Advice for Malenia

[Immortuos]

I'm getting gud, learning the attacks i even get to second phase with 12 heals. But what can I do when I try to heal and she jumps in the air and does a trust that deals half of my hp?
I'm using a strenght build level 168, 81 vigor, 50 endurance, 60 strength no scarseals or soreseals and even have the erdtree's favor +1 and crimson amber medallion +1 equipped with radhans great rune.

Thank's all for the advice, I just beat her with my own build.

[John Titor]

Originally posted by Immortuos:

...But what can I do when I try to heal and she jumps in the air and does a trust...

Does a what now? Anyway, learn when to heal and when not to heal. Don't freak out when you're at a quarter hp and just heal willy nilly. She WILL punish you.

[Immortuos]

Originally posted by geralt:

respec to bleed build, dual curved swords seppuku and mimic, she wont live very long that way
or respect to mage comet azur, if you time it well you can kill her as soon as she starts second phrase

I pondered doing it like that but i wanna beat her with my build to feel accomplished i dont mind learning the timings it's just that whenever i heal she starts this attack and i dont have enough time to dodge it.

[Immortuos]

Originally posted by geralt:

Originally posted by Immortuos:

I pondered doing it like that but i wanna beat her with my build to feel accomplished i dont mind learning the timings it's just that whenever i heal she starts this attack and i dont have enough time to dodge it.

this game is just not made for strenght build; its not meta

I guess i'll try the bleed build.

[NineChameleon]

Originally posted by Immortuos:

Originally posted by geralt:

this game is just not made for strenght build; its not meta

I guess i'll try the bleed build.

I would recommend not.
1. I've seen people beat her with strength builds no prob
2. She has stacking bleed resistance anyway so bleed pushes her through phase 1 fast but only procs like once in phase 2 now. So it doesn't give you as big of an advantage unless you find phase 2 easier.

Originally posted by Immortuos:

But what can I do when I try to heal and she jumps in the air and does a trust that deals half of my hp?

Short answer is. Don't heal at that moment.
Long answer is wait until she's in "passive" mode. I.e you can walk right up to her and she wont attack. Or heal after a dodge. It's really hard to explain when is safe to heal I just kind of got a feel for it after a while. But if she's just walking towards you and hasn't attacked for a while, there's a good chance she'll immediately heal punish.

Best advice for this fight is get used to sitting on low HP. Because you might have to wait out a window to heal. Wait a few seconds after you've dodged something to see if she's going to carry on the combo and if she's not heal then. Healing when she's jumping backwards is also normally safe.

[Immortuos]

Originally posted by NineChameleon:

Originally posted by Immortuos:

I guess i'll try the bleed build.

I would recommend not.
1. I've seen people beat her with strength builds no prob
2. She has stacking bleed resistance anyway so bleed pushes her through phase 1 fast but only procs like once in phase 2 now. So it doesn't give you as big of an advantage unless you find phase 2 easier.

Originally posted by Immortuos:

But what can I do when I try to heal and she jumps in the air and does a trust that deals half of my hp?

Short answer is. Don't heal at that moment.
Long answer is wait until she's in "passive" mode. I.e you can walk right up to her and she wont attack. Or heal after a dodge. It's really hard to explain when is safe to heal I just kind of got a feel for it after a while. But if she's just walking towards you and hasn't attacked for a while, there's a good chance she'll immediately heal punish.

Best advice for this fight is get used to sitting on low HP. Because you might have to wait out a window to heal. Wait a few seconds after you've dodged something to see if she's going to carry on the combo and if she's not heal then. Healing when she's jumping backwards is also normally safe.

yeah i think i know what you mean it's just that she's really inconsistent. I'm getting better tho, still using the strenght build

[nfinite.recursion]

I beat her with a strength build a couple nights ago. Dual wielding banished knight heavy greatswords.

VIG: 60
END: 30
STR: 70 (somewhere around here, maybe it was upper 60s?)

I could consistently get her down to ~10% health in her 2nd phase. I ended up saying ♥♥♥♥ it and used the Beastial Seal to use ice breath at the start of her 2nd phase since she always opens up with her "Flower Aeonia" (or whatever it's called) attack. Just locked on to her while she was in the flower and proc'd frostbite on her.

Honestly, I'd optimize your build as 80 VIG is largely a waste vs putting more points into strength since the VIG softcap is 60. Use freeze pots if you'd rather not use ice breath. Just remember to try to only use them in the 2nd phase.

Also, there's the Dragoncrest Greatshield talisman. Drops physical damage taken by 20%. Located not too far from Malenia's grace. Seriously helps with this fight.

[Immortuos]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

I beat her with a strength build a couple nights ago. Dual wielding banished knight heavy greatswords.

VIG: 60
END: 30
STR: 70 (somewhere around here, maybe it was upper 60s?)

I could consistently get her down to ~10% health in her 2nd phase. I ended up saying ♥♥♥♥ it and used the Beastial Seal to use ice breath at the start of her 2nd phase since she always opens up with her "Flower Aeonia" (or whatever it's called) attack. Just locked on to her while she was in the flower and proc'd frostbite on her.

Honestly, I'd optimize your build as 80 VIG is largely a waste vs putting more points into strength since the VIG softcap is 60. Use freeze pots if you'd rather not use ice breath. Just remember to try to only use them in the 2nd phase.

Also, there's the Dragoncrest Greatshield talisman. Drops physical damage taken by 20%. Located not too far from Malenia's grace. Seriously helps with this fight.

I respecced to 60 vigor, 50 endurance and 80 strength and am using godrick greatrune, the crimson amber medallion +1 the erdtree favor +1 the dragon crest greatshield talisman and the starscourge heirloom

[Enderspoons]

Big tip: Throwing a projectile at her forces her to do a stepdodge. This lets you control her actions much, much easier.

For this reason, I highly recommend you stock up on whatever pile of throwing knives is easiest to acquire.
My personal preference: If you have the Bone Peddler's Bell Bearing from the Bell Bearing Hunter at the Warmaster's Shack in Limgrave, you can stack up on unlimited Thin Bones for Bone Throwing Knives.

[Immortuos]

Originally posted by Enderspoons:

Big tip: Throwing a projectile at her forces her to do a stepdodge. This lets you control her actions much, much easier.

For this reason, I highly recommend you stock up on whatever pile of throwing knives is easiest to acquire.
My personal preference: If you have the Bone Peddler's Bell Bearing from the Bell Bearing Hunter at the Warmaster's Shack in Limgrave, you can stack up on unlimited Thin Bones for Bone Throwing Knives.

I tried your strategy and she legit did3 waterfowls in a row.

[The Spirit of Jazz]

I've found the most success with Melania by playing offensively. If you try to play defensively you will end up in a battle of attrition that you'll most likely lose due to her healing.

[Sabaithal]

There are multiple maneuvers to deal with waterfowl. I've found two that work reliably.

When in close_
- The moment the first flurry starts, dodge towards her
- Second flurry dodge backwards
- Third flurry dodge towards her again

When at range_
- Dodge backwards twice at first flurry
- Dodge backwards once at second
- Dodge towards her on third, twice.

Technically at close range you can dodge through (forward) all three flurries if you are quick to the trigger, but the second one is a bit tricky to do so.

And phase 2, unfortunately, is just trial and error with the timing of some attacks (scarlet Aeonia, and shadowclones). No real way around that, since neither have proper telegraphs before the hit happens.

[Enderspoons]

Originally posted by Immortuos:

Originally posted by Enderspoons:

Big tip: Throwing a projectile at her forces her to do a stepdodge. This lets you control her actions much, much easier.

For this reason, I highly recommend you stock up on whatever pile of throwing knives is easiest to acquire.
My personal preference: If you have the Bone Peddler's Bell Bearing from the Bell Bearing Hunter at the Warmaster's Shack in Limgrave, you can stack up on unlimited Thin Bones for Bone Throwing Knives.

I tried your strategy and she legit did3 waterfowls in a row.

I should have mentioned, that's the main benefit of chucking knives: It forces a Waterfowl Dance out of her if she's able to do it.

That way, you can put her most dangerous attack on a somewhat tight leash and be able to dictate when it happens, so you can actually respond to it.

When you have the ability to control when Waterfowl Dance comes out, you can use the least taxing method of avoiding it by having it only activate at range: Sprinting away at top speed as her first two flurries whiff, then dodging forward and then again to one side to evade her third flurry.

[NineChameleon]

Originally posted by Sabaithal:

There are multiple maneuvers to deal with waterfowl. I've found two that work reliably.

When in close_
- The moment the first flurry starts, dodge towards her
- Second flurry dodge backwards
- Third flurry dodge towards her again

When at range_
- Dodge backwards twice at first flurry
- Dodge backwards once at second
- Dodge towards her on third, twice.

Technically at close range you can dodge through (forward) all three flurries if you are quick to the trigger, but the second one is a bit tricky to do so.

And phase 2, unfortunately, is just trial and error with the timing of some attacks (scarlet Aeonia, and shadowclones). No real way around that, since neither have proper telegraphs before the hit happens.

Other strat when at range which is the one I used was sprint away from her until she finishes first flurry then into her. Wait. Then into her again.

I was on medium roll when I did it and for medium roll you have to, rather counter-intuitively, dodge as she's doing the first swing of the flurry not before. Otherwise you wont clear the area in time. :c you might still get clipped but hey, doesn't have to be perfect.

Scarlet Aeonia if you unlock and run under her then off to the side it'll miss you every time (you gotta sprint)

Clones the advice I found on youtube was, Dodge away the first two clones, then into on the third then walk forward for the forth, one more forward dodge for 5th. The 6th thrust will miss you like this. Then one final forward roll when she starts diving down.

https://youtu.be/x-giQEpa7As

^ the video I learnt it from.

[Immortuos]

Originally posted by NineChameleon:

Originally posted by Sabaithal:

There are multiple maneuvers to deal with waterfowl. I've found two that work reliably.

When in close_
- The moment the first flurry starts, dodge towards her
- Second flurry dodge backwards
- Third flurry dodge towards her again

When at range_
- Dodge backwards twice at first flurry
- Dodge backwards once at second
- Dodge towards her on third, twice.

Technically at close range you can dodge through (forward) all three flurries if you are quick to the trigger, but the second one is a bit tricky to do so.

And phase 2, unfortunately, is just trial and error with the timing of some attacks (scarlet Aeonia, and shadowclones). No real way around that, since neither have proper telegraphs before the hit happens.

Other strat when at range which is the one I used was sprint away from her until she finishes first flurry then into her. Wait. Then into her again.

I was on medium roll when I did it and for medium roll you have to, rather counter-intuitively, dodge as she's doing the first swing of the flurry not before. Otherwise you wont clear the area in time. :c you might still get clipped but hey, doesn't have to be perfect.

Scarlet Aeonia if you unlock and run under her then off to the side it'll miss you every time (you gotta sprint)

Clones the advice I found on youtube was, Dodge away the first two clones, then into on the third then walk forward for the forth, one more forward dodge for 5th. The 6th thrust will miss you like this. Then one final forward roll when she starts diving down.

https://youtu.be/x-giQEpa7As

^ the video I learnt it from.

i'll check the video out.

[Sabaithal]

The clones aren't the issue with that attack. Its the stupid invisible AoE kill field around her as she starts executing it. It has very little windeup time, no visible telegraph, and does not stagger or knock you back.

Also it kills you extremely fast, so if you happened to be in the middle of a heavyweight attack when she executes this, you're automatically dead.