Featured Image Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Topics: Elden Ring, Fromsoftware, Bandai Namco
Elden Ring's patch 1.04 has, I am very sorry to report, nerfed an incredibly popular incantation that went some way towards making the game's hardest boss much, much easier.
Even if you've yet to play Elden Ring, you'll no doubt be aware that Malenia, Blade of Miquella is an incredibly powerful foe - possibly the hardest FromSoftware has ever produced.
Take a look at some of the best Elden Ring wins and fails below:
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One of tried-and-tested ways of beating Malenia easily (or relatively easily) was to use the the Swarm Of Flies incantation. This faith-based spell essentially sends a cloud of flies towards an enemy, causing blood loss buildup that results in massive chunks of damage.
Malenia is especially weak to blood loss, and is quite easily stunned by Swarm Of Flies. Thus, it was a simple enough exercise to spam her with the spell and watch her health fall away. Use this method in co-op while a friend whacks her with a melee weapon, and the fight is over in minutes.
Full disclosure, this is absolutely how I finally beat her the first time. Am I proud of it? No. Would I do it again? Absolutely.
Except it turns out I can't. The patch notes for update 1.04 confirm that Swarm Of Flies has been nerfed, inflicting "decreased blood loss buildup on enemies". As others have pointed out, this seems like a direct response to the popular Malenia method.
While this particular nerf will sting for a lot of players, the vast majority of the Elden Ring community are thrilled with patch 1.04. Not only does it add some all-new quest content, it's also provided some much-needed improvements to certain weapons and spells.