Even those that have not played Elden Ring themselves will likely know of Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Arguably the hardest FromSoftware boss of all time, and by extension one of the toughest foes in the entire gaming industry, seeing Elden Ring players overcome Malenia is always incredibly satisfying.
While some gamers like Let Me Solo Her have truly mastered the Malenia battle, most will spend at least a few hours figuring out her moveset and learning her patterns before they can even come close to victory. Not only does Malenia have a brutal second phase that introduces Scarlet Rot attacks to the mix, but her life steal ensures that every mistake players make is extremely detrimental to their chances of victory. Beyond that, Waterfowl Dance is very tough to dodge, and players that fail to avoid at least part of the move will likely be killed instantly.
Clearly, Reddit user Toushi138 was one of the many Elden Ring players that got stuck on Malenia, with the optional boss being such a big wall for the Redditor that they failed to beat her after 30 hours of trying. Despite so many failed attempts, though, they did not give up. The Redditor shared a clip of their final run, but before they were victorious, they had one final obstacle to overcome. Unfortunately, their PC decided to stutter at the worst possible time, with the moment nearly killing them.
The stutter not only occurs when Malenia is one hit away from death, but also when she has jumped into the air to initiate a powerful attack. After the stutter, Toushi138 is hit by four of Malenia’s Scarlet Rot projections. Shockingly, they still have a sliver of health, with viewers barely able to make out the red part of the health bar. Instead of losing their composure, they dodge an attack from Malenia that would have killed them, backing away and healing up.
With some health restored, the Redditor runs in and lands the final hit, killing the Goddess of Rot with their Ruins Greatsword and bringing their thirty hours of struggling to a close. Alongside 6,500 upvotes, numerous commenters praise the Redditor for keeping their cool when all hope seemed lost. Had they been beaten because of a stutter that was completely out of their control, the clip would have showcased a tragedy. Instead, it serves as a record of a hugely satisfying recovery and victory.
With Malenia dominating players so often, it is always nice to see her get beaten - especially when a player has been trying so hard to take her down. With this Redditor also using their normal build instead of an easy Malenia setup like Rivers of Blood, they deserve every bit of praise that they are getting.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.