ELDEN RING | Malenia, Blade of Miquella | Ghiza’s Wheel | Consecutive Hit/Charge Attack/Bleed Build

Malenia…

Prior to launch, I wanted to explore every nook and cranny of The Lands Between and ideally beat every boss without using spirit summons. I don’t shame anyone for using spirit summons as it is a mechanic that’s part of the game so why limit yourself. Personally, I get the most joy out of a FromSoftware game by struggling over and over until the boss mechanics are nearly mastered and I felt that using spirit summons would negate that feeling of triumph tremendously since boss aggression was divided.

Toward the end of my first play-through I was very close to achieving this goal but was feeling slightly burnt out. After navigating through the Haligtree, I finally made it to Malenia. After a few several hours of attempting the hardest boss in fromsoftware history, I felt something I had never experienced while playing any Soulsborne title and that was the feeling of losing patience.

With Waterfowl dance being the move that it is, I caved and used my mimic tear spirit summons. I then proceeded to beat Malenia FIRST TRY with my mimic by my side and I instantly regretted it. I felt I robbed myself of that feeling of triumph but was so burnt out I simply wanted to finish the game…

Until my second play-through about six months later! Randomly one day I loaded up Elden Ring and began my next play-through without much thought. Since my character was heavily leveled and I had nearly all the items I needed, beating the game on my second go around took half as long. I planned on using the Ghiza’s Wheel(Pizza Cutter) mostly because of Bloodborne and my love for the Whirligig Saw. I created a build stacking consecutive hits/charged attacks and complimented those with jumping and bleed damage. The build also uses the jellyfish shield to boost attack power.

I made my way to Malenia once I felt confident enough with my build and move set and instantly remembered how much I hated Waterfowl Dance. In my opinion, it’s the only move I’ve ever experienced in Soulsborne that requires you to dodge unconventionally as opposed to either timing your roll or parry. I think Malenia is a great boss other than that move but I was determined to find a way around that. My research led me to discover the Freezing Pot and it worked tremendously to shut down Waterfowl before it even began. I managed my equipment so that I could use the Freezing Pot at a moments notice. With everything in place, I finally felt I had all the tools to put down the Goddess of Rot