@@white_eaglefna8081 nope speaking from experience this bitch can do multiple in one phase. She did one at 70% and literally the second one 3 moves after. You just got to be extremely good at timing your attacks
I thought too that was true, so I went testing and... It's not, you surprisingly have enough time to outspace the first flurry running and jumping even if you're point blank when she starts waterfowl, which means if you're too far to circle around you're definitely far enough to run away
I just find it fascinating that I can be so good at fighting her, like consistently not getting hit once in phase 01, yet I still haven't beaten her even once, after 3 days.
It’s a rng fight skill has nothing to do with this fight 3 waterfalls back to back no one can dodge if her water falls were scripted this wouldn’t even be a hard fight
I find it wholesome that I'm not the only one that measures in "days" and not "tries". I enjoy videogames but I SUCK at hand eye coordination, once I invest a lot of hours I can get decent, but man, with chores, work and other things, It's really difficult to git gud
@@Sinjo334 this is, just wrong? As someone who has done, and have documented them on this channel, RL1 speedruns. It’s a consistent fight with enough practice
When I inatially got to malenia i was kinda pissed so i took a giant break from the game and now, after like 4 months i decided to try her again and I finally beat her. Never felt so much relief in my life.
Personally I'm just stunned this dude figured out you can hit her BETWEEN waterfowl attacks. That's crazy. Dude pokes her in the face while she's doing anime shit instead of instantly dying like I do.
Pro tip: when she gets in flurry range for the first time most throwable items will trigger the attack at any range, meaning you can trigger it very far away from her by throwing a ruin fragment (sometimes it may take up to 3, but one will generally do), safely dodge it and get a 1 min or so window without her using it. You can use it to try to trigger it later on into the fight if you think she may be going to do it again, but it can take a lot of throws for the thingie to trigger. I haven't managed to pull it off in the second phase, but the second phase is arguably easier.
This is my first proper souls game, took me 15 tries to clear gate front ruins, and I was motivated every second of it :-) besides, all those attempts got my wretch a full armor set and two swords, so that’s cool.
Nice! My heart goes out to you since this is your first souls game. Mine was Bloodborne and i gotta say you are more positive then i was durring my first playthrough in Bloodborne lol
bruh.. i've been trying to kill malenia solo for about 70+ tries or so and I killed her 1st try after watching this. I was having the hardest time with her phase 2, amazing guide
Thank you so much. I unlike you was really struggling with phase two. It took me 69 tries no summons (nice) but I did it shortly after watching this video. The main issue was waterfowl and you saying to jump as she landed changed everything. It got to the point I was consistently dodging waterfowl and that ghost move was the only issue. Finally got her after stepping up the aggressive in phase 2. Cheers mate
This may be a year old but ill say this, the baiting out her attacks instead of running and rolling past her basic swings really helped me with this and made me get through the middle of 2nd phase relatively unscathed. I am replaying before the dlc comes out, so i could to "get gud" at it before more likely harder challenges show up lol. so i appreciate all the help man :)
I see your point about phase 2. Turns out the whole fight really just boils down to surviving Waterfall and the clones so that you can live to inflict punishment. Everything else is easy once you see how to do it.
This is hands down the best guide for Malenia!! Thank you so much for taking the time to make it :) I beat her a few times before, but always used mimic tear plus some form of cheese. Now that I’m taking a little break from the pvp I really wanted to actually learn the fight and this guide was exactly what I was looking for! Again, thanks so much brother!
I died over 150+ times to this boss, and when I finally beat her, I actually cried tears of joy. The feeling was so euphoric I don't think any other video games compare in this regard.
If you're really stuck, get the marionette archer ashes and get them leveled up. They literally just pin her down with hundreds of arrows and you just wail away until she's dead. Works on most enemies in the game.
yoo i watched this video this morning and was able to get my challenge fight (dual hammer, no magic) done shortly after. thanks for the tips! super helpful
Thank you so much! I didn't know that you can punish the slow horizontal follow up after the 3 hit combo. With that, the fight clicked for me, and I was able to do RL1 and hitless (videos in my channel)
I am going to comment on this 2 years later and say THANK YOU!!!! I was stuck on her for 6 hours and found your guide. Beat her 20 minutes after watching this. This guide rules!
Thank you!!!! I just finally beat Malenia! I had finished the game last week but I hadn’t been able to beat her and it was bothering me. Thank you again for your help!
Amazing video. I just got my first solo run on her after three hours. Though, I got it an hour after watching this video. She went from a boss I hated to one I loved.
Beat first her after i saw your guide on the second phase. I usually play with summons, spells, and other cheesy stuff, but i decided to challenge myself and i just couldn't get enough of it. Sure, I probably died like 100 or so times, but it gave me the same thrill that playing dark souls gave me. 10/10, would fight again. I think i might never fight with summons again cuz of how fun that was. For anyone wondering, i was using the Let Me Solo Her build except i put frost mist on my uchigana and used a fire infused nagakiba instead of rivers of blood.
What I hate about Malenia is it feels so inconsistent. It’s so hard to tell when she’s going to continue her combo and when she isn’t. There’s no way to know when she’s gonna do waterfowl dance after the first one, so if you get stuck in an attack animation then you’re pretty much fucked. I’m okay at dodging it but the problem is I can’t tell which way she’s going to finish it in her third flurry, sometimes I avoid it, sometimes I run right into it. Her poise mechanics feel inconsistent, she has hyperarmor on most of her attacks obviously, sometimes I break her poise quickly, other times I hit her 10 times or more and her poise doesn’t break. She follows up her attacks in unpredictable ways. So save for baiting out one or two attacks it’s too dangerous to punish her. I hate Malenia, I really wanted to like this boss but it’s just utter bullshit. I’ve already beat her twice, i’m trying to beat her for a third time, so i’ve fought her for hours at this point. After some attacks sometimes I can get a charged attack that works but sometimes she goes straight into a hyperarmor move and punishes me. After her most dangerous attacks namely waterfowl and 7 hit combo she doesn’t even give you a guaranteed punish. You just have to bait out the same few attacks. This is bad boss design. It’s designed to be difficult for the sake of being difficult. I also don’t like her stupid multi hit attacks that roll catch you. Simply rolling at the right time isn’t enough, you have to roll in the right direction too, which in theory isn’t a bad idea but sometimes taking damage feels unavoidable
I agree man sometimes I get like several charged attacks on her with my bloody helice but then out of nowhere she starts doing her kick move as I’m stuck in the animation fyi I beat every boss I’ve fought so far (except the ones in farum azula and ashen capital) never had this problem I simply just had fun admired the cool ass attacks and just punished the bosses like crazy but Malenia is different this guide really helps though the first phase isn’t that bad for me but the 2nd phase just slowly gets more and more stressful till I literally stop thinking. This is the first time in my entire life I have had to deal with this
@@lol_histicall4289 Yeah she can just straight up cancel her animations into a hyperarmor kick and punish you, and if you get hit by the kick she can true combo into an unavoidable front flip combo and one shot you. Since writing this comment i’ve beat Melania around 15 times, maybe more, and i’ve learned a lot about her and got much better at fighting her. I still think she’s an unpolished mess of a boss, and I know i’ll get skill shamed by saying it despite beating her no hit at level 1. She had potential to be an amazing boss but she has some issues that holds her back from being anything higher than A tier at best.
@@randomfellow1483 I’ve used all kinds of builds against Melania. Colossal swords tend to work really well, weapons with long reach with good poise damage and stagger potential
@@grimreefer213I agree. Her flaws are so damn obvious that’s it’s tragic because she very clearly could’ve been S tier if there was a bit more care put into her moves. The stupid flurry thing she does is nearly unavoidable on an inconsistent basis due to how far her sword reaches. Waterfowl has already been a problem that people have kicked to death, but all I’ll say is that even though there’s a way to dodge in point blank and far away, if she does it mid range you’re basically dead. The way you avoid the attack feels very superficial and specific in a way that most people won’t be able to find. I also hate the life steal. If she only had it in phase 2, that would be great, but she has no reason to use it in phase 1 besides unnecessarily bloating the boss fight. I’ll also waterfowl just should not be in phase 2, it doesn’t really add anything but make the pacing of the fight feel even more inconsistent because she’s already so aggressive compared to the first phase
My first time facing melania I died 30 times after I watched this vid it really taught me to calm down and watch for her movements better thank you for the advice ✊🏻
She does input reading, so when you jump at her, don't press attack until the last moment. If you do it too early, while you're in the air, she will attack early, and you won't be able to roll away.
I’ve already mastered phase one, phase two it seems as if she has no openings. Maybe it’s just me panicking lmao but I feel a lot better after watching this video. Thanks!
10:21 On this attack, even if you don’t have enough space to run, dodge left, right, left, right, left, left and you’ll be good. I saw Let Me Solo Her do it and I was able to do it too. You still have to watch her, try not to spam, but I was kind of panicking lol and I still lived through it by following that dodge combo, so try it out 👍
This is a great guide, if you don’t want to learn the 360 dodge you can just do the safest possible punishes and you will always be able to run and jump at the end
Awesome stuff....goes to show that most of what people found tough, including me (didn't beat her yet) is actually the intimidation. Once you know where to move she's pretty straight forward. Nice
thanks, awesome guide I'm struggling with her at the moment. my build is an astrologer, during first phase I summon lone wolves and hit her with Ranni's dark moon and adulas moonblade (i know she heals by hitting the wolves, but the darkmoon spell deals huge damage so its recompensed). I defeat her 7/10 times but im having a hard time with the second phase. ive learned how to dodge the flower attacks (a first one) which gives me window to use comet azur - huge damage. i guess my problem thoug is that i constantly dodge backwards - a small widow for attacks and using flasks of crimson/curulean tears
You have mastered this fight. Respect One small thing - pretty sure Clone 1 and Clone 4 in her phase 2 ghost attack are the ones that have follow-up pokes
I love you Luc1 I just Malenia summonless for the first time thanks to you (and the 100~ tries before I watched this video). In my success attempt clip I literally have your video playing 10s before I entered the fog door lmfao
that 3 hit swipe gets me mostly. I usually roll back but the third swipe always hit my like at the tip of the sword. I find that rolling late will get me. I have to back roll as soon as her arm sparks, then I am far enough to not get hit. though here i see that I am suppose to roll in. Time to try again tonight.
Well don’t feel bad. Keep in mind I’ve fought this boss quite literally thousands of times for speedruns and such so it just comes down to a bunch of experience and practice. You’ll get it 😤
Another tip for waterfowl: if your endurance is high enough, you can block the first part of her attack (the impossible to dodge through one), and dodge through the other 2
Great guide. I’ve tried her about 50 or so times. I keep getting caught with my pants down right underneath her when she is going into her special. If I manage to dodge that, then her flower bomb one shots me lol
Thanks for this The problem for me is baiting an opening without trading. (Not everyone has a weapon with the speed reach and moveset of serpent hunter XD) Is there anyway you can tell she won;t be attacking when you do?
I can get through phase 1 pretty easily. It’s phase 2 to where I struggle to find consistent openings. They look similar to phase 1 but she has added moves to counter your attack, very frustrating.
A gem of a guide. All I needed to know. I've beaten her 4 times in different playthroughs, 1st with Moonveil, 2nd Cross Naginata + Flame of the Redmanes, 3rd with Rotten and Fire Breaths only (+ a Summon for aggro) and 4th with Rivers of Blood. But now I'm struggling to beat her using Death's Poker. I thought I had the Waterfowl Dance dodging down, but nope, she still chops my life to 50%, only a sliver or straight out dead. Thx bro! Much appreciated.
Tip: All of these rules apply to any melee weapon, the only thing that changes is the size of the punish windows and the number of staggers you can get off. If you're really having trouble with Malenia just parry (Golden/Buckler parry) her, most of her attacks don't work and you can even do this rl1.
Usual rule of thumb for me is once she gets around 75% health comes her first water flow. Just like you I start to run to create distance. And at the last combo of her attack I’ll roll away. I just need to understand her little combos in phase one and know what my openings are.
I finally first tried her my last playthrough, I don't hate her as a boss so much anymore, still think she should follow all of the mechanics other bosses do
i tried to give her the honor of a 1v1, but two days of anguish resulted in me wearing the heaviest armor summoning my mimc and going to town with Corpse Piler, she had no chance.
I can get through her first phase like it's nothing but then I get completely flustered in her second phase. The wings and the music just distract me too much. The first phase is so easy I can do it without taking my eyes off from the corner of the screen.
Phase 2 conceptually is far easier imo. The biggest issue is that is can be more stressful. If you can manage to just block out the false sense of stress from her constant barrage of attacks and what not you'll have it in no time. Just do your best to stay calm and you got it. 😤
Just spam Blasphemous Blade's Ash of War, use Mimic Tear and pump your Faith stat to level 60. Your Mimic will take her aggro while you spam from a safe distance
During phase 2 a visual indicator for waterfowl dance or flurry attack is she will barrel roll her wings hope this helps. Thanks for that phantom attack guide it used to confuse me a lot
I've been playing Souls games since forever and I've never quit. I've completed them all many times over. I only get to play 1 hour an evening these days due to family duties and this Feckin Twat has been beating me down for 2 months now. It's embarrassing. In all my 40 years as a gamer, she is the toughest Boss I've ever encountered. I've watched many guides but this one seems to speak to me more than the rest. I'm going in....
You’ve fucking got it. She is probably the most difficult boss in all souls games (obviously it’s subjective) so don’t get discouraged. She’s absolutely beatable, and as cliché as it is. If I can beat her, anyone can.
The issue is, when you're trying to learn attack patterns with a 1 hour window, in between raising 2 kids, your powers are limited. But I will beat this Scarlet rotting whore bag. I very much appreciate your post mate and I will let you know in late 2025 when I finally defeat this OP wench.
@@luc1 Cheers for the encouragement mate. Your waterfowl guide helped a lot and that was the thing that fucked me nearly every time. Ironically when I finally FUCKING BEAT HER JUST NOW, I didn't have to deal with waterfowl in the 2nd phase. Can't wait to fight her in NG+
by the way, i beat this boss with rivers of blood, and then in the 2nd phase i used the mimic tear and well, the ending is devastating for malenia. but thanks to videos like yours, I have easily overcome the 1st phase, but I still have problems with the 2nd phase. Excellent video!
i am standing infront of her areana, havent fought her yet but here i am watching the 4th Melania guide. the more i watch them the more i realize just how fked i am.
Haven´t been able to kill her just yet but oh that second phase guide will take me somewhere. Gonna come back with updates soon EDIT: JUST DID IT FIRST TRY AFTER THIS VIDEO! THANK YOU GOOD LORD
How I beat (cheese) her: 1.mimic tear max level 2.erdtree heal spell 3.bloodhound sword max level Let the mimic fight. Me as a support healer, heal the mimic when necessary. Occasionally sneak in some hit
@@sonn2077 this is a totally valid way to do it, and not a cheese but not the point of this tutorial. This tutorial was more meant for people who either wanted tips for learning the speedrun fights, or to learn ways to beat her in any manner. RL1, challenge runs, etc. You beat her, that’s all that matters 😤
EDIT: Disclaimer - I still love the video, no offense intended what-so-ever. My apologies if it comes off too negatively. The video is great and all but so somewhat iffy: 1/3rd of the video: light load --> faster movement: he corrected that later putting on some armor but the pace is so essential that it invalidates the first part quite a bit. The part of evading Waterfowl by running 360 to avoid most if not all of the 1st part of the flurry is misleading: it CAN be done and it works! (it really does) BUT that counts only IF your character is NOT locked in an animation. Example: 0.5 seconds before Waterfowl (not yet visible): I roll casually just in case --> Waterfowl starts: I'm just barely ending the roll animation and already she's up in the air. I'm now at medium range, just short of the required distance to run away and jump, AND at the same time too far away to run under her and do the 360. At that point maybe BHS or a shield can avoid damage, but the price is paid. This guide only gives you pointers on how to avoid Waterfowl damage at long and very short range AND ready to act. Sure, spacing is emphasized, but bollocks! Long range is barely EVER available to upkeep and short range plus not actually doing something yourself(!) is just barely viable due to her aggressiveness (at short range). I think this guide is perfect for very advanced players... Who already know how to beat Malenia (so what's the point?). It is very technical and very well-explained by Luc1. But it's not suitable for people actually struggling with the fight. With a bit of practice I'm sure anyone can follow the steps in the video, but they will have beaten her long before consistently doing these long and short range evasions. This is an awesome advanced guide, but not for Malenia-rookies though.
Hey, thanks for feedback. I do want to point out a few things. The principles explained in the beginning all apply no matter light or medium load, except for one attack that I mentioned later, and even then this is circumvented by just not attacking after the dodge. Also though, if you’re in an animation when waterfowl starts, you messed up. I usually describe the fight as a dance, and for rookies and even more experienced players I think an important lesson for all fights in any souls game is to look at it like a turn based event. You don’t attack unless it’s your turn. This applies to healing as well. Boss does attack > you respond with healing/attack. Based on weapon type (colossal vs. lighter weapons) you have to find when you can respond with an attack. I believe I mention it, but yes. Close range waterfowl 360 dodge is incredibly hard at first, but 100% consistent. It’s something that I have done quite literally thousands of times in speedruns and speedrun practice. Trusted enough to even risk it on level 1 speedruns done in competitions and even trusted by hitless runners during runs that make it THAT far in. Even those who opt for heavy weapons like Fallingstar Beast Jaw. For medium range you can actually still close the gap to 360 waterfowl, and still make it by running. This sort of fall under what I mentioned in the video, spacing. If you’re in an awkward middle spacing you should definitely put emphasis on positioning. Whether that be staying close if you’re confident in 360, or limiting your attack windows to ensure you can back up a bit. Because all attacks track to the player she should always be near you after an attack, and if you maintain space or stay close you have a way to dodge (either 360 or run and jump). It’s definitely hard, and I’m not trying to discredit your feedback. Just some helpful advice and again, I appreciate it! Edit - I don’t like to promote other content on my channel. But you can always check some of my speedruns and see how the fight is handled there. Even while taking every possible attack opportunity and playing aggressive I’m consistently able to dodge waterfowl. I think I mentioned at some point during phase 2 that you really don’t want to be scared. That can cause awkward distance as well
@@luc1 Hmmm, that is a very very good point indeed, priceless advice: to look at it like a turn based event - to see it as an early Final Fantasy fight. Indeed, I think most f*ck-ups players have in this game is when they attack, dodge or "flask" at the wrong time! Better to back away with a sliver of HP a little longer and flask safely than to get stomped while trying to heal. Yeah man, I hear ya. And I definitely believe that YOU can fully dodge Waterfowl consistently... Not so sure about us mere mortals :P. Also, the 360 move, that's brilliant. I fought her in like May or so and watched tons of videos before defeating her in my not-recommended minimalistic/cowardly style. And I do not remember any mention of your technique, plus yesterday I tried it out myself, pulled it off [ quote: "...it works! (it really does)..." ], BUT during the heat of serious attempts I just failed to react in time to circle under her... Mine back then was to roll back twice, then once forward, then 2 more to the left or the right. But I always had to flask 1-2 times afterwards though. Probably it's all because I DID get too greedy so like you said: "...if you’re in an animation when waterfowl starts, you messed up...". Anyway thanks for the reply, sorry if I sounded salty, I'll definitely check out those other videos of yours and finally thanks for the guide, I'm sure if I bide my time I can sort of duplicate the results (sort of :P).
@@albertobernal2537 No worries! The feedback is more than appreciated and very constructive which is welcomed! Mostly just wanted to give some pointers. Thank you :)
What's great for me is using no armor and just two-handing a high bleed weapon, along with my +9 bloodhound knight floe. We just take turns attacking her so she's constantly staggered. Only drawback of course is she will obviously recover pretty quick but we can get a good 6000+ damage combo before she does her attacks. My issue is 2nd phase- because I can clear her first phase within a minute. Her damage is just so high and she can combo like half of her HP back when she's not even attacking me or my summon. She's just so much more aggressive for me than for any other tutorial I've watched.
Beat her in 56 tries. First time playing the game. Best tips I can give is LIGHT ROLES, bleed and frost damage melt her. You’ll still die a lot, because the boss fight requires a lot of rng and skill, but even if you’re an absolute brainrotted dumbass who barely knows how to roll (like me), if you put effort in you can beat her. If you can’t dodge waterfowl, use a shield, if you want to learn how to dodge waterfowl, use a guide. Malenia is the hardest boss in the base game, but she’s also very accessible for every character to adapt strategies with.. you don’t have to change your entire build just to beat her.
Amazing thanks man. I think it also would have been huge if you did some post video editing I’m trying to see what you’re talking about when you say she dips her head down but can’t see it. Drawing on the video when it happens would have helped. This is feedback for next time not complaining because you absolutely absolutely helped me. Thanks!
I'm just spamming jumps near her then she fowls and I have no time to run away and certainly no time to run to her and 360 around her... same thing when I go to punish her moves - if she fowls then I die because I'm still in animation/recovering... I'd love to stay mid-range the whole fight to escape her fowl but it's impossible
How do you start running so quickly? When Malenia begins Waterfowl you are able to immediately begin running away while for me it takes around half a second for my character to start sprinting which leads to getting caught from distances you were escaping from.
I’m doing this with mimic +10 with rivers of blood and moon veil and I keep dying in the last part of the 2nd phase. My mimic dies then she does the water fowl dance to finish me off. It’s not even a fair chance
Fellow Tarnished, i kept dying to the opening pounce attack of Malenia at phase 2, like 9 out of 10 times i die on attempting to dodge. Yet i found a solution if you are also like me. quick swap to a greatshield(idk if any other shield would work) and hold onto it like a crackhead. And i did survive the attack, the following attacks of her clones tho, not so much.
Amazing guide. My brain knows what do because of this but in the actual fight itself I mess up so bad. Hoping to beat her before 2024 😭
Howd that go?
6 months later
Did you?
We are dying to know if you didi it brotha
Lmao I’m seeing this just before 2023 is about to end 😂
What messes me up is being at mid range of her flurry, no space to run away, neither to circle around her
Frozen pot works wonders
She does one at around 70% percent and one at around 30% health so u can anticipate and keep distance until she does it
@@white_eaglefna8081 nope speaking from experience this bitch can do multiple in one phase. She did one at 70% and literally the second one 3 moves after. You just got to be extremely good at timing your attacks
I thought too that was true, so I went testing and... It's not, you surprisingly have enough time to outspace the first flurry running and jumping even if you're point blank when she starts waterfowl, which means if you're too far to circle around you're definitely far enough to run away
this is the guide i was looking for today malenia will know DEFEAT
I just find it fascinating that I can be so good at fighting her, like consistently not getting hit once in phase 01, yet I still haven't beaten her even once, after 3 days.
im on my 5th day and im pretty sure i can no hit her on that firsr stage but the second one… jesus craist man😂
It’s a rng fight skill has nothing to do with this fight 3 waterfalls back to back no one can dodge if her water falls were scripted this wouldn’t even be a hard fight
@@Sinjo334 the odds of that happening are so extremely unlikely waterfowl is fine if you know both dodge methods
I find it wholesome that I'm not the only one that measures in "days" and not "tries".
I enjoy videogames but I SUCK at hand eye coordination, once I invest a lot of hours I can get decent, but man, with chores, work and other things, It's really difficult to git gud
@@Sinjo334 this is, just wrong? As someone who has done, and have documented them on this channel, RL1 speedruns. It’s a consistent fight with enough practice
When I inatially got to malenia i was kinda pissed so i took a giant break from the game and now, after like 4 months i decided to try her again and I finally beat her. Never felt so much relief in my life.
I think I'm about to return to it too :P
Congrats Lenerd on beating her 😁
Just got to her and I'm doing okay, came here to see if I could get any useful tips.
4 months?
That’s what Maliketh did to me and after I returned I beat him second try 😂
Some useful timestamps for myself:
4:52 phase 1 close up flurry
11:55 phase 2 range flurry
15:04 phase 2 phantoms
^this guy knows what were here for
Personally I'm just stunned this dude figured out you can hit her BETWEEN waterfowl attacks. That's crazy. Dude pokes her in the face while she's doing anime shit instead of instantly dying like I do.
Pro tip: when she gets in flurry range for the first time most throwable items will trigger the attack at any range, meaning you can trigger it very far away from her by throwing a ruin fragment (sometimes it may take up to 3, but one will generally do), safely dodge it and get a 1 min or so window without her using it.
You can use it to try to trigger it later on into the fight if you think she may be going to do it again, but it can take a lot of throws for the thingie to trigger.
I haven't managed to pull it off in the second phase, but the second phase is arguably easier.
Exactly this and that’s why let me solo her use the ice stomp, to trigger the waterflow with safety after the 75% threeshold
Mhm its very consistent once you take around 1/5 or 1/4 of her health in phase 1
I’ve seen her flurry 3 times in a row, sometimes she’s on her period or something
This is my first proper souls game, took me 15 tries to clear gate front ruins, and I was motivated every second of it :-) besides, all those attempts got my wretch a full armor set and two swords, so that’s cool.
Nice! My heart goes out to you since this is your first souls game. Mine was Bloodborne and i gotta say you are more positive then i was durring my first playthrough in Bloodborne lol
How'd it go?
@@thememeilator2633 the satisfaction of finally killing a boss and teabagging them keeps me playing
Cool story, bro!
Nobody asked.
@@arcuz7862 and I didn’t ask you to say that no one asked, so I guess we’re even ;-)
I'm currently fighting her on my RL1 run and this might be the greatest point of reference on how to handle the fight I've found. Thanks for that!
Seriously. This makes me cry. I've been at this boss for so long.
Same
bruh.. i've been trying to kill malenia solo for about 70+ tries or so and I killed her 1st try after watching this.
I was having the hardest time with her phase 2, amazing guide
Thank you so much. I unlike you was really struggling with phase two. It took me 69 tries no summons (nice) but I did it shortly after watching this video. The main issue was waterfowl and you saying to jump as she landed changed everything. It got to the point I was consistently dodging waterfowl and that ghost move was the only issue. Finally got her after stepping up the aggressive in phase 2. Cheers mate
This may be a year old but ill say this, the baiting out her attacks instead of running and rolling past her basic swings really helped me with this and made me get through the middle of 2nd phase relatively unscathed. I am replaying before the dlc comes out, so i could to "get gud" at it before more likely harder challenges show up lol. so i appreciate all the help man :)
No problem! I'm glad I was able to help :)
I beat it a few hours ago now, thanks :)@@luc1
I see your point about phase 2. Turns out the whole fight really just boils down to surviving Waterfall and the clones so that you can live to inflict punishment. Everything else is easy once you see how to do it.
Waterfowl**
@@JTguitarlessons 🤓
🤓
This is hands down the best guide for Malenia!! Thank you so much for taking the time to make it :)
I beat her a few times before, but always used mimic tear plus some form of cheese.
Now that I’m taking a little break from the pvp I really wanted to actually learn the fight and this guide was exactly what I was looking for! Again, thanks so much brother!
This definitely IS the ONLY guide I'll need. Good sh!+, bro
Very nice. I’ve beaten her plenty of times solo but always relied on the bloodhound step. No more. Honourable attempts now.
I died over 150+ times to this boss, and when I finally beat her, I actually cried tears of joy. The feeling was so euphoric I don't think any other video games compare in this regard.
If you're really stuck, get the marionette archer ashes and get them leveled up. They literally just pin her down with hundreds of arrows and you just wail away until she's dead. Works on most enemies in the game.
Got her 4 tries after following this guide. THANK YOU
yoo i watched this video this morning and was able to get my challenge fight (dual hammer, no magic) done shortly after. thanks for the tips! super helpful
Glad I was able to help!
Hey just wanna say your guide helped me finally beat Malenia at rune level 1. Thank you a lot for that.
This guy makes it look so easy 😂 I can’t wait to go try all of this and still get my teeth kicked in
Thank you so much! I didn't know that you can punish the slow horizontal follow up after the 3 hit combo. With that, the fight clicked for me, and I was able to do RL1 and hitless (videos in my channel)
I am going to comment on this 2 years later and say THANK YOU!!!! I was stuck on her for 6 hours and found your guide. Beat her 20 minutes after watching this. This guide rules!
Thank you!!!! I just finally beat Malenia! I had finished the game last week but I hadn’t been able to beat her and it was bothering me. Thank you again for your help!
Amazing video. I just got my first solo run on her after three hours. Though, I got it an hour after watching this video. She went from a boss I hated to one I loved.
Finally beat her solo, I didn't think I was capable. Great guide brotha thanks alot.
@@indiansfever11 glad to help!
Best mechamic explanation guide I have seen by far. Subscribed.
I know it's a bit late but thank you. I finally beat malenia without summons or shields (just my nagakiba). Your advice on spacing really helped.
Beat first her after i saw your guide on the second phase.
I usually play with summons, spells, and other cheesy stuff, but i decided to challenge myself and i just couldn't get enough of it. Sure, I probably died like 100 or so times, but it gave me the same thrill that playing dark souls gave me.
10/10, would fight again. I think i might never fight with summons again cuz of how fun that was.
For anyone wondering, i was using the Let Me Solo Her build except i put frost mist on my uchigana and used a fire infused nagakiba instead of rivers of blood.
What I hate about Malenia is it feels so inconsistent. It’s so hard to tell when she’s going to continue her combo and when she isn’t. There’s no way to know when she’s gonna do waterfowl dance after the first one, so if you get stuck in an attack animation then you’re pretty much fucked. I’m okay at dodging it but the problem is I can’t tell which way she’s going to finish it in her third flurry, sometimes I avoid it, sometimes I run right into it. Her poise mechanics feel inconsistent, she has hyperarmor on most of her attacks obviously, sometimes I break her poise quickly, other times I hit her 10 times or more and her poise doesn’t break. She follows up her attacks in unpredictable ways. So save for baiting out one or two attacks it’s too dangerous to punish her. I hate Malenia, I really wanted to like this boss but it’s just utter bullshit. I’ve already beat her twice, i’m trying to beat her for a third time, so i’ve fought her for hours at this point. After some attacks sometimes I can get a charged attack that works but sometimes she goes straight into a hyperarmor move and punishes me. After her most dangerous attacks namely waterfowl and 7 hit combo she doesn’t even give you a guaranteed punish. You just have to bait out the same few attacks. This is bad boss design. It’s designed to be difficult for the sake of being difficult. I also don’t like her stupid multi hit attacks that roll catch you. Simply rolling at the right time isn’t enough, you have to roll in the right direction too, which in theory isn’t a bad idea but sometimes taking damage feels unavoidable
I agree man sometimes I get like several charged attacks on her with my bloody helice but then out of nowhere she starts doing her kick move as I’m stuck in the animation fyi I beat every boss I’ve fought so far (except the ones in farum azula and ashen capital) never had this problem I simply just had fun admired the cool ass attacks and just punished the bosses like crazy but Malenia is different this guide really helps though the first phase isn’t that bad for me but the 2nd phase just slowly gets more and more stressful till I literally stop thinking. This is the first time in my entire life I have had to deal with this
@@lol_histicall4289 Yeah she can just straight up cancel her animations into a hyperarmor kick and punish you, and if you get hit by the kick she can true combo into an unavoidable front flip combo and one shot you. Since writing this comment i’ve beat Melania around 15 times, maybe more, and i’ve learned a lot about her and got much better at fighting her. I still think she’s an unpolished mess of a boss, and I know i’ll get skill shamed by saying it despite beating her no hit at level 1. She had potential to be an amazing boss but she has some issues that holds her back from being anything higher than A tier at best.
@@grimreefer213what build did you use?
@@randomfellow1483 I’ve used all kinds of builds against Melania. Colossal swords tend to work really well, weapons with long reach with good poise damage and stagger potential
@@grimreefer213I agree. Her flaws are so damn obvious that’s it’s tragic because she very clearly could’ve been S tier if there was a bit more care put into her moves. The stupid flurry thing she does is nearly unavoidable on an inconsistent basis due to how far her sword reaches. Waterfowl has already been a problem that people have kicked to death, but all I’ll say is that even though there’s a way to dodge in point blank and far away, if she does it mid range you’re basically dead. The way you avoid the attack feels very superficial and specific in a way that most people won’t be able to find.
I also hate the life steal. If she only had it in phase 2, that would be great, but she has no reason to use it in phase 1 besides unnecessarily bloating the boss fight. I’ll also waterfowl just should not be in phase 2, it doesn’t really add anything but make the pacing of the fight feel even more inconsistent because she’s already so aggressive compared to the first phase
I can get over phase 1 but I die quickly in phase 2 cuz of how aggressive she is. I'll try your methods. Thanks for the video!!
My first time facing melania I died 30 times after I watched this vid it really taught me to calm down and watch for her movements better thank you for the advice ✊🏻
Never knew you could dodge the sword poke by jumping. Very informative and great video!
She does input reading, so when you jump at her, don't press attack until the last moment. If you do it too early, while you're in the air, she will attack early, and you won't be able to roll away.
Great guide, watching you jump her poke in your rl1 fight was what finally got me through this fight with the pre-patch colossal weapons
This is super useful, problem is my hands just can't keep up with my brain.
I’ve already mastered phase one, phase two it seems as if she has no openings. Maybe it’s just me panicking lmao but I feel a lot better after watching this video. Thanks!
10:21 On this attack, even if you don’t have enough space to run, dodge left, right, left, right, left, left and you’ll be good. I saw Let Me Solo Her do it and I was able to do it too. You still have to watch her, try not to spam, but I was kind of panicking lol and I still lived through it by following that dodge combo, so try it out 👍
This is a great guide, if you don’t want to learn the 360 dodge you can just do the safest possible punishes and you will always be able to run and jump at the end
you don't need the 360 dodge, you just need to spam light roll three or four times away from her as soon as she hops up.
@@Ghorda9 yea that works as well
@@YungSnowGod much easier and can be done from any range, no need to think about it.
@@Ghorda9 honestly doing no hit Malenia with run and jump method is not that bad I did it lot of times it’s pretty consistent
@@YungSnowGod run and jump only works if you're not right in her face.
Thank you so much for the help! Finally beat her
Awesome stuff....goes to show that most of what people found tough, including me (didn't beat her yet) is actually the intimidation. Once you know where to move she's pretty straight forward. Nice
Amazing guide. Keep up the good work. Cant wait to see your DLC guides
thanks, awesome guide I'm struggling with her at the moment. my build is an astrologer, during first phase I summon lone wolves and hit her with Ranni's dark moon and adulas moonblade (i know she heals by hitting the wolves, but the darkmoon spell deals huge damage so its recompensed). I defeat her 7/10 times but im having a hard time with the second phase. ive learned how to dodge the flower attacks (a first one) which gives me window to use comet azur - huge damage. i guess my problem thoug is that i constantly dodge backwards - a small widow for attacks and using flasks of crimson/curulean tears
You have mastered this fight. Respect
One small thing - pretty sure Clone 1 and Clone 4 in her phase 2 ghost attack are the ones that have follow-up pokes
@@Frostbitten. they are yes. This is just how to dodge the entire attack in a way that’s easy enough for everyone to follow
I love you Luc1 I just Malenia summonless for the first time thanks to you (and the 100~ tries before I watched this video).
In my success attempt clip I literally have your video playing 10s before I entered the fog door lmfao
that 3 hit swipe gets me mostly. I usually roll back but the third swipe always hit my like at the tip of the sword. I find that rolling late will get me. I have to back roll as soon as her arm sparks, then I am far enough to not get hit. though here i see that I am suppose to roll in. Time to try again tonight.
7:02 waterfowl far range dodge
9:24 no hit dodge
4:52 phase 1 close up flurry
11:55 phase 2 range flurry
15:04 phase 2 phantoms
this made it look so easy Im almost embarassed I've been at it for the last two days xd ! great video
Well don’t feel bad. Keep in mind I’ve fought this boss quite literally thousands of times for speedruns and such so it just comes down to a bunch of experience and practice. You’ll get it 😤
I used the tips in this video and it worked. Thank you so much!
Ok now I love this channel. Usually people bleep themselves out when they cuss to the point where I was surprised when you said F*** lol
Fuck it
Another tip for waterfowl: if your endurance is high enough, you can block the first part of her attack (the impossible to dodge through one), and dodge through the other 2
I've seen all your speedrun videos and I'm telling you, I guess you're Neo's cousin, because you fight like you see time in 0.5x. AMAZING MAN
The fact that you can easily parry the spark attack remains one of the happiest discoveries i've made in a fromsoft game
"i want to make sure this fight is a little bit long" hahahaha. This tutorial is great. Thank you
I've already commented, this man is an Elden ring God.
Best tutorial by a mile
Thanks for this I mastered the first phase but it took me so long the second phase is owning me lol
Great guide. I’ve tried her about 50 or so times. I keep getting caught with my pants down right underneath her when she is going into her special. If I manage to dodge that, then her flower bomb one shots me lol
Thanks for this The problem for me is baiting an opening without trading. (Not everyone has a weapon with the speed reach and moveset of serpent hunter XD) Is there anyway you can tell she won;t be attacking when you do?
I can get through phase 1 pretty easily. It’s phase 2 to where I struggle to find consistent openings. They look similar to phase 1 but she has added moves to counter your attack, very frustrating.
A gem of a guide. All I needed to know.
I've beaten her 4 times in different playthroughs, 1st with Moonveil, 2nd Cross Naginata + Flame of the Redmanes, 3rd with Rotten and Fire Breaths only (+ a Summon for aggro) and 4th with Rivers of Blood. But now I'm struggling to beat her using Death's Poker. I thought I had the Waterfowl Dance dodging down, but nope, she still chops my life to 50%, only a sliver or straight out dead. Thx bro! Much appreciated.
Even tho I did use Black Knife Tiche for some help, this video still helped with timing of avoiding the waterfowl dance. Thanks!!
Tip: All of these rules apply to any melee weapon, the only thing that changes is the size of the punish windows and the number of staggers you can get off.
If you're really having trouble with Malenia just parry (Golden/Buckler parry) her, most of her attacks don't work and you can even do this rl1.
Usual rule of thumb for me is once she gets around 75% health comes her first water flow. Just like you I start to run to create distance. And at the last combo of her attack I’ll roll away. I just need to understand her little combos in phase one and know what my openings are.
Helps a lot, still struggling a bit. I know I’m just missing my timing. Very helpful thank you.
I finally first tried her my last playthrough, I don't hate her as a boss so much anymore, still think she should follow all of the mechanics other bosses do
i tried to give her the honor of a 1v1, but two days of anguish resulted in me wearing the heaviest armor summoning my mimc and going to town with Corpse Piler, she had no chance.
I can get through her first phase like it's nothing but then I get completely flustered in her second phase. The wings and the music just distract me too much. The first phase is so easy I can do it without taking my eyes off from the corner of the screen.
Phase 2 conceptually is far easier imo. The biggest issue is that is can be more stressful. If you can manage to just block out the false sense of stress from her constant barrage of attacks and what not you'll have it in no time. Just do your best to stay calm and you got it. 😤
Watched just goin in with new found knowledge 2 shotted by the mc flurry combo
Just spam Blasphemous Blade's Ash of War, use Mimic Tear and pump your Faith stat to level 60. Your Mimic will take her aggro while you spam from a safe distance
This is intended for people who want to fight her with any loadout, and without summons. Such as speedrunners
Instead of Mimic I used Black Knife Tiche and it was a bit more effective for me!
During phase 2 a visual indicator for waterfowl dance or flurry attack is she will barrel roll her wings hope this helps. Thanks for that phantom attack guide it used to confuse me a lot
The real heroes are the ones bugging you enough that causes you to make banger videos to reference them to in the future :P awesome upload!
I read this as an insult the first time, thank you
Thank you for the in depth info! ^-^
No problem!
@Sharon Larx i like your pfp
I've been playing Souls games since forever and I've never quit. I've completed them all many times over. I only get to play 1 hour an evening these days due to family duties and this Feckin Twat has been beating me down for 2 months now. It's embarrassing. In all my 40 years as a gamer, she is the toughest Boss I've ever encountered. I've watched many guides but this one seems to speak to me more than the rest. I'm going in....
You’ve fucking got it. She is probably the most difficult boss in all souls games (obviously it’s subjective) so don’t get discouraged. She’s absolutely beatable, and as cliché as it is. If I can beat her, anyone can.
The issue is, when you're trying to learn attack patterns with a 1 hour window, in between raising 2 kids, your powers are limited. But I will beat this Scarlet rotting whore bag. I very much appreciate your post mate and I will let you know in late 2025 when I finally defeat this OP wench.
@@luc1 Cheers for the encouragement mate. Your waterfowl guide helped a lot and that was the thing that fucked me nearly every time. Ironically when I finally FUCKING BEAT HER JUST NOW, I didn't have to deal with waterfowl in the 2nd phase. Can't wait to fight her in NG+
I’ve watched a last guide for this boss
Atleast 10times
This dude hits her while she is in flurry :D thats next lvl :D very nice!
One thing I learned that is key - turn off the “can die” setting. I wish I could do that on Xbox 😢
Another thing you can do is another thing, you can do another thing you can do
by the way, i beat this boss with rivers of blood, and then in the 2nd phase i used the mimic tear and well, the ending is devastating for malenia. but thanks to videos like yours, I have easily overcome the 1st phase, but I still have problems with the 2nd phase. Excellent video!
i am standing infront of her areana, havent fought her yet but here i am watching the 4th Melania guide. the more i watch them the more i realize just how fked i am.
I keep coming back to this video, Man i hope it'll click for me. I died another 50 times tonight I just can't beat her.
Haven´t been able to kill her just yet but oh that second phase guide will take me somewhere. Gonna come back with updates soon
EDIT: JUST DID IT FIRST TRY AFTER THIS VIDEO! THANK YOU GOOD LORD
How I beat (cheese) her:
1.mimic tear max level
2.erdtree heal spell
3.bloodhound sword max level
Let the mimic fight. Me as a support healer, heal the mimic when necessary. Occasionally sneak in some hit
@@sonn2077 this is a totally valid way to do it, and not a cheese but not the point of this tutorial. This tutorial was more meant for people who either wanted tips for learning the speedrun fights, or to learn ways to beat her in any manner. RL1, challenge runs, etc. You beat her, that’s all that matters 😤
Thank you for this, awesome guide
Hey man, thanks for the guide. Hope you are doing well, do you have any plans to continue to upload?
@@acrasis I do yeah!! Just need to find time and definitely want to have some kind of banger return
Thanks bro...best guide I've watched..
EDIT: Disclaimer - I still love the video, no offense intended what-so-ever. My apologies if it comes off too negatively.
The video is great and all but so somewhat iffy: 1/3rd of the video: light load --> faster movement: he corrected that later putting on some armor but the pace is so essential that it invalidates the first part quite a bit. The part of evading Waterfowl by running 360 to avoid most if not all of the 1st part of the flurry is misleading: it CAN be done and it works! (it really does) BUT that counts only IF your character is NOT locked in an animation.
Example: 0.5 seconds before Waterfowl (not yet visible): I roll casually just in case --> Waterfowl starts: I'm just barely ending the roll animation and already she's up in the air.
I'm now at medium range, just short of the required distance to run away and jump, AND at the same time too far away to run under her and do the 360.
At that point maybe BHS or a shield can avoid damage, but the price is paid.
This guide only gives you pointers on how to avoid Waterfowl damage at long and very short range AND ready to act.
Sure, spacing is emphasized, but bollocks! Long range is barely EVER available to upkeep and short range plus not actually doing something yourself(!) is just barely viable due to her aggressiveness (at short range).
I think this guide is perfect for very advanced players... Who already know how to beat Malenia (so what's the point?). It is very technical and very well-explained by Luc1.
But it's not suitable for people actually struggling with the fight.
With a bit of practice I'm sure anyone can follow the steps in the video, but they will have beaten her long before consistently doing these long and short range evasions.
This is an awesome advanced guide, but not for Malenia-rookies though.
Hey, thanks for feedback.
I do want to point out a few things. The principles explained in the beginning all apply no matter light or medium load, except for one attack that I mentioned later, and even then this is circumvented by just not attacking after the dodge. Also though, if you’re in an animation when waterfowl starts, you messed up. I usually describe the fight as a dance, and for rookies and even more experienced players I think an important lesson for all fights in any souls game is to look at it like a turn based event. You don’t attack unless it’s your turn. This applies to healing as well. Boss does attack > you respond with healing/attack. Based on weapon type (colossal vs. lighter weapons) you have to find when you can respond with an attack. I believe I mention it, but yes. Close range waterfowl 360 dodge is incredibly hard at first, but 100% consistent. It’s something that I have done quite literally thousands of times in speedruns and speedrun practice. Trusted enough to even risk it on level 1 speedruns done in competitions and even trusted by hitless runners during runs that make it THAT far in. Even those who opt for heavy weapons like Fallingstar Beast Jaw. For medium range you can actually still close the gap to 360 waterfowl, and still make it by running. This sort of fall under what I mentioned in the video, spacing. If you’re in an awkward middle spacing you should definitely put emphasis on positioning. Whether that be staying close if you’re confident in 360, or limiting your attack windows to ensure you can back up a bit. Because all attacks track to the player she should always be near you after an attack, and if you maintain space or stay close you have a way to dodge (either 360 or run and jump). It’s definitely hard, and I’m not trying to discredit your feedback. Just some helpful advice and again, I appreciate it!
Edit - I don’t like to promote other content on my channel. But you can always check some of my speedruns and see how the fight is handled there. Even while taking every possible attack opportunity and playing aggressive I’m consistently able to dodge waterfowl. I think I mentioned at some point during phase 2 that you really don’t want to be scared. That can cause awkward distance as well
@@luc1 Hmmm, that is a very very good point indeed, priceless advice: to look at it like a turn based event - to see it as an early Final Fantasy fight.
Indeed, I think most f*ck-ups players have in this game is when they attack, dodge or "flask" at the wrong time!
Better to back away with a sliver of HP a little longer and flask safely than to get stomped while trying to heal. Yeah man, I hear ya.
And I definitely believe that YOU can fully dodge Waterfowl consistently... Not so sure about us mere mortals :P.
Also, the 360 move, that's brilliant. I fought her in like May or so and watched tons of videos before defeating her in my not-recommended minimalistic/cowardly style.
And I do not remember any mention of your technique, plus yesterday I tried it out myself, pulled it off [ quote: "...it works! (it really does)..." ], BUT during the heat of serious attempts I just failed to react in time to circle under her...
Mine back then was to roll back twice, then once forward, then 2 more to the left or the right. But I always had to flask 1-2 times afterwards though.
Probably it's all because I DID get too greedy so like you said: "...if you’re in an animation when waterfowl starts, you messed up...".
Anyway thanks for the reply, sorry if I sounded salty, I'll definitely check out those other videos of yours and finally thanks for the guide, I'm sure if I bide my time I can sort of duplicate the results (sort of :P).
@@albertobernal2537 No worries! The feedback is more than appreciated and very constructive which is welcomed! Mostly just wanted to give some pointers. Thank you :)
What's great for me is using no armor and just two-handing a high bleed weapon, along with my +9 bloodhound knight floe. We just take turns attacking her so she's constantly staggered. Only drawback of course is she will obviously recover pretty quick but we can get a good 6000+ damage combo before she does her attacks.
My issue is 2nd phase- because I can clear her first phase within a minute. Her damage is just so high and she can combo like half of her HP back when she's not even attacking me or my summon. She's just so much more aggressive for me than for any other tutorial I've watched.
I did it… I went to a light load, and this helped me get guud. Black knife faith build no incantations other than golden vow +10 black knife.❤️❤️
My only issue was when she waterfowls right above my head & her shadowclone barrage.
Beat her in 56 tries. First time playing the game. Best tips I can give is LIGHT ROLES, bleed and frost damage melt her. You’ll still die a lot, because the boss fight requires a lot of rng and skill, but even if you’re an absolute brainrotted dumbass who barely knows how to roll (like me), if you put effort in you can beat her. If you can’t dodge waterfowl, use a shield, if you want to learn how to dodge waterfowl, use a guide. Malenia is the hardest boss in the base game, but she’s also very accessible for every character to adapt strategies with.. you don’t have to change your entire build just to beat her.
Amazing thanks man. I think it also would have been huge if you did some post video editing
I’m trying to see what you’re talking about when you say she dips her head down but can’t see it. Drawing on the video when it happens would have helped. This is feedback for next time not complaining because you absolutely absolutely helped me.
Thanks!
I'm just spamming jumps near her then she fowls and I have no time to run away and certainly no time to run to her and 360 around her... same thing when I go to punish her moves - if she fowls then I die because I'm still in animation/recovering... I'd love to stay mid-range the whole fight to escape her fowl but it's impossible
Countless flawless attempts lost to waterfell dance
How do you start running so quickly? When Malenia begins Waterfowl you are able to immediately begin running away while for me it takes around half a second for my character to start sprinting which leads to getting caught from distances you were escaping from.
It probably comes down to reaction time/recognizing waterfowl quickly enough
I’m doing this with mimic +10 with rivers of blood and moon veil and I keep dying in the last part of the 2nd phase.
My mimic dies then she does the water fowl dance to finish me off. It’s not even a fair chance
Wow I didn't know that if you roll backwards during her second flurry of waterfowl dance, you can just stand still. Thanks!
Fellow Tarnished, i kept dying to the opening pounce attack of Malenia at phase 2, like 9 out of 10 times i die on attempting to dodge. Yet i found a solution if you are also like me. quick swap to a greatshield(idk if any other shield would work) and hold onto it like a crackhead. And i did survive the attack, the following attacks of her clones tho, not so much.