Elden Ring: How To Beat Preceptor Miriam, The MOST ANNOYING Enemy In The Game

For some of us, Malenia isn’t the hardest boss in Elden Ring. That honor goes to Preceptor Miriam, the most obnoxiously annoying NPC invader in the entire Lands Between. This aggravating opponent appears in the Carian Study Hall — and the first time you encounter them, there’s no reason to kill them. Seriously. It leads to a dead-end. Once you’ve unlocked the secret alternate version of the Carian Study Hall, then you’ll have a pretty good reason to fight this obnoxious enemy.

Like all NPC invaders, Miriam only has one life. When you defeat them once they’re gone forever. The tricky part is just killing them once. Miriam isn’t a standard encounter. Instead of standing their ground and fighting, Miriam retreats up the Study Hall, hiding behind enemies and launching an endless stream of magic attacks. If you’re a melee build that doesn’t mess with ranged weapons or magic, you’re basically screwed for this fight. Miriam can teleport away and start spamming. But there are ways to totally cheese her. If you’re stuck and need a little help, let’s talk about finally defeating Preceptor Miriam.

More Elden Ring guides:

Preceptor Miriam Invader | Best Strategies

Preceptor Miriam is the obnoxious, annoying, most-hated enemy in Elden Ring. Preceptor Miriam is a red NPC invader that appears in both versions of the Carian Study Hall, the large building on the east coast of the Liurnia of the Lakes region.

They’re a truly heinous fight that only gets worse on repeat, and melee players — what almost everyone plays in a Dark Souls game — are at a huge disadvantage. Let’s talk about a few strategies to totally crush Miriam.

Preceptor Miriam | First Encounter
The first encounter against Preceptor Miriam can be SKIPPED. There is no reason to fight them. You can ignore the battle completely by acquiring the Carian Inverted Statue from Ranni’s Quest in the Caria Manor area.
If you really want to fight, you can sprint past Miriam in the first room. They won’t retreat / follow until taking a certain amount of damage. Run right past and defeat all the phantom enemies in the area — including on the upper floor. Once these enemies are defeated, fighting Miriam is much easier.
You can also snipe Miriam from the starting room. Alternatively, you can lose Miriam by climbing up into the rafters after they escape up onto the upper floor. From the rafters, drop down and drop-attack to deal huge damage.

The Carian Retaliation skill is incredibly powerful against Miriam. This skill can be slotted into a shield and reflects magic back at the user. You can acquire this Ash of War from a special merchant in Caria Manor. To find Pidia, Carian Servant you need to reach the area above the Manor Lower Level site of grace. This can be reached by dropping down from the Three Sisters area at the top of the manor.

Carian Retaliation (the skill and the spell) are both extremely powerful against Miriam. Swing your shield to deflect magic attacks and you’ll launch a magic sword counterattack. That makes it much easier to reach Miriam and to damage them as a melee build.

Otherwise, you’ll want a bow and a lot of arrows.

Preceptor Miriam | Second Encounter
The second fight against Preceptor Miriam is in the Inverted Carian Study Hall. Even if you’ve defeated Miriam once, they will respawn in this area and force you into a rematch.
When entering the main area of the hall, you’ll drop down onto an inverted archway with hands. Defeat them and you’ll see Miriam below on a large arch. From up here, you can safely snipe Miriam.
Poison or Rot arrows work very well against Miriam. You’ll need to slowly walk out, shoot once, then dodge back to avoid incoming spells. The easiest way to kill Miriam is with Rotbone Arrows from this ledge.
If you’re really lucky, Miriam will roll off the bridge and fall to their death on their own.

Rotbone Arrows are arrows that apply Scarlet Rot. That’s devastating for most enemies in this game, and Miriam is one of the few that deserves it. To get Rotbone Arrows, find the Nomadic Merchant in southern Caelid, near the map fragment stone — purchase the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook.

To craft Rotbone Arrows, you need two ingredients: Thin Beast Bones and Aeonian Butterflies. Thin Beast Bones drop from all animals — deer, sheep, and often from the hunters in Siofra River. Aeonian Butterflies are much harder to find, but you can find seven near the Inner Aeonia site of grace in Caelid.

Alternatively, you can craft Poisonbone Arrows. You’ll need the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook sold by the Nomadic Merchant in north Limgrave — near the northern bridge, just follow the music. You’ll need Poisonbloom — you’ll get one every time by defeating the large poison bloom monsters in Limgrave. The ones at Waypoint Ruins can be cleared out for x5 Poisonbloom each.

Don’t even mess around with Miriam. Just shoot them with poison (or any other good arrow you’ve got) — it can take a very long time depending on your gear, or it can take no time at all. Either way, trying to fight them on their own turf is a huge pain. They’ll be taking potshots at you while trying to reach their arena, and even if you get to the bridge, actually defeating them there is a pain. Take the time to kill Miriam from far away and you’ll never have to beat them again.

More Elden Ring guides:

Elden Ring: How To Beat Preceptor Miriam, The MOST ANNOYING Enemy In The Game

Preceptor Miriam Invader | Best Strategies

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