Elden Ring features several difficult boss fights against intimidating enemies. It probably has more bosses than other games by developer FromSoftware, and many are notorious for their difficulty. Some Elden Ring boss fights were known for being too hard at launch, but FromSoftware has released several updates to bring a better balance to these encounters.
Malenia is arguably the toughest boss in Elden Ring, and some consider her to be one of the most challenging enemies in all FromSoftware games. She has gained a fan following probably due to her design, backstory, and difficulty, as fans have made beautiful pieces of Malenia fan art since the game’s release. Many players will likely die several times to Malenia before defeating her, but one Elden Ring fan shows how effective spells can be in this fight.
A Reddit user named DaddyWhoGames has uploaded a video of their fight against Malenia. DaddyWhoGames is using a Faith build and defeats both of Malenia’s phases by casting various incantations that deal massive damage. They just have a sliver of health left and are one hit away from dying, but they cleverly utilize the unique animations of these incantations to avoid her attacks.
The player opens the fight with the Frenzied Burst and uses Burn O Flame! to deal area-of-effect damage to Malenia. The animation of Burn O Flame! involves the user bending down to use the move, and DaddyWhoGames times this perfectly to dodge Malenia’s attacks. They deplete her health with Catch Flame as the fight transitions into its second phase.
DaddyWhoGames uses Flame, Grant Me Strength to buff their damage output before casting Flame of the Fell God to hurl a fireball at Malenia. The user again times Burn O Flame! to perfection, dodging her attacks and dealing significant damage before finishing her off. The impressive video shows DaddyWhoGames defeating Malenia without taking a single hit.
In the comments, they state that they had 80 Faith with the Faith-knot Crystal Tear adding another 10. The full build also includes various Elden Ring talismans that buff their damage output for this fight. On the other hand, they only allocated 10 points to the Vigor stat, but they probably don’t need any more health considering the skills showcased in this clip. Many players jokingly mention that DaddyWhoGames will not pass any Vigor checks, a term used for players having low maximum health due to not leveling Vigor.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.