If youre struggling against the Goddess of Rot, well walk you through everything you better defeat her.
You will find her at the root of MiquellasHaligtree, which is hidden in theConsecrated Snowfield.
To get there, you will need both halves of the Haligtree Secret Medallion.
you might find one half in the Village of the Albinaurics, and the other in Castle Sol.
See our summary ofLatennas questfor more details.
Use the secret medallion at the Grand Lift of Rold to reach the Consecrated Snowfield.
In the far north, you will find Ordina, Liturgical Town.
Use the Evergaol there to enter an alternate version of the town.
This will break the seal on the stairs near the Evergaol.
At the top is a teleporter to the Haligtree.
Now comes the harder but mercifully more straightforward part.
Simply progress through the Haligtree area to find Malenia at the end.
This is one of the most difficult zones in the game and is full of extremely dangerous enemies.
The first is a straight-up sword fight.
Malenia has no magic or ranged attacks in this phase.
This is just a pure duel to the death in melee, with fast, high-damage flurries of strikes.
However, Malenia also heals herself on hit.
If her sword touches you or your allies, Malenia will recover around 200 health.
This makes every hit all the more punishing and turns many summons into liabilities.
Shell recover about three-quarters of her health bar, then quickly strike with a dive-bomb attack.
Most of her abilities will apply scarlet rot build-up, but leave her more open to counterattacks.
you might also watch our guides editor Ollie defeat her in the following video.
Avoid Malenia’s Waterfowl Dance
Waterfowl Dance is by far Malenias most dangerous attack.
Unless you are out of range or know exactly what to do next, youre already dead.
Your first option is torun.
However, you better either already have some distance or start running immediately when she jumps.
Immediately here really means immediately.
That brings us to our next option;rolling through the attack.
Yes, this is possible.
The trick is to roll straight at Melania, passing under her as she starts swinging.
However, there are two follow-up lunges, and you will need to roll past her during these too.
The only way out is through.
Finally,it is possible to block Waterfowl Dance.
Still, it is an option to consider if the first two methods are failing you.
However, it can and will one-shot lower-health builds, so it is worth discussing.
If youve played a fighting game before, it wont surprise you that you cannot block grabs.
This attack will ignore your shield, and heavily punishes sitting behind your block.
Thankfully, it is fairly easy to read.
The only trick is differentiating it from Melanias lunging thrust attack.
Both moves start on the ground, where she will rear back before lunging across the arena.
For the thrust, she will turn to her right, pulling her sword back.
Once you’re free to identify these two attacks they should prove no trouble at all.
Thankfully, there is a simple trick to dodging it.
All you have to do isroll at and under Melania, just like with Waterfowl Dance.
For whatever reason, the secondary explosion seems to consistently catch rolls away from Malenia.
She also recovers from staggers quickly and loves to punish you for trying to sneak in an extra hit.
Weapons likeBoody Helice and Rivers of Bloodwork particularly well.
Frostbitedeals less damage upfront but lowers the targets damage reduction.
This will help you deal more consistent damage throughout the fight, making each heal less impactful.
TheHoarfrost Stompskill remains one of the best ways to apply Frostbite even after the recent nerf.
Thats everything it’s crucial that you take down Malenia!
Dont let this fights intimidating reputation discourage you.
With these tips and a little practice, anyone can defeat the Goddess of Rot.
If youre looking to track down more runebearers, our completelist of boss locationswill help.
Prepare your build for these challenges with ourguide to the best weaponsandbest talismans in Elden Ring.
