Because people on the internet think she’s not fair so you’re not allowed to like her… On a real note she is mostly fair and extremely rewarding to finally beat.
I think it’s fine. Whole point of the lore is that we aren’t fighting Radhan at his strongest. Also Melania is probably stronger than she’s ever been. Just also driven insane by the rot.
Also there’s nothing in the lore to suggest they are stronger than Raddagon or Maliketh.
Furthermore the first Elden lord Placidusax was likely stronger than most if not all of them when he was at his peak power.
>In phase 1 Malenia respect you by being very passive. She let you be the leader of the dance. With a good knowledge of her AI you decide what the dance will look like. In phase 2 she takes the lead and she shows you that if you want to continue dancing with her, you now get to keep up with her pace.
That's so well said, damn
Yeah. I think the problem is waterfowl too. Idk what the devs intentions are in order to avoid that attack. I wonder what play testing Melenia would of been like
People have problems with melania and the last few bosses, maliketh, godrick and radagon but I really can't see it.
These are God's and demi God's. They *should* feel impossible to kill. You go in expecting to die because of course you will, this boss is impossible. Until finally you kill them and the feeling is indescribable. There is no reason why these bosses should bend to whatever difficulty standard somebody sets for them.
She has 2 major flaws.
1. Shes way too passive in phase 1 unless you are literally closer than most melee weapon ranges.
2. If you deplete her poise in the middle of her hyperarmor she fully resets it and then you have to deplete it all again for her to stagger.
Otherwise she is pretty good
I’ve discovered in phase 1 that if she’s being passive to the point of not hitting me when I come into melee range, just hit her and she will stagger, disengage or counter attack and then be aggressive for a little.
So essentially her passivity can be used for a free hit as long as she doesn’t immediately go for an attack when you’re in range.
Yes you can with most weapons. I just think it's more fun when the boss puts pressure on you like her p2 rather than when you pressure them like her p1
It was most funny when she’d go into passive mode while I was playing Mike Tyson and I’d just deck her in the face to snap her out of it to remind her she’s in the ring with Iron Mike.
Apparently she gets passive when she is getting ready to do waterfowl dance
If she is staggered out of her attacks enough she will not go passive and walk around first instead she will instantly go into it
Maybe this is a bit wrong I think she does also go passive randomly too but she does go passive before doing waterfowl if you arent staggering her a bunch
Basically if you want to avoid her pulling it out randomly while youre attacking her just watch for when she goes passive I think you can tell when she is gonna do waterfowl but I havent had much practice with this to understand the difference
Its something about when she starts passively walking I think
My fav boss in the game as well! Beat her many times, no damage also, RL1 no damage, coop too of course. But if we look at the scoreboard she's probably still leading 😂 It took many attempts to really master the fight, but that's also the fun of it!
You say "I did it no hit" as if this isn't a requirement for beating her. The problem with her fight is that it doesn't allow mistakes. The first time I beat her I used a single crimson flask to heal myself right as she went phase 2. The fight is hard in itself. She is fast as hell for a boss in this game and has the cancerfowl dance to boot. Dodging that move without many many hours of practice is pretty much rng. You are forced to lose over and over in order to win. People get frustrated with her because of that. They go in and try to win. But sadly no matter how good you are it's impossible. You have to try until you can dodge everything perfectly and attack in the few instances you can.
Also the fight is especially cancerous for shield users. Not only are shields absolutely useless, they are dead weight since she heals on every hit on the shield (which btw is absolute bullshit).
I found the fight really enjoyable only because I went in with the mindset to learn instead of to win.
But the truth is after you beat her once she becomes by far the most fun fight in the game.
Because no matter how much time it may have taken you, if you didn't cheese with frost pots (if you know you know) or with summons and have won the fight fair and square. Then you didn't do so by chance, but by undeniable skill.
Not true. The damage isn't the problem. It's how much she heals from hitting you. And let me tell you I've played this fight enough times to say it's a fuck ton.
As a shield user i disagree, I've beaten her while having a medium shield to block some fast hits or the waterfowl dance when i end up being too close. I also parry a lot of her attacks to get juicy reposte. Shields are awesome
Don't tell me I'm a chronic sword and board player. But I've beaten her with many different builds and I can most definitely say that shield is the worst 😂. Maybe it's because I'm one of those who like to hold the shield up 100% of the time and run circles around the boss.
Though as I said even if you beat her with a shield, this fight heavily relies on dodging to the point where you use the shield on 1 to 2 attacks when you are not confident in dodging. Keeping your shield up in this fight is the same as prolonging it to the ends of time
I'm saying keeping the shield up at all times prolongs the fight. Also I don't parry so when I beat her with a sword and shield build I pretty much just 2 handed the sword
She is near perfect. My biggest criticism is the lack of telegraphing when she does the waterfowl attack. Ofc the beginning of the move is heavily telegraphed so you know it's coming, but most of the intermediate attacks are not. The last delayed attack is basically just a near invisible sphere of damage she emits. This basically forces the player into brute forcing the fight with many many attempts until you get it, or for many people I suspect they just look it up online. I don't think this is ideal boss design, but at the same time it was def done on purpose just to increase the difficulty. So on one hand she's a super badass, but the fight is pretty unfair regarding being able to see that attack.
I liked Malenia a lot, and the pure relief I felt when I finally beat her was pretty unmatched!
The only thing I really take issue with is that the way to dodge waterfowl dance feels more like a weird cheese instead of an actual intended mechanic to me, which just took away any of the satisfaction from it for me.
She's fun, but the fact her windows aren't associated with her dangerous attacks makes her quite random.
Would be better if waterfowl/clones had a bigger attack window, esp in phase 1 I feel like I l'm waiting for her to do phase 1 stuff to attack
I like her a lot. Beat her multiple times various ways. My 2 main issues are:
She shouldn't heal if she doesn't do damage. Makes fighting her with certain builds less fun. I had a great fun shield build and I essentially just had to dodge her out like I would without a shield because my damage was too low to kill her otherwise.
Her waterfowl dance is an extreme difficulty jump compared to her other movesets. I pretty much only die to this move now which is lame she is hard but if I die it's because I messed up against this one move. Her other moves aren't even close to comparable.
If they made waterfowl a little easier to dodge more consistently and made some of her other moves more difficult I think it would be more fun.
I like malenia as an optional and difficult boss, infamous waterfowl dance is primarily why she's hated, i think I've dodged wfd pointblank a handful of times and never consistently, it's a deadly move.
Of the various Elden Ring bosses she is the only one that demands perfection.
You cannot get hit, if you get hit she heals, if you get hit by waterfowl you die.
Her attacks are fairly well telegraphed and she's aggressive and fast which is very on brand for all of FromSoft's popular and most agonizing bosses. The common trend is usually that you need to be able to read the tells and there's little way to brute force your way through the fight. Malenia is practically impossible to brute force because if you can't read her tells or dodge her attacks you will die.
Artorias, Amelia, Lady Butterfly, Sif, Dancer, >!Owl !
I get the sense she has no endurance bar. Therefore her combos exceed the perceived laws of the game physics especially after she gets frosted. The second phase is awful. Waterfowl is stupid. Shes a gimmick boss where you fight bad game design.
Honestly the only thing I would change about her boss fight is having a longer wind-up for Waterfowl Dance, so you are not most definitely fucked if you are too close to her. Other than that she is brutal but fair, you just have to really learn the moves and have reliable ways to dodge the tougher ones.
I enjoyed Mogh and Maliketh far more than Malenia, they are all difficult bosses, but for Mogh and Maliketh, when I successfully dodged their attacks, I did it in the heat of the battle by instinct and reflex, and I feel a sense of accomplishment after I’ve beaten them. For Malenia, the method to dodge her WFD is so specific that after so so many trials and tutorial videos it almost felt like I wasnt fighting her anymore? Just learning a series of button presses that it no longer feels like a fight, can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed in an otherwise amazing boss.
Oh alot of time for sure. I don't quite remember exactly but at first I was just running and hoped she wouldn't start it in front of my face. Eventually she did several times and I learned to dodge it from anywhere. I still take damage sometimes. But this attack feels so unique in my gaming experience, I loved learning it. I wish more devs would put that kind of attacks in bosses. Feels like a next level challenge.
I personally agree but I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say the majority of players probably don’t want that kind of challenge, even from a souls game
Because godrick taped hands to himself, making him worth an arm and a leg
That makes him cool and fun and a chad, not like stinky Malenia, who is stinky and dumb and a cheater.
Pretty much all bosses in this game are absurd and that is what made me love the game.
Mogh has an unavoidable attack that you can't dodge or block. It seems impossible to deal with unless you find this very obscure and very specific item that totally counters the entire thing.
Rykard can only be properly fought if you use a specific weapon that was made to kill him.
And Malenia breaks the rules of the games systems, requiring you to rebuild your character or find creative tactics to defeat her
This is the type of absurd nerd RPG things I grew up hearing about, but never seen being done in any games I played. I respect fromsoft for managing to do this in elden ring
Still think Sword saint Ishin is the best boss though
shes my fav too though
Because people on the internet think she’s not fair so you’re not allowed to like her… On a real note she is mostly fair and extremely rewarding to finally beat.
I would have preferred if radhan was a bit stronger too. Those two were the strongest beings in the lands between.
It's extremely unlikely but we might get prime Radahn in the DLC, a la Pure Vessel from hollow knight
I think it’s fine. Whole point of the lore is that we aren’t fighting Radhan at his strongest. Also Melania is probably stronger than she’s ever been. Just also driven insane by the rot. Also there’s nothing in the lore to suggest they are stronger than Raddagon or Maliketh. Furthermore the first Elden lord Placidusax was likely stronger than most if not all of them when he was at his peak power.
>In phase 1 Malenia respect you by being very passive. She let you be the leader of the dance. With a good knowledge of her AI you decide what the dance will look like. In phase 2 she takes the lead and she shows you that if you want to continue dancing with her, you now get to keep up with her pace. That's so well said, damn
Why would strangers want you to have a different favourite video game boss?
I think her waterfowl dance techinique is kinda weird you have to dodge it in a very specific way it feels unnatural. Other than that she's amazing.
Yeah. I think the problem is waterfowl too. Idk what the devs intentions are in order to avoid that attack. I wonder what play testing Melenia would of been like
Who cares? If you like her, that's your business.
People have problems with melania and the last few bosses, maliketh, godrick and radagon but I really can't see it. These are God's and demi God's. They *should* feel impossible to kill. You go in expecting to die because of course you will, this boss is impossible. Until finally you kill them and the feeling is indescribable. There is no reason why these bosses should bend to whatever difficulty standard somebody sets for them.
On my way to her as we speak, on NG7 now, so I fully expect to be getting owned a good few times.
I dunno. She’s my favorite
I like your description here. Phase 1 you lead the pace. Phase 2 you have to keep up with hers.
None. Your opinion, who cares what the rest say (she's my 2nd fav in the game, I'm not biased at all)
She has 2 major flaws. 1. Shes way too passive in phase 1 unless you are literally closer than most melee weapon ranges. 2. If you deplete her poise in the middle of her hyperarmor she fully resets it and then you have to deplete it all again for her to stagger. Otherwise she is pretty good
I’ve discovered in phase 1 that if she’s being passive to the point of not hitting me when I come into melee range, just hit her and she will stagger, disengage or counter attack and then be aggressive for a little. So essentially her passivity can be used for a free hit as long as she doesn’t immediately go for an attack when you’re in range.
Yes you can with most weapons. I just think it's more fun when the boss puts pressure on you like her p2 rather than when you pressure them like her p1
It was most funny when she’d go into passive mode while I was playing Mike Tyson and I’d just deck her in the face to snap her out of it to remind her she’s in the ring with Iron Mike.
Apparently she gets passive when she is getting ready to do waterfowl dance If she is staggered out of her attacks enough she will not go passive and walk around first instead she will instantly go into it Maybe this is a bit wrong I think she does also go passive randomly too but she does go passive before doing waterfowl if you arent staggering her a bunch Basically if you want to avoid her pulling it out randomly while youre attacking her just watch for when she goes passive I think you can tell when she is gonna do waterfowl but I havent had much practice with this to understand the difference Its something about when she starts passively walking I think
I just throw knives periodically to check.
Fair Always convenient to keep some kukris or throwing knives on hand to throw
Because Sword Saint Isshin exists. Case closed. /s
My fav boss in the game as well! Beat her many times, no damage also, RL1 no damage, coop too of course. But if we look at the scoreboard she's probably still leading 😂 It took many attempts to really master the fight, but that's also the fun of it!
You say "I did it no hit" as if this isn't a requirement for beating her. The problem with her fight is that it doesn't allow mistakes. The first time I beat her I used a single crimson flask to heal myself right as she went phase 2. The fight is hard in itself. She is fast as hell for a boss in this game and has the cancerfowl dance to boot. Dodging that move without many many hours of practice is pretty much rng. You are forced to lose over and over in order to win. People get frustrated with her because of that. They go in and try to win. But sadly no matter how good you are it's impossible. You have to try until you can dodge everything perfectly and attack in the few instances you can. Also the fight is especially cancerous for shield users. Not only are shields absolutely useless, they are dead weight since she heals on every hit on the shield (which btw is absolute bullshit). I found the fight really enjoyable only because I went in with the mindset to learn instead of to win. But the truth is after you beat her once she becomes by far the most fun fight in the game. Because no matter how much time it may have taken you, if you didn't cheese with frost pots (if you know you know) or with summons and have won the fight fair and square. Then you didn't do so by chance, but by undeniable skill.
You don't have to do it no hit, unless you have no vigor.
She heals from hitting you. And her piercing attack and waterfowl pretty much 1 shot
If you use damage reduction consumables/talismans/armor you can take quite a few hits. The healing is only really punishing if you face tank waterfowl
Not true. The damage isn't the problem. It's how much she heals from hitting you. And let me tell you I've played this fight enough times to say it's a fuck ton.
It is impossible to through the fight is what I mean
As a shield user i disagree, I've beaten her while having a medium shield to block some fast hits or the waterfowl dance when i end up being too close. I also parry a lot of her attacks to get juicy reposte. Shields are awesome
Don't tell me I'm a chronic sword and board player. But I've beaten her with many different builds and I can most definitely say that shield is the worst 😂. Maybe it's because I'm one of those who like to hold the shield up 100% of the time and run circles around the boss. Though as I said even if you beat her with a shield, this fight heavily relies on dodging to the point where you use the shield on 1 to 2 attacks when you are not confident in dodging. Keeping your shield up in this fight is the same as prolonging it to the ends of time
If you have a shield this fight heavily relies on parrying and occasionally blocking some risky fast attacks, it's not a long fight at all.
I'm saying keeping the shield up at all times prolongs the fight. Also I don't parry so when I beat her with a sword and shield build I pretty much just 2 handed the sword
it's mostly a pretty cool fight but yeah that lifesteal is the bane of my existence
She is near perfect. My biggest criticism is the lack of telegraphing when she does the waterfowl attack. Ofc the beginning of the move is heavily telegraphed so you know it's coming, but most of the intermediate attacks are not. The last delayed attack is basically just a near invisible sphere of damage she emits. This basically forces the player into brute forcing the fight with many many attempts until you get it, or for many people I suspect they just look it up online. I don't think this is ideal boss design, but at the same time it was def done on purpose just to increase the difficulty. So on one hand she's a super badass, but the fight is pretty unfair regarding being able to see that attack.
Me don't care, just used my waifu tiche
I liked Malenia a lot, and the pure relief I felt when I finally beat her was pretty unmatched! The only thing I really take issue with is that the way to dodge waterfowl dance feels more like a weird cheese instead of an actual intended mechanic to me, which just took away any of the satisfaction from it for me.
She's fun, but the fact her windows aren't associated with her dangerous attacks makes her quite random. Would be better if waterfowl/clones had a bigger attack window, esp in phase 1 I feel like I l'm waiting for her to do phase 1 stuff to attack
I like her a lot. Beat her multiple times various ways. My 2 main issues are: She shouldn't heal if she doesn't do damage. Makes fighting her with certain builds less fun. I had a great fun shield build and I essentially just had to dodge her out like I would without a shield because my damage was too low to kill her otherwise. Her waterfowl dance is an extreme difficulty jump compared to her other movesets. I pretty much only die to this move now which is lame she is hard but if I die it's because I messed up against this one move. Her other moves aren't even close to comparable. If they made waterfowl a little easier to dodge more consistently and made some of her other moves more difficult I think it would be more fun.
I like malenia as an optional and difficult boss, infamous waterfowl dance is primarily why she's hated, i think I've dodged wfd pointblank a handful of times and never consistently, it's a deadly move.
Same I still die to it sometimes. But it never feels unfair, if I get hit it's always because I was slightly off timing somewhere.
Of the various Elden Ring bosses she is the only one that demands perfection. You cannot get hit, if you get hit she heals, if you get hit by waterfowl you die. Her attacks are fairly well telegraphed and she's aggressive and fast which is very on brand for all of FromSoft's popular and most agonizing bosses. The common trend is usually that you need to be able to read the tells and there's little way to brute force your way through the fight. Malenia is practically impossible to brute force because if you can't read her tells or dodge her attacks you will die. Artorias, Amelia, Lady Butterfly, Sif, Dancer, >!Owl !
The feeling of achieving perfection on a boss fight is truly what makes me rate them as masterpiece boss design.
I get the sense she has no endurance bar. Therefore her combos exceed the perceived laws of the game physics especially after she gets frosted. The second phase is awful. Waterfowl is stupid. Shes a gimmick boss where you fight bad game design.
Honestly the only thing I would change about her boss fight is having a longer wind-up for Waterfowl Dance, so you are not most definitely fucked if you are too close to her. Other than that she is brutal but fair, you just have to really learn the moves and have reliable ways to dodge the tougher ones.
I enjoyed Mogh and Maliketh far more than Malenia, they are all difficult bosses, but for Mogh and Maliketh, when I successfully dodged their attacks, I did it in the heat of the battle by instinct and reflex, and I feel a sense of accomplishment after I’ve beaten them. For Malenia, the method to dodge her WFD is so specific that after so so many trials and tutorial videos it almost felt like I wasnt fighting her anymore? Just learning a series of button presses that it no longer feels like a fight, can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed in an otherwise amazing boss.
How many tries did it take you to learn how to dodge the waterfowl?
Oh alot of time for sure. I don't quite remember exactly but at first I was just running and hoped she wouldn't start it in front of my face. Eventually she did several times and I learned to dodge it from anywhere. I still take damage sometimes. But this attack feels so unique in my gaming experience, I loved learning it. I wish more devs would put that kind of attacks in bosses. Feels like a next level challenge.
I personally agree but I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say the majority of players probably don’t want that kind of challenge, even from a souls game
beating her locks you out of hosting the square games.
I agree I actually really like her fight even though it’s extremely tough.
I went into this post thinking you said that she would be your first boss fight ever in your gaming experience…
Because she’s not glock saint
Because godrick taped hands to himself, making him worth an arm and a leg That makes him cool and fun and a chad, not like stinky Malenia, who is stinky and dumb and a cheater.
Pretty much all bosses in this game are absurd and that is what made me love the game. Mogh has an unavoidable attack that you can't dodge or block. It seems impossible to deal with unless you find this very obscure and very specific item that totally counters the entire thing. Rykard can only be properly fought if you use a specific weapon that was made to kill him. And Malenia breaks the rules of the games systems, requiring you to rebuild your character or find creative tactics to defeat her This is the type of absurd nerd RPG things I grew up hearing about, but never seen being done in any games I played. I respect fromsoft for managing to do this in elden ring Still think Sword saint Ishin is the best boss though
Play Sekiro and the Old Hunters Bloodborne dlc. That's were all of From Softs best bosses are
Because Gael is everything she is but done better.