Elden Ring Player Finds Easy Counter To The Game's Deadliest Attack
We're in the endgame now. After weeks, hours, and more "You Died" screens than we'd care to count, most of us have finally bested Elden Ring - well, what there is until the inevitable DLC. Although some are able to speedrun FromSoftware's fantasy favourite in 19 minutes, the rest are going at a Turtle Pope's pace and making the most of the various bosses and monsters.
Up there with Starscourge Radahn and Maliketh the Black Blade, Malenia stands out from the crowd as one of Elden Ring's hardest bosses. If completing two puzzles just to access the one-armed villainess' area wasn't hard enough, her deadly arsenal of attacks and ability to heal will have you sweating through your armour.
How Can You Counter Malenia's Deadliest Attack?
Malenia is a gruelling two-phase attack, and if dealing with phantom versions of herself or her Scarlet Aeonia attack blasting our deadly scarlet rot wasn't enough, what about her infamous Waterfowl Dance move? Being able to wipe out the Tarnished's HP before we know what's hit us, Malenia's Waterfowl Dance is easily the most deadly attack in the Lands Between. So, any chance to avoid it should come in handy.
Posting on Reddit, u/toxicbird7 showed off an easy counter that makes Malenia's Waterfowl Dance feel like a tap from a Jade Goblin. Here, they made the most of Malenia's weaknesses of fire, freeze, and bleed - crafting a number of freezing pots to hurl at her. If it works, the barrage will break Malenia's poise and force her out of Waterfowl Dance.
In the video, the OP hurls these freezing pots at Malenia and forces her to fall back down to Earth. As they point out though, the more you use this handy counter, the more Malenia's resistance will build. It means you'll need to throw more than just one freeze pot at her as the battle goes on. You're also warned this would be the same with any other freeze weapons or attacks you try to use.
Does The Malenia Counter Work?
Given the notoriety of Maelnia's difficulty, other gamers were over the moon that someone's come up with a handy hack to help best her with ease. Not everyone was sold though. One critic mused: "I've seen this advice once, but I could never juggle between pots and flasks fast enough on the Keyboard+Mouse, so I just struggled... I'll try to figure something out." Accepting defeat, another added, "My favorite counter is just f*****g dying, because she can’t kill you if you’re already dead!"
Look, Elden Ring was always supposed to be hard. That hasn't stopped the game's Director from apologising for just how hard it is. If that wasn't enough, there was one glitch that made one dog harder than 11 bosses, or what about FromSoft's recent update even buffed Radahn after he was apparently too easy? If you've got to Malenia, try freezing her in her tracks. Although this counter can come in handy, don't expect her to exactly be a walk in the park if you want to take her down for good.
