How to Defeat Maliketh the Black Blade in Elden Ring
Elden Ring is mostly memorable for its immensely powerful bosses and a well-knitted storyline that connects all the characters properly. No matter whether you are fighting an early-game boss or a late-game boss, one thing will always be static: they will give you a hard time beating them. Be it Malenia, the Goddess of Rot, Sir Gideon-Ofnir, the All-Knowing, or Maliketh the Black Blade. So, you shouldn’t be embarrassed if you are getting eliminated while trying to kill Maliketh the Black Blade. Trust me you are not the only one facing this issue.
Before this guide gives you a walkthrough of beating Maliketh, let’s check a few necessary details about the boss, including its location.
Location of Maliketh the Black Blade in Elden Ring
Maliketh is one of the End Game enemies. So, you can easily guess how much he will give you a hard time beating him. Now, if you are thinking of skipping the fight, let me tell you, that’s impossible. Maliketh the Black Blade is not an optional boss, but he is one of the main bosses of the game that you must have to pass through regardless of the ending you choose.
This boss is located in one of the last areas of the game, Crumbling Farum Azula. The story will eventually take you to that location, no matter how you have progressed before. However, Crumbling Farum Azula can only be accessible after you defeat the Fire Giant and proceed with your plan to burn the Erdtree.
Necessary Preparations to Fight Maliketh the Black Blade
Maliketh is one of those bosses against whom you can’t really get many items to get prepared. Even after a few tries, we never found him significantly weak against any elemental damage. So, you can choose any weapon or spell of your choice. But one thing you should keep in mind is don’t attempt this fight if you don’t have fully upgraded weapons and you reached around 130 in-game level.
Though Maliketh is not weak to elemental damage, it’s not that he doesn’t have any weakness. If you want to know the biggest weakness of the boss, it is the Blasphemous Claw. If you have completed Knight Bernahl’s questline, you must have this claw and it is only given to you for the Maliketh fight. But here’s another reminder: Blasphemous Claw is a mere parrying tool that doesn’t have any other effect on the boss. So, this fight will mostly be a test of your fighting skills.
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You can’t win the fight alone without any assistance. So, it is better to have one Spirit Ash to support you and what can be better than Mimic Tear? This Spirit Ash summons an exact copy of you with the same weapon and equipment to divert the boss’s attention and deal an equal amount of damage.
Now that the preparations are done, let’s move forward with the strategy.
Best Strategy to Fight Maliketh the Black Blade in Elden Ring
This fight has two phases. Initially, when you start you have to fight the less formidable version of the boss called, Maliketh, the Beast Clergyman. This version of the boss is aggressive and lands continuous attacks that deal massive damage to the players. For the melee players, it will be hard to get close to the boss for dealing damage. We recommend not to summon your Spirit Ash in this phase. You can easily handle him if you remember two points: first, ranged attacks come out of the Clergyman’s left hand, and second, melee attacks are exclusive to the blade in the right hand. In both cases, you have to run out of his attack range.
The favorite attacks of this boss are a long thrust with a small blade that will create red waves, his throwing stone attack, and the claw attack. While all of them can be easily dodged, the deadliest among them is the Claw attack where the boss throws a wave of claws at you. If they hit, you will lose a chunk of your health. this attack generally comes with the boss’s ground-slamming attack.
Once you have dealt enough damage to the boss and his health bar reaches 50%, the next phase of the fight begins. In this phase, you will encounter the deadliest form of the boss, Maliketh the Black Blade. During this phase, the boss wields a great sword and twirls vertically to launch the same red laser wave attack as you have encountered in phase 1. Here, you can’t really do anything besides dodging the attack by rolling back. Remember this attack sometimes comes in a combo of three back-to-back twirls.
The boss does have a similar ranged attack where he will jump up and twirl vertically to launch red glowing waves at you. Jump either right or left to avoid it. there are a few more attacks that the boss you try to use during the fight, but you can easily parry all of them, using the Blasphemous Claw.
While you must prioritize your defense, you should focus on your attacks as well. Once the second phase starts, call your Spirit Ash to divert the attention of the boss. Maliketh is indeed a fast-paced boss who won’t give you any break and attack consistently, still, you will get opportunities to get close to him and land hits. It is better if you can stay at his backside and attack him. Another thing you must remember is that Maliketh’s attacks can be dodged and parried, but can’t be blocked. Don’t try to block his attacks, or you will take damage.
Also, whenever you get to hit the boss land a few hits and run out of his range. Don’t stay close to him for a longer time. You must remember, that he is a late-game boss with immense powers. If hits lands properly on you, you will die within seconds.
This fight requires lots of patience and a proper strategy. This fight will take time but if you take the wrong steps, finally you will lose the battle. So, don’t try to speed up the fight by doing the wrong steps. Once you kill Maliketh the Black Blade, you will get 220,000 runes and the Remembrance of the Black Blade.
