Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-04-20 11:01 JST)

After FromSoftware released the latest Ver.1.04 patch for Elden Ring, a number of players, along with GamesRadar+, have been reporting that the boss character Malenia has become even more difficult to defeat.

The following article contains spoilers regarding the Malenia boss fight.

Malenia is a boss that appears in the late-game Haligtree dungeon and boasts being one of, if not the hardest boss in the game. In addition to her powerful and varied attack patterns, Malenia also heals every time she hits the player. Even if you prepare your shield and block an attack, Malenia will recover HP meaning you must continue to dodge while looking for openings.

However, after this latest update, it’s being reported that Malenia will heal herself even when her attacks don’t land. This apparently happens when players just narrowly dodge Malenia’s attacks. In other words, whether she hits you or not, she’s recovering HP. With many players reporting the phenomenon, there’s even more reason to shudder in fear at this brutally tough boss.

Furthermore, it sounds like this is only happening during multiplayer, with no reports of Malenia being stronger coming from anyone specifying that they were fighting Malenia alone. I (the original author of this article) also challenged Malenia in single player and wasn’t able to confirm this new phenomenon occurring. Because of this, it seems likely that this new behavior from Malenia is a bug rather than an intentional buff to the character.

FromSoftware has also notified players of another issue regarding the duration of the Cerulean Hidden Tear being reduced after the latest patch. If the Malenia behavior is actually a bug, it will likely be fixed in an upcoming patch. At any rate, if you’re looking to take down Malenia alongside another player, it’s probably best to keep in mind that you can run into this issue. Though there may be some bragging rights for players that manage to take down this even stronger Malenia.

Please note: This patch mistakenly included an update to the duration of the Cerulean Hidden Tear, shortening it.
This unintentional change will be reverted with a minor patch in the near future.
Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) April 19, 2022

For more information on the latest Ver.1.04 update, check out the articles below:

– Elden Ring’s Putrid Crystalian trio silently nerfed and became well behaved
– Elden Ring patch 1.04 fixes bleed dogs, illusory walls, and issues with hacked panties
– Elden Ring now makes its tutorial area obvious to players