How to find Elden Ring’s secret Malenia, Blade of Miquella boss

Back when Bandai Namco and FromSoftware initially revealed Elden Ring with its first trailer back in 2019, fans instantly fell in love with the “Valkyrie” character in it — a fierce warrior with striking red hair, a winged helmet, golden armor, and an ornate prosthetic arm. Many hoped that she would be a boss in the full game, and thankfully, she is. However, Malenia (that’s her name) is a secret boss that you can only find by doing a relatively obscure quest, and her location is far off the beaten path.

If you’re looking to take down Malenia, Blade of Miquella yourself but aren’t sure how to find her, don’t worry. We’ve put together a comprehensive guide that goes over everything you need to know about reaching Malenia’s boss fight in Elden Ring.

To reach the area where Malenia is located, you’ll first need to acquire a special item called the Secret Haligtree Medallion. Unfortunately for you, though, the medallion isn’t in one piece; you have to find both halves of it in Elden Ring’s world.

To start the process of getting the right half of the medallion, travel to and progress through the Lakeside Crystal Cave in southern Liurnia of the Lakes, which is located along the shoreline (the map above shows its location). Note that the dungeon is full of demi-human enemies and doesn’t have much lighting to help you see them, so we recommend bringing a torch. Once you beat the miniboss of the dungeon, leave through the newly opened exit to discover Slumbering Wolf’s Shack. Here, you’ll find a girl resting with a sleeping wolf; talk to her and she’ll mention a medallion that someone recently interrogated her about.

Next, from the entrance to Lakeside Crystal Cave, head west until you enter the small poison swamp and then look southwest. You should see large elevated wooden structures; this village is where you need to go next. You can reach it by traversing the nearby sloped terrain that leads up to the village. Once there, rest at the nearby Site of Grace and then go east up another piece of sloped terrain. Near the large dead tree, you’ll see a large and inconspicuous pot. Go over to it and roll into it to reveal an NPC that gives you the right half of the medallion after you talk to him.

This step is optional, but if you return to the girl and her wolf at the Slumbering Wolf’s Shack after you get the right half of the medallion, she will give you the special Latenna the Albinauric Spirit Summon Ash.

To get the left part of the medallion, you’ll need to go to Castle Sol in the northern part of the Mountaintops of the Giants region (location shown above). It can be found after you progress through the castle and defeat its boss, Commander Niall. He does heavy frost and lightning damage and also summons two Banished Knights, so we recommend wearing some frost and lightning-resistant armor or talismans and either cooperating with other players or using Spirit Ash Summons to back you up. Once he’s dead, you’ll find the left half of the medallion in the rooftop area located just after his boss arena.

Now that you have both halves of the Secret Haligtree Medallion, go to the Grand Lift of Rold you originally used to go up to the Mountaintops of the Giants. You’ll now have an option to present the Secret Haligtree Medallion; do so. The lift will then take you down to the Consecrated Snowfield area, which leads to where you need to go next.

Elden Ring: Ordina, Liturgical Town puzzle

Now that you’re in the Consecrated Snowfield, head north until you come across Ordina, Liturgical Town. In the back of the town, you’ll find a large staircase that leads to a door being blocked by a magic barrier. You can’t get through it for now, so head down the stairs and to the right to find an evergaol.

Inside, you need to find and light four fires. The video below shows exactly where all four of them are; watch out for the Albinauric archers on the rooftops and the invisible assassins on the town streets that can backstab you (sprinting usually prevents them from being able to attack you).

Once you light all four fires, the magical seal on the door will be broken and you’ll be transported back to “regular” Ordina. Head through the newly opened door and use the purple teleporter there.

Elden Ring: The Haligtree and Elphael

The final step of the journey to reach Malenia is to descend the Haligtree and make your way through the hidden city of Elphael. After taking the Ordina, Liturgical Town teleporter, you’ll arrive on top of the branches of the Haligtree area. Carefully head north, descending the branches and making your way through the various structures. Eventually, you’ll run into a harder version of the Royal Knight Loretta miniboss from the Caria Manor. Defeat her and continue descending until you come across a Cleanrot Knight (you may have encountered these in Caelid before). Defeat him and enter the room behind him to discover a Site of Grace that marks the beginning of Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree.

Continue onwards, traveling northwest through Elphael’s streets and pathways. Eventually, you’ll come an Erdtree Guardian and two Elphael Knights guarding a large doorway. You can either kill them or run past them; either way, get past them to find the Elphael Inner Wall Site of Grace. Continue through the nearby door, heading southeast until you run into a small Scarlet Rot poison swamp.

From here, keep moving southeast through the swamp until you reach its exit. Soon after, you’ll come across an elevator; take the elevator down and move through the room with the large red flower. In the next room, you’ll find a Site of Grace and the door that leads to Malenia’s boss fight.

Elden Ring is finally here, and it’s available for $60 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. It’s one of the best Xbox games you can play right now if you’re a fan of challenging RPGs, and we strongly recommend it.