Elden Ring players discover how to kill Melina during gameplay, even if only temporarily

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-06-10 09:27 JST)

Elden Ring’s Melina, an important character that helps players across their journey, has been killed by a cruel Tarnished. While it’s normally not possible to attack Melina, with a bit of ingenuity, a method for defeating her was discovered.

Elden Ring is the latest action RPG from FromSoftware where players take on the role of the Tarnished on a massive journey to become the Elden Lord. Melina is an important character that supports the Tarnished on this journey. She acts as the player’s Finger Maiden, lets players level up and fast travel at Sites of Grace, and guides them along the way. However, besides the start of the adventure, opportunities to meet Melina are limited, with one of these chances being conversations at Sites of Grace.

At a certain Sites of Grace, Melina will appear while you’re resting for a short conversation and to deliver the words of Queen Marika. She also gives important hints about the world and is a welcome companion when players finally get a chance to rest. While you can’t normally damage her while resting, thanks to a glitch that was recently discovered, it looks like players now have a method of doing just that.

The glitch was discovered by Japanese YouTuber トマトちゃん (Tomato-chan), an Elden Ring player who makes content related to the game. The channel has been amassing a following for introducing tricks and verifying rumors. On June 5, Tomato-chan posted the video below titled “Introducing a Method to Attack Melina.” Despite resting at a Site of Grace, we can see footage of Melina taking damage in the video.

The method involves setting a trap of sorts for Melina using the Night Maiden’s Mist spell. The spell puts out a damage dealing mist that remains in the air for a set period of time. Just place the mist around where Melina will appear and have her step into it while resting at the Site of Grace. Setting the trap and calling Melina won’ be enough to deal damage, though, as a little more scheming is involved. What Tomato-chan discovered was that Melina only takes damage while delivering the words of Marika.

Tomato-chan followed up with a video on June 9 showing a way to actually defeat Melina. Improving on the previous Night Maiden’s Mist version, this method involves using a glitch that gives characters status effects by going near them. With this addition, the “trap” becomes even more deadly. Melina’s HP could hold out against the Night Maiden’s Mist but adding status effects starts to shave it down steadily. As Melina commendably delivers the words of Marika, in the blink of an eye she loses her strength and leaves behind a small golden tree. A truly heartbreaking sight.

But Melina doesn’t stay down for long as she will be ready to pass on the words of Marika like nothing happened the next time you rest at a Site of Grace. It’s unknown if FromSoftware had predicted this kind of situation, but the game treats it as if the Tarnished’s act of brutality never occurred. Melina can be summoned during a specific boss battle and will be defeated if her HP reaches 0, but it’s interesting to see a character that normally can’t be interfered with be killed by the player.

In addition to the tens of thousands of views on the videos, tweets of other players killing Melina are also gaining attention. It looks like players have been taking hints from Tomato-chan to commit the heartless deed.

Why are tarnished trying to take down Melina? I have no idea. But there was a mod that modifies Melina’s speech in Japanese that garnered some attention. She’s also an important character with limited time in the spotlight which might have contributed to her becoming an internet meme, prompting players to test things like this.

If you want to try the glitch yourself, please be aware it could potentially cause issues. And remember, Melina is the one who gives players their trusty Spirit Steed and leads them on their journey to become the Elden Lord. Make sure to keep that in mind next time you cross paths with Melina.