One of the most iconic characters in Elden Ring is a hidden boss. Scene in promotional material and even the cover of the game, Malenia is the “Valkyrie” with glowing red hair and a shining gold helmet — she’s also one of the most difficult opponents in the game. To find her, you’ll need to access an entire locked section of the map. Unlike some of the optional bosses, you won’t need to follow a convoluted quest — but you will need to fight through a massive region and delve into a long dungeon in one of the game’s most incredibly cool locations. If you think you’re ready to take on Malenia, Blade of Miquella, this is how to find her.
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How To Find Malenia, Blade of Miquella | Shardbearer Guide
To fight Malenia, Blade of Miquella, you need to complete Leyndell, Royal Capitol and reach the Forbidden Lands. Once you have access to the Grand Lift of Rold, you’ll be able to complete the quest.
Malenia is located in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, a secret castle at the base of the massive Haligtree. To reach this city, you need to use the Haligtree Secret Medallion at the Grand Lift of Rold.
How To Get The Haligtree Secret Medallion: The medallion is split into two parts. Find the two parts to combine them.
- Haligtree Secret Medallion (Right): Village of the Albinaurics – In the bizarre village, underneath the mountain in the southwest of Liurnia of the Lakes. To get the medallion, find a large pot on the raised hill behind one of the buildings. Attack the pot to reveal an NPC — talk to them and they’ll give you the key.
- Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left): Castle Sol – Found at the end of the dungeon, after defeating the boss. Castle Sol is found in the Mountaintop of the Giants region.
Once you acquire both pieces, use the Secret Medallion option at the Grand Lift of Rold in the Forbidden Lands. It takes you to an otherwise impossible-to-reach section of the map called the Consecrated Snowfield.
Reaching Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree
The lift will take you to the Hidden Path To The Haligtree. The small dungeon leads to the Consecrated Snowfield. The field is extremely foggy — follow the lights on the ground. They’ll guide you toward the Haligtree.
Follow the lights until you reach the Inner Consecrated Snowfield site of grace. Get the Consecrated Snowfield map near the large white tree. The village is beyond that — look for the glowing green lights. This is Ordina, Liturgical Town.
- To lift the magic barriers, use the Evergaol in the back-left of the village. In the dark version of the world, invisible enemies are guarding the grounds — you need to find and use four statues in the Evergaol.
- Each one stays lit after lighting it once. If you die, you don’t need to return to statues you’ve already lit. Explore the village in the regular world to identify where all four statues are located. They’re at the gold-glowing stone markers.
Lift the seal and use the portal up the stairs at the back of town to enter Miquella’s Haligtree. Navigate the branches downward toward Haligtree Town. You’ll need to defeat the boss Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree — but she’s a pushover compared to what’s coming next.
Don’t miss the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone in Haligtree Town.
- Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone: Allows +25 reinforcement. At the Haligtree Town, reach the red beastman courtyard. Found on the altar.
Defeat Loretta to gain Loretta’s Mastery spell and Loretta’s War Sickle. There’s another Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone ahead, so you can fully upgrade at least two weapons just by visiting this area.
- Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone: After the boss with Loretta, take the ladder down to the tower with the lift. Instead of using the lift, go up the stairs to the top of the tower.
Take the ladder down from the Loretta’s boss arena. Use the tower lift to access Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. Stop at the Prayer Room site of grace to begin exploring the massive castle. Keep going down to reach the Haligtree Roots site of grace — you’ll have to trudge through knee-high Scarlet Rot. Down here, you’ll encounter the Shardbearer Malenia, Blade of Miquella.
The boss is uniquely difficult for one reason; she can heal herself by inflicting damage on you. This makes her possibly the most difficult fight in the game. While she doesn’t have a huge stock of HP, she can rapidly fully heal if you don’t dodge her combo attacks. Guarding is pointless here, because she can still heal by striking your shield.
Ever fought the Dark Lord in Doom Eternal? It’s kind of like that. You have to learn her techniques and learn to avoid taking damage as much as possible. Play it safe and you might just claim her Great Rune.
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