Elden Ring has tested the gaming community with its difficulty gameplay. One of the biggest in-game challenges reported by players is reaching Malenia and overcoming the boss fight against Blade of Miquella. She is considered one of the most notorious and most challenging bosses ever faced in the Soulsborne game, making gamers even more eager to take up the challenge.
Source: Elden Ring
Silver lining is that the fight against Blade of Miquella is optional, and you can finish the game even without defeating her. But to overcome the challenge, you must learn get comfortably with the idea of a long learning process and get the basics right. The path to reach the optional area is not very straightforward as you need to go through multiple Erdtree Avatars, face Malenia’s loyal Cleanrot Knights, and reach the Mountaintops of the Giants to find the two halves of the Haligtree medallion.
Getting to the right side of the Haligtree medallion is the easiest step, and you can do so without killing a single demigod. The right side of the medallion is located in the village of Albinauris, and you can reach it here by walking around the cliff edge of Stromvale Castle.
You can access this location by staying on the western edge once you reach Liurnia of the lakes region. Follow the slope to the village and find the village of the Albinaurics grace. Before that, you will also find a depraved perfumer with a flute. You can avoid getting into a fight by just sneaking around him to search for a suspicious pot.
Once you find the pot, hit it until Albus appears. He will beg for his life, and all you need to do is keep talking to him and get the right side of Haligtree medallion. But be prepared to be invaded by NPCs once you return to the Round Table Hold after getting the medallion.
You can reach the Mountaintop of Giants to the left side of the Haligtree medallion. There, you must defeat at least two demigods and activate their runes at their respective towers to reach this stage. You must then reach Leyndell and travel to the entrance of the city to defeat the Draconic Tree Sentinel Boss. Continue going through the city to lift the Forbidden Lands to enter the Erd Tree and get the Rold Medallion. You must return to the city and lift the Forbidden Lands to get to the Mountaintop of Giants.
Once you reach the Mountaintop of Giants, you must reach the Castle Sol to get the left half of the medallion. You will see a walking mausoleum at the lightning next to the Castle Sol Main Gate entrance site of grace. But you need to go to the wooden walkway to the east of the main gate and head up to the north building through the wooden stairs on the left. Be careful of the guards that can teleport in at any time. You must then head to the south and find the Church of Eclipse, where you will meet the Site of Grace. Activate the Site of Grace and then head out of the Church through the Eastern exit. While walking through the walls of the southern side and reaching the eastern section through the stair, you will see the boss door. You must walk through the boss door to obtain the left side of the medallion.
Youtuber Arekkz Gaming has a good video outlining the process.
The next step will be to return to the Grand Lift Rold and hoist the secret medallion. You can take the lift which will help you to reach the destination. However, your goal is to travel through the area of poor visibility and tackle the enemies, to travel North and find the Ordina Liturgical Town.
In this town, you will find a puzzle to solve, to get access to the portal that will transport you to Miquella’s Haligtree. The puzzle is straightforward, and you can solve it easily, but several strong enemies are on the way to battle out. However, to start the puzzle, you must light up four candles spread around the town.
The candles are relatively easy to locate, and they can be found on roofs. But you must be careful of the Black Knife Assassins that can damage your health. However, once you light up all four candles, you will be teleported to the starting location, where you just need to take the tall stairs to enter the gateway to Haligtree.
You will be at the upper half of the Haligtree when you enter through the gateway. One of the biggest threats is the falling canopy and the Oracle Envoys. You must keep making your way downwards to eventually reach Haligtree Town. Here, you will have to overcome the boss fight, which is not very difficult to unlock your way to the Haligtree Promenade Site of Grace, allowing you to reach Elphael.
Elphael, the brace of Haligtree, will welcome you to multiple enemies. The area is split into outer and inner walls. You must continue venturing from the outer to the inner wall by tackling these enemies, including the Cleanrot Knights, using your powerful attacks. As you move through, you will continue to face the Scarlet Rot. As you continue moving downward, you will find many Haligtree Soldiers and Knights. You will feel the joy of reaching Malenia as soon as you locate a church with kindred of rot inside that will lead you to a lift and take you to Haligtree Roots Site of Grace.
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