An Elden Ring player suffered an agonizing defeat against Malenia, but Waterfowl Dance was surprisingly not involved. The Blade of Miquella has developed a reputation for being Elden Ring's most challenging boss fight thanks to one specific attack, but this video proves she can be just as deadly without it.
It has become a pastime for FromSoftware veterans to share their victories across the challenging games published by the developer. One player searching for success against Malenia, arguably the most difficult boss FromSoftware has published to date, ended up with a rather anticlimactic win when they discovered a certain Spirit Ash could just stun-lock her to death. Reveling in successful challenge runs, where players artificially inflate the difficulty by imposing certain conditions they must abide by, has also long been part of the fun. But these victories are all the more compelling because failure is much more common.
A video posted to Reddit by superepic13579 presents a particularly painful display of misfortune. The player is seen in a promising position, using the Bloodboon Ritual skill of Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear to "Nihil" Malenia's health into oblivion. With the Goddess of Rot both firmly into her second phase and focused on the player's Mimic Tear, victory seemed all but assured for the Tarnished boasting a full bar of health.
Switching to the Rivers of Blood Katana, the player calmly staggers Malenia in quick succession with its Corpse Piler, a skill once so powerful FromSoftware was forced to radically change how it inflicted damage and Hemorrhage build-up. A couple hits away from defeat, the rot-infused swordstress leaps into the air and kicks the player, an attack that they had no chance of avoiding. Unable to recover health, they immediately attempt to finish off Malenia with another Corpse Piler, and it was at this moment they knew they messed up.
With an outstretched hand, Malenia lunges toward the Tarnished currently stuck in an attack animation, and throws them up into the air, only to then impale the sorry soul on her weapon. It is the Shardbearer's most damaging single attack and instantly kills the player, concluding the fight with a one-liner that far too many players are familiar with. The Reddit user captioned the video by saying that they had never thrown a controller before, but the loss had them nearly do so. Fortunately, their next attempt was successful, so the Elden Ring community can enjoy the cinematic defeat without feeling guilty.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.