Elden Ring’s toughest boss is being scoffed at after the DLC has honed players with its own challenges.
Elden Ring, like any FromSoftware game, is defined by the level of hardship that it puts its players through. In the base game, the embodiment of that struggle was Malenia, Blade of Miquella, thanks to her Waterfowl Dance and insane health-on-hit mechanics.
Of course, with the release of Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, a host of new obstacles have come to the game in the form of new bosses. The initial shock of its difficulty spike saw the expansion’s Steam rating drop to ‘mixed’ after frustrated players left their feedback.
Those who stuck it out have been tempered in the fires of Shadow of the Erdtree and come out hardened. To the point that players like Reddit user Oath_Br3aker are laughing at how “easy” bosses like Malenia feel after trudging through the DLC.
Shadow of the Erdtree’s bosses are notably more aggressive than their base game counterparts. DLC roadblocks like Golden Hippopotamus, Messmer the Impaler, and even Divine Beast Dancing Lion all begin their encounters by quickly closing the gap and unleashing powerful combos.
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Malenia by comparison is far less aggro thanks to her slow walk toward the player allowing time for buffs, summons, or even charged spells. Her comparative lack of poise to bosses like Commander Gaius and Promised Consort Radahn is also a refreshing change of pace.
Players have gotten confident since facing Shadow of the Erdtree’s bosses and are deriding Malenia in droves. “Malenia is slow-mo now. Her second phase is a bit more of a challenge but I still think a few bosses from the DLC clear her easy in the difficulty department,” one claimed. “If it wasn’t for Waterfowl she wouldn’t be hard at all,” another replied.
Malenia is still an incredibly difficult boss to take down in our own experience but perhaps we’ll find her easier after our own Shadow of the Erdtree playthrough. If you’re still struggling with the Blade of Miquella, we do have a guide on how to beat her.
