Throughout your journey to becoming Elden Lord, you must defeat many powerful Demigods who reside in The Lands Between, and none pose a greater threat than Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Malenia is an unforgivingly difficult boss who has left even the most experienced Soulsborne players yanking their hairs out from pure rage.
Malenia consists of 2 phases, and she is incredibly quick in both of them. While both her phases are infuriatingly difficult, the second phase is where she brings the best out. Malenia is a boss who requires a tremendous amount of skill and a deep understanding of her moveset even to glimpse her second phase. This guide will show you the tactics needed to take the Rot Goddess down.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella Overview
Malenia should be fought in the latter half of the game. We would recommend you give this fight a shot only after besting Radagon, as you will be better prepared for anything the game has to throw at you.
Malenia can decimate you if you make even the slightest mistake in your approach. Be ready to fail repeatedly, as this fight is infamous for its difficulty.
Elden Ring Malenia’s Location
Malenia can be found in Elphael within Miquella’s Haligtree. To reach the Haligtree, you must first acquire the two halves of the Haligtree Medallion. While the first half can be found at the Village of the Albinaurics within Liurna of the Lakes after speaking to Albus, the other half of the medallion is found in Castle Sol in the Mountaintop of the Giants after defeating Commander Niall.
Once you have acquired both halves of the medallion, head to the Grand Lift of Rold, where you will now have the option to hoist the secret medallion.
You have now entered the Consecrated Snowfields. From here, you must head towards Ordina, Liturgical Town, and complete its evergaol puzzle. Once the puzzle is complete, follow the large set of stairs and use the teleporter at the top of the stairs.
Head to the big palace-looking structure, cross the small Lake of Rot and then go through the drainage channel. Finally, take the elevator down to the Haligtree Roots. You will be traveling a pretty linear path until you get to Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree.
Pre-fight Strategy
Here is what you need to do before going toe to toe with Malenia.
Craft Freezing Pots
Ritual Pots can be found in many different locations on the map. While they do not serve any real value on their own, they become throwable weapons with different damage effects when you combine them with specific crafting items.
While many different combinations can be made with Ritual Pots, the combination that you will be looking to craft is Freezing Pots.
We will be going more in-depth about Freezing Pots in the ‘Fight Strategy’ section.
Bleed weapons and incantations
Malenia, like many other bosses, has a weakness to Bleed damage, so bringing weapons and spells that cause blood-loss buildup is a must for this battle. We will be providing a list of potential choices down below.
- Rivers of Blood: The Rivers of Blood katana has become a very popular weapon for this fight, and good reason. Having both fire damage and bleed damage, Rivers of Blood can shred through Malenia’s health bar, especially with its amazing ‘Corpse Piler’ Ash of War: The Rivers of Blood katana can be found in the Mountaintop of the Giants after defeating Bloody Finger Okina.
- Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear: Obtained after defeating Mohg, Lord of Blood, Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear comes with a solid Ash of War that inflicts blood loss on each hit (3 in total).
- Moonveil: A perfect weapon for those building intelligence and looking for a Bleed-oriented build. Moonveil, much like Rivers of Blood, has the added benefit of having two damage types (magic and bleed). Its Ash of War is also great to use whenever Malenia likes to dodge back. Moonveil can be found in the Gael Tunnel after defeating the Magma Wyrm.
- Swarm of Flies: The Swarm of Flies incantation summons …well, a swarm of flies to chase after your enemies, causing blood loss buildup with each hit. This incantation can be found in a cave in Mohgwyn Palace.
Combining the Lord of Blood’s Exultation Talisman with these weapons will greatly aid you in defeating the Goddess of Rot.
Bring powerful fire weapons and spells.
Another one of Malenia’s weaknesses is fire. Use buffs like Flame Grant me Strength and your Flask of Wondrous Physick to maximize fire damage. If you have dedicated several attribute points to faith, you will have a wide array of powerful incantations to choose from. Here is a list of fire weapons and spells extremely useful for this fight.
- Giantsflame Take Thee: Giantsflame Take Thee allows you to conjure up a fireball of enormous size to launch at your enemies. Although slower than other fireball incantations, Giantsflame Take Thee does more damage and can knock Malenia down, allowing you to go in for some damage. This weapon can be obtained from either Brother Corhyn or Miriel after giving them the Giant’s Prayerbook.
- Flame of the Flame God: Flame of the Fell God is an extremely slow-moving incantation that deals with massive amounts of damage and can knock down Malenia. Since the incantation moves so slow, you should only use it when she is at a reasonable distance and try to bait her into it. After defeating Adan, Thief of Fire, the flame of the Fell God is located at the Malefactor’s Evergaol.
- Black Flame: Black Flame incantation is a must-have for this battle. Not only does it inflict initial damage on hit, but it also does additional damage time that saps away at Malenia’s health bar. Black Flame can be obtained from Brother Corhyn or Miriel after giving them the Godskin Prayerbook.
- Godslayer’s Greatsword: The Godslayer’s Greatsword is a great weapon for this fight as it does fire damage on regular attacks, and it has an Ash of War that can hit twice, both times for ridiculously high damage. Its Ash of War, The Queen’s Black Flames, sets the blade ablaze with black flame and then slashes forward, covering enemies in its black flames. The Godslayer’s Greatsword can be obtained after defeating the Godskin Apostle at the Divine Tower of Caelid.
Using the Fire Scorpion’s Charm will give your fire damage a boost of 12% and increase physical damage taken by 10%.
Increase your immunity
Malenia’s second phase is about inflicting Scarlet Rot, so you should come prepared with different talismans and consumables to prevent you from dying to the rot.
While crafting items like Preserving Boluses and Cured Meat is encouraged, do keep in mind that they are not as efficient as one would like them to be. Ridding yourself of Scarlet Rot is very helpful, but you will have to be careful when using the medicine, as Malenia can strike you down in those moments.
Talismans that will boost your immunity are the Mottled Necklace and the Immunizing Horn Charm.
Fight Strategy
Prepare for the hardest boss fight ever!
Malenia, Blade of Miquella
There will be a great distance between you and Malenia after traversing the mist. Use this as an opportunity to summon your Spirit Ash, apply your buffs, or cast a spell. Malenia can either approach rather slowly or with a quick stride, so pick your move wisely.
Keep her staggered
Fortunately for you, Malenia staggers from hits quite easily, and if playing with friends or with a summon, you can coordinate your strikes to keep her in a stun for a while.
Try to take turns attacking with your summons so that she struggles to find a target to focus on. When she turns to your summon, that is when you go in for a hit and vice-versa.
Be careful, though; some of Malenia’s make her unable to be staggered. You will usually know when she is making one of those moves as they are telegraphed, with Malenia always taking a stance. On the other hand, Malenia has a kick that cannot be interrupted and is not telegraphed like her other moves.
When Malenia misses one of her lengthy telegraphed attacks, you can punish her by getting some hits in.
Malenia’s dodge attacks
Be careful when attacking Malenia while she is neutral, as she will most likely either dodge to the side or back and deliver a strike of her own. You can evade her dodge attack with quick enough reactions and ready yourself to strike again.
DO NOT BLOCK! Only dodge
Although Malenia’s attacks can be blocked, except for her grab, it does not mean that you should just put your shield up when under attack. The reason is that every time Malenia lands a hit, she heals back around 300 HP.
With Malenia being quick with her attacks, blocking is more harmful than helpful. Shields are not a viable option for this fight, so your best shot at victory has to be through memorizing her moveset and perfecting your dodges.
Watch out for delayed attacks.
Despite most of her moveset consisting of fast, moderate damaging sword slashes, Malenia does have two moves that you should fear and be on the lookout for.
The first one is her grab. Grab attacks in Elden Ring are always a cause for great concern, and this one is no different. If your health bar is not full, there is very little chance you will manage to survive it. Another tricky factor to this grab is that it has a delay. If so, keep your dodges precise.
Malenia’s other deadly move is a thrust with a more subtle animation. Malenia will slightly go up in the air, draw her sword back, and thrust her sword towards you at incredibly high speeds while traveling a long distance.
How to dodge Waterfowl Dance?
At around 75% health, Malenia will add a unique new move to her moveset. This move is the dreaded Waterfowl Dance that can be split into four different attacks. She may not use it immediately, but it is always good to expect it.
You will know Waterfowl Dance has started when Malenia floats in the air with her sword by her shoulder. If possible, try to get to a mid or far-range distance, as those are two of the best ranges to be able to dodge the move.
If at mid-range, when Malenia comes towards you in a flurry of slashes, dodge into her attack, immediately dodge behind you, then dodge out of her way as she concludes the attack. Be extremely careful as the fourth strike happens as an aftereffect when she stops moving.
Dodging this move at long range is far easier. Run away for the entirety of the first section, then dodge into her, and then dodge back and stay away from that fourth strike.
Use Freezing Pots
If you still find yourself struggling with Malenia, this is where the Freezing Pots you crafted come into play. When Malenia goes up into Waterfowl Dance, throw a Freezing Pot at her to inflict her with frostbite and immediately knock her out of that animation.
Malenia, Goddess of Rot
After defeating Malenia’s first phase, Malenia starts off the second phase with a bang by creating a huge explosion of Scarlet Rot that you must get far away from.
Malenia’s clone attack
Malenia’s moveset stays pretty much the same, with the only expectation being that her hits now will cause Scarlet Rot buildup. Malenia will also create a small tornado that she floats in a while, sending image clones to attack you.
Thankfully, it’s not hard to avoid these clones. You have to run away from Malenia while keeping an eye out for the clones that will attack you from multiple sides and can even attack again after missing.
Unlike other 2 phase bosses, Malenia does not gain an entirely new moveset, but the fight still is one of the most difficult in the game.
Rewards
Defeating Malenia, the Goddess of Rot rewards you with the following-
- 480,000 Runes,
- Hand of Malenia: A swift and powerful sword that reflects the abilities of its user.
We hope that this guide will help you in your legendary fight with Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Let us know if we missed anything in the comments below!
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