The Hardest Boss Ever Made - Elden Ring 

Fighting this boss i learned 2 things. Her name is Malenia. She is the blade of Miquella.

Hearing Malenia’s “wait” for the first time was crazy

I was struggling for 2-3 hours not realizing she has a second phase and first time seeing that transition cutscene really was a true horror.

Guys lets face it: The hardest boss From Software ever made was gravity and the camera.

There's a theory that the reason why Malenia doesn't aggressively engage with you during her first phase, is not out of respect - it's because she's blind. She literally can't see, that is why she mostly relies on your movements to know when to attack. Thought it was pretty cool, though I like the "respect" theory also.

"I am Malenia, blade of Miquella, and I have never known defeat." "I am the Tarnished of no reknown, and defeat is all I have ever known." This fight really is a case of "irresistable force versus immovable object".

Her voice actress was wonderful and haunting. "Oh dearest Michella, I've finally met..... my match." Goosebumps every time.

God, her art design is so amazing. I still can't get over it.

Everyone seems to forget this fact. There’s no dlc for ER yet. And From Software’s DLCs always have the hardest enemies. Manus and Artorius. Burnt Ivory King and Fume Knight. Sister Frieda and Gael. I can only imagine what monstrosities await us in the Elden Ring DLC.

I read that malenia's eyes are gone because of rot. So, the reason why if you stand still she doesnt just aggressivly run at you is because she doesnt quite know where you are. look at the floor and notice its full of water, she attacks aggressivly when you move because she can hear where you are

13:35 I don't think you guys realized how much pain this dude was in. He was tried so.hard get through phase 1 got so happy...then the CS happened he thought he finally it. That my friends is the laugh of helpless anguish and broken resolve. 😅

The guy screaming, "Chat, what is the solution? Tell me. How. HOW. HOWWWWWW!!!" may be the best part of this video. 🤣

Making her heal after every successful attack was really the icing on the cake, from soft we’re definitely kicking there feet and giggling making this boss

Elden Ring players: "Malenia is the hardest boss ever." Elden Ring DLC: "And I took that personally."

Elden Ring: *has a boss that heals* Everyone: “We were not ready”

Mimic tear +10 was my lord and savior during this fight.

I think we all collectively said "we'll see about that" when malenia said " i never known defeat"

The fact that her introduction puts her so close to you, and she closes the gap with the first move you're not prepared for (if it's your first time facing her) is just a sample of the pain you endure. I will always put respect on the name after beating Milenia, Blade of Miquella

The bloom outside the boss room is one of Millicent’s sisters, that’s why there’s a travelers set by it. Just like how there’s a bloom where Millicent dies if you kill her

I think people are mistaking something. From all we've seen, Malenia has bloomed in total only twice. Once against Radahn and the second one after we defeat her. The bloom outside her boss room is clearly from one of Milicents sisters as you find the clothes they wear when you interact with it ( plus we know this can happen cuz milicent can bloom after she dies). So that would infact mean that we haven't yet seen the actual godess of rot. Also, we know that she's supposed to lose her mind when she blooms for the third time, but she is clearly still very "sane" still having her consciousness and most importantly, her personality. I believe if this is true, then when we actually fight the true godess, it might be something more akin to the elden beast, or at the very least, Melania will lose all her sense of self to the rot

@13:42 homeboy just instantly recognizing how fucked the situation is and laughing through the pain gotta be the realest shit i seen

Can’t wait for Godwyn’s insane deathblight attacks, The Gloam-Eyed Queen spewing a shit ton of black flame everywhere, and Miquella being the most insanely tight and harrowing boss battle in video game history.

Malenia’s Most Broken Ability is the ability to walk away from staggers. She’s the only enemy/boss in all of Elden Ring that can literally interrupt a stagger. Idk what Fromsoft was thinking with that one lmao

Malenia was the only soulsbourne boss that I gave up and summoned for. It always bother me so I went to ng+ and finally solo'd her after fourteen combined hours of trying. Most satisfying feeling I ever felt playing a video game

when she said “you will witness true horror” during the phase transition i knew i was in for some shit

Having played most of the Soulsborne titles I've learned three things: humanoid enemies are significantly harder to kill, the only unpredictable enemies are other players, and if a boss slow walks towards you in any phase they mean business.

16:30 That guy's face is pretty damn relatable. Doesn't even feel like victory, just feels like it's over finally.

Dancer from DS3 has a first phase where she doesn’t aggressively hunt you as well. It’s low key one of the best ever fights in the series, arguably the best. Incredibly unpredictable and beautiful fighting style, 2 iconic attacks in the grab and the sword dance, perfectly balanced in a way that a a lvl 15 player can learn to beat it but is the hardest boss for challenge runners over even midir because her style makes her always a possibility to hit you, no bloated hp bar, no endboss try hard shit, great theme music, great lore with pontiff. Has everything.

Finally defeating Malenia was the most satisfaction I've had in a minute

Malenia was the most emotional boss fight I ever had in any game. The rot, Miquella, her waiting for him, her sorrow, all of it was so evident, and I felt so bad the closer she was getting to death. The underlying emotion of all FromSoft games is sorrow and grief. And Malenia was at the epitome of it. Say whatever, but to me, she is one of the best boss fights.

Malenia's difficulty is because of her utter devotion to Miquella, and her sheer desperation. She has nothing to gain from defeat, and everything to lose. She's waiting for Miquellas return, and with that return she believes she'll be cured of the scarlet rot. Who knows, if Miquella had returned maybe she even would have regrown her lost limbs, and recovered her sight. Tragically we know that Moghs interference have left Miquella in a withered comatose state, and will not return. There's a lot of bosses that make you regret having to kill them, but none of them have made me feel so awful as Malenia. Rest in Power Malenia, you and your twin were too pure for The Lands Between.

I had absolutely no problem with any of the bosses until I met Malenia. She humbled me real quick by one shotting me my first attempt. It took me around 4 hours to beat her and I also looked up a guide on her moveset. I yelled so loud when I did finally beat her

she is so difficult but also so respectfull she calls you true lord and that she met her match when she is considered strongest of them all

It was very funny to recognize that Malenia would be just chillin for hours if you did so too and you both look at each other like "you go first"

I love how for Malenias fight i knew the 2nd phase was coming but i was in denial saying “please tell me there isnt a 2nd phase” during the cut scene

Her Waterfowl's Dance is perhaps one of the most beautiful and, at the same time, the most horrifying move in all of FromSoft.

Killing this boss without spirit summons is truly something else. And if you do it without bleed & frost, you're a true giga chad.

9:16 is probably the best fight on Malenia that I've ever witnessed

15:45 bro is genuinely tweaking 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Elden Ring was my first Souls game ever, and I was NOT prepared but oh, man, did I fall in love. I take my time with games, I love to just enjoy them, so this was perfect for me. I also became acquainted with levels of frustration I’ve probably not ever felt in a video game before, starting with Astel, then just escalating from there. Usually, two hours is long for me to play a game uninterrupted. I’ll put a couple hours in, then a couple more later in the day. With Malenia, I believe it took me four and a half hours nonstop. That bliss I felt after victory is a high I don’t really expect a game to ever live up to again.

I think one thing that I really liked on my first play through is that Radahn and Malenia felt like they were about the same difficulty for the time that you actually reach them

If Malenia is this hard imagine how hard the dlc bosses are going to be. Calling it right now with Miquella/St trina being a bosses that will sleep you thenn grab you witha oneshot attack. Better stock up on sleep boluses.

13:55 Judging by his reaction to 2nd phase and by how little crimson tears he had left, we all know he was fighting for his life in the first phase 😂

Why did I get satisfaction from the guy at 9:15 being so smug and instantly getting humbled

Quick tip for anyone struggling with Malenia: 1) Control the fight. Don't let her corner you; the arena looks much bigger than how it actually feels. 2) For the first two lunges of her Waterfowl Dance, dodge backwards or to the side, the side dodge takes more precision but leaves you at full hp, the back dodge has you take a few hundred points of damage (from the first one, the second won't even hit you) but is easier to execute, even panic rolling works. For the third, unlock your camera from her and as soon as she "jumps" toward you, dodge *FORWARD*, as she's programmed to get behind you. 3) Her rapid slices (the "ding" sound move) can be easily dodged by rolling into the first three slices (preferably forward-right), and back-right from the final slice. 4) For her Scarlet Aeonia, back away as soon as you see her wind up (the Phase 2 beginning is obvious, the others begin with her flying into the air, glowing with an orange hue and flower petals) and when you see her beginning to plunge downwards, immediately roll. Then, sprint, roll or bloodhound step further away to avoid the bloom. 5) Don't get greedy. While it may be tempting to do a full use of some weapon skill or two charged heavy attacks, you're likely animation-locking yourself into getting combo-d. Chip down her health between her moves rather than trying to stunlock her and melt her HP bar in one go, as that'll prove to be quite ineffective. 7) For more or less the rest of her phase 1 attacks, rolling backwards as soon as she lunges towards you seems to do the trick and give you enough time to react and dodge again. If there's anything I missed, feel free to let me know or ask me about it in the replies!!! Hope I helped, even if only slightly

Malenia’s design is also perfect. The prosthetics, her cape which brandishes the cleanrot knight insignia, her iconic helmet, her fire red hair that seemingly flows like water, it all comes together to craft an iconic design. And the symbolism of her lore is fascinating too. Several war monuments describe Malenia with wings of unparalleled strength or undefeated wings, which become literal wings in our fight. And when she dies her wings fade away, we’re the first ones to clip wings of unparalleled strength. And her hair too. Not only does the scarlet aeonia vastly resemble her hair, her hair is also the last thing to not be corrupted by the rot when we find her. And in phase 2 not even that is safe, her hair is twisted and combined with butterflies into these horrific wings, losing the last thing to the rot. A corruption of the symbol of radagon’s lineage of warriors, faded away

My favourite boss out of every game. Although I must admit, Rykard is a very close second. But Malenia's character is also so terribly sad when you look at her lore and the loss of her brother she obviously loves more than anything. I am not even sure, if she is aware that he isn't even in that room with her anymore. The way she sits looks like she points her still intact hand/arm towards that hole in the Haligtree where Miquella's egg would be if Mohg wouldn't have taken it. And the things she says could also just mean, she sits there and waits for his return which is literally just getting out of that egg. "Waiting for his return". That does not sound like she knows he was kidnapped, because if she knew she would not just sit and wait there? And how is a kidnapped person supposed to "return" when no one takes that person back. If she knew, I would guess she would say something more like "he was taken away and I am still in search for him". She also can't see after all and she was comatose since she fought Radahn...who could have told her, that her brother is gone. Long story short: It sounds more like she is awaiting Miquella to get out of that egg to me. If that is accurate - which I do believe - it would even be more tragic, as they are more divided than she even knows. She almost desperately emphasizes that she is the Blade Of Miquella. That is what counts for her. Not being an Empyrean of such power. But being her brother's guard. Fully aware and prepared to step back for him when the time would have come to be the successor of Queen Marika. And just staying his guard. And all the people going "Radahn blablabla". No. Malenia fought him blind and already amputated. Not necessarily blinded by rot, but blinded by her helmet (as her swordmaster probably taught her this way of fighting as he himself was blind). Every fight she took was without eyesight and wearing prosthetics and it came down to those two in the Shattering Wars. And it is not like she could not beat him. He could not beat her. Blind and wearing prosthetics and still she was that fast. Too fast for him to hit properly. Although he had the advantage of strength, size, magic, an intact body, eyesight and even a horse (although that might be a bit exaggerated looking at how and why he rode it)...he could not beat her. He could not even keep her at distance. While she knew she needs one single hit. As we know, she would land that devastating blow after all. A stalemate for Radahn at that time must have been like a loss looking at his pride as a warrior. All while literally watching her even sacrificing herself to stop him. I think she did fight for Miquella in that war, not for herself. Her choice or thought was that if Radahn can't beat her, Miquella can win the whole war in the end. Again, her brother mattered most. We the players can only beat both of them because the rot has weakened them terribly over time. It is the curse an Empyrean bears after all and even Malenia says, that we will now witness "true horror" when her Goddess phase starts. I do not really think that is a threat in a classic way, more like an "And now you will suffer and feel, what I suffered and felt my whole life". So yes. This whole character of Malenia is not just a hard boss fight. It is part of such a great yet sad story and has such a great depth in it that only grows on second sight.

something I’ve always enjoyed about souls games. the bosses are decaying , falling apart, have lost their mind, etc. and yet, they are still powerful, still require such determination to fell.

The second phase is so "hard" I had to consult additional lore material after that

The thing about her story is that she may not even be dead. From her Scarlet Aronia spell description it refers to her as if she's still alive.

Nah, what pisses me off is when you die to a boss, and they just keep spamming their OP attacks as fast as they can on your lifeless body

Watching Dan fight this boss was one of the most insane moments on twitch for 30 days lol. It's not going 3000!

I’ve actually heard that the bloom outside of her boss fight is not her bloom. It’s one of Millicents sisters blooms, which is why it has her outfit inside of it. Her third and final bloom is after you kill her and come back to the arena, and there’s speculation she’s inside of it ready to bloom at any point into the ultimate goddess of rot.

Definitely the most rage-psychosis inducing boss of all time imo. Great fight, super satisfying defeat, but took many hours of my life in trade. 10/10

when you mentioned using rivers of blood and mimic tear i felt called out

Its kinda crazy, i was the dude who first published the cheese strat to beat her and im glad it helped so many players. However, being my first from game i felt like I disrespected the beauty of this boss. I proceeded to completely learn her moveset and beat her hitless multiple times after about a week that the game came out. It was truly one of the best decisions I have made. Hats off to the devs for designing such an intricate, incredible experience.

Playing a Fromsoft game upon release is truly a treasure trove of experiences. I remember the first couple of days everyone posting and complaining about Radahn and as time passed and people discovered more areas this boogeyman of a boss became legend.

The funny thing is that I have a theory; her weapon that you get from Enia actually has bleed buildup. But she doesn’t afflict bleed in your fight with her. Her first iteration may have had bleed damage, but they decided it was too much and cut it. She was almost much harder if im right

Everytime I see a boss suspending in the air in the middle of a fight, I know I'm going to die

9:25 And that folks is why you level Vigor

Ngl both her and the entire Haligtree area feel like they could have been DLC. Everything from the puzzle to access the area to the difficulty to the completely unique feel of the area. It’s a special experience for sure, and even though I have put in more attempts on Malenia than I have on any other boss I have yet to beat her without either summoning or using bleed.

Honestly, Malenia is one of my favourite boss fights. On my first playthrough, I struggled a lot. Like, a lot a lot. However, I never felt like I was losing fun. I kept trying and eventually I won and when I did, my screams of joy made my discord friends go deaf. It may be because Elden Ring is my first time properly playing a FromSoft game, so I didn't have anyone to compare her to, but the fight just felt and still feels really fun, waterfowl and all.

I love Malenia's fight. She's the hardest Fromsoftwere boss ever and overcoming her makes it all the more satisfying. Not to mention she's an endgame optional superboss and so obviously she's was going to be brutally challenging.

Base game: I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. DLC: I am Miquella, Shield of Malenia.

After all the difficulty, controversy and rage Malenia induced, she is one of the few bosses in the game that can get poise-broken so easily and i think that that's her biggest weakness as you can stun-lock her for 2-3 hits at a time if you're careful.

Took me 6 days of several hours of attempts each day before I finally took her down. Probably gave me the biggest rush of euphoria I’ve ever felt from a game

It hurt even more when I found out that she is canonically blind. Yes, she literally handed our asses to us with her eyes closed

I think it’s strongly implied that the bloom right before malenias boss room isn’t from malenia and is from one of the off shoots like Millicent cuz there’s travelers garbs next to it and it’s also way smaller than malenias bloom, I think that we experienced a second bloom and that she was only partial goddess in her second phase, and a third bloom may come later of malenia isn’t really dead but in a coma again

So, I said on your Radahn video that I was surprised why he was the controversial when she was basically a Sekiro boss in a Souls game. Okay, here is my little conspiracy theory. Some of you may have heard about Tomoe in Sekiro, kind of a legend in the game's lore, swordmaster and the lady who trained Genichiro and bodyguard of the previous divine heir Takeru. Her fighting style was described by many as a dance. Now, how come we never had the opportunity in Sekiro to duel her? I think at one point in Sekiro's development a boss fight against her was planned but scrapped and the movements that were already finished were later implemented in Malenias moveset. I mean her special attack is basically Floating Passage, the way she attacks leaves so few openings but would be counterable with Sekiro's system, everything would add up. Tl;dr: Malenia's moveset is probably based on a scrapped Sekiro Tomoe battle.

for me this is the best fight i have ever played in the entire souls series learning how to dodge the waterfowl dance without seeing any guide is so satisfying malenia is the only boss that made me under pressure especially the 2nd phase other bosses like nah i will just learn the mouvements and then beat them but malenia no when u read her lore and when u fight her u know thats the best combat for sure and when i finally beat her it was so amazing and wonderful at least whe she said your strength extroardinary she was talking to me not to the mimic XD

“I have never known defeat” “I am Tarnished. Defeat incarnate”

Everyone’s very first fight against her will always result in a death in about 5 seconds since after the intro cutscene the game wants to put you just a few inches away from her resulting in….instant death

Malenia may be the hardest boss, but she's my favorite boss to fight. Any new character or NG+ I do, I'll always go to the Haligtree to fight her. And every time I beat her, I bow and do it again in my next playthrough. Love this boss.

“Challenge is a right of passage” Amen to that.

I so much relate to that guy at 16:30 . When you finally beat a challenging Souls boss, you can't even bring yourself to celebrate because of how focused, frustrated and fed up you are with it. You're just glad it's over...

Malenia ROTUSSY GOT ME PLAYING WITH 1 HAND now that is TRUE DIFFICULTY

The battle with her is just so cool. Because she has scarlet rot, she constantly drains your life with each attack to prolong her life. The millions of people and players she has slain to live seconds longer. that is... really something.

I didn't have much of an issue with her. I did however struggle for days on the fire giant. Watching so many people beating him with ease on RU-vid drove me insane.

Great video. I'll never forget beating her. My wife ran into the room and hugged me when she heard me let out a war cry as soon as i won. Lol love the abyss watchers theme in the background btw. 2nd best OST for me. After the Godskin Apostles

The Scarlet Aeonia incant states that Malenia has only bloomed twice, so that bloom outside her room may not actually be hers, since we dont get the spell until after beating her.

The cuts out of nowhere are so funny. This was a great vid

Clicked this solely for the thumbnail. Imagine my shock when I noticed the artist wasn't credited in the description.

Dude’s laughing when malenia goes into phase 2 is soooo spot on lmao just utter defeat lol

great video! I was gonna say something about Orphan of Kos being quite similar, with like the franticness of the second phase and forcing you to fight on its terms but i forgot that waterfowl dance existed... also very snazzy editing!

13:49 that madness laugh is amazing, the man lost it xD

"I am blade of malenia, blade of miquella and I have never known defeat" "huh, so you don't know ?" Me, with my ruins greatsword+10 and ready to tank through everything.

Her strength is justified. If you read the lore surrounding her and her master/ brother, she got that good because of the circumstances and choices she made throughout her life. I have mad respect for her and beating her in a fight was amazing.

And yes, she was blind, using the water to ascertain your presence, and the sound of your movements to strike you. Her visor completely covers her eyes. But yes I do agree there is a level of respect she shows to you for being brave enough to get to her and foolish enough to challenge her.

Causal getting their heads severed immediatelly at the beggining of a fight because of summoning animation is so funny

Orphan of Kos and Ludwig from Bloodborne : "Hold our beers."

Melania is actually given special treatment by the game engine to avoid stance breaks and staggers. She is the only boss that from software has ever released that allows her to cancel out of her stagger animation without having to complete it. Her stance break mechanic is also treated differently like the other bosses in the game she doesn't stange break while in hyper armor but unlike the other bosses her stance break health begins to reign instantly instead of the 6 second delay timer that other bosses have. This plus her long chains allows her to effectively choose to be stance broken or not which can steal free repost that you should have earned normally.

Dude that opening of Malenia was such a cool intro.

She hasn't bloomed 3 times yet. The one u see outside her arena was one of Millicent's sisters. Just like Millicent, if u kill her, that one bloomed after death The time she blooms in her fight, is the 2nd. So there's a big probability she'll return in the DLC

I feel like I finally beat her when she didn't use the waterfall as much during that run. Beating her felt so good.

That Aeonia bloom outside of Malenia's arena is not the second bloom. She blooms a second time during her fight, as stated in the Scarlet Aeonia incantation: "Each time the scarlet flower blooms, Malenia's rot advances. It has bloomed twice already. With the third bloom, she will become a true goddess." Our fight with her and her second phase is not her as a real goddess of rot.

Very happy with how this turned out! Let me know what I can do to improve the storytelling

Hey, weird question, what font did you use in the intro for "Elden ring explained Malenia..." at 0:34

I don't know why but the "No Skill" right above cohhs head as he tries to summon the mimic right off the bat cracks me right up

Best video game boss ever! Only one I still dread after dozens of playthroughs and 750 hours of game time. Absolutely instant legend. Only had to beat her once solo to feel like a god

I just summoned a 'let me solo her' (wasn't the original) and let him do it and watched in awe. Still almost died, but I was cowering behind a shield the entire time, so he managed to regain aggro while I was still alive. Intense fight I tell you!