Malenia's Waterfowl Dance Used to Look a Bit Different...

Malenia's waterfowl dance dance is a beautiful yet arguably the most infamous attack in Elden Ring in regards to it's challenge. However, it used to look a bit different before the developers got what they were looking for. Looking forward to reviewing this boss as a whole :)

PATREON

LINKS

#ELDENRING

[licota]

The fight choreographers proudly showcase Waterfowl to Miyazaki. And after playing through the fight one time all he says is "No, I want them to suffer."

[EmperorZ]

The name "waterfowl dance" was a lot more fitting for the first version of the attack. The release version is more like the "Angry swarm of flying buzzsaws dance"

[gamentor]

Think it would've been cool if she used this calmer, more coordinated version in her first phase and only did the fully berserk slashy-slash in her second phase.

[mudstick]

i remember going into this fight hype. she looked like another lady maria, or another sister friede. and thats how it felt, for a bit, until she started using this attack. then the flow of the entire fight was based around this move.

[Believeblood]

One of my biggest gripes with this moves is actually what comes after. You'd think successfully dodging one of the most infamous moves in all of fromsoftware would net you some sort of big reward, but as a pure melee build you get fucking nothing. Every time I wait out the shockwave and try to punish her, she either dashes away or hyper armors into another move immediately. It's actually a safer move than her kick or slam down stab.

[anatoliasmercenary.]

I really prefer the older version, since it actually looks like a graceful dance, it looks pretty elegant, like malenia’s fighting style

[jamesbell]

I'm 100% convinced that parts of Malenias moveset originate from the scrapped Sekiro Tomoe DLC. The way she hops on one foot for the original attack is super reminiscent of the Okami Warriors (which Lady Tomoe was supposed to be) and the nature of the flurry attacks makes it a perfect challenge for Sekiro's parry system.

[KeterHirameki]

I remember Koji Igarashi, the creator of Castlevania and Bloodstained, said in an interview that boss designers had to defeat their own boss equipped only with the weakest dagger without taking a single hit. I wonder if From has any similar guideline.

[illidank]

Waterfowl itself is ok. The big no-no about it is that its startup is soo incredibly short and that the first attack is so lethal. This makes her fight after 75% hp super tedious, since you are hesitant to launch big attack combos because she could do it at any time, killing you if you are locked in animation when she starts it up. Meanwhile if you only launch single attacks, it firstly makes the fight take very long, which increases her chance of doing it multiple times and secondly the chance of her hitting you and healing up.
This makes the fight which should be an intense back and forth very annoying since you are afraid she could end you at any time. (Except if you use Bloodhounds step but come on...)

[Mr_Wholegrain]

I like the hopping version of her dance. She moves carefully and precisely trying to hit you when you're off-guard and isn't trying to give you a chance to retaliate since she's watching you, and is still doing a bunch of blade flurries to show how fast she is. The game one mirrors this since she now moves fast and erratically, covering much more ground to strike you again, but it's your turn to watch her movements and catch her out. If they toned that move's speed or aggression down by a point or two, it'd be perfect.

[Graysett]

All I want from that attack is for her to only use it if you're over a certain distance from her. That single change would make that fight so much more bearable.

[lewispooper]

The worse part of it is that you get no reward for dodging it. If you dodge an insta kill move that has multiple parts where you can die instantly, you’d think you get something. No, she lands and can immediately start attacking again. Imagine if she fell to the floor for like 4 seconds and took more damage as she recovered from such an attack.

[panickedpaladin]

I really like the early animation, it looks like something an actually hyper-skilled sword-user would do, keeping mobile and dancing around, ready to hop in any direction at a moment's notice, like an actual technique, rather than simply an impossible anime-rush flurry of attacks.

[cream-gravy]

Is it just me or does the first version look a lot more like... well... a waterfowl. Particularly a crane jumping through shallow water or something along those lines. The retail version... I don't even know what to compare it to.

[GiggIes]

I like the old one a lot more, it makes actual sense instead of anti gravity mindlessly flailing a sword but oh it covers her whole hitbox and homes in on you like 3 times followed by an extra attack in case you might've been able to punish it

[toxicparamite]

Genuinely think they went overboard with her moveset to punish late game colossal weapon users into re-examining their play-style

[awltr]

Dev: *Shows first version to Miyazaki*
Miyazaki: Looks cool but you think you can make people go through an existential crisis with that?
Dev: **Sighs** On it sir

[defonoteleazar]

I don’t even care about how fast or deadly it is, or even how the unused version looks more interesting from a visual standpoint. If the low-poise, fast attack lady goes in the air and I anti-air her with my boulder chuck on reaction, she oughta fall on the floor. It’s how it be on Sekiro, it’s how it be on Elden Ring bosses with similar criteria, like the Black Knife Assassins. Simple as.

[GanymedePrincss]

"You can't deny how aesthtically well this move fits in"

Yes I can :(

[Darkhartx]

How good it feels to slip through waterfowl, immediately loses 80% of health to a poke.