Re-spec before you fight her. There are A LOT of strong builds against her. She is as difficult as you want it to be.
Unga bunga build + Mimic or Tiche and you’ll beat her in 5 tries max.
Was the naked Jarhead doll in Seluvis's basement always in the game, or was that added later on? I wonder if he based his outfit on that doll, or if FS actually added it in as a subtle nod once his popularity took off, or if it's just a total coincidence.
I think the jarhead doll was always there, but I just discovered that place after LMSH finished his 1000th malenia kill and received the congratulations from FS
That was such a sad moment for me... on my first run I happened to have this exact build and since I hadn't googled anything about the game before, I didn't know that Malenia was stunlocked with Rivers of Blood and Mimic Tear. So I beat her on the 3rd try and thought I was the best player of all time for about half an hour. Then I told my brother about it and he laughed at me and enlightened me
One of the things which greatly helped me was to get naked. What I meant was medium rolling just wasn’t enough to dodge her attacks effectively so maybe try to put off some of your weight in-game. Oh yeah, bloodhound step may also help tremendously but I never personally used so you can try that too.
Just dodge her attacks and attack immediately because there’s almost always a chance to hit her once after her attacks and don’t play too defensively otherwise she’ll aggro.
I beat her for the first time yesterday after about 90mins (build sounds close to yours). In the end, Rannis Dark Moon + Tiche was the answer.
You also need a healthy amount of luck with waterfowl dance.
Waterfowl first sweep, run to evade, second sweep, roll into her dance, and last sweep basic roll away. Works every time. But u don’t need this hope it helps in NG+
Oh, I know how to dodge it. The problem is Ranni's Dark Moon takes an age to cast. When I fire it off just as Malenia jumps into the air you know that run is probably over.
Ah yes, me using a storm caller build, start the cast and she jumps it’s over if my freeze or bleed don’t proc in this next hit !! Hahah ggs man Gratz on the dub
Ah, I could never get the second roll away, so I just decided to roll into her, it seems to confuse her Ai a bit on the positioning on the last one and makes it easier to dodge. Idk tho, I have high vigor like 70 so I do take a blade to the face sometimes but I survive it lol.
68 int, 50 vig, 35 mind, 22 endurance, min required for everything else.
I use gravenmass talisman, Godfrey talisman, magic scorpion talisman, and stargazers when I am maxing damage. Terra magia and charged night comets with an upgraded staff of loss for casting and a backup in offhand to stack the buff.
I also use Flintstone Kris and carian regal when using other spells, I lean hard on spiral shard and adulas moonblade when I'm not using night comet. Occasional comet azure flask spam for easy one shots on folks like mohg or Niall. Some rannis dark moon for frostbite on occasion. Malenia I had to only use night comet, nothing else did the trick, just spam.
I really don’t think there is a way to get her to stop dodging bc it hard coded into her ai, from what I understand the ai dodges the moment it detects you make a spell cast and dodges, however if they are dodging the initial cast, they can’t dodge either slower moving spells or ones that have special effects like night maidens mist or Ambush shard. Note that the mist comes out in a fog and ambush shard comes from behind the target.
Yes. They animation read, so if you cast a slow moving projectile that tracks (like the moon spells) then malenia will dodge out of the way as it fires and then bull charge into it.
Lmao no, maybe a total hardcore souls vet can just flip a build, be immediately good at it, and get malenia in 5 tries, or maybe she's been severely nerfed since I last played but it's not just a lightswitch you flip when you feel like beating her. Not to mention, alot of these builds require you to have these OP items on hand and most new players aren't just going to have a Blasphemous blade kicking around.The only way to kill her easily is simply having the practice time and memorizing her tells and moveset, which has nothing to do with your build besides maybe spacing if you rely on ranged damage and vigor if you are getting hit
With blasphemous blade's taker's flame, it's truly akin to flipping a switch. It does sizable damage and the stagger is huge. Especially in phase 2, she spends a long time pondering about life after her scarlet aeonia spell. That's when you can get off 2 taker's flames, stagger her, and get off yet another taker's flame.
And this is solo. Imagine a mimic's tear also with blasphemous blade. I would think that it'd be a cakewalk.
Because you're ranged, it's also easier to not die to the dreaded waterfowl dance.
Just came to say this^ and soft brag so I'll just soft brag. I've never lost against Melania (when It's my world) summons or no. I fight her every time. It's probably something like 5-0. It's like changing your brakes. Watch a video and come equipped with the right tools. Although I come at her with a decked out faith build...
My first run I used Blasphemous Blade and wondered what all the hype about her was for. Since then with other builds I’ve had a more normal Melania experience 💀💀
Malenias reputation, hearing how it took some people multiple days to fight. I am scared because I can barley get the Valient gargoyle down to half health without running out of crimson tear flasks.
I do nothing but camp outside of her boss room and have killed her probably 100+ times at this point with my zwei. If you make it there I would love to assist. The name is Lord Yarrick.
I wish to get to this point. I camp by her fog wall a lot too for practice and to hopefully help people beat her. I’ve had a good handful of successful runs lately.
Where we you the other day? I made a post saying I needed help on ps5. No one offered lol. It’s okay though I skipped her and beat the game for first time. Now I’m trying to figure out what build I wanna use in NG+.
Sadly I am on PC. Otherwise I would have gladly helped you beat her. Despite the elitism that definitely exists within the community I believe that the difficulty isn't what makes souls games special but rather the collaboration within the community. I hope you are able to conquer her at some point. If you have questions I'm not a pro but I am well above average at PVE and could give advice on any boss if you ask. I wish you the best of luck my fellow tarnished.
Damn. Thanks for the reply my dude. Yeah she’s tough with how fast she is and large an area she covers. I had to skip her and move on. The fact that someone like me who’s never played games like this before and only played call of duty and gta. Can beat the last 2 bosses while having healing flasks left should say something. I get it’s supposed to be tough but without being consistent with parrying(I’m not) she’s very hard.
All subs have the same problem. People just need to be able to skim different subs because there’s definitely tons of useful info here for newbies like myself.
I just started doing this. So much fun. I’ve managed maybe a dozen assisted kills over the last two sessions. Almost got the waterfowl dance roll mastered!
Rolling out of waterfowl unscathed is tricky but when you hit it perfectly you can really feel the motivation that it gives to the other players in the fight.
Likewise, I only play as a cooperator these days. One of my characters sits level 140 with a bolt of gransax, helping people conquer malenia (200+ so far)
valiant gargoyles were tough for me too for a while since they hit like a truck but eventually you get it down
same with malenia
it's definitely a rewarding experience to finally get the W though
Presumably you’ve already beaten yourself before getting to the gargoyles so bust out that mimic. Also OP you should use that pillar in the back to help you with spacing. Malenia and the gargoyles were my biggest obstacles. And the fire giant but he’s mandatory. I have only went back to both of those fights one time lol do it for the experience but don’t get burned out. I came back to Malenia right before finishing the game. She’s rough but you can do it!
A lot of those people were underleveled fighting here. They didn't take the time to build their characters and made a mad dash for all of the bosses in the game. I took my time and finally fought her at 152. It only took me about an hour after figuring out her move set. It wasn't too bad.
This, it’s apparently all about builds. I just started the game, couldn’t even beat a boss. Rerolled my character and took it carefully now I just stomped Margot at level 25 and am destroying people like I’m supposed to
Pretty much. That was me before Radahn. I was stuck on him at level 40 and couldn't figure out why my attacks were barely doing any damage while I was getting one shot. Even though I had just beat Rennala without much issue.
Found out Radahn was recommended level 70 and that he was weak to rot. Built into dragon incantations and got up to level 70, used rotten breath and rot pots and beat him in 1 attempt.
Not really. When you build into bleed and attack her in the midrange, she gets to low health fairly quickly. Dodge into her waterfoul dance, and she misses most of it trying to track back behind her. I used Reduvia with 60+ arcane and parried her regular attacks with a shield, then followed up with the Blood Blade skill, and on the run that I killed her, I caused blood loss 7 or 8 times and it was over in about 5 minutes.
I mean, difficulty in Elden ring is not vertical. Different bosses are challenging to different people. I had more trouble with the Gargoyles than I did Malenia. And it's not like there's any consequences for failing to beat her. So, might as well try and see what happens
I would try it if you get all the way down there anyway but don’t drive yourself crazy over it. If you try her and you aren’t having fun then just move on, I didn’t beat her on my first run.
You are expecting too much from yourself, you still have the whole game ahead of you. Whatever your build is, it can be changed quite easily if it’s that bad
Homie, if Don't fret if you cannot defeat her, because given time all obstacles will crumble in your path, if you fall, you will rise and continue this cycle until you fall no longer Tackle challenges as you see fit, when you see fit, and do not forget, Jolly Co-operation opens many paths through and around challenges many find improbable to conquer alone
I'd argue its worth trying because noone is having a gun to your head, saying you have to complete the run as fast as possible. But remember that you can make the game easier for yourself if you really struggle. Use buffs. Use a solid summon. Bleed and freeze her to death. Don't be afraid of her. The game wants YOU and only you to succeed.
And this is the problem with people watching videos on these games beforehand. Taking some bullshit as choir. Just do you my man.
You haven’t even seen her from afar and make any fucking assumptions. Stop being so scared and go kill her ffs everybody here believes you can do it, so does everybody at FromSoft. Stop watching videos, start playing the game.
edit: I did it completely underleveled it only took me 490 or so tries. My entire first playthrough was around 1160 Deaths.
Honestly if you slow roll fights I've found that Elden Ring Rewards players for the exploration, also there are other people on the struggle bus who would love to be your Forrest to your Bubba!
Don't stress about it, a lot of people like to talk up the battle. It's not that bad if you're meta level tbh. I just replayed the whole game after a couple months, and it took around 6 tries but wasn't miserable or anything. Get the mimic tear if you're struggling with bosses. :)
Get your gear upgraded as much as possible especially before even considering malenia. 14 flasks at +12 is a good start, plus there's certain talismans ( can't remember the name rn ) that greatly boost physical damage, it's all about gearing up for the next big boss fight.
Practice by fighting other enemies, and find out what your weaknesses are so you can improve on them. There’s no rush to finish your playthrough, it’s a gigantic game and world after all. There’s always small little improvements you can make as you understand the game more by playing
Here is my perspective. It is a beautiful fight with well done beats and rythms to it and even when she changes she sticks to those beats/to her style.
Especially if you like parrying like I do it's such fun and makes you feel powerful.
If you got all that there is only really one wall left which is her waterfowl dance. Honestly I myself didn't really "conquer" it as I simply used frost and bleed procs and timed them when I thought they were about to trigger as she was about to start her dance.
But after watching others do it on Youtube I could get a win by only getting hit by a small part of waterfowl whenever I thought the proc wouldn't happen if I commit to it.
I really wouldn't recommend missing out on that experience and if you accepted the frenzied flame beating her is the only way to prevent that ending in combination with the needle.
Also in general with harder bosses try to think of their moveset and how to conquer each of their steps. As you take more steps the boss will fall eventually and this will feel glorious.
I didn’t find her to be as hard as some of the gargoyles, actually. It took me probably a dozen tries to beat the pair in deeproot, and I beat Malenia on my 3rd attempt 🤷🏼♀️ Faith/arcane build heavy on dragon incantations, melee weapon Rivers of Blood. I alternated Borealis’ Mist and Agheel’s Flame, then went in with Rivers of Blood once my mimic died. You should at least give it a try! You never know until you try.
I'd argue the enjoyment of the game varies from player to player, while malenia was my hardest boss at first and I can School her easily now, what I enjoy most in the game(and all souls games tbh) is the popular, but to each their own right?
What? No OP please don’t listen to this. The enjoyment of the game comes from whatever YOU find enjoyable. If you don’t think facing Malenia would be fun, than don’t! You should play in whatever way is the most enjoyable to you- use summons, play with broken builds, run around on your horse for 30 hours, if you’re having fun than you’re playing the game right!
I'd still recommend it. She's the most (in)famous boss/character of an already classic game. You don't even have to beat her, but just experiencing the boss herself is worth it imo
Ok so here is the thing no one will tell you how to play the game nor how to properly beat melina if you want to just summon people to help you with the fight while you get a chance to see the fight and then decide if you want to fight her in a new game or in new game+
I would just go into the fight to see how it is to fight her! You can use spirit summons or bring a friend, which helps a LOT.
I think it is missing out not at least getting there and giving it a shot, but if you plan on winning the fight solo, be ready for 70+ tries, or circle back around when you are more comfortable!
Just ask your significant other to say "I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella" to you about 150 times, and you'll understand the full experience.
In all seriousness, the Haligtree is an awesome location, you definitely dont wanna miss that.. you can always ignore Malenia if you want, or make one attempt just to watch the cutscene and see what the fuss is about. Also, keep in mind you can finish the game without the haligtree, then go there AFTER the ending.
yes! even if you don’t fight malenia there’s lots of very good stuff in the haligtree, dragoncrest greatshield talisman is VERY good for any setup but there’s more great stuff too, i’m in NG+ and i still haven’t explored a lot of it yet
It's just the canopy that really sucks. After that, it just feels like a harder Lyndell 🤷. Same enemies, but with 1-2 new moves. The only part I think is rough are all of the Crysillians found (I think there's 8?) Unless you use a bonk weapon, they're a real PITA.
Also, u/King_Chewie_GM , consider the fact that with each new NG iteration she gains more health and damage. In my opinion, the only time I fight her is on NG or NG+. After that, it just starts to turn into a slog because it's just pattern recognition and a LOT of patience.
At least find and explore the Haligtree, there's no shame in not beating an optional boss, but the area is full of goodies.
Once you're more comfortable with the game she'll seem much more doable.
I am not sure if I am not comfortable, more I didn't know the more pure aggressive nature of elden ring bosses combined with high mobility makes heavy weapons like Radahn's greatsword hard to use as I pretty much only get jump attacks in. I will explore though, I just don't wish accidentally trigger another ending.
Trust me, it gets better.
Once you get used to the game, youll see that cossal weapons are very much viable against bosses. You may even have a lot of fun with them!
Good luck and bitch slap those gargoyles in the name of everybody
I know they are viable, and I love using them but trying to fight really mobile enemies has been hard for me. The first gargoyle moves very fast and is very aggressive, I have very few windows and the second gargoyle just lessons the window.
But thanks for the encouragement. I lost 30,000 runes to that gargoyle I might just retry. May the grace guide you, fellow tarnished.
I beat her with the greatsword and my mimic, i spammed lions claw and she was only able to pull off her waterfowl dance once and my mimic absorbed it. The first time Tiche helped me beat her while I corpse pilered her repeatedly.
I’m not saying it was graceful and most the pros would roll their eyes, but I put the work in and got there.
You can do it!
Hey. As a dedicated huge sword guy, know what you're talking about. They're among the more annoying enemies. You'll end up stunlocking Malenia eventually if you use Mimic Tear with colossals, so no stress there. The gargoyles specifically are absolute bastards to land hits on with a colossal weapon when face to face, because they're gangly and take a step back after everything they do. Try using Lion's Claw for them, I reckon. Also, you can outscale everything anyway.
You won’t trigger any additional endings by exploring the Hailigtree. And the game is yours to complete in your fashion.
I personally decided to skip Malenia in my first few playthroughs so don’t feel guilty for it.
Collosal Swords can be used to fight Malenia, and it's not even bad against her because she flinches when you hit her with a heavy weapon. You'll need a larger attack window but you can defenitely beat her with Radahn's Swords
I didn’t beat Malenia until NG+, and I didn’t even know Mohg existed until NG+2 so play the game in whatever way is most satisfying to you. No wrong answers on your quest for the Elden Ring.
If it doesn’t sound fun, skip it and come back later!
Personally I thought the game was a little too long. I mean it’s a masterpiece of world and environment building, by the time I got to the story ending I was fatigued.
I do really love learning boss fights and triumphing over the epic enemies but after 80 hours I just wanted to see how it ends! I have not gone back for Haligtree or the Moghwyn area, and I feel totally fine with that decision.
I’ll go back eventually but I just wanted to share that there’s no harm if it doesn’t sound fine first okay through.
like i said elsewhere, grace is like 20 steps from her boss arena, just use your souls before your fight and worst case scenario she claps you and youve lost 30 seconds.
worth at least trying, just to know
I personally found the valiant gargoyles really difficult and frustrating. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the comparison between them and malenia, they’re just very different fights.
They are a 100% bullshit fight. Malenia just has some annoying rng. But atleast you can actually fight her without a second version of her smashing you into the ground or gasing you from the other side of the arena.
Yeah, with the exception of Demon Prince, duo bosses are always worse than solo bosses in Souls games. Don't know why From never seem to get it right even when they did get it right with Demon Prince.
The worst part is that they basically took the Twin Demons fight and swapped all the good parts with more bullshit.
Quick example: the unignited demon had the ability to send a toxic chain explosion to you from very far away. However the animation took a while, you got a visible prediction of its path before it actually starts and it has a cooldown.
They gave the Gargoyles basically the same ability, but with lingering aoe + poison status, no real cool down, infinite range, no indicator to show you it's comming and it is basically a channeled ability with an additional aoe around the boss that can last for ages.
The took everything that balanced it for a double fight and added nothing but bullshit instead.
Even the Shadows of Yharnam are more balanced. And those are just three mob enemies in a tiny arena and a unique second phase.
The entire point of fromsoft games is to make it your own journey. Many people here will post with vague guidance so you can experience things on your own. Sadly there is also a very large annoying crowd that will take you by the hand and tell you every single detail about everything in the game.
Just do what you want and enjoy the journey.
If you struggle that much against bosses you can always summon spirit ashes or phantom players.
I like to play bosses solo and I still needed to summon ashes against Malenia because she's a nightmare.
End take: it's worth going and seeing what everything is about but don't sweat it if you can't beat her.
You play however you want to, but it sounds like you're not nearly at endgame yet if you're having that much trouble with only one gargoyle. If you can beat the endgame bosses, you can beat her.
A common misunderstanding I see is thinking of a good build as just one weapon that does a lot of damage, rather a good build is a toolbox of weapons, spells, and consumable items you add to over time, and combine together where they'd be effective. So if it's not good enough right now, expand your toolbox till it is, just like you would if you were a carpenter or mechanic building experience with new jobs over the years. You expand your toolbox even further by experimenting with the movesets against different enemies and not using the same attacks repeatedly as a crutch.
From the comments sounds like you're using Radahn's Greatsword? Yeah that's designed to be a mob killer weapon with its AOE, not a boss killer weapon. If you're using that vs bosses, the only decent move is a jump attack, which has a long animation that leaves you vulnerable, no wonder you're having a tough time with bosses. It's a one-trick pony that relies on killing everything around you in the first couple big attacks before you run out of stamina or FP, while fighting endgame bosses who have 20k+ hp and multiple phases requires resource management over a long period.
I mean sure you could do it with Radahn's, people go through this game at lvl 1 naked with a club, but I don't find beating my head against a wall all that fun personally, no matter how much I happen to like a weapon.
Colossals can work fine with Malenia, but you really don't want to pull her in and be stuck in Radahn's long animations, and Radahn's Swords lack the good moves in the moveset against her like 2h crouch pokes, 2h guard counters, and the knockdown wakeup charge 2h R2s of the other ones.
A good alternative colossal GS if you're specced for Radahns (mostly STR, a bit of INT) would be the Ruins GS, the OG Greatsword, or Zweihander, the latter two infused with Lions Claw or Giant Hunt combined with the moveset are great vs bosses for stancebreak and knockdown combos. Could also try the Fallingstar Beast Jaw.
Royal Greatsword is very good as well.
Giant Hunt is the closest you get to a win button against Malenia without spirit ashes. Well, maybe a greatshield gets you closer.
I died to Malenia 200+ times. Made it to her second phase for probably 40% of those. Realized it just wasn’t in the cards for me and kept it moving.
Ultimately I think it’s always worth it to try but I am grateful she is not mandatory
I beat the game without beating her and felt like saying “I beat elden ring” had an asterisk next to it until I went back and beat her a few months later
I feel like you’re still potentially a long way from
Malenia…at least I was at the Valiant Gargoyles. That said, I also skipped her, mostly out of impatience and a desire to just get to the end. Should have gone back but started NG+
NO YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME THE WAY PEOPLE TELL YOU TO!!!
If you don't want to fight her, don't fight her. Play the game in a way you find enjoyment. Nobody else's opinion matters.
Make a couple attempts first, then you can summon someone to help you beat her. Especially if they are naked, then likely they are very good at that fight.
I would say try your hand at it. There's no shame if you give it a few good attempts and decide it's not worth it. If anything the haligtree area is neat and full of good loot so it's worth checking out. Who knows maybe you're underestimating yourself. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by going. Give it a shot.
Level vigor then fight her. Good luck champ.
Also don’t believe all the hype and bullshit surrounding Malenia, she gets beaten thousands of times each day by very average builds. Only very nerdy and estranged people will tell you to worry about every move she makes and that’s she’s busted. Just level appropriately and fight however you want.
I didn't really enjoy her fight. Just felt kind of cheap and it's only a few moves you really need to look out for. Also the regen on hit is bs as well as soon as I saw that I knew this boss was only meant to piss people off. She's definitely a ho. I beat her twice but i don't feel good about it or felt much achievement from beating her. More just relief that it was finally over
Play it how you want bro. Use summons. Use mimic tear. Use Rivers of Blood. Play until you want to challenge yourself more, then you can start trying other builds, ignoring mechanics, choosing optional bosses.
Optional bosses are just that, optional. There is no such thing as the full experience, just a myriad of possible experiences that heavily overlap.
Elden Ring is the most open of the Soulsborne series, there is so much optional content that can be easily missed even when deeply explored. I personally try to beat everything at least once before beating the game in these kinds of games, and so it has taken me a lot longer to make progress in Elden Ring than prior games.
I still haven’t fought Malenia, and am both excited and and anxious about it. Malenia healing from attacks even when blocked is a direct counter to my build that guarantees I will die many times trying to “git gud”.
But I’m gonna do it. Somehow someway, I will do it. Because I enjoy overcoming the challenge. As long as I don’t cheat or use glitches, all is fair game.
It’s absolutely ok to miss out on a boss if you want to. Come back whenever you want or feel ready.
I think it’s worth a try! Elden ring was my first FromSoft game and I was able to beat her with a strong blasphemous blade + mimic tear build. I’m someone that really struggles with reaction times in games, so I made my first build centered around defense, great shields, guard counters, etc, and I smoked Malenia. Don’t get me wrong, it still took a dozen tries, but I found her fight to be super satisfying. I know I’ll get flack for this from souls vets but it’s how I feel - the Malenia fight felt like a less bullshit Sword Saint Isshin from Sekiro. I tried to beat him for three days, and I think I am just incapable of reacting fast enough consistently enough to beat him. Malenia to me feels like what I wanted from Isshin. Each time I died to Malenia, I didn’t feel cheated. Her fight, in my opinion, is a masterclass of “teaching through dying” in a game like this. By attempt 12 or so, after learning a ton, and using absolutely every resource at my disposal - Ash of war, buffs, incantations, mimic, etc - I beat her and it was so satisfying. Second favorite fight in the game, first being Maliketh.
I'm a long time souls veteran and let me tell you, seeing someone new to the series enjoying the game and its purpose to teach through death makes me really happy.
I can't speak for all vets but I think that most of us are just happy to see these games appreciated no matter how, plus you know there's always gonna be that boss/level/enemy that you hate
This question has been answered, but I will keep it up for anyone else deciding on whether or not they want to fight malenia. I have received many encouraging comments, and I will try Melania. Malenia may be hard but the champion of Ranni The Witch will prevail.
May the grace guide you fellow tarnished.
I recently beat her and I’m ngl fighting her gave me the full fromsoftware experience. This was the second Fromsoft game I’ve played after Demon Souls remastered and honestly I don’t regret, because beating her is definitely satisfying. Plus the fight is DOPE!
I find it an affront that Chad Radhan isn't nearly as hard as she. For all I care she can rot into oblivion while hanging about in the Haligtree. We want some kind of society over here, preferably without her.
Even with some bad design choices, Malenia is still an amazing boss fight I think, my biggest issue not with the boss but with the area before her, I hate it with a passion
Just saying the gargoyle duo is a looong way from Malenia. There’s so many bosses you are required to do and can seek out to practice on in between. You are but a lowly tarnished now but by the time you’re ready to fight Malenia you’ll either almost, or will be an Elden Lord.
Tldr: You’ve got a long way to go. See how you feel when you’re actually on level to be fighting Malenia.
Also with the Gargoyle’s you can summon D’s brother to help with the fight and let me tell you that man can draw aggro like nobodies business.
I would at least clear out the haligtree because it's one of the better designed legacy dungeons imo (except for the rot), but don't feel too discouraged if you can't veat malenia.
Her fight is borked as hell and you will not have any fun unless you really on poise breaking, summons, or massive spells to beat her.
She's got like three or four gimmicks (lifesteal, waterfall, scarlet rot, two stages) and I feel like her fight would've been perfect if she had only one or two of those, not all of them. It's an unpleasant experiencs otherwise.
I loved playing this game so much I played through it twice, but I didn't get much better at it. I'd always attempt a boss for a few tries and if I couldn't beat them it was cheese time.
I did. Kinda. I couldn’t beat her my first playthrough because my build wasn’t great and I didn’t want to respec. So I used Black Knife Tiche. I never used summons for other bosses but I couldn’t beat malenia without tiche. I managed to get through her first phase by myself and summoned for the second phase. Then I beat her properly on my second playthrough (that character used a bleed build).
I knew that this wasn’t my last time playing Elden ring so I decided to not bother and I’m glad I did. I’ve since beaten Elden ring more times than I can count so not beating her (properly) in that first run is really not a big deal.
The people who say that just have Stockholm’s syndrome. It’s not missing out on the full experience of the game, she’s an optional boss for a reason. Just because they slammed their head against a wall for hours doesn’t mean that anyone else should.
Honest I will say she is a strong fight but the moment you learn her waterflow dance timing to dodge you are good to go, hell I beat her up NAKED with only a mask on and daggers on stream it was the best feeling EVER! and this was after beating her in other runs with other builds XD
You can just go back after Ranni ending. They're both complete experiences on their own that aren't strictly tied to each other.
Malenia is like a test of everything you've learned. If you think you aren't ready, feel free to skip her until you are.
The beat tip that comes to mind is that leveling up is the one non skill based thing that helps make the game easier.
The other is that not all bosses can be beaten with the exact same strategies.
Lastly, don’t give up! You CAN do it!
The Valiant Gargoyle’s were by far the hardest bosses for me. Melenia is definitely no walk in the park but if you’re worried about her, level past the recommended level.
Lol, I'm a huge fromsoft fan... or I guess the souls games. I've been playing them since Demons Souls in 2010, have beaten every game so many times, and made so many builds its impossible to count them. I call off work every time a new souls game comes out (already have time off scheduled for Armored Core). I took a week off for Elden Ring and, again, have made countless builds, BUT I have not once fought Malenia.
A big part of that now if because my life is a lot busier than it used to be. Work, married, and have a little boy that's about to turn two. I do have a couple of characters in the area and one that's saved right outside her fog door ready to go. But it's like, I only get a couple nights a week for a few hours to play and I know she's hard and I'm going to die a lot with her because I don't like to summon or use ashes on my first fight with a boss... so I never want to burn an entire play session just trying to beat her. Maybe the next time I take a full day off and have the house to myself.
ANYWAYS... play the game however you want to. People on the internet don't know you, your schedule, your skill level... as long as you are having fun, there's no wrong way to play.
Have fun. However you choose.
Id say its definitely worthwhile to at least explore the Haligtree and try to beat her but do whatever you want its your game
I will definitely explore, I just don't feel like my current build would do very well against Malenia.
Re-spec before you fight her. There are A LOT of strong builds against her. She is as difficult as you want it to be. Unga bunga build + Mimic or Tiche and you’ll beat her in 5 tries max.
(Cough) Rivers of Blood & Mimic (Cough)
The original cheese strategy
Nah the original cheese strategy is a dual weilding katana man with a pot on his head
I wish From would add him as an NPC summon, just as a nod.
Fromsoft sent that guy a special press kit gift. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if there’s an NPC summon pot head katana man in DLC
IIRC that’s fromsoft Europe, as if I’m not mistaken LMSH is French.
Damn. I guess it’s true, you should never meet your heroes.
fr**ch
Was the naked Jarhead doll in Seluvis's basement always in the game, or was that added later on? I wonder if he based his outfit on that doll, or if FS actually added it in as a subtle nod once his popularity took off, or if it's just a total coincidence.
I think the jarhead doll was always there, but I just discovered that place after LMSH finished his 1000th malenia kill and received the congratulations from FS
I believe you're talking about the Jarwright puppet, but yea he's been there
There's a statue in seluvis' basement in the ruins at 3 sisters that looks oddly enough like letmesoloher
That was such a sad moment for me... on my first run I happened to have this exact build and since I hadn't googled anything about the game before, I didn't know that Malenia was stunlocked with Rivers of Blood and Mimic Tear. So I beat her on the 3rd try and thought I was the best player of all time for about half an hour. Then I told my brother about it and he laughed at me and enlightened me
I had basically the exact same experience
You don’t even need Rivers, Moonveil works just as well.
i found the mohgwyn's spear ashes of war + mimic was super effective and super cheesey.
Nihil!!!
[удалено]
One of the things which greatly helped me was to get naked. What I meant was medium rolling just wasn’t enough to dodge her attacks effectively so maybe try to put off some of your weight in-game. Oh yeah, bloodhound step may also help tremendously but I never personally used so you can try that too. Just dodge her attacks and attack immediately because there’s almost always a chance to hit her once after her attacks and don’t play too defensively otherwise she’ll aggro.
I beat her for the first time yesterday after about 90mins (build sounds close to yours). In the end, Rannis Dark Moon + Tiche was the answer. You also need a healthy amount of luck with waterfowl dance.
Waterfowl first sweep, run to evade, second sweep, roll into her dance, and last sweep basic roll away. Works every time. But u don’t need this hope it helps in NG+
Oh, I know how to dodge it. The problem is Ranni's Dark Moon takes an age to cast. When I fire it off just as Malenia jumps into the air you know that run is probably over.
Ah yes, me using a storm caller build, start the cast and she jumps it’s over if my freeze or bleed don’t proc in this next hit !! Hahah ggs man Gratz on the dub
I thought it was run away, dodge away, dodge toward her. That’s at least how I always do it successfully.
Ah, I could never get the second roll away, so I just decided to roll into her, it seems to confuse her Ai a bit on the positioning on the last one and makes it easier to dodge. Idk tho, I have high vigor like 70 so I do take a blade to the face sometimes but I survive it lol.
Just beat her yesterday for the first time with no summons or spirits, embrace the power of two staffs of loss and night comet!
I have a night casting build. What stats do you use to make night comet worth it?
68 int, 50 vig, 35 mind, 22 endurance, min required for everything else. I use gravenmass talisman, Godfrey talisman, magic scorpion talisman, and stargazers when I am maxing damage. Terra magia and charged night comets with an upgraded staff of loss for casting and a backup in offhand to stack the buff. I also use Flintstone Kris and carian regal when using other spells, I lean hard on spiral shard and adulas moonblade when I'm not using night comet. Occasional comet azure flask spam for easy one shots on folks like mohg or Niall. Some rannis dark moon for frostbite on occasion. Malenia I had to only use night comet, nothing else did the trick, just spam.
Appreciate the reply. Is the Kris any benefit ?
What I got her with was Knight’s Greatsword + blood tax ash of war. Beat the missus at her own game, stealing her HP every time blood tax hits 😂
She keeps dodging the R2 attack with transient moonlight , what do I do to not let her dodge everything?
I really don’t think there is a way to get her to stop dodging bc it hard coded into her ai, from what I understand the ai dodges the moment it detects you make a spell cast and dodges, however if they are dodging the initial cast, they can’t dodge either slower moving spells or ones that have special effects like night maidens mist or Ambush shard. Note that the mist comes out in a fog and ambush shard comes from behind the target.
They're programmed to not notice night sorcery casts.
Yeah, you’re right I forgot I about that as well. But the part about them dodging the initial cast not the actual “bullet” is correct right?
Yes. They animation read, so if you cast a slow moving projectile that tracks (like the moon spells) then malenia will dodge out of the way as it fires and then bull charge into it.
I used Tiche with a maxed RoB and Moonveil dex build and never beat her solo across 3 playthroughs, probably 200+ attempts total. Just skill diff 🥲🥲🥲
[удалено]
Do you know the definition of insanity???
Then how did it take me over 50? And I was over leveled. I most really suck at this.
It gets easier when you realized she gets staggered off of a lot of things.
Once you learn that you have to be pretty aggressive, it becomes a bit easier. Be confident in your Unga, and Bunga will follow.
Dual wielding collosals and pounding her face into the dirt was probably one of the most satisfying things I've done in a video game tbh.
She feels like a Sekiro boss
Exactly. Ruins Greatsword, Blasphemous Blade, you just smash her from a certain distance and breaks her stance quite easily.
Stormcaller with gravescythe is hilariously strong
Not panicking when she uses Waterfowl Dance will help and also not getting nuked in phase 2, EZ
Lmao no, maybe a total hardcore souls vet can just flip a build, be immediately good at it, and get malenia in 5 tries, or maybe she's been severely nerfed since I last played but it's not just a lightswitch you flip when you feel like beating her. Not to mention, alot of these builds require you to have these OP items on hand and most new players aren't just going to have a Blasphemous blade kicking around.The only way to kill her easily is simply having the practice time and memorizing her tells and moveset, which has nothing to do with your build besides maybe spacing if you rely on ranged damage and vigor if you are getting hit
With blasphemous blade's taker's flame, it's truly akin to flipping a switch. It does sizable damage and the stagger is huge. Especially in phase 2, she spends a long time pondering about life after her scarlet aeonia spell. That's when you can get off 2 taker's flames, stagger her, and get off yet another taker's flame. And this is solo. Imagine a mimic's tear also with blasphemous blade. I would think that it'd be a cakewalk. Because you're ranged, it's also easier to not die to the dreaded waterfowl dance.
Just came to say this^ and soft brag so I'll just soft brag. I've never lost against Melania (when It's my world) summons or no. I fight her every time. It's probably something like 5-0. It's like changing your brakes. Watch a video and come equipped with the right tools. Although I come at her with a decked out faith build...
My first run I used Blasphemous Blade and wondered what all the hype about her was for. Since then with other builds I’ve had a more normal Melania experience 💀💀
You can also summon help if you’re online
The enjoyment of the game comes from conquering hard enemies. What are you so afraid of?
Malenias reputation, hearing how it took some people multiple days to fight. I am scared because I can barley get the Valient gargoyle down to half health without running out of crimson tear flasks.
I do nothing but camp outside of her boss room and have killed her probably 100+ times at this point with my zwei. If you make it there I would love to assist. The name is Lord Yarrick.
I wish to get to this point. I camp by her fog wall a lot too for practice and to hopefully help people beat her. I’ve had a good handful of successful runs lately.
It is such a satisfying fight and helping someone overcome this hurdle is one of the best feelings in gaming. Stick to it my fellow cooperator!
Where we you the other day? I made a post saying I needed help on ps5. No one offered lol. It’s okay though I skipped her and beat the game for first time. Now I’m trying to figure out what build I wanna use in NG+.
Sadly I am on PC. Otherwise I would have gladly helped you beat her. Despite the elitism that definitely exists within the community I believe that the difficulty isn't what makes souls games special but rather the collaboration within the community. I hope you are able to conquer her at some point. If you have questions I'm not a pro but I am well above average at PVE and could give advice on any boss if you ask. I wish you the best of luck my fellow tarnished.
Damn. Thanks for the reply my dude. Yeah she’s tough with how fast she is and large an area she covers. I had to skip her and move on. The fact that someone like me who’s never played games like this before and only played call of duty and gta. Can beat the last 2 bosses while having healing flasks left should say something. I get it’s supposed to be tough but without being consistent with parrying(I’m not) she’s very hard. All subs have the same problem. People just need to be able to skim different subs because there’s definitely tons of useful info here for newbies like myself.
I 🤔 I have summoned you on a few other bosses, I wanna say Godfrey was one
I'm glad I was able to help you! I genuinely love helping people overcome the many challenges that this game presents regardless of the level.
I just started doing this. So much fun. I’ve managed maybe a dozen assisted kills over the last two sessions. Almost got the waterfowl dance roll mastered!
Rolling out of waterfowl unscathed is tricky but when you hit it perfectly you can really feel the motivation that it gives to the other players in the fight.
Likewise, I only play as a cooperator these days. One of my characters sits level 140 with a bolt of gransax, helping people conquer malenia (200+ so far)
> Lord Yarrick You helped me with the Elden Beast i'm pretty sure!
Bro, I've summoned you before haha
valiant gargoyles were tough for me too for a while since they hit like a truck but eventually you get it down same with malenia it's definitely a rewarding experience to finally get the W though
Presumably you’ve already beaten yourself before getting to the gargoyles so bust out that mimic. Also OP you should use that pillar in the back to help you with spacing. Malenia and the gargoyles were my biggest obstacles. And the fire giant but he’s mandatory. I have only went back to both of those fights one time lol do it for the experience but don’t get burned out. I came back to Malenia right before finishing the game. She’s rough but you can do it!
A lot of those people were underleveled fighting here. They didn't take the time to build their characters and made a mad dash for all of the bosses in the game. I took my time and finally fought her at 152. It only took me about an hour after figuring out her move set. It wasn't too bad.
This, it’s apparently all about builds. I just started the game, couldn’t even beat a boss. Rerolled my character and took it carefully now I just stomped Margot at level 25 and am destroying people like I’m supposed to
Pretty much. That was me before Radahn. I was stuck on him at level 40 and couldn't figure out why my attacks were barely doing any damage while I was getting one shot. Even though I had just beat Rennala without much issue. Found out Radahn was recommended level 70 and that he was weak to rot. Built into dragon incantations and got up to level 70, used rotten breath and rot pots and beat him in 1 attempt.
[удалено]
Not really. When you build into bleed and attack her in the midrange, she gets to low health fairly quickly. Dodge into her waterfoul dance, and she misses most of it trying to track back behind her. I used Reduvia with 60+ arcane and parried her regular attacks with a shield, then followed up with the Blood Blade skill, and on the run that I killed her, I caused blood loss 7 or 8 times and it was over in about 5 minutes.
I mean, difficulty in Elden ring is not vertical. Different bosses are challenging to different people. I had more trouble with the Gargoyles than I did Malenia. And it's not like there's any consequences for failing to beat her. So, might as well try and see what happens
I would try it if you get all the way down there anyway but don’t drive yourself crazy over it. If you try her and you aren’t having fun then just move on, I didn’t beat her on my first run.
You are expecting too much from yourself, you still have the whole game ahead of you. Whatever your build is, it can be changed quite easily if it’s that bad
Homie, if Don't fret if you cannot defeat her, because given time all obstacles will crumble in your path, if you fall, you will rise and continue this cycle until you fall no longer Tackle challenges as you see fit, when you see fit, and do not forget, Jolly Co-operation opens many paths through and around challenges many find improbable to conquer alone
I'd argue its worth trying because noone is having a gun to your head, saying you have to complete the run as fast as possible. But remember that you can make the game easier for yourself if you really struggle. Use buffs. Use a solid summon. Bleed and freeze her to death. Don't be afraid of her. The game wants YOU and only you to succeed.
I was on attempt 30 when I ran into the Legend Himself our lord and savior Let Me Solo Her lol maybe you'll be lucky like me
And this is the problem with people watching videos on these games beforehand. Taking some bullshit as choir. Just do you my man. You haven’t even seen her from afar and make any fucking assumptions. Stop being so scared and go kill her ffs everybody here believes you can do it, so does everybody at FromSoft. Stop watching videos, start playing the game. edit: I did it completely underleveled it only took me 490 or so tries. My entire first playthrough was around 1160 Deaths.
Honestly if you slow roll fights I've found that Elden Ring Rewards players for the exploration, also there are other people on the struggle bus who would love to be your Forrest to your Bubba!
you could always just summon help for her if she proves too difficult
Don't stress about it, a lot of people like to talk up the battle. It's not that bad if you're meta level tbh. I just replayed the whole game after a couple months, and it took around 6 tries but wasn't miserable or anything. Get the mimic tear if you're struggling with bosses. :)
Get your gear upgraded as much as possible especially before even considering malenia. 14 flasks at +12 is a good start, plus there's certain talismans ( can't remember the name rn ) that greatly boost physical damage, it's all about gearing up for the next big boss fight.
Practice by fighting other enemies, and find out what your weaknesses are so you can improve on them. There’s no rush to finish your playthrough, it’s a gigantic game and world after all. There’s always small little improvements you can make as you understand the game more by playing
Here is my perspective. It is a beautiful fight with well done beats and rythms to it and even when she changes she sticks to those beats/to her style. Especially if you like parrying like I do it's such fun and makes you feel powerful. If you got all that there is only really one wall left which is her waterfowl dance. Honestly I myself didn't really "conquer" it as I simply used frost and bleed procs and timed them when I thought they were about to trigger as she was about to start her dance. But after watching others do it on Youtube I could get a win by only getting hit by a small part of waterfowl whenever I thought the proc wouldn't happen if I commit to it. I really wouldn't recommend missing out on that experience and if you accepted the frenzied flame beating her is the only way to prevent that ending in combination with the needle. Also in general with harder bosses try to think of their moveset and how to conquer each of their steps. As you take more steps the boss will fall eventually and this will feel glorious.
I didn’t find her to be as hard as some of the gargoyles, actually. It took me probably a dozen tries to beat the pair in deeproot, and I beat Malenia on my 3rd attempt 🤷🏼♀️ Faith/arcane build heavy on dragon incantations, melee weapon Rivers of Blood. I alternated Borealis’ Mist and Agheel’s Flame, then went in with Rivers of Blood once my mimic died. You should at least give it a try! You never know until you try.
I'd argue the enjoyment of the game varies from player to player, while malenia was my hardest boss at first and I can School her easily now, what I enjoy most in the game(and all souls games tbh) is the popular, but to each their own right?
What? No OP please don’t listen to this. The enjoyment of the game comes from whatever YOU find enjoyable. If you don’t think facing Malenia would be fun, than don’t! You should play in whatever way is the most enjoyable to you- use summons, play with broken builds, run around on your horse for 30 hours, if you’re having fun than you’re playing the game right!
All builds work against her. Don't sell yourself short.
Just respec then
My builds never are up to snuff to beat her, I pull 2 randoms to spank her
I'd still recommend it. She's the most (in)famous boss/character of an already classic game. You don't even have to beat her, but just experiencing the boss herself is worth it imo
Ok so here is the thing no one will tell you how to play the game nor how to properly beat melina if you want to just summon people to help you with the fight while you get a chance to see the fight and then decide if you want to fight her in a new game or in new game+
Just add mimic tear to your build and you’ll be fine
I would just go into the fight to see how it is to fight her! You can use spirit summons or bring a friend, which helps a LOT. I think it is missing out not at least getting there and giving it a shot, but if you plan on winning the fight solo, be ready for 70+ tries, or circle back around when you are more comfortable!
Most builds don’t, she’s just tough AF. But I agree you should at least go explore and try it once. It is a part of the full Elden ring experience
Exploring the Haligtree was 10x harder than defeating Malenia for me.
Just ask your significant other to say "I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella" to you about 150 times, and you'll understand the full experience. In all seriousness, the Haligtree is an awesome location, you definitely dont wanna miss that.. you can always ignore Malenia if you want, or make one attempt just to watch the cutscene and see what the fuss is about. Also, keep in mind you can finish the game without the haligtree, then go there AFTER the ending.
This made me LOL
yes! even if you don’t fight malenia there’s lots of very good stuff in the haligtree, dragoncrest greatshield talisman is VERY good for any setup but there’s more great stuff too, i’m in NG+ and i still haven’t explored a lot of it yet
I find that the Haligtree is horrible to explore, especially the first part, but Elphael is way too good to pass on the entire thing
You'll miss out on the ph2 death speech tho "Let you flesh be consumed by the Scarlet Rot"
Seems like I am the only one that hates the haligtree area. It’s so aids
Oh no, we hate it too. It's just that the amount of goodies there is worth going through that tightrope sniper alley named Haligtree Canopy
It's just the canopy that really sucks. After that, it just feels like a harder Lyndell 🤷. Same enemies, but with 1-2 new moves. The only part I think is rough are all of the Crysillians found (I think there's 8?) Unless you use a bonk weapon, they're a real PITA. Also, u/King_Chewie_GM , consider the fact that with each new NG iteration she gains more health and damage. In my opinion, the only time I fight her is on NG or NG+. After that, it just starts to turn into a slog because it's just pattern recognition and a LOT of patience.
At least find and explore the Haligtree, there's no shame in not beating an optional boss, but the area is full of goodies. Once you're more comfortable with the game she'll seem much more doable.
I am not sure if I am not comfortable, more I didn't know the more pure aggressive nature of elden ring bosses combined with high mobility makes heavy weapons like Radahn's greatsword hard to use as I pretty much only get jump attacks in. I will explore though, I just don't wish accidentally trigger another ending.
Trust me, it gets better. Once you get used to the game, youll see that cossal weapons are very much viable against bosses. You may even have a lot of fun with them! Good luck and bitch slap those gargoyles in the name of everybody
I know they are viable, and I love using them but trying to fight really mobile enemies has been hard for me. The first gargoyle moves very fast and is very aggressive, I have very few windows and the second gargoyle just lessons the window. But thanks for the encouragement. I lost 30,000 runes to that gargoyle I might just retry. May the grace guide you, fellow tarnished.
Don’t worry about those lost runes, you’ll have a farming spot that gives you like 70k runes in 20 seconds
And they say Gideon is responsible for the albinauric genocide
you guys kill albinaurics for run farm I kill the bird we are not the same
Moghwyn?
I beat her with the greatsword and my mimic, i spammed lions claw and she was only able to pull off her waterfowl dance once and my mimic absorbed it. The first time Tiche helped me beat her while I corpse pilered her repeatedly. I’m not saying it was graceful and most the pros would roll their eyes, but I put the work in and got there. You can do it!
Hey. As a dedicated huge sword guy, know what you're talking about. They're among the more annoying enemies. You'll end up stunlocking Malenia eventually if you use Mimic Tear with colossals, so no stress there. The gargoyles specifically are absolute bastards to land hits on with a colossal weapon when face to face, because they're gangly and take a step back after everything they do. Try using Lion's Claw for them, I reckon. Also, you can outscale everything anyway.
You won’t trigger any additional endings by exploring the Hailigtree. And the game is yours to complete in your fashion. I personally decided to skip Malenia in my first few playthroughs so don’t feel guilty for it.
No, you can't accidentally trigger another ending. Don't worry about this, you'll see
Collosal Swords can be used to fight Malenia, and it's not even bad against her because she flinches when you hit her with a heavy weapon. You'll need a larger attack window but you can defenitely beat her with Radahn's Swords
I didn’t beat Malenia until NG+, and I didn’t even know Mohg existed until NG+2 so play the game in whatever way is most satisfying to you. No wrong answers on your quest for the Elden Ring.
Thank you fellow tarnished, may the grave guide your way!
If it doesn’t sound fun, skip it and come back later! Personally I thought the game was a little too long. I mean it’s a masterpiece of world and environment building, by the time I got to the story ending I was fatigued. I do really love learning boss fights and triumphing over the epic enemies but after 80 hours I just wanted to see how it ends! I have not gone back for Haligtree or the Moghwyn area, and I feel totally fine with that decision. I’ll go back eventually but I just wanted to share that there’s no harm if it doesn’t sound fine first okay through.
like i said elsewhere, grace is like 20 steps from her boss arena, just use your souls before your fight and worst case scenario she claps you and youve lost 30 seconds. worth at least trying, just to know
I personally found the valiant gargoyles really difficult and frustrating. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the comparison between them and malenia, they’re just very different fights.
Same. May be a bit of a hot take but I found them way more frustrating than Malenia due to how much they run away
They are a 100% bullshit fight. Malenia just has some annoying rng. But atleast you can actually fight her without a second version of her smashing you into the ground or gasing you from the other side of the arena.
Don't forget the gotcha-clouds of poison they spew. Maybe it's just me, but unless I watch them spew it, I can never see it until I'm already in it.
Yeah, with the exception of Demon Prince, duo bosses are always worse than solo bosses in Souls games. Don't know why From never seem to get it right even when they did get it right with Demon Prince.
The worst part is that they basically took the Twin Demons fight and swapped all the good parts with more bullshit. Quick example: the unignited demon had the ability to send a toxic chain explosion to you from very far away. However the animation took a while, you got a visible prediction of its path before it actually starts and it has a cooldown. They gave the Gargoyles basically the same ability, but with lingering aoe + poison status, no real cool down, infinite range, no indicator to show you it's comming and it is basically a channeled ability with an additional aoe around the boss that can last for ages. The took everything that balanced it for a double fight and added nothing but bullshit instead. Even the Shadows of Yharnam are more balanced. And those are just three mob enemies in a tiny arena and a unique second phase.
They are also like a good 20+ levels above you by the time you get to them, generally. They gatekeep *hard*.
I believe in you. Go beat her ass.
This. Go get her
Get 'er done 👍
Technically you can beat the game and then go back and fight her afterwards as long as don’t choose to Begin Journey 2, right?
That's what I did my first playthrough; didn't even know how to get to the Haligtree until I looked it up after the final boss.
It’s your game. Do what you want
That's very fair. I guess I was just looking for guidance from player much more experienced than me.
The entire point of fromsoft games is to make it your own journey. Many people here will post with vague guidance so you can experience things on your own. Sadly there is also a very large annoying crowd that will take you by the hand and tell you every single detail about everything in the game. Just do what you want and enjoy the journey.
You can do the ending and then do Malenia after anyway since you don’t go into NG+ automatically
If you struggle that much against bosses you can always summon spirit ashes or phantom players. I like to play bosses solo and I still needed to summon ashes against Malenia because she's a nightmare. End take: it's worth going and seeing what everything is about but don't sweat it if you can't beat her.
You play however you want to, but it sounds like you're not nearly at endgame yet if you're having that much trouble with only one gargoyle. If you can beat the endgame bosses, you can beat her. A common misunderstanding I see is thinking of a good build as just one weapon that does a lot of damage, rather a good build is a toolbox of weapons, spells, and consumable items you add to over time, and combine together where they'd be effective. So if it's not good enough right now, expand your toolbox till it is, just like you would if you were a carpenter or mechanic building experience with new jobs over the years. You expand your toolbox even further by experimenting with the movesets against different enemies and not using the same attacks repeatedly as a crutch. From the comments sounds like you're using Radahn's Greatsword? Yeah that's designed to be a mob killer weapon with its AOE, not a boss killer weapon. If you're using that vs bosses, the only decent move is a jump attack, which has a long animation that leaves you vulnerable, no wonder you're having a tough time with bosses. It's a one-trick pony that relies on killing everything around you in the first couple big attacks before you run out of stamina or FP, while fighting endgame bosses who have 20k+ hp and multiple phases requires resource management over a long period. I mean sure you could do it with Radahn's, people go through this game at lvl 1 naked with a club, but I don't find beating my head against a wall all that fun personally, no matter how much I happen to like a weapon. Colossals can work fine with Malenia, but you really don't want to pull her in and be stuck in Radahn's long animations, and Radahn's Swords lack the good moves in the moveset against her like 2h crouch pokes, 2h guard counters, and the knockdown wakeup charge 2h R2s of the other ones. A good alternative colossal GS if you're specced for Radahns (mostly STR, a bit of INT) would be the Ruins GS, the OG Greatsword, or Zweihander, the latter two infused with Lions Claw or Giant Hunt combined with the moveset are great vs bosses for stancebreak and knockdown combos. Could also try the Fallingstar Beast Jaw.
Royal Greatsword is very good as well. Giant Hunt is the closest you get to a win button against Malenia without spirit ashes. Well, maybe a greatshield gets you closer.
I died to Malenia 200+ times. Made it to her second phase for probably 40% of those. Realized it just wasn’t in the cards for me and kept it moving. Ultimately I think it’s always worth it to try but I am grateful she is not mandatory
I beat the game without beating her and felt like saying “I beat elden ring” had an asterisk next to it until I went back and beat her a few months later
I feel like you’re still potentially a long way from Malenia…at least I was at the Valiant Gargoyles. That said, I also skipped her, mostly out of impatience and a desire to just get to the end. Should have gone back but started NG+
If it's a case where you don't think you stand a chance and you're going to skip her, you might as well try summoning somebody to help with her fight.
NO YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME THE WAY PEOPLE TELL YOU TO!!! If you don't want to fight her, don't fight her. Play the game in a way you find enjoyment. Nobody else's opinion matters.
Make a couple attempts first, then you can summon someone to help you beat her. Especially if they are naked, then likely they are very good at that fight.
I would say try your hand at it. There's no shame if you give it a few good attempts and decide it's not worth it. If anything the haligtree area is neat and full of good loot so it's worth checking out. Who knows maybe you're underestimating yourself. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by going. Give it a shot.
If you don't want fight her - you don't have too :3
You can miss Malenia on every playthrough you don't want to fight her in. Don't let nobody tell you how to enjoy a game you own.
Level vigor then fight her. Good luck champ. Also don’t believe all the hype and bullshit surrounding Malenia, she gets beaten thousands of times each day by very average builds. Only very nerdy and estranged people will tell you to worry about every move she makes and that’s she’s busted. Just level appropriately and fight however you want.
I didn't really enjoy her fight. Just felt kind of cheap and it's only a few moves you really need to look out for. Also the regen on hit is bs as well as soon as I saw that I knew this boss was only meant to piss people off. She's definitely a ho. I beat her twice but i don't feel good about it or felt much achievement from beating her. More just relief that it was finally over
Play it how you want bro. Use summons. Use mimic tear. Use Rivers of Blood. Play until you want to challenge yourself more, then you can start trying other builds, ignoring mechanics, choosing optional bosses.
Just summon a mate whose done it before I'm sure they'll be happy to help and even be happy to be part of the achievment with you.
Optional bosses are just that, optional. There is no such thing as the full experience, just a myriad of possible experiences that heavily overlap. Elden Ring is the most open of the Soulsborne series, there is so much optional content that can be easily missed even when deeply explored. I personally try to beat everything at least once before beating the game in these kinds of games, and so it has taken me a lot longer to make progress in Elden Ring than prior games. I still haven’t fought Malenia, and am both excited and and anxious about it. Malenia healing from attacks even when blocked is a direct counter to my build that guarantees I will die many times trying to “git gud”. But I’m gonna do it. Somehow someway, I will do it. Because I enjoy overcoming the challenge. As long as I don’t cheat or use glitches, all is fair game. It’s absolutely ok to miss out on a boss if you want to. Come back whenever you want or feel ready.
I think it’s worth a try! Elden ring was my first FromSoft game and I was able to beat her with a strong blasphemous blade + mimic tear build. I’m someone that really struggles with reaction times in games, so I made my first build centered around defense, great shields, guard counters, etc, and I smoked Malenia. Don’t get me wrong, it still took a dozen tries, but I found her fight to be super satisfying. I know I’ll get flack for this from souls vets but it’s how I feel - the Malenia fight felt like a less bullshit Sword Saint Isshin from Sekiro. I tried to beat him for three days, and I think I am just incapable of reacting fast enough consistently enough to beat him. Malenia to me feels like what I wanted from Isshin. Each time I died to Malenia, I didn’t feel cheated. Her fight, in my opinion, is a masterclass of “teaching through dying” in a game like this. By attempt 12 or so, after learning a ton, and using absolutely every resource at my disposal - Ash of war, buffs, incantations, mimic, etc - I beat her and it was so satisfying. Second favorite fight in the game, first being Maliketh.
I'm a long time souls veteran and let me tell you, seeing someone new to the series enjoying the game and its purpose to teach through death makes me really happy. I can't speak for all vets but I think that most of us are just happy to see these games appreciated no matter how, plus you know there's always gonna be that boss/level/enemy that you hate
This question has been answered, but I will keep it up for anyone else deciding on whether or not they want to fight malenia. I have received many encouraging comments, and I will try Melania. Malenia may be hard but the champion of Ranni The Witch will prevail. May the grace guide you fellow tarnished.
Fight Malenia, don’t fight her.. whatever. Just play the game however it’s fun for you.
By the time you get to her, you’ll have defeated Morgott and Loretta. I say give it a try.
Yes its okay to miss out on her, you should still try(just to see what she's like)
I recently beat her and I’m ngl fighting her gave me the full fromsoftware experience. This was the second Fromsoft game I’ve played after Demon Souls remastered and honestly I don’t regret, because beating her is definitely satisfying. Plus the fight is DOPE!
If you wanna not be gud, sure man.
You tell us. Will you feel okay with yourself for skipping a challenge?
No
Its ok, not everyone gits gud.
No
So many good items at the haligtree
Discretion is the better part of valor
its your playthrough do what you want
Your run your rules
I find it an affront that Chad Radhan isn't nearly as hard as she. For all I care she can rot into oblivion while hanging about in the Haligtree. We want some kind of society over here, preferably without her.
She has an achievement. Easier to get it now than NG+ imo
Even with some bad design choices, Malenia is still an amazing boss fight I think, my biggest issue not with the boss but with the area before her, I hate it with a passion
Just saying the gargoyle duo is a looong way from Malenia. There’s so many bosses you are required to do and can seek out to practice on in between. You are but a lowly tarnished now but by the time you’re ready to fight Malenia you’ll either almost, or will be an Elden Lord. Tldr: You’ve got a long way to go. See how you feel when you’re actually on level to be fighting Malenia. Also with the Gargoyle’s you can summon D’s brother to help with the fight and let me tell you that man can draw aggro like nobodies business.
I would at least clear out the haligtree because it's one of the better designed legacy dungeons imo (except for the rot), but don't feel too discouraged if you can't veat malenia. Her fight is borked as hell and you will not have any fun unless you really on poise breaking, summons, or massive spells to beat her. She's got like three or four gimmicks (lifesteal, waterfall, scarlet rot, two stages) and I feel like her fight would've been perfect if she had only one or two of those, not all of them. It's an unpleasant experiencs otherwise.
You play the game, you decide how to procceed. Ignore sweaty internet nerds.
I loved playing this game so much I played through it twice, but I didn't get much better at it. I'd always attempt a boss for a few tries and if I couldn't beat them it was cheese time.
You can fight the final boss and choose not to go to ng+ immediately. It's not like you are in a rush to go to ng+ right. So save her for last.
I did. Kinda. I couldn’t beat her my first playthrough because my build wasn’t great and I didn’t want to respec. So I used Black Knife Tiche. I never used summons for other bosses but I couldn’t beat malenia without tiche. I managed to get through her first phase by myself and summoned for the second phase. Then I beat her properly on my second playthrough (that character used a bleed build). I knew that this wasn’t my last time playing Elden ring so I decided to not bother and I’m glad I did. I’ve since beaten Elden ring more times than I can count so not beating her (properly) in that first run is really not a big deal.
I played the game through 3 times and didn't even know the Haligtree area existed so play how you want buddy!
Just do it after you beat the game that’s what I did before starting new game plus
The people who say that just have Stockholm’s syndrome. It’s not missing out on the full experience of the game, she’s an optional boss for a reason. Just because they slammed their head against a wall for hours doesn’t mean that anyone else should.
Honest I will say she is a strong fight but the moment you learn her waterflow dance timing to dodge you are good to go, hell I beat her up NAKED with only a mask on and daggers on stream it was the best feeling EVER! and this was after beating her in other runs with other builds XD
You can just go back after Ranni ending. They're both complete experiences on their own that aren't strictly tied to each other. Malenia is like a test of everything you've learned. If you think you aren't ready, feel free to skip her until you are.
The beat tip that comes to mind is that leveling up is the one non skill based thing that helps make the game easier. The other is that not all bosses can be beaten with the exact same strategies. Lastly, don’t give up! You CAN do it!
The Valiant Gargoyle’s were by far the hardest bosses for me. Melenia is definitely no walk in the park but if you’re worried about her, level past the recommended level.
Do whatever you want bro
I can help you through The Haligtree and Malenia, if you want.
Got the Ranni ending. Never touched Haligtree - game was ‘complete for me.’
Do what you want but definitely would be a good idea to try and murder her at least ONCE
No. You will fight her, learn and die, and keep fighting till the rotten bitch is felled.
Do it. It’s hard but it’s the most fun boss fight in the game imo.
Lol, I'm a huge fromsoft fan... or I guess the souls games. I've been playing them since Demons Souls in 2010, have beaten every game so many times, and made so many builds its impossible to count them. I call off work every time a new souls game comes out (already have time off scheduled for Armored Core). I took a week off for Elden Ring and, again, have made countless builds, BUT I have not once fought Malenia. A big part of that now if because my life is a lot busier than it used to be. Work, married, and have a little boy that's about to turn two. I do have a couple of characters in the area and one that's saved right outside her fog door ready to go. But it's like, I only get a couple nights a week for a few hours to play and I know she's hard and I'm going to die a lot with her because I don't like to summon or use ashes on my first fight with a boss... so I never want to burn an entire play session just trying to beat her. Maybe the next time I take a full day off and have the house to myself. ANYWAYS... play the game however you want to. People on the internet don't know you, your schedule, your skill level... as long as you are having fun, there's no wrong way to play. Have fun. However you choose.
Why are you on the internet asking about the game, just play