An Elden Ring player has put together a helpful video that explains how to safely dodge one of the most threatening moves in the game. Unfortunately, a few caveats prevent it from guaranteeing a Tarnished's survival, which is hardly surprising given the challenge that Elden Ring presents.
No attack from any boss in FromSoftware's extensive catalog has garnered more notoriety than the Blade of Miquella's Waterfowl Dance, a deadly flurry of strikes from Malenia that loom over every confrontation with her. A quick Google search for the Waterfowl Dance will conjure up dozens of videos and articles dedicated to explaining how to handle it and/or critiquing its mere existence. Nonetheless, if players wish to acquire every shard of the Elden Ring then Malenia must be bested, and there are fortunately some Tarnished intent on aiding others as much as possible.
A video posted to Reddit by Accomplished_Pie_259 attempts to detail a method by which players can dodge Waterfowl Dance when up close, widely considered a death sentence for anyone without bulky armor or a healthy amount of Vigor. Malenia will leap up into the air and hover for a couple of seconds before the onslaught begins, during which time the player should walk slightly to their left until her back is in view. The Tarnished should roll through the attack as her sword swings down, safely positioning them away from the initial whirlwind. Click here to see the full video on Reddit.
Following this, immediately rolling backward once ensures no hits make contact, but players should still be wary of two subsequent parts of the Waterfowl Dance. To avoid damage here, the video states to simply roll backward again for Malenia's penultimate strike and finally dodge through the final burst that sees her reposition. The evasive maneuvers are rather impressive in motion and seemingly easy to perform, but there are a few caveats that mean it is no foolproof method.
Firstly, this method is only viable with a Light Load, meaning that the player's equipment must weigh under 30% of their maximum capacity. Whether Tarnished are boasting a Light, Medium, Heavy, or Overloaded status will impact the functionality of dodges, changing how many frames the player is invincible for as well as how far they can travel. The distance covered is relevant for Waterfowl Dance, as those with a Medium Load (the majority of players) will struggle to achieve the space needed between themselves and Malenia. Secondly, the technique on display is hardly intuitive and easier ways to deal with Waterfowl Dance have been known for the better part of a year, such as throwing a 
Freezing Pot to stagger her out of the air or utilizing specific shields with the Barricade Shield Ash of War.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
