Elden Ring’s enormous world is packed full of missable content, but there are certain parts that no-one should pass by. Among these are the legacy dungeons, underground city, and of course some of those extra-challenging boss fights.
By now, you’ve undoubtedly seen the name Malenia make its way around Elden Ring circles. The Blade of Miquella is infamous for her brutal difficulty, surely piquing everyone’s interest. Malenia is as hard to find as she is to beat, and it’s unlikely you’ll stumble upon her without knowing exactly where to go beforehand.
Thankfully, we’ve got you covered with our full Malenia location guide. Here’s everything you need to know about how to find Malenia in Elden Ring.
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Reach the Mountaintop of the Giants
Malenia cannot be accessed until late in the game. Although many dungeons and areas can be skipped, you must reach the Mountaintop of the Giant first, which is a mandatory location in the north of the map. Don’t worry about Malenia until you have got at least this far.
Get the Haligtree Secret Medallion
The next step is to collect both halves of the Haligree Medallion. One of these can be obtained very early in game, but the other is far later. Check your inventory to see if you have these already. If not, pursue them at the following locations.
How to get the Haligtree Secret Medallion: Right Half
The right half is the easier one. Go to the Village of the Albinaurics in the southwest region of Liurnia of the Lakes (pictured above). The closest Site of Grace in the lake itself is Folly on the Lake. Go south, under the landmass on the map and head up a pathway towards a creepy village full of enemies. There’s also a Site of Grace within Village of the Albinaurics itself so head straight there if you accessed it already.
Towards the top of the village, there’s a pot with a man hiding inside it who you can break out by hitting it. If you talk to him a few times he will give you the right half of the Haligtree Secret Medallion. Alternatively, he will drop it if you kill him. If you accidentally attack him once, he will become aggressive and you will have no choice but to kill him.
How to get the Haligtree Secret Medallion: Left Half
The left half of the Haligtree Medallion is found in Castle Sol within the Mountaintop of the Giants. It’s right in the north part of the map (pictured above). This dungeon can be quite tricky, but after navigating it you will encounter a boss called Commander Niall. Defeat him to and proceed through the unlocked path to find the left half of the Haligtree Secret Medallion on the floor.
Commander Niall has a couple of guards alongside him, and I found he did not attack much whilst the guards were still on the scene. Take these out first before turning your attention to Niall, who has some powerful moves but most of them are clearly telegraphed so his attack pattern isn’t too difficult to learn. Also, don’t be afraid to summon – it’s three vs. one after all! Unfortunately there isn’t a Site of Grace outside the boss room so you’ll have to rush through a bunch of enemies for each new attempt.
After this, you’ll hold the complete Haligtree Secret Medallion.
Use the Haligtree Secret Medallion at the Grand Lift of Rold
Next, we’re heading back to the Grand Lift of Rold. This is the lift that took you up to the Mountaintop of the Giants, but a secret way is now available.
Stand on the circular panel at the foot of the lift and you’ll see the option to either ‘Hoist Medallion’ or ‘Switch action’ with the D-pad. Scroll across with the D-Pad and you will see the option change to ‘Hoist Secret Medallion’ instead.
Use the Haligtree Secret Medallion and the lift will take you elsewhere, and set you on the path to fighting Malenia. Unfortunately, there’s still a long way to go to reach Malenia, but the route is relatively linear from here.
Consecrated Snowfield
The Grand Lift of Rold will take you to a dark tunnel with a few enemies. However, these don’t drop too many runes so you can rush through it to reach the Consecrated Snowfield, which is the next area to bypass. You’ll emerge into a snowstorm, making it very difficult to see the way.
Follow the faint lights that guide you in the right direction. Eventually the snowstorm will ease up and visibility will return to normal.
Head to the northeast area of the map to find Ordina Liturgical Town, which has an extremely frustrating ‘puzzle’ to solve.
NOTE: The Consecrated Snowfield also has a teleport point that takes you into the underground map and towards the direction of Mohg, Lord of Blood. Since he’s another difficult shardbearer packing a massive rune reward, you should try and defeat him as well at some point. The teleporter in question is right on the western edge of the map.
Ordina Liturgical Town Puzzle
Enter the Evergaol towards the back of the town. You must light all four candles to unlock a seal and grant access to the next area.
The annoying thing about this is that an invisible assassin is lurking around the town, who is tough to dodge and can land a backstab on you if you aren’t careful. There are also two archers who will pepper you with powerful magic arrows. Stay on the move at all times and head towards each candle. Some of these will require you to climb onto the rooftops and jump along them, where the arrows are more dangerous.
The candle locations are:
- In the central area of town, down the stairs and to the left from the Evergaol entry point. The assassin is most likely to attack you around here.
- On the western part of the town up a ladder. This is outside the main town itself and is quite a safe one to light.
- In the south area of the inner-town, there’s another ladder that leads to the third candle.
- This is a hard one – in the west part of town you’ll find some damaged buildings that can be used as platforms to get onto the rooftops. Jump along the rooftops whilst taking out the archers one at a time to head north to the final candle. There are areas you can take cover from the arrows, so bide your time and rush the archers as soon as you are exposed, dodging quickly if they fire one. Alternatively used ranged attacks to whittle them down gradually before returning to cover.
The only saving grace here is that you don’t have the light the candles in a single attempt – even if you die in between your previous candles stay lit.
After completing this, the stairs beyond the seal will present another teleporter, taking you to the Haligtree.
Miquella’s Haligtree
Another long and difficult area, unfortunately. Start by carefully making your way down the tree branches whilst defeating or avoiding the giant ants and snowman-like enemies. Be particularly vigilant as you proceed down the final branch where an enemy will launch several magical orbs your way. Get ready to dodge as you can’t reach the enemy shooting you, before navigating a path down to the Site of Grace below.
Once you’ve got down towards the buildings, make your way across and gradually find yourself getting lower and lower, Along the way, there are also some troublesome Spirit-Caller Snails who hide from view whilst summoning enemies. Defeat the Snails to simultaneously take out all of their spirits, and eventually you’ll come up against two difficult wizards.
After getting past them, there’s a boss coming up. Make sure you activate the lift on the platform just before to go back up and revisit a previous Site of Grace. This enables you to repeatedly take on the boss without going through the entire pathway again.
The boss is Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree. He’s similar to Royal Knight Loretta fought in Caria Manor, but has a few extra moves. Dodge his ranged attacks and take advantage of his openings that appear when he misses at close quarters. His second phase ramps things up a bit with some more powerful magic, but you must defeat him to reach Malenia.
When he’s beaten, enjoy a stack of runes and a little rest before heading into the next challenge.
Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree
Down a long ladder and another lift is Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, a city with a similar aesthetic to Lyndell but with much, much tougher enemies.
There are a few different routes that can be taken, such as climbing along wide branches and ledges, but they all head in the same direction and you ultimately must make it to the end by following the path. Lots of tricky Haligtree Knights stand in your way, so try to take them one at a time and not get cornered since many parts of Elphael are quite narrow.
It’s a long way to go from one Site of Grace to the next, but you’ll eventually find a doorway with an Erdtree Avatar and a series of guards alongside it. You can approach this head on, from above on the right-hand side (my preference) or even from a ladder below on the left-hand site of the entrance.
My advice: do not fight these enemies. There is a Site of Grace just inside and it’s not worth the risk. When you spot this entrance, heal up, consume your Wondrous Physick and try to sneak as close to the doorway as possible. When they spot you, sprint inside and rest at the Site of the Grace before they can get you.
You can always go back and battle them with the comfort of a nearby Site of Grace, or simply press on towards Malenia.
Haligtree Lake of Rot: How to avoid damage
You’re nearly there, but still have some work to do. Continue inside and you’ll find an ominous area similar to the Lake of Rot. Thankfully it’s not as big as the Lake of Rot, and admittedly it’s more of a waterfall.
The rot is unavoidable. There is no way around it, and the only path is straight through. Not only does it deal continuous damage, but there are many Kindred of Rot enemies lurking inside. Most of these are small and can catch you unawares if you aren’t concentrating.
However, it is possible to avoid damage. Deal with the Scarlet Rot buildup with one of the following options:
- Use the ‘Flame, Cleanse Me’ incantation to prevent Scarlet Rot
- Use Preserving Boluses items which also stops Scarlet Rot buildup
- The Bloodhound’s Step weapon skill can get you through the Lake quickly if you have it
- Wear Immunity-boosting armour which slows down the status buildup, like the Mushroom Armor
- Simply accept the damage and heal with flasks whenever you are getting low
If you don’t have the incantation, I would actually suggest just walking through and healing with flasks to avoid wasting items. There is a Site of Grace just before and just after the rot area so make sure your flask collection has plenty of HP heals and wade through whilst fighting any enemies that get near you.
After getting past the rot and crossing over to the other side via some precarious-looking branches, there is an entrance towards a sewer building. This is your next Site of Grace, and you are finally getting close to the Malenia location.
Haligtree Roots
Go down a couple more large tree branches and you’ll find a church. You can jump onto a balcony or down through the roof (make sure you land on a rafter) and get to the ground floor via a couple more drops. Again, there are plenty of Kindred of Rot enemies inside along with many in the outer cemetery. There are some decent items around here so it’s worth exploring outside first.
The areas outside the church are among the best in the whole game for grinding runes so bear this in mind when you are inevitably destroyed by Malenia.
When you are done, go back inside the church and find a lift that takes you all the way down to the Haligtree Roots. Rest at the Site of Grace and prepare to become very familiar with this room.
You have finally made it. Head down the stairs to find Malenia, or alternatively go into the other room near the Site of Grace to find a lift that takes you back up to Elphael where you can fight another Erdtree Avatar and explore a bit more if you wish.
That’s how to find Malenia in Elden Ring. The closest Site of Grace to the Malenia location is Haligtree Roots, and you shouldn’t be disheartened if you need to leave for a while to grind some further levels first.
Tips to beat Malenia
Finding the Malenia boss location is just the beginning. Now you have to actually beat her.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella is considered the most difficult boss in Elden Ring by most (myself included). Here are some pointers that might help you out.
- Use Bleed, with a weapon or Ash of War that causes Blood Loss buildup. Even the legendary Let Me Solo Her utilises Bleed, as the bonus damage caused is a massive advantage.
- Summon the Mimic Tear, preferably fully levelled up with Spirit Tuning – but not too early. I’d advise getting used to whittling Malenia down to about half-health in her first phase before summoning. This ensures your summon should still have a decent amount of health for the second phase.
- Don’t block. This will become obvious, but Malenia heals herself whenever she lands a hit. Inexplicably, this also applies when you block her attacks and negate all damage. If you don’t evade her attacks, it’s virtually impossible to win.
- Learn to read the Waterfowl Dance, which is her deadliest move. This is the only occasion where blocking is permissible, but there are a couple of other methods to avoid it as well. The most important thing is to know when it’s coming so you can work around it.
- Level up and keep trying. As discussed previously, the area outside the church is a great nearby place to farm 100,000+ runes in one go. Get to at least level 130, or even upwards of 150 if you’re having a rough time.
We have a full guide below, which goes into far more detail on the best strategy to take her down. This includes the various methods to avoid the Waterfowl Dance attack.
How to find Malenia location: Recap
Here are all of the steps of how to find Malenia and fight Elden Ring’s toughest boss, recapped:
- Obtain the Haligtree Secret Medallion by getting the right half from the Village of the Albinaurics and the left half from Castle Sol after defeating Commander Niall
- Use the Haligtree Secret Medallionin at the Grand Lift of Rold to reach the Consecrated Snowfield
- Find Ordina Liturgical Town and light all of the candles in the Evergaol to teleport into the Haligtree
- Make your way down the tree until you face the boss Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree
- Battle through Elphael and find the rotted waterfall after getting through the doorway guarded by an Erdtree Avatar
- Walk through the rot by negating Scarlet Rot buildup or simply taking the damage and healing with flasks along the way
- Go through the sewers and down the Haligtree’s final branches to find a church that will lead to the Haligtree Roots Site of Grace
- Prepare yourself for battle against Malenia, Blade of Miquella
Hopefully this guide of how to find Malenia will assist you in reaching Malenia’s location and pitting yourself against one of FromSoftware’s toughest boss fights. Good luck – you’re going to need it.
