Tax Evader
- Anonymous
maliketh got stuck in the wall for me when i tried to los behind a pillar to heal, couldnt find anyone else who had this bug happen it is a shame because it is one of my favorite fights but im not going to just let him kill me
- Anonymous
I really enjoyed this fight (solo, but high level, c.150) - very high skill ceiling! I died 21 times against him, then beat him on the 22nd try without using a flask in a state of absolute flow. Love that feeling in From games.
- Anonymous
This fight is ridiculously broken. Moves like a light build with heavy armor and a colossal great sword, unending supply of stamina. The worst is that he can practically one shot me at 60 Vig, with Erdtree Favor +2, Dragoncrest +2, and Black flame protection.
I think they buffed Maliketh in the new update, because this is bullshit. **** Maliketh and **** Farum Azula. Worst area in the game by far!
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Maliketh the big black hard hot and sweaty big beast man I mean what I meant was yeah you know what I meant haha
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Would be a decent fight if it wasn't for the undodgeable AOE spam. Oh well.
- Anonymous
Ice spear AOW helped me solo him twice, it's effect if both phases, at the start of the fight drink a magic cracked tear. Stay close to the clergyman and punish from behind or with the aoe rock fall. Phase 2 run in close to Maliketh and get 2 ice spears off, you may get a stance break to deal more damage or heal. If you can on the 4 hit destined death combo parry him with the claw. If you count as he fired them while dodging you can easily time the last parry the window is big. use the range of the ice spear to punish him while dazed so you don't have to close the entire gap. Watch your FP and the fight is won.
- Anonymous
This fight is absolute crap, 2nd phase is faster than Max Verstappen, unbeatable with "slow" weapons due to his ADHS movement + DoT ****ery .... And leave me alone with git gut ... Spirit is useless as well since it will be melted in seconds by the dots
- Anonymous
The only time i summon Tiche for boss, mostly for irony of Maliketh once again defeated by Black Knife Assassin. Also use Moonlight Greatsword to represent Ranni. Still took too many tries.
- Anonymous
This guy has so little health, I managed to stagger him at the start of the 2nd phase and he got obliterated by the dark moon great sword r2
- Anonymous
i don't really have problems with maliketh but the beast phase is so damn annoying, he can kill me with like 4 attacks even though i have 60 vigor, dragoncrest greatshield talisman + pearldrake +1 talisman and lionel's armor set equipped. i also can barely reach him with my godskin peeler and there's almost no window to actually get an attack off cause he jumps away after every single attack he does. combined with the fact that it's pretty difficult to tell what attack he's gonna do cause he's just like a big crumbled up piece of paper. not the worst boss ever but he just does wayyy too much damage.
- Anonymous
Hi, I'm Andrew, and of all the Elden Ring bosses, none have made me as angry as Maliketh. With his ridiculous speed, deadly combos, and crazy status effects, it's no wonder he's considered one of the hardest bosses in the game. I remember staring at him on my monitor, my blood boiling, as I prepared to face him. I was so angry, I ended up vomiting all over my desk in frustration.
As soon as the fight started, I was livid. Maliketh's speed was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and his unpredictable attacks made it impossible for me to get a hit in. He had me running in circles, my heart pounding with rage as I watched my character continuously die. His DOT (Damage over Time) status effects were the final nail in the coffin, draining my character's health faster than I could think. I was so mad that I punched my monitor out of frustration and screamed so loud that I woke up my roommate. Just the thought of facing Maliketh again makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Could you maybe add a page link to all the items/spells/gestures you can miss in lyndell or have more difficulty farming after Maliketh is defeated?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
i hate his fire effect when you get hit
0
+10
-1