How to Beat Maliketh, the Black Blade

Your struggle to figure out how to beat Maliketh, the Black Blade is pretty understandable in Elden Ring. This action RPG has loads of major and optional bosses to beat throughout the entire journey, and as you come closer to the throne of becoming the Elden Lord, these enemies will become tougher to take down.

Maliketh, the Black Blade, will appear in the game’s final stages. Therefore, it goes unsaid that this boss will give players much harder times than expected. So, players must be well prepared before progressing forward to fight this terrific four-legged beast.

Maliketh, the Black Blade, will be found in Crumbling Farum Azula, one of the final Elden Ring locations to unlock and explore. Crumbling Farum Azula will be unlocked after players defeat the Fire Giant in Mountaintops of the Giants and proceed with their objective of burning the Erdtree. 

Finding this boss requires no extra activities. Follow the main story, and eventually, you will appear in Crumbling Farum Azula. From there, once again follow the path where the main story leads you, and you will find the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace. 

Once you are at the Site of Grace, look at nearby areas, and toward the south side, you will locate a temple that is the home to this deadly Elden Ring boss. However, remember, you can’t randomly approach this boss. Before reaching him, you may want to beat the Draconic Tree Sentinel who’s guarding the entrance of the temple. However, he isn’t mandatory, unlike Maliketh.

Maliketh, the Black Blade, is not an optional boss in Elden Ring. Therefore, at a point, you have to face this boss. The two fighting phases of the enemy will test your skills and how strong your build is, along with your reflexes.

This enemy is aggressive, and each of its attacks drains a massive chunk of players’ health. Learning his attack patterns and finding his weaknesses is a must before diving into the battle.

If you are unsure of what Maliketh is weak to, we would recommend taking weapons that do blood-loss damage. The enemy should bleed to get weak as no elemental damage will work on him. If you are planning to fight with melee weapons, don’t forget to bring a shield. 

Additionally, the boss is aggressive and agile. So, tackling him alone is tough. In that case, you should bring a Spirit Ash with you. It will divert the attention of the enemy for some time.

• Blasphemous Claw
• Crimsonburst Crystal Tear
• Mimic Tear

If you have completed Knight Bernahl’s questline, you must have received the Blasphemous Claw, and without this, it can be to very difficult to face Maliketh. This boss moves faster than you probably imagined. It can leap across the entire battle arena in a blink of an eye. However, if you follow a proper strategy, he will take massive damage with each hit.

You must have already fought Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, and other challenging bosses in the game. Therefore, you are aware of how generally two-phased boss fights work in Elden Ring. Bosses become a lot more challenging in the second phase, but none can be compared to Maliketh. 

The first stage of the fight will let you encounter the Beast Clergyman. Unfortunately, the enemy has both close-range attacks and long-range attacks. While the left hand of the boss is mainly used for long attacks, the blade in the right-hand launches deadly melee attacks in close succession.

During the first phase, the boss will focus on two types of attacks. First, the boss begins with a vertical, top-down attack and then moves on to the second attack, which is a sweep attack. Roll over to the other side, and even the slightest delay may cause you a huge HP loss.

The final attack type that Maliketh will launch on players is the AoE attack. During these attacks, the boss will throw debris at players. However, if you are out of the range, you will be safe. It is best to keep a safe distance, and whenever you get a chance, get behind the boss and hit him hard to weaken him.

As soon as the healthbar reaches half, the second phase will begin, and this will be one of the deadliest phases of the entire game. In this phase, Maliketh will appear with his Black Blade. This phase will begin with the lethal jump attacks. The boss will jump in the air and land on players, dealing tons of damage. 

The boss even has a frontal sweep attack and a few range attacks. Despite the frontal sweep being not too hard to dodge, be careful of his horizontal slashes. He will even launch a 360-degree slash attack. At this point, players need to have the Blasphemous Claw to parry some of the enemy’s attacks. 

Sometimes, the boss will jump on a pillar and then land on players, dealing a significant amount of damage. Often the boss will shoot two or three blades at you, followed by a magical attack.

The strategy will be the same in the second phase. Keep your distance and whenever possible get closer to the boss, especially getting behind it to land some critical hits. Using the Blasphemous Claw will deal loads of damage to the boss. 

This fight is tough, but the boss isn’t unbeatable. Therefore, if you stick to your strategy and keep your patience, this fight won’t take many attempts to be completed. 

Now that you have reached almost the end of the game, which Elden Ring boss have you found the toughest to beat? Don’t forget to share your opinions with us in the comments!