Malenia location, weakness, and how to beat in Elden Ring

cyberfeed.pl 4 miesięcy temu

Looking for an Elden Ring Malenia boss guide? Malenia, Blade of Miquella, Goddess of Rot, and bearer of a shard of the Elden Ring, is 1 of the toughest bosses in the game — and that’s saying something.

Don’t let that discourage you though; with the right preparations and a good conflict strategy, even Malenia can be defeated. Our Elden Ring guide will show you how to beat Malenia, including details about her location, weaknesses, and attacks.

Malenia location in Elden Ring

Malenia resides at the bottom of the Haligtree, the comparatively tiny region found north of the Mountaintops of the Giants. To get there, you must advance through Liurnia, Altus Plateau, and the east part of the Mountaintops of the Giants before collecting the Elden ringing Haligtree Secret Medallions and gaining access to the Consecrated Snowfield.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

In the Consecrated Snowfield, find Ordina, the Liturgical Town, and solve the evergoal puzzle to unlock a portal that takes you to the top of the Haligtree. From there, keep descending. At the bottom of the Haligtree, you’ll find a garden with a church; it has a lift inside that’ll take you to Malenia.

If you request more help, take a look at our detailed Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree walkthrough.

Things to know about Malenia

She heals with all hit. Malenia regains wellness all time she lands a hit on you, even if you block it. For that reason, utilizing a shield in this fight is not advised.
She deals physical damage with slash and pierce attacks. During the second phase of the fight, she’ll inflict Scarlet Rot.
She has multiple one-hit-kill attacks. No substance how advanced you pump your vigor or how dense your armor is, you can and will be one-shotted by respective of Malenia’s attacks. You must learn to avoid them. We’ll go over them below.
She does have weaknesses. Malenia is almost unbelievably strong, but she does have weaknesses. We’ll tell you precisely what to bring to this fight.
Summons are key. Summoning another players for this fight is simply a gamble. You might get lucky, or your phantom helpers might die the first time Malenia uses Waterfowl Dance, leaving Malenia with beefed-up wellness while you’re inactive fighting her solo. utilizing a Spirit Ash is simply a more reliable choice. We’ll go over your best options in the guide.

Malenia’s weakness and resistances

Luckily, even Malenia is weak to certain harm and attack types. Here’s a list of everything Malenia is weak against:

Frost damage. This is Malenia’s lowest resistance.
Bleed damage, besides known as Blood Loss. This is Malenia’s second-lowest resistance.
Fire damage. While utilizing magical spells isn’t the best strategy against Malenia (more on that below), weapons with innate fire harm work great.
Physical damage. Melee attacks can work very well against Malenia.

To avoid utilizing this, here’s a list of everything Malenia is exceptionally strong against:

Scarlet Rot damage. Malenia is highly resistant to the Scarlet Rot position effect.
Poison damage. Malenia is highly resistant to the poison position effect.
Holy damage. Malenia has a advanced Holy harm absorption. If you have a religion build, it’s better to usage fire incantations like Burn O Flame alternatively of Holy damage.
Most magic. Malenia will easy dodge most sorceries and incantations you can throw at her. There are exceptions, like the Night sorceries, Ranni’s Dark Moon, and Dragonice. But even then, it’s hard to find adequate time to cast them. To top it off, landing spells on Malenia frequently triggers her most devastating attack, Waterfowl Dance.
Shields. Malenia heals herself even if you block her attack with your shield, so utilizing 1 puts you at a serious disadvantage.
Parrying. Unfortunately, Malenia will only be staggered by all 3rd parry, alternatively of all parry like a average enemy. It’s doable, but not recommended.

Prepare for the Malenia boss fight

Now that you know Malenia’s strengths and weaknesses, how do you exploit them? Here’s a list of combat strategies that work well against Malenia:

Use dual-wielding. Forget about shields; dual-wield 2 weapons of the same kind instead. This allows you to power-stance, which unlocks fresh attacks utilizing the L1 button. Fast weapons like katanas or twinblades are best, but greatswords like the Claymore can work if you have more strength than dexterity. Whatever you choose, make certain to upgrade both weapons as much as possible.
Use a light load. Malenia is fast and you don’t have a shield, so you must trust on dodging to stay alive. A dense burden makes things difficult, a average burden is doable, but a light burden of little than 30% maximum equipment makes dodging easy. Then again, this is simply a very risky strategy — 1 mistake could tilt the fight in Malenia’s favor.
Or at least not a dense load. You can usage a dense weapon, but don’t go for a full dense loadout as you won’t be able to dodge Malenia’s attacks. Basically, choose the most powerful armor set you have that inactive falls within average burden range.
Build opposition against physical damage. Armor sets with advanced opposition against slash and pierce are always the best choice. Don’t forget to combine them with a physical damage-reducing talisman like the Dragoncrest Greatshield.
Make dodging easier with Bloodhound’s Step. If the light burden sounds besides difficult, you may imbue your right-hand weapon with the Bloodhound’s Step Ash of War. This is simply a souped-up dodge that causes you to briefly turn invisible and slide around the room, totally impervious to damage. Without a doubt, it’s the single best tool to give you a slight edge against Malenia. You can get it by defeating the Night’s Cavalry mini-boss at the bridge north of Lenne’s emergence in east Caelid.
Exploit Malenia’s Frost weakness. Imbue at least 1 of your weapons with the Cold Affinity. catch the Glintstone Whetblade from the courtyard of Raya Lucaria, or usage Dragonice, purchased at the Cathedral of Dragon Communion in Caelid (though its slow cast time leaves you vulnerable). The same goes for Ranni’s Dark Moon, which you can get by following Ranni’s questline and reaching the Moonlight Plateau. If you’d alternatively just chuck grenades at her, the recipe for Freezing Pots is in the Glintstone Craftsman’s Cookbook [6], located in a building on the east side of the main courtyard of Caria Manor.
Focus on causing Bleed damage. Thanks to its innate Bleed damage, Rivers of Blood is 1 of the best weapons against Malenia. If utilizing a katana or another weapon with innate Bleed harm is not an option for your build, go get the Black Whetblade at Night’s Sacred Ground, a part of Nokron, Eternal City accessed by jumping down the rooftops close the Ancestral Woods site of grace (down the meteor gap that appeared after you defeat Radahn). The whetblade enables you to add Blood Affinity to most weapons that have no innate element.
Deal fire damage. If you have a weapon with innate Fire damage, specified as the Magma Blade, that’s a large option too. You can get it at Volcano Manor, where it’s dropped by man-serpents. Alternatively, bring any Volcano Pots and chuck them at Malenia whenever you can.
Stagger Malenia. Yes, you can stagger Malenia, and it’s actually not that hard. Wait for her to finish an attack combo, then hit her immediately afterward to stagger her.
Get a Scarlet Rot cure. Last but surely not least, bring adequate Preserving Boluses with you to cure Scarlet Rot in the second phase of the battle. The crafting recipe is found in Armorer’s Cookbook [6].

Best weapons for Malenia

Let’s go over any build examples you may usage against Malenia. A solid choice for dual-wielding would be the Cold Uchigatana with Bloodhound’s Step in your right hand and Rivers of Blood in your left hand. erstwhile utilizing Bloodhound’s Step, equip the Carian Filigreed Crest talisman, which you can acquisition from the blacksmith Iji erstwhile following Ranni’s quest. It reduces the FP cost of skills, allowing you to teleport-dodge more frequently.

The Nagakiba katana and Eleonora’s Poleblade are besides large weapons against Malenia, especially since both come with Bleed harm and (in the case of the Poleblade) Fire damage. Nagakiba is obtained by completing Bloody Finger huntsman Yura’s questline or by defeating him in combat, and Eleonora’s Poleblade is obtained by defeating Eleonora, the Violet Bloody Finger, at the Second Church of Marika in Altus Plateau

Don’t underestimate the Bloodhound’s Fang either, which has amazing physical damage. You can get it by defeating the Bloodhound Knight Darriwil in Limgrave. Dual-wielding this weapon is rather overpowered as it builds Bleed incredibly fast, but you can only get a second Bloodhound’s Fang if it’s talented to you in multiplayer. If that’s not in the cards, Bloodhound’s Fang goes perfectly fine with Rivers of Blood.

If you’d alternatively effort to stagger Malenia with a heavier weapon, the Blasphemous Blade Greatsword with its massive physical and fire harm is 1 of the best options. Its Taker’s Flames ability deals amazing stagger damage, knocking Malenia down if you can manage to land it without her dodging the flames. You can trade Rykard’s Remembrance for it in the Roundtable Hold.

If you’re looking for a way to ‘cheese’ the Malenia boss fight, the Ordovis Greatsword is your friend. This is rather surprising, especially since any of its harm is Holy, but the Ordovis Greatsword’s value lies in its Ordovis’s Vortex spinning skill (demonstrated in the image below).

This attack requires a short charging time, but if Malenia gets caught in it, she can’t break distant and it’ll knock her down — allowing you to usage it again. In another words, you must carefully wait for an opening, stun-lock Malenia in Ordovis’s Vortex, and deplete her HP. Ordovis Greatsword is dropped by the Crucible Knight in Auriza Hero’s Grave, a dungeon north of Leyndell.

Best Ashes and Talismans for Malenia

Besides Bloodhound’s Step, there are also Ashes of War that Malenia has a hard time dealing with. Rivers of Blood’s Corpse Piler can rapidly proc Bleed and staggers her somewhat reliably. You get it from the NPC invader close the Church of Repose in Mountaintop of the Giants.

Similarly, Eleonora’s Poleblade’s Bloodblade Dance lets you do dense Bleed and poise harm then dance distant from her to avoid retaliation. It’s obtained from the NPC invasion at the Second Church of Marika in Altus Plateau as part of Yura’s questline.

The best Spirit Ashes to usage against Malenia are Black Knife Tiche or Mimic Tear. Unfortunately, tanky spirits aren’t as good as you might think due to the fact that Malenia will regain wellness all time she hits them. Tiche, on the another hand, doesn’t have a ton of wellness but is excellent at dodging.

She’ll distract Malenia while you unleash your attacks. You can get Tiche from the Ringleader’s Evergaol on the Moonlight Plateau (once again, part of Ranni’s quest). As long as you have a decent loadout, the Mimic teardrop is always a large choice, but especially if you’re focused on building Frost and Bleed position effects.

As for talismans, the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is incredibly useful as it negates quite a few incoming physical damage. Erdtree’s Favor can aid you increase your equipment burden limit (especially useful if your favourite armor set is simply a tad besides heavy) while besides improving your HP and stamina. For those who depend on vigor, strength, dexterity, and endurance, Radagon’s Scarseal is an amazing option, but beware that it besides increases incoming damage. A simple strength-boosting talisman like Starscourge Heirloom may so be the better choice.

How to defeat Malenia phase 1

Malenia will approach you as shortly as you enter the boss arena. erstwhile she’s within melee range, be prepared to dodge her first attacks. The trick to surviving is to be very patient, keep dodging, and hit whenever her combos have finished.

If you’re able to proc Bleed and Frost multiple times, you can burn her down before she even gets a chance to usage Waterfowl Dance. Most of the time, mastering this phase is simply a substance of keeping your distance so she doesn’t catch you by surprise, managing your FP so you can always usage Bloodhound’s Step to get distant from Waterfowl Dance, and being smart about erstwhile you effort to get in a hit or two.

Here’s an overview of the attacks utilized by Malenia in the first phase of the battle:

Idling. Malenia’s idle state during the first phase of her fight is to simply walk slow toward you. There’s an chance to attack here, as it’s frequently safe to walk up and poke her with a single probing attack while she’s doing this. Just be ready to dodge distant erstwhile she inevitably responds. You can “trigger” her idling stance if you dodge distant and make quite a few distance between you and Malenia.
Side jump. Sometimes, erstwhile dodging or after taking a hit, Malenia will jump to the left (your left) and have a brief minute of poise break. It’s a large chance to land another hit, as she won’t attack immediately afterward. You can effort to do a fast stab during idling and follow it up with another attack after a side jump.

Normal slashes. Malenia has a bevy of general slashing attacks utilizing her extra-long katana. She combines these in unpredictable patterns that make them challenging to dodge. Bloodhound’s step makes it easier. In general, you want to keep a average distance from her for most of the fight, and never effort to sneak an attack in during her standard slashing combos. She will punish you almost all time.
Spin kick. Malenia frequently opens her combos with a deadly spin kick, which can’t be blocked or parried. Thankfully, it’s slow and the windup is obvious. Since her follow-ups can be more deadly, get any distance erstwhile she kicks. Don’t effort to attack after it.

Spark Combo. 1 of Malenia’s most common attacks is simply a quadruple-slash combo that’s telegraphed by a mechanical sound effect and orange spark from her prosthetic arm. Get utilized to recognizing this cue and get the hell out of her way erstwhile she unleashes this, which she does constantly. With Bloodhound’s Step, you can teleport backward and get out of its range. It’s more hard to avoid with a average dodge, so you must make certain you’re far adequate distant from her at all times.
There are 2 variations of that move. You can tell which version you’re getting by the 4th slash in the combo: If the 4th slash arrives rapidly after the third, the combo is likely to continue. However, if there’s a somewhat longer hold before the 4th slash arrives, she’s about to halt moving for a moment, providing 1 of your best attack opportunities in the fight.

Spark thrust. This decision is predicated by the same sound effect and orange spark as the erstwhile one, but Malenia’s stance is completely different; she hops in the air for a minute while drawing her sword back, then thrusts towards you. This is the single best attack chance during phase 1, as there’s a way to foretell it (it frequently triggers erstwhile you make a bit of distance between you and Malenia) and dodge; you don’t even gotta usage Bloodhound’s Step. And she never follows it up with anything during this phase, so you’re always safe to get a slash or 2 in after she uses it.

Slow lunge combo. erstwhile Malenia draws her sword slow behind her in a crouch, she’s about to lunge toward you for a two-slash combo. There are 2 variations of this, with somewhat different timing. You’ll gotta learn the difference, although Bloodhound’s Step makes it easy to dodge either one. This is another attack chance — she’s susceptible after the second swing, and if you’re close her erstwhile she starts winding it up, you can even get any hits in before she lunges.
Overhead jump slash. This attack is akin to the erstwhile one, but without the long wind-up. It’s always preceded by a standard horizontal slash, and frequently follows the fast version of the four-slash Spark Combo. It’s another large chance to attack, as she’s susceptible after landing.

Lunging Grab. Malenia pulls her left hand back, crouching down slightly, and lunges at you after a short delay. Avoid this at all costs. It’s easy to dodge, but is besides guaranteed to kill you if it lands. We’ve never survived this attack with any build. Thankfully, erstwhile you dodge it successfully, it’s another chance for you to attack.

Waterfowl Dance. This is the large one. erstwhile her wellness drops below 75%, Malenia can unleash the deadly Waterfowl Dance any time. She jumps into the air for a long pause (see image above, make certain you admit it!), then flies toward you, unleashing a flurry of white slashes. This will kill you if she catches you in it — and yes, it’s borderline unfair. Thankfully, it can be dodged. As shortly as she rises into the air, you gotta sprint or Bloodhound Step distant from her as rapidly as possible (this is the main reason why you can’t spend the full fight up in the boss’s face pressuring her with attacks; if you’re right under her erstwhile she does this, it’s almost impossible to survive, even with Bloodhound’s Step). If you can catch adequate distance, the first 2 parts of the Dance will miss you. For the 3rd flurry, she always teleports straight to you, no substance how far distant you got; you gotta dodge toward her as shortly as she does it. She’ll shoot past you, and you can hover just outside of her scope for the 4th part, including the final spherical slash that marks the move’s conclusion. After this, she’s susceptible to another attack — provided you last that long.

How to defeat Malenia phase 2

Malenia’s second phase is considerably more hard than the first, as she adds respective fresh attacks to her repertoire:

Rot Nuke. Malenia flies up into the air, orange and scarlet wings fluttering, and pauses before dive-bombing you. You can last this by dodging at the exact right minute — effort activating Bloodhound’s Step as shortly as she begins moving from her floating stance. Then, if you last the first impact, the boss explodes again as her petals open, turning her into a immense orange flower. Stay out of scope as the petals open to avoid the harm and scarlet rot build-up they cause. This is your 1 reliable ranged attack chance during the fight; you can unleash spells, incantations, and throwables while she’s recovering. You can besides rush in as the petals yet dissipate to attack her briefly up close. She always opens the second phase with this attack, so it’s imperative that you learn how to dodge it.

Phantom clones. Malenia floats into the air and sends a series of phantom clones slashing and thrusting your way. This attack is reasonably easy to admit as Malenia will fly upward in a glowing whirlwind, but the phantoms are hard to dodge. With Bloodhound’s Step, you can simply spam L2, provided you have adequate FP. She ends this attack by lunging toward you herself with a powerful sword thrust. She’s susceptible to attacks afterward, if you’re close adequate to her after dodging, though it’s a tiny window, since she usually starts up another combo a minute after landing.

Small scarlet flower. Malenia plants a tiny orange bloom in front of her, which explodes a minute later, causing harm and scarlet rot build-up. Sometimes she flies into the air for a moment, but not always. This is the reason why your attack opportunities from phase 1 are unreliable now. Malenia retains all the same moves and combos from before, but now, she has a about 50% chance to follow up any decision with this ability. Any combo after which she would have previously been vulnerable, from the Spark Thrust to the Slow Lunge, can be followed by this attack instead. Luckily, she always pauses on the ground as the tiny flower blows up. If you can get behind her and avoid the tiny explosion, there’s inactive a window to attack here.

In addition to those fresh abilities, Malenia retains all the moves from phase 1. Beware that her combos are even more unpredictable as she tends to fly up into the air more often. Since she spends so much time in the air, it’s harder to foretell erstwhile Waterfowl Dance is coming. Your only safe bet is to run distant anytime she flies upward and get ready to dodge whatever attack is coming. Keep your distance, be patient, wait for your attack opportunities, and keep your FP and wellness topped up.

When defeated, Malenia drops the Remembrance of the Rot Goddess, Malenia’s Great Rune, and a whopping 480,000 runes on your first playthrough. If you manage to take her down, congratulations — you’re a actual Tarnished, no substance how you did it.

Disclaimer: This article contains excerpts from “Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree Elden ringing walkthrough” by Mike Rougeau.

Source link

Idź do oryginalnego materiału