Malenia, Blade of Miquella Location and Guide - Elden Ring Guide - IGN (2024)

Malenia, Blade of Miquella, is the area boss of Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. She is, by most accounts, the most difficult boss in Elden Ring, and quite possibly the most difficult boss in any of the SoulsBorne titles. Her powerful attacks, unrelenting combos, and unique boss mechanic make her a fearful foe that you should not face until you have defeated all of Elden Ring's other challenges.

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Check out our boss guide to defeating Malenia below:

Where to Find Malenia, Blade of Miquella

Malenia is the final boss of a secret Legacy Dungeon called Miquella's Haligtree, wherin lies Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. This dungeon can only be accessed in the final northern region known as the Consecrated Snowfield.

To reach the snowfield region, you need a secret Medallion to use at the Grand Lift of Rold. The two halves are given by an Albinauric named Albus that is disguised as a barrel in the Albinauric village in western Liurnia under the large mountain. The other half can be found in the Mountaintops of the Giants, on the far northwestern side after clearing the large and imposing Castle Sol.

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Malenia, Blade of Miquella Boss Fight Guide

At last we have arrived, the boss of the Haligtree: Malenia, Blade of Miquella, quite possibly FromSoft's most devious invention yet. Malenia has all the typical trappings of a difficult boss (high damage, oppressive attack pattern, tricky combos), but what truly sets her apart is her unique lifesteal mechanic that gives her health back on every hit, even when you block. This means you can't just hide behind your shield and wait for an opening, or else she will steal back every bit of damage you deal. This can turn the battle into a long, drawn out war of attrition, but the better approach is to simply damage race her with the most powerful weapon you can find.

Weapons that have long range abilities like Rivers of Blood, Moonveil, and Sword of Night and Flame are all great picks for this fight. We also recommend having a 100% physical block shield with Barricade Shield to deal with one of her tricky attacks, and some defensive gear like the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman we got earlier.

Using an Ash Summon in this fight is very tempting, but keep in mind she can lifesteal off of your summon the same way she can from you. If your summon gets caught up in one of her long combos it may do more harm than good. Ash Mimic is probably your best option. The 2v1 attacks will keep her stun locked, maybe even leading to topple. Another option is Latenna the Albinauric, who you can place on the edge of the boss arena and let her shoot from far out of attack range. Just be sure you do NOT let Malenia turn her attention to Latenna or she will absolutely shred her.

Ready? Okay. Time to fight. First thing to note is that Malenia does not really zip across the battlefield very often. She doesn't have any projectile attacks so if you never get close to her she will likely just slow walk towards you until you approach. You can use this to your advantage any time you need to heal or rest for a second.

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When you do approach it is important to identify which of her attacks are easily punished, so here are some things to look out for:

• Her basic sword attacks should just be avoided or blocked. She will usually execute two to three wide swings in a row, then end with a jumping slam attack or sweeping kick that deals massive stamina damage on shield. There is an opportunity to Guard Counter here, but I would advise against it due to the unpredictability or her combos.
• When you see her long blade slide backwards up her hand she is about to do a short dash followed by a multi-hit combo. I recommend just blocking the first three hits, then rolling toward her to avoid the fourth. From here she can extend the combo into a jumping slam or a delayed wide swing. Both are punishable, but you need to read her movements quick to decide which one she is preparing for (jump vs. stay on ground).
• When you see her do a spinning jump she is about to let loose one of her kicks. DO NOT block this attack or you may be guard broken. Instead roll toward her and immediately try to punish with a few hits. Move quick though! If you wait too long she will extend into a different combo finisher which can catch you off guard.
• If she pulls her blade back, but still has it pointed towards you she is about to do a fast, long range thrust. This is one of the easiest moves to punish, simply roll away when she dashes in, then hit her two or three times as she is regaining her posture (there is an alternate version of this where she jumps into the air before dashing, but the dodge and punish are the same).
• HOWEVER, if she pulls her blade back with it pointed up and away from her she is about to do a short range uppercut followed by an aerial slam. This is also highly punishable, simply roll into the initial uppercut, then strafe around her to avoid the slam. Hit her two or three times in the back.
• Finally, if she gets into her stance with the blade pointed horizontally (but not pointed at you) she is about to dash in with a powerful double slash. Dodge in, then strafe to avoid the second attack before punishing.
• If she instead pulls her empty back she is about to do one of her most deadly moves, the dash grab. Roll away IMMEDIATELY when she starts moving to avoid getting grabbed. This attack deals massive damage, but just like the other dashes it is punishable with two or three hits as long as yout time your dodge properly.
• The one attack we absolutely DO NOT want to see is her Waterfowl Dance. This is the move we NEED the Barricade Shield for. She signals this move by lifting into the air and curling up into a sort of fetal position for a moment, before flying toward you with a flurry of slashes. You will want to activate Barricade as soon as you see her float and block the entire first volley of attacks. After this she will pause, unleash another set of attacks, then pause again, and unleash another set of attacks followed by one final area slash. To avoid the second and third flurries you need to dodge roll INTO her as she begins the next set of slashes. This is pretty difficult to do, but with a few attempts you can get the timing down consistently. Make sure you do not run in to punish her until AFTER the final area slash has happened.

Note about attacking Malenia: your attacks will likely stagger Malenia, but only two or three times before she will react. Her usual reactions are to dash left, dash right, or simply dash backwards away from you. IF she faces you during her dash, you can move in and stagger her again with another attack before her next action. IF she dashes and turns her back to you she is about to unleash a slash, so simply step back and await the next attack. Occasionally she will also just decide it is not your turn and deflect your attack entirely, before doing a backwards step.

With all of the above knowledge in mind, your job is to now win the battle of attrition. Take as few hits as possible and make sure you are punishing more than she is getting back via blocked attacks. You can accelerate this process using one of the aforementioned weapons. For example, using Rivers of Blood you can execute 3-5 hit combos from outside of melee range, dealing massive damage and Bleed. You will still need to keep an eye out for her dash attacks and flurry, but your high damage output will mean a quicker fight and less opportunities for her to heal. Just make sure you have enough Mind or FP Flasks to keep up the assault.

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With enough practice and determination you will become an expert at defeating Malenia. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning....

Malenia, Goddess of Rot Boss Fight

Yep, of course there is a second phase to this fight. As if that first phase wasn't hard enough now we have to face a faster, more aggressive Malenia with stronger attacks. Oh, and of course she can inflict Scarlet Rot as well.

She will always open the battle with the same attack, an aerial dive that leads into a giant area of effect blast that inflicts Scarlet Rot. You have a moment to drink one Flask and put your guard up before she will dive. As soon as you see her make her move roll toward her, then run away as fast as you can to avoid the blast. You will probably get hit at least once, but that is no issue as long as you aren't too close to the center of the blast. A giant flower will bloom around her, dealing continuous Rot to anyone who stands too close.

This is a great opportunity to heal up or eat any damage bonus items you might have, since she won't do any other attacks while the flower is up. As soon as the flower begins to fade run in and start attacking. You should be able to get three or four hits before she reacts, usually with a spinning kick. If you see the kick coming you can roll in and get in another hit or two, but she likes to follow it up with a jump into slam attack, which now leaves a delayed explosion on the ground that will prevent the usual punish.

From here things get very messy. Her combos have changed slightly and she is far more aggressive than she was in phase one. It is very easy to simply get caught up on her blender of attacks and die before you even get to play. Because of this you aren't likely to get much time to learn the new movements before she kills you. Instead I recommend a simpler strategy: run away! Malenia is faster than you, but if you keep running away (while dodging any dashes she might do) you can eventually bait her into doing one of the bad attacks listed below.

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The main ones we want to see are her simple aerial dash attacks. She will leap high into the air, hover for a moment, then dash toward you with an easily dodged attack you can punish with two or three back attacks. However, if she points the sword TOWARD you while in the air she is going to land and pivot before immediately executing another grounded dash attack. This is easy to dodge as long as you see it coming, and can be punished just as easily as any other dash.

Another easy punish is her doppelganger attack. She will float high into the air, then send down a flurry of doppelgangers who will attack one by one. The doppelgangers will attack about five times (these do not lifesteal, so you can simply block with Barricade) before Malenia herself flies toward you with a thrust attack. This attack can be punished similarly to the grounded dash, but you need to be careful because she will occasionally chain this directly into a SECOND dash attack, which can also be easily dodge rolled before punishing.

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Finally, she will occasionally repeat blooming flower attack from the start of the battle. This is probably the best attack to see because it is incredibly slow and easy to punish, meaning you can take a second to heal, buff up, then hit her with everything you've got.

Similar to phase one, long ranged weapon abilities like the ones on Moonveil or Sword of Night and Flame are invaluable here. They let you punish the attacks I've mentioned above without ever really putting yourself in real danger. All you really need is enough patience and luck to burn her down before she catches you with her enhanced Waterfowl Dance or grab attack.

Your reward for beating Malenia is the Remembrance of the Rot Goddess (which lets you craft her incredible sword), Malenia's Great Rune, and the satisfaction that you have overcome FromSoft's most devilish challenge yet. Congratulations!