Quick Links
Of all the bosses in Elden Ring none is more feared than 
Malenia, Blade of Miquella . She's technically an optional boss, but that doesn't mean she can be taken lightly – in fact, a pretty vocal part of the Elden Ring community believes she is the hardest boss of any FromSoftware game.
Malenia is tough, to be sure, but she's not impossible. When facing seemingly insurmountable bosses in Elden Ring it's always a good idea to come back later on once leveled up a bit more. Beating Malenia ultimately comes down to knowing her moveset and being open to changing your build to counter Scarlet Rot.
Updated May 4, 2023 by Erik Petrovich: There isn't any particular Malenia weakness Elden Ring players can take advantage of to make this tough fight easier, but there are a few things to keep in mind to avoid the worst of it. The first of course is to equip Scarlet Rot preventing items, but that's only half the Malenia boss fight: the other half is knowing how to dodge her moveset, in particular the Waterfowl Dance. When it comes to the best way to beat Malenia, heavy weapon users have the easiest go of it, but they also have the hardest time avoiding her fast attacks. Before wondering how to beat Malenia, the Tarnished has to know how to avoid Malenia, and that means memorizing the Waterfowl Dance in and out.
Malenia's Moveset (and How To Counter It)
Malenia is a fast boss, and even with the distractions of summons to create opportunities for attacks she can close distance on a new target incredibly quickly. It doesn't help that her two signature moves, Waterfowl Dance and Scarlet Aeonia, are both reliable gap closers for the Goddess of Rot. She also heals with every hit on the player or summons, and some of her moves easily fill her Health bar in seconds.
Two things that can be worth incorporating into a build to counter Malenia's worst attacks are the Bloodhound Step Ash of War and the Flame Cleanse Me Incantation. Bloodhound Step is essentially a better dodge that cloaks the player and covers a larger distance. Flame Cleanse Me cures Scarlet Rot and only requires 12 Faith, though a Seal is required to cast it.
How To Avoid Waterfowl Dance
Waterfowl Dance is Malenia's signature move that just about every Elden Ring player fears. For this attack, which will appear several times over the fight, Malenia rears in the air for a second, then deals a series of extremely rapid attacks while homing towards the player over an enormous, inescapable distance. As if that wasn't enough, it's then followed up with another series of attacks, and capped with a final aerial AoE slashing attack (and a damaging echo a second later)
Using a high Guard Boost shield to block attacks helps mitigate damage, and sprinting in the opposite direction can help to avoid the initial barrage. It is possible to completely avoid damage at close range with precise dodges, as explained by Reddit user Accomplished_Pie.
- When Malenia initially jumps, immediately walk to the left around her back.
- The moment she swings down for the initial attack, dodge forward through it.
- Malenia will do a short series of attacks in that direction, so roll backward to create more space.
- When she re-directs for the second flurry, dodge backward again.
- Malenia will rise into the air for one final sweep. Roll into this attack as it comes down, and she will finish the Waterfowl Dance with plenty of space, and will even be vulnerable for a second after the final flurry.
Other Phase One Moves
- Jumping Lunge: Malenia jumps above the player and thrusts at them in a very quick animation.
- She only tends to use this move when she is far away, so stay close and dodge/block her attacks instead to avoid baiting out this move. Dodging towards her at the last second will cause her to miss.
- Impaling Grab: Malenia launches towards the player, grabs them, and throws them into the air to impale them on the tip of her sword.
- This is almost always a one-hit-kill, but it's well-telegraphed and can be avoided by dodging toward her at the last second.
- Kick: Malenia charges forward and kicks the player to break their Posture and create an opening for a follow-up attack.
- A shield can block this with enough Poise and Stamina, and dodging backward avoids being hit entirely.
- Uppercut Combo: Malenia slashes upwards and follows up with either a slam or a horizontal slash. Deals high damage, and is one of Elden Ring's many boss abilities that can be delayed for as long as she likes.
- Be careful to only dodge when Malenia just starts her upward swing, as she will hold back for a time before actually attacking.
- Charge Attack: Malenia rushes the player and spins around to deal damage all around her, and can be followed up with a slam attack like the Uppercut combo.
- Players must dodge both the initial charge and the slam afterward, which can be delayed.
Phase Two Moves
- Scarlet Aeonia: After Malenia transforms into the Goddess of Rot she always uses this ability first. Malenia will rise into the air, then rapidly crash down on her target to unleash a massive Scarlet Aeonia in an area, dealing Scarlet Rot buildup and huge explosive damage.
- The initial Scarlet Rot blast and subsequent explosion can be dodged by rolling away from Malenia when she lands and then rolling away again to avoid the explosion. She uses this ability intermittently throughout Phase Two, and luckily she is wide open for a few seconds after the explosion finishes.
- Scarlet Rot-Infused Attacks: As the Goddess of Rot almost all of her attacks from Phase One now inflict Scarlet Rot damage (and deal higher damage across the board). The Waterfowl Dance is the most egregious, particularly thanks to the larger AoE radius of the combo's final slash.
- Preserving Boluses or Flame, Cleanse Me are almost essential to make it through these attacks and Phase Two without accruing Scarlet Rot buildup.
- Phantom Barrage: Malenia will rise into the air as if she is about to use the Scarlet Aeonia attack, but instead she launches a barrage of phantom copies of herself at the player, each homing to the player's exact location and disappearing as soon as the attack lands.
- This attack can go on for some time, and the phantoms can't be killed themselves, so equip a 100% Physical Damage blocking shield or make more distance from Malenia by dodging backward with each Phantom sent the Tarnished's way.
Strategies for Beating Malenia
Easiest Strategy: Staggering, Greatshield Ashes, and Bloodhound's Step
By far the easiest way to cheese Malenia is to take advantage of her staggerability in Phase One and use the Bloodhound's Step Ash of War to avoid almost all of her attacks. Colossal weapons can interrupt just about every one of Malenia's Phase One moves, and weapon abilities that knock down enemies like the Blasphemous Blade's can keep her down the entire time, and Gravity spells can be used to great effect too.
The Bloodhound's Step Ash of War is ridiculously good against Malenia as it lets players phase through her rapid moveset with ease, including the dreaded Waterfowl Dance. It's well worth respeccing to use this Ash of War when having a lot of trouble against this boss. On that note, if one decides to use Spirit Summons, the Greatshield Soldier Ashes are great as they can each distract Malenia and guard against the majority of her melee attacks, too.
Melee Strategy
The best melee strategy for beating Malenia is to use the biggest, baddest Greatsword you can find. Phase One Malenia is easily staggerable, and players will likely be able to get two or three Critical Hits on her with Jumping attacks in the mix. If Colossal weapons don't sound like something worth trying, Malenia is susceptible to Bleed, so consider using a dual Katana build with lots of investment into Arcane to trigger this effect reliably.
To sound like a broken record, the usefulness of the Bloodhound's Step Ash of War can't be overstated. Being in melee range for this fight is a veritable death sentence, but this Ash of War makes it possible to stay in the fight to keep Malenia's Posture down.
Ranged and Spellcaster Strategy
Ranged and Spellcasting players will find Malenia to be a bit easier as they naturally stay further away from melee range, though Malenia's gap-closers can make finding room to cast spells difficult. Choose spells that can be cast quickly and deal lots of posture damage, like Gravity sorceries, or spells that can be timed to launch when Malenia gets near, like Magic Glintblade or Carian Phalanx.
Ranged players should take advantage of Malenia's susceptibility to being knocked down in Phase One by using a 
Greatbow or the 
Hand Ballista . In Phase Two she can't be knocked down anymore, but she is still vulnerable to Frostbite and Bleed. Equip arrows and throwable items that take advantage of this, like the 
Coldbone Arrow or Bloodbone Arrow .
Rewards For Beating Malenia
For beating Malenia players unlock the standard rewards for major bosses as well as the ability to progress in a game-changing questline. The Remembrance of the Rot Goddess is Malenia's associated Remembrance and gives players either 50,000 Runes or a choice between her Katana, the Hand of Malenia, or the Scarlet Aeonia Incantation. She also drops Malenia's Great Rune, which grants a retaliatory Health recovery effect.
After beating Malenia and reloading the area players will see a dying Aeonia in the middle of the boss room. If the Tarnished is in possession of the Unalloyed Gold Needle, it can be used at this Aeonia to create Miquella's Needle. This item is a consumable that subdues the power of the Frenzied Flame, and is the only way to reverse the inheritance of the Three Fingers – which frees players from being locked into the Age of Chaos ending.
To get the Unalloyed Gold Needle, players must have progressed Millicent's own questline to the point that she bequeaths it to the Tarnished. When she is found in the Haligtree, over a small jump beyond the Scarlet Rot pools, she asks the player to help her defeat her sisters. If they are successful, she will give this valuable item back and succumb to her own Rot.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.
