Taking home the Game Awards' most prestigious trophy during last year’s ceremony,Elden Ringwas many fans' game of the year in 2022, and for good reason. Learning from every one of its past games,Elden Ringfelt like the perfectculmination of FromSoftware’s modern action-RPG formula, combining all of the best bits ofDark Souls,Sekiro, andBloodborneto form one wonderfully complete package.
Elden Ringhas a lot going for it, from hundreds of weapons, armor sets, and spells that allow for incredibly diverse build setups, to a gigantic open-world filled with secrets and rewarding encounters, to a story even more dark and engaging than the rest of FromSoftware’s recent catalog. But a FromSoftware game wouldn’t be complete without a horde of delightfully challenging bosses, and thankfullyElden Ringhas those in droves, with one in particular being an ideal starting point forElden Ring’s upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
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Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree Bosses Should Take Inspiration From Maliketh
Elden Ringis home to some of the best bosses in FromSoftware history, which is a pretty spectacular feat, but with over 150 bosses in the entire game, it’s natural that not all of them are equal. The vast majority ofElden Ringbosses can be tackled in an infinite number of ways, with movesets that allow for countless different build variations. While it’s great thatElden Ring’s bossesencourage playstyles of all types, this can often lead to some rather generic feeling bosses, with players simply being able to tank oncoming damage and dish out their own in a dull race to victory. But it’sElden Ring’s more tricky, carefully-structured fights that are often the most memorable, and Maliketh is certainly one of those.
Encountered right at theend ofElden Ringin the Crumbling Farum Azula, Maliketh the Black Blade is one of the most memorable boss fights in not justElden Ring, but FromSoftware’s entire library, and a lot of that is due to the boss' hand-crafted level of challenge. While the first half of the boss fight is fairly simple, putting players up against a fast but easy-to-dodge Beast Clergyman, the second phase takes a much trickier turn, putting players up against the brutal and quick Maliketh, equipped with the devastating Black Blade.
The big gimmick ofMaliketh’s boss fightis that when players get hit by the Black Blade, their max health gets reduced, and a status effect is applied that continuously drains the player’s health until they use a healing item. Though Maliketh’s health bar is low, these Black Blade attacks can be truly catastrophic if they land, with even the highest-level player being susceptible to death after just two or three consecutive hits. But it’s in this horrifying moveset that Maliketh finds his place as one of FromSoftware’s best bosses.
When it comes to Maliketh, players simply can’t just tank damage and hope that their own attacks kill him before he gets there first, as doing so will leave them without any healing items pretty quickly. Instead, Maliketh’s moveset requires players to properly learn the mechanics and attack patterns of the fight.
Only then will players be able to successfully avoid taking damage, and finally be able to land some hits of their own. Maliketh is fast, but his moves are well-telegraphed, rewarding skillful dodges and counterattacks. ThoughElden Ringhas some great bosses, none are quite as reliant on player skill as Maliketh, andElden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC could certainly use a few more skill-based fights like this one.
Elden Ringis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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