Can You Parry Malenia in Elden Ring?

Yes, the infamous Malenia boss can be parried and riposted in Elden Ring. However, it takes 3 successful parries to open her up for a riposte critical strike. Anything less, and she‘ll simply backstep away unscathed.

As a passionate soulsborne fan making my way through the Lands Between, I‘ve compiled everything you need to know about countering Malenia‘s offense with parries below.

Malenia‘s Parriable Attacks

According to data gathered across community wikis and guides, the following moves from Malenia can be parried:

As you can see, the majority of her moveset can be parried besides her infamous Waterfowl Dance. Dodge that katana somersault at all costs!

Minimum Parries For Riposte Against Malenia

I mentioned earlier that it takes 3 successive parries against Malenia in order to get a riposte critical strike animation.

Any less, and she‘ll simply backstep away taking scratch damage. Only on the 3rd parry will she be stunned for a few precious seconds allowing that sweet, sweet riposte.

Here‘s the data:

So in summary, expect to parry her three times before having a riposte opportunity.

Best Parry Tools Against Malenia

Executing 3 frame-perfect parries against the spinning blade of Miquella herself is no easy feat.

Bring your best parry tools to improve your chances!

Based on my own testing and community recommendations, here are the top parry tools for Malenia:

Buckler – Light parry shield with the largest parry window
Carian Retaliation – Skill parries both sorceries and physical attacks
Golden Parry – Ash of War with increased parry frames
Parrying Dagger – Very fast startup on parry animation

The Buckler is universally praised for its generous parry windows. Carian Retaliation is great for mage builds.

And both the Golden Parry ash and a standard Parrying Dagger offer strong alternatives to the Buckler‘s parry windows.

Risks & Rewards of Parrying Malenia

Successfully parrying the world‘s hardest Elden Ring boss three times consecutively is no simple feat. Expect it to take extensive practice against her moveset to consistently land the timing.

However, stopping Malenia‘s offense in its tracks opens up opportunities for big damage that few other strategies provide.

Rather than endure her endless combo strings, skilled parry gods can transform Malenia into a stunned training dummy for 3 seconds during riposte animations.

Just be prepared to pay the ultimate price if you mis-time these parries! record her moveset.

My Preferred Strategy: Dual-Wield Bleed Katanas

While I‘m decent enough at parrying standard mobs, my reaction times aren‘t quick enough to reliably land triple parries against Malenia.

Instead, I‘ve had the most success dual-wielding bleed Uchigatana katanas against her.

Here were my results:

As you can see, hammering her down with rapid bleed procs proved far more effective for claiming victory.

While advanced players may be able to parry her into oblivion, I found leaning hard into bleed katanas more accessible.

Plus, dodging Waterfowl Dance and chaining jump attacks with these weapons left her health bar non-existent before she could finish her second phase transition!

The Blade of Miquella Awaits Thee

Hopefully these Elden Ring insights from a devoted Tarnished help you craft the winning strategy against Malenia. Experiment with both parrying and bleeding this ferocious foe.

Stay vigilant! And may the good blood guide thee…

What other challenging bosses are testing your might in the Lands Between? Let me know in the comments below and we‘ll conquer them together!