Elden Ring has a problem with boss fights

Demon Souls, the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring share an important essence, and that is the boss fights. Unfortunately, the latest installment from From Software, Elden Ring, suffers from some of the less good boss fights.

This article is a guest contribution written by our reader Wieland Wüller.

From Software has amazed me with its Dark Souls games. The latest installment Elden Ring has made me, someone who normally does not like open-world games, play through Elden Ring for the fourth time.

I believe Elden Ring is a masterpiece in many respects. As a fan of the Dark Souls series, I was very pleased with how many good ideas and concepts from the previous games made it into Elden Ring in an optimized form.

However, one thing that disappointed me quite a bit were the boss fights.

Even though I think that the boss fights in Elden Ring are good, in my opinion, From Software has created the worst bosses of their Souls-like installments with Elden Ring.

You can see the trailer for the upcoming DLC Shadow of the Erdtree here:

The pacing creates effort and sorrow

To start: The term Pacing describes the stretching of a certain action or goal. Thus, there is a path between the starting point and the endpoint.

The pacing could be the area or a path that lies before the boss, or it could be the time or opportunity for an attack.

Astel, Spawn of the Abyss is an optional boss that stands in our way when we want to complete the quest involving Ranni, the Witch.

The problem with Astel is not that he is incredibly large and looks creepy, but rather that he forces you to keep your distance regularly with his abilities. His area abilities deal a lot of damage that we should absolutely avoid.

That would not be a problem in itself if the boss fight did not build on seeking distance in a certain way. Because some of his other abilities make Astel disappear for a moment and then spawn at the other end of the large boss room. So running is required, and as we can’t deal much damage due to his area abilities, the fight becomes a test of patience.

The much bigger problem is that there is often no real reason for Astel to want to keep us at a distance. Many of his abilities are close-combat abilities, and the few ranged abilities that Astel has at his disposal are not used because we are too close to the boss.

Another example: Lich Dragon Fortissax is an epic dragon that we can only defeat if we complete Fia’s quest. In itself, Fortissax is one of the most impressive boss fights that Elden Ring has to offer, but here too, the pacing strikes us down.

Dragons are a somewhat troublesome topic in Elden Ring. Due to their size, it can often be the case that the camera gets a bit wonky.

To really deal damage to a dragon, one should focus more on the dragon’s head. Because our strikes and abilities against its legs or wings do not achieve much.

That in itself is not tragic, however, unfortunately, Fortissax gives us few opportunities to attack its head. It moves too much, or its head is often out of striking range.

So we have to take care of the legs of the mighty dragon. Well, Fortissax will make that a bit more difficult for us.

As soon as we launch an attack under the dragon, we will be hit by a red lightning bolt that strikes us after a few seconds.

This means that we can execute one or at most two attacks under the dragon and then have to wait for the lightning strike. Because before we can execute another strike, the lightning will have hit us. In the meantime, Fortissax, understandably, has already moved away from us. So we have to run up again, and the game starts over. Unless the mighty dragon breathes fire, then we have to wait even longer.

Unfortunately, it gets even better. Because when you die, to get to the boss, you have to interact with Fia, who wants to cuddle with you first. Since Fia apparently enjoys your presence, she takes her sweet time with it.

This situation frustrated me so much that at one point I stopped the timer to see how long it took me from death to the next fight with the boss. Including the running time to the boss within the boss chamber, I took 45 seconds – even though the boss is right in front of my nose when Fia isn’t there.

Another example: The adult falling star beast is also a boss fight that puts us to the test of patience and that we should best defeat with our trusty companion Stormwind. When we face the falling star beast, it first greets us with a charge, which it performs three times and takes its time for each. And this happens every time you face the falling star beast again.

A thrilling battle is also absent here again, as its ability set is so overloaded that we can mostly deal only a few attacks. In fact, some of its abilities are structured so that we have to run away from them and just wait.

The other problem is that its thick armor is generally hardly susceptible to damage. Its weak point on the head is supposed to help, but here again is the problem that we often cannot reach the head, or we must expect to take a lot of damage from abilities that are hard to avoid.

Another curious story from Elden Ring:

An undignified end to a grand game

So far, I have only spoken about optional bosses. It is a shame that these bosses – and unfortunately also some others – do not work so well in my opinion. However, the aforementioned bosses are optional at the end of the day.

A boss fight that is unfortunately not optional and is discussed very controversially in the Elden Ring community is the final boss fight. We are talking about the Elden Beast.

The Elden Beast is, in my opinion, the worst boss fight in Elden Ring and unfortunately also in the history of From Software. This boss fight is not challenging but drives up the pacing.

The core problem with this boss is that it does not want to fight you. Because if the Elden Beast gets too fed up (and it does very quickly), it teleports to the other end of the room.

So it’s running again. Or sometimes jumping and then running, should the Elden Beast send its rings at you, which you must first dodge.

Often I had the problem that the Elden Beast moves away from me, uses a ranged ability, and soon after retreats again.

The immense size of the boss and the related camera issues give the whole thing a finishing blow. Because it is very hard to see which ability is being used and when I need to dodge. The damage you take from the Elden Beast is unfortunately often not entirely comprehensible.

Radagon, who is to be fought as the first phase before the Elden Beast, suffers greatly from this circumstance. Because the fight against Radagon is actually very good, but becomes increasingly more frustrating when you die more often against the Elden Beast.

Malenia could have been the star in the sky, but one ability ruins everything

This circumstance with Malenia pains me a lot because calling Melania a potential star in the sky feels almost like an understatement.

Malenia is an optional boss in the Haligtree and is often labeled by the community as the hardest boss.

Malenia fights quickly with a longsword and heals with every attack. The advantage we have, however, is that Malenia’s main attacks can be interrupted by our strikes.

If Malenia has had enough – usually after 2-3 attacks – she receives what is known as “hyper armor,” meaning she can perform an action that cannot be interrupted by our attacks.

This does not happen randomly, but is indicated by animations and effects, so we can prepare for it accordingly.

All of this is absolutely not a problem. Malenia does not become too easy because of this, but also not too difficult. The uniqueness of this fight lies in the fact that our aggression can be rewarded but also punished if we venture too far ahead. Thus, the boss fight against Malenia feels like a dance with her. Sometimes we lead, and sometimes we must relinquish this lead.

This concept is wonderful and extremely fun, and exactly that could make Malenia not only one of the best bosses in Elden Ring but also one of the best bosses from From Software – if it weren’t for her ability Waterflow Dance.

Waterflow Dance is an ability of Malenia, where she starts to float upward. A short time later, she twirls her sword and repeats this three times in a row, of course with a short pause in between. She starts using this ability once she has less than 70% HP.

This ability is such a huge problem because Malenia leaves almost no room to dodge in the first whirlwind and also deals an extreme amount of damage. Anyone who does not find the perfect timing to dodge will take a lot of damage in the first whirlwind.

This problem has gone so far that several discussions have erupted in the Elden Ring community about how it is possible to dodge the first of the three whirlwinds.

Only a few manage to consistently dodge the first whirlwind from Malenia or at least mitigate some of the damage.

The result was that the community searched for ways and means to completely avoid the first whirlwind:

• One option would be, once Malenia floats up, to hit her with a Gletschertopf (in English Freezing Pot). This ensures that she breaks her ability.
• Another option is to observe Malenia’s behavior. If Malenia plays passively and moves away, this indicates that she is preparing for the Waterflow Dance. With a ranged attack, you can trigger her ability, and if you have enough distance, you can completely avoid the Waterflow Dance in all its iterations.
• Additionally, there is the option to circle around Malenia while she is floating and preparing for the first whirlwind. Then you can initiate the dodge roll in such a way that you roll sideways away from her. The purpose of this tactic is to roll out of the attack range of the first whirlwind at the decisive moment, as soon as Malenia establishes the player’s position.
• The last known option is to run away while she is floating, and just before she executes the whirlwind at your position, jump and roll twice.

Waterflow Dance is unfair

Even if the above-mentioned dodge methods sound relatively reasonable and possible, none of it is really intuitive, and it is hard to imagine that From Software anticipated these options against Waterflow Dance.

Freezing Pots are items that need to be collected or crafted. At some point, these will run out, and the game starts over again – collect, collect, collect.

Circling around floating Malenia does not feel right or good and requires a lot of work to perfect. This method feels so unnatural because it is really quite clunky and especially has to be done almost frame-perfect.

Observing Malenia’s passive behavior does not work either, at least a lot of luck is required. Because if you are unlucky, it could be that Malenia executes the Waterflow Dance directly above you, causing this dodging option to fall away.

Jumping also feels very weird because, unlike other bosses, there are no clear indicators of whether damage can be avoided with a jump. This does not exist for Malenia, and therefore I would also say that jumping is anything but intuitive.

It gets even worse because Malenia uses several attacks in her second phase that are executed from her floating position. The initial animation for this, and also how she holds her sword, is the same as with the Waterflow Dance. The fine difference is that Malenia, after finishing the first animation for the Waterflow Dance, spins around one more time before executing the first whirlwind.

Because it is incredibly difficult to dodge the ability, every single millisecond counts. Ultimately, there is so little time to read the animations that it presents a disadvantage.

Waterflow Dance ruins Malenia

A significantly more disappointing problem with Malenia’s ability Waterflow Dance is that this ability undermines the concept of Malenia.

While we have learned that we can dance with Malenia, constantly balancing between passive and aggressive, the Waterflow Dance ultimately only creates fear of Malenia – or rather fear of the Waterflow Dance, than of Melania herself. Thus, even this boss, which actually has a perfect foundation, turns into a test of patience.

Light at the end of the tunnel – Shadow of The Erdtree

Initially, I mentioned that I find some of the boss fights in Elden Ring not good. A light at the end of the tunnel could be the upcoming expansion to Elden Ring “Shadow of The Erdtree”. The expansions from From Software, like those from the Dark Souls series, were known for having very difficult bosses, but also being very fair. In fact, expansions have always upped the ante in a positive sense. I hope it can change my mind! Why Elden Ring is still the best Open World, I have already revealed in this article.