In Elden Ring, death is quite impotent due to Erdtree rebirths and technical immortality. So it takes a special being to control and become the arbiter of death or rather, Destined Death. That person is Maliketh who also goes by Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman. Even the demigods dare not go up against him and can only steal his special Rune that deals death.
In fact, the only one who challenges 
Maliketh in Elden Ring is the player's lowly Tarnished and their foolish ambitions. For the most part, it's a tough fight— one of the most difficult in Elden Ring. Maliketh/Beast Clergyman's attacks are fast, relentless, and threatening. Apart from just siccing the Mimic Tear or Black Knife Tiche on him and letting the Spirit Ashes do most of the work, there are other viable (and more impressive) methods of putting down the Beast Clergyman and Maliketh.
Roll Through The Beast Clergyman's Attacks
The initial instinct or even habit of a lot of players in Elden Ring is to widen the gap between them and the boss. For this boss, that habit can spell doom. Because it seems that the Beast Clergyman has some input reading that triggers when players step too far back.
He'll either spam his ranged Beast Incantations (during the first phase) or chain combos if players dodge too far away. The safer tactic is to actually roll through his melee attacks, using that maneuver to flank his sides or reposition to his back before counterattacking. In doing this, he might spam his earthquake attacks, but it's easy to jump through that to avoid damage.
Keep Distance Using The Pillars
Of course, there are times when players have to disengage from this boss. It's usually after a mistake that necessitates healing. In that case, simply rolling away might be too unsafe. Players will want to take advantage of the pillars all over the boss arena to block some Beast Clergyman or Maliketh's attacks.
Do note that some of Maliketh's (second phase) attacks might clip through the pillars, so it's best to time this tactic and use ample judgment. But generally, the boss will try to go around the pillar to resume the fight. Also, this maneuver will remove the lock-on, so keep that in mind.
Parry With The Blasphemous Claw
For an easier time against Maliketh (second phase), players need only look for an item in their inventory called the 
Blasphemous Claw . It's a reusable item that can be equipped in the quick slot or among the flasks. It will act as a parry move against one of Maliketh's attacks.
Sadly, players can't just abuse this item like Mohg or Margit's shackles. It will only work as intended when players activate when Maliketh's performs that specific attack where he stabs the ground with his sword and it starts to glow. Activating the Blasphemous Claw during this moment will stagger Maliketh and players can get free attacks.
In order to obtain the Blasphemous Claw, however, players will have to seek out Knight Bernahl. He'll invade players in the Crumbling Farum Azula in the area past the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace.
Use Bleed Weapons
The sure tactic that works too well against both the Beast Clergyman and Maliketh is Bleed or Hemorrhage. Don't be fooled by the stats claiming the boss is resistant against Bleed, his HP isn't that great, and it's easy to build up Bleed stacks against him.
Even weapons like the 
Bloodhound's Fang work well without any grease, buffs, or augmentations to Arcane. But of course, more dedicated and faster Bleed weapons such as katanas, Blood 
Godskin Peeler , or curved swords (such as 
Scavenger's Curved Sword ) will end the first phase prematurely. Players can then go on to use these Bleed weapons against Maliketh.
Stagger Him
Then again, not everyone might have access to Bleed weapons or builds. In that case, another method is also available in the form of Sorceries or Ashes of War that deal high poise damage. Because both the Beast Clergyman or Maliketh doesn't have high poise. Consider these methods of staggering Maliketh for easy critical attacks:
Ash of War
Flame of the Redmanes Skill - Can stagger the boss in two to three casts. Scales with Strength and Faith. 
Lion's Claw - Good gap closer and impressive stagger value. - Prayerful Strike - Long windup but deals good poise damage and also heals the players.
Sorceries/Magic Ashes of War
- Greatblade Phalanx - Has a long cast time but can reliably stagger the boss.
- Glintblade Phalanx - Does around the same poise damage as Flame of the Redmanes. Also has an Ash of War variant.
- Carian Piercer - Can be charged to deal greater poise damage and also chained to stunlock the boss.
Activate Morgott's Great Rune
For those who have trouble timing the Blasphemous Claw parry, then bloating up HP values can work as well as a way to mitigate Maliketh's debuff. The best way to do this is by equipping and then activating Morgott's Great Rune. This will increase the maximum HP by a generous amount.
With this, Maliketh's debuff easily becomes manageable and players can feel more confident with their attacks. The downside is that death will deactivate Great Runes meaning it can be quite a costly tactic depending on one's stash of Rune Arcs. But that's all the more reason to either help players with bosses or invade them for Rune Arcs.
Use Bloodhound's Step
For another defensive method that comes in handy for evading Maliketh's debuff explosion, Bloodhound's Step can be priceless. It's essentially a dash skill with an astonishing distance and generous i-frames. The best part is that it doesn't consume much FP.
Players can easily abuse Bloodhound's Step in order to dash away from Maliketh even if they made the mistake of attacking him after he plunges his sword to the ground. Bleed builds can make the best use out of this especially if they use weapons like Uchigatana or Scavenger's Curved Sword. But any build can use it by applying it to a dagger and then swapping to it on demand.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
