How to find and beat Malenia in Elden Ring

Malenia is probably the hardest boss to beat in all of Elden Ring, and just learning how to find her is no small task either.

Malenia is Elden Ring’s equivalent of a raid boss, the single most challenging enemy for players to pit themselves against as the greatest enemy, apart from Colosseum killers, in From Software’s already notoriously difficult RPG. She’s found in a somewhat secretive area, which takes significant effort to unlock all on its own. Given how much you need to do to find this ultimate boss, here’s how to find and beat Malenia.

How to find Malenia

Malenia is the final boss of a dungeon called Miquella’s Haligtree, which lies at the end of a zone Consecrated Snowfield. In order to reach this zone, you need to first find one specific NPC and clear out a small dungeon called Castle Sol and defeat the boss there. If you haven’t even gotten there yet, check out our guide to getting up The Grand Lift of Rold. Malenia is found at the deepest part of Miquella’s Haligtree, behind the typical wall of white fog for a From Software boss. If you get turned around in the Haligtree area, just focus on making your way further down the tree toward its rotting roots.

How to kill Malenia in Elden Ring

There’s no simple explanation for how to kill Malenia in Elden Ring, as she’s an incredibly varied boss with high speed, ridiculous damage, and lightning-quick attacks. However, there are some general strategies you can employ if you hope to beat her. Firstly, don’t be a hero. Employ the help of friends, spirit summons, and even random cooperators if you can. While Malenia will get stronger as a result of this, the key to beating Malenia is to constantly stagger her. This is most easily done with multiple fighters constantly attacking her. If you insist on doing it alone, you’re likely best off focusing on staggering her with heavy jumping attacks and statuses like bleed.

Malenia has two stages, her first focusing on rapid sword strikes and brutal charging stabs. Look to dodge her slashes early, and then punish her subsequent strikes. For her charged-up stabs, wait until you see her fist begin to move after standing still and immediately dodge roll perpendicular to the line between you and her. In her second form, look to dodge roll out of range of her various combos entirely.