An Elden Ring player has shared a recording of them taking on one of the game's most challenging bosses, Maliketh, at level one and without the use of dodge-rolling. The difficulty of bosses within FromSoftware's games, whether they be Dark Souls or otherwise, is well known. It's perhaps unsurprising then that dedicated Elden Ring players, once mastering these fights, have imposed additional restrictions on themselves to make those battles even more difficult.
The Maliketh fight in Elden Ring is easily one of the game's most challenging battles. Not only is it late in the game, when Elden Ring's difficulty spikes the highest, but Maliketh is uniquely challenging. The Black Blade is deceptively quick, has oddly-timed attacks that can surprise veterans, and is able to cover distance rapidly. That Maliketh also does significant amounts of damage with some attacks can be assumed, as can it being a lengthy two-phase boss fight.
It's going to be difficult to outperform the accomplishments of CaregiverAgitated534 when it comes to the Maliketh fight. The Elden Ring player recently shared a video of a stunningly executed performance. Not only did they battle Maliketh at level one, meaning they have no bonus stats and would die in a single hit, but they also restrict themselves further. They don't allow themselves to dodge roll the entire fight.
In order to win the fight without using a dodge roll and without taking a single hit, CaregiverAgitated534 has to play perfectly. They have to know all of Maliketh's moves for both of its phases. They have to know how to react to those attacks by moving out of risk zones and controlling distance. And they have to know the timing of their own attacks, so they can do damage and then prepare for what's coming next. It's Elden Ring taken to its extreme.
For those thinking this must have taken the player days if not weeks to accomplish, sometimes Elden Ring players are just so good that these things come naturally. CaregiverAgitated534 claims that it took just two hours to complete Maliketh with their self-imposed limitations. While they say they "got lucky," it's clear that they're simply exceptionally talented at Elden Ring. Though there's no doubt they've put in the time to reach this point, too.
Maliketh isn't the first boss that CaregiverAgitated534 has challenged themself to defeat in such an extreme way. They say they've also done Placidusax and Malenia at level one without any dodge roles. Of the three, they say that Malenia was easily the most difficult, but that Maliketh is their favorite boss fight overall. Placidusax, on the other hand, was "very easy," but took 40 minutes to kill. Odds are, there are yet more challenges for CaregiverAgitated534 to take on in Elden Ring in the future.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
