How to defeat Malenia – The easiest and most effective method

Malenia, the Goddess of rot is surely the hardest boss in Elden Ring. Fighting her in my first playthrough took me several hours and a couple of different strategies based on different weapons and playstyles. One of the hardest things about that boss fight was the super annoying skill move, the waterfowl dance. This move is a flurry of attacks that have a massive hitbox and even if you try to stay away from her she will close the gap on you in an instance. The strategies and tutorials you will find on the internet to ‘survive’ the Waterfowl dance are mostly cliche dodges and run away tactics that require extremely well-timed dodges and a bit of luck. However, after defeating her multiple times It was discovered that it is possible to stop Malenia from attacking and actually surviving the Waterfowl dance. In this guide, I will show you the best and only way to tackle Malenia’s Waterfowl dance.

How to ‘prevent’ Malenia from using the Waterfowl dance attack

Dodging away from her and maybe even using bloodhound steps is one of the ways to deal with the Waterfowl dance attack but none of these methods actually ensure that you will succeed in surviving that savage attack. The attack is fast and has a huge hitbox making it almost impossible to dodge

The best way to deal with the Waterfowl Dance attack is by stopping her in midair by throwing freeze pots at her. It was discovered by a YouTuber who is often hailed as the ‘Sekiro God’ Ongbal, that you can actually stop Malenia from executing the Waterfowl Dance while she is in the air preparing to slice you up. Throwing freeze pots at Malenia interrupts the Waterfowl dance and knocks malenia out of the air. This ‘cheese’ strategy is perfect for beginners and can be used to completely prevent Malenia from using the Waterfowl dance granted that you have enough Freeze pots.

Preventing her from using the waterfowl dance makes the fight with her a lot easier. Even if she manages to connect one attack from her special move ‘the Waterfowl dance’ can be lethal. The fact you can completely nullify this by knocking her off mid-air is truly convenenient.

Where and how to get Freeze pots in Elden Ring?

The recipe for crafting Freeze pots can be obtained from the Caria Manor the exact location has been shown in the image below. The Crafting book can be purchased from the merchant Pidia or by giving her bell bearing (if she has been killed) to the Twin maiden husks at the Roundtable hold.

How to get to Pidia in Caria Manor

Pidia is actually located right above the Manor lower-level site of grace but the route to get to her is different.

• First, you will need to defeat the Royal Knight Loretta boss and head to The Three sisters region.
• From there head to the location marked on the map and jump down to the Castle structure.

• You will need to climb down several times onto the wooden platforms on the right side.
• From there climb down the ladder and you will find Pidia there lying on the floor or dead(If you have completed the Ranni questline) if that’s the case you can pick up her bell bearing and offer it to the twin maiden husks at the roundtable hold.

From here you can purchase the Glintstone Craftsman book [7] and the crafting recipe for freeze pot. After playing Sekiro it just makes sense to knock enemies out in the air and interrupt their attacks but to do it to Malenia one of the hardest Elden Ring bosses is ridiculous and game-breaking indeed.

Read our guide about the best way to farm runes and level up faster in Elden Ring here.

Read our guide on how to defeat general Radahn here.