Elden Ring Maliketh cheese strategy

Overview

Maliketh, the Black Blade is the final boss of Crumbling Farum Azula and the last thing standing between you and Leyndell, Ashen Capital. You reach him after the Forge of the Giants — Melina burns the Erdtree, you wake up in Farum Azula, and after the Godskin Duo and a Draconic Tree Sentinel patrolling the bridge, the closest site of grace is Beside the Great Bridge.

The fight is a single health bar with two phases. Phase one is the Beast Clergyman — yes, that is Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman you've been feeding Deathroot at the Bestial Sanctum, which is a fun detail and also tells you exactly what he's about. He plods around, hurls rocks, and swipes with his claws. Phase two is Maliketh proper: he starts leaping across the arena, and his Black Blade inflicts Destined Death, which eats a chunk of your max HP on hit and makes your health bar look like a crime scene.

Combined, he sits north of 10,000 HP, and his damage output in phase two is among the highest in the game. What makes the cheese work is that Maliketh is genuinely susceptible to Scarlet Rot and Bleed — he isn't immune to status like a lot of late-game bosses. The problem is applying those statuses while he's pinging around the arena at mach speed. The solution is to apply them once, let something else hold his attention, and then simply refuse to fight him.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Step 1 — Respec and gather your tools. If your build isn't Faith or Arcane, take a trip to Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon at the Grand Library in Raya Lucaria and reallocate. You want 15 Faith and 12 Arcane minimum for Rotten Breath, or 23 Faith and 15 Arcane for Ekzykes's Decay, which is the stronger rot application.

Step 2 — Buy the rot. Rotten Breath is sold at the Church of Dragon Communion in western Limgrave, on the island near the Coastal Cave, for one Dragon Heart. Ekzykes's Decay is at the Cathedral of Dragon Communion in southern Caelid and requires that you've already killed Ekzykes, the Decaying — the rotting dragon slumped in the swamp. Dragon Hearts come from Agheel in the Limgrave lake, Greyll on the Farum Greatbridge, and any other dragon you care to bully.

Step 3 — Get a Mimic Tear. The Mimic Tear Ashes are in a chest in Night's Sacred Ground in Nokron, Eternal City, reached after defeating Starscourge Radahn. Upgrade it as high as you can. Alternatively, Black Knife Tiche from the Ringleader's Evergaol on the Moonlight Altar is a monster for this fight, because her Destined Death projectiles drain Maliketh's max HP right back.

Step 4 — Build the Mimic correctly. This is the actual cheese. Before summoning, equip the Shabriri's Woe talisman, found in the Frenzied Flame Village in Liurnia. It pulls enemy aggression onto the wearer, and the Mimic Tear inherits that effect when summoned. Swap the talisman out immediately afterward and your Mimic becomes a permanent aggro magnet. Give yourself a bleed weapon or the Blasphemous Blade — the Mimic inherits Taker's Flames, which heals it on every hit, and it becomes genuinely difficult for Maliketh to kill.

Step 5 — Talismans and Physick. Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Pearldrake or Haligdrake Talisman (Maliketh deals holy damage with that Black Blade), Greatshield Talisman if you plan to block, Green Turtle Talisman for stamina regen. In the Flask of Wondrous Physick, Opaline Bubbletear to survive one mistake and the Cerulean Hidden Tear if you're running a Comet Azur plan. You can also summon Knight Bernahl for this fight if you completed the Volcano Manor contracts — his sign appears near the fog gate.

Step 6 — Phase one. Open the fight by immediately casting Rotten Breath or Ekzykes's Decay at range. Beast Clergyman is slow and telegraphs everything with a roar, so this is easy. Rot applied. Now sprint laps around the outer ring of the arena, using the stone pillars to break his rock throws, and let the Mimic chip away. Punish the long recovery after his claw combo with one or two hits and disengage.

Step 7 — The transition. At 50% health the cutscene plays and Maliketh drops in with a Destined Death plunge. Roll late — the shockwave is delayed. Phase transitions typically wipe status buildup, so reapply rot immediately while he's still posturing. The Mimic should already be holding aggro.

Step 8 — Do not fight him. Seriously. Rot ticks percentage-based damage against his enormous health pool, and Destined Death has nothing to chew on if you never get hit. Run the perimeter. Reapply rot when the bar empties. Let Tiche or the Mimic do the work. If you're on the Comet Azur plan, pop the Cerulean Hidden Tear here and beam him while he's locked onto your summon.

Step 9 — Punish three windows only. After his three-hit black blade combo, after the jump-back projectile when he lands stationary, and after the big overhead leap. One or two hits maximum, then leave.

Tips and Strategies

Bleed and rot stack beautifully. Rivers of Blood, found by defeating Okina at the Church of Repose in the Mountaintops of the Giants, still deletes chunks of his health with Corpse Piler, and your Mimic gets the same weapon. Dual katanas or a bleed-infused twinblade works nearly as well.

Buff before you enter. Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength on yourself will carry over to the Mimic's damage, and the Mimic copies your buffs at summon time. Summon it, then buff, then walk in.

Vigor matters more than your damage stat here. 40 is the floor, 60 is comfortable. Destined Death means a single mistake can put you in one-shot range for the rest of the fight. Morgott's Great Rune adds 25% max HP and is worth the Rune Arc.

Roll into him, not away. His combos are built to catch back-rolling, and every leap he does has a follow-up. Rolling under and past his hip is almost always correct.

Holy damage is a waste here. If your build leans on incantations like Wrath of Gold or a holy-infused weapon, you're fighting uphill. Rot and bleed are the play.

Common Mistakes

The biggest one is trying to out-duel him. Maliketh is faster than you and hits harder than you. Trading hits in phase two is how runs die in eight seconds.

Second is rolling backward. Every instinct says create distance; his moveset punishes exactly that. Roll forward and through.

Third is summoning the Mimic without setting up Shabriri's Woe first. A Mimic that doesn't hold aggro is just a slightly tougher corpse.

Fourth is forgetting to reapply rot. Players get comfortable, the status falls off, and suddenly they're doing 400 damage per hit against 5,000 HP.

Fifth is fighting in the center of the arena. There's no cover there, and his leap attacks cover the whole space. Live on the outside ring.

Finally, don't enter with 25 Vigor and a dream. This is an endgame boss.

FAQ

Does Scarlet Rot actually work on Maliketh? Yes. He isn't immune, and because rot deals damage based on a percentage of max HP, it's worth more against his bloated health pool than against almost any other boss. You'll watch his bar drain while you're sprinting away, which is the whole point.

What's the best spirit ash for this fight? Mimic Tear, provided you set it up properly with an aggro talisman and a lifesteal weapon. Black Knife Tiche is the alternative — her Destined Death attacks reduce Maliketh's max HP, which is a satisfying reversal. Either should be upgraded to at least +8 before you attempt this.

Can I get another player or NPC to help? Yes. Furlcalling Finger Remedy works as normal in Farum Azula, and Knight Bernahl's summon sign appears near the fog gate if you've completed the Volcano Manor assassination contracts. A second body to hold aggro makes the rot-and-run plan almost trivial.