Elden Ring update means you can’t cheese the hardest boss any more

Malenia just got a promotion to ‘Goddess of kicking your butt’

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Elden Ringupdate v1.03 has landed and it’s a mixed bag, depending on how far you’ve progressed. But if you’ve been putting off tackling the toughest boss in the game, things really aren’t going your way today.

Though she has many names, Malenia is more commonly known as ‘gah!’, ‘nooooo!’ or ‘[insert profanity here]!’. The hardest boss inElden Ring, players have been using Mimic Tear to cheese their way through the fight. But that battle is going to be a lot more brutal now that the summon has been nerfed.

There are a ton ofYouTubevideos on the Mimic Tear strategy, and you can check out one example above, courtesy ofIdicus. The summon conjures up a doppelganger of your character that has exactly the same loadout and skills as you do. Think of it as a disposable clone whose coattails you’ll be riding to victory.

Obviously, a large part of this particular cheese depends on the items you have equipped. But with a twin by your side, you can stagger the living daylights out of Malenia, as well as serve up a target that isn’t you.

Now that theElden Ring patch notes v1.03have dropped, that tactic has gone straight out of the window. The damage the summoned spirit metes out has been reduced, and has also “changed the spirit’s behavior pattern'” I very much doubt Fromsoftware has decided to make it more intuitive to give you a break.

The difficulty is going to ramp up on an already tricky fight, so look forward to that. There are some additional tweaks that have been rolled out that may rain on your parade for different reasons altogether; but there are some positives too!

Analysis

You can read the full patch notes for Elden Ring update v1.03 below, but there are some pretty big points of interest outside of the Mimic Tear nerf.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

First up is a fix for theDeath Blight buildthat’s been terrorising players in PvP. The tl;dr version is that the Fire’s Deadly Sin incantation was having an unintended effect when paired with the Eclipse Shotel. The result? You died. The patch has fixed this now, so the sight of an invader casting the incantation doesn’t mean insta death.

The next big and very welcome addition to the game is a bunch of new quest phases for NPCs. So let’s hope you’ve not killed off Diallos, Nepheli Loux, Kenneth Haight, or Gatekeeper Gostoc. Someredditorshave already slaughtered Ken for his golden seed and aren’t too happy about it. Let this be a lesson to you to be nice to NPCs (unless they’rereallyasking for it).

Another nifty update is the “function to record an icon and the name of an NPC on the map when you encounter that NPC.”

You can peruse the full breakdown below, but those are the highlights you should be aware of that could have the biggest effect on your playthrough.

Elden Ring 1.03 patch notes

Additional Elements Added

Bug Fixed

Balance Changes

Shabana has been writing about games for almost a decade now, as well as covering tech, politics, food, and other random tidbits at Gizmodo UK. She’s stepped outside of news every now and then to write game guides, and always appreciates a DM if she’s helped get you out of a pickle. During her time freelancing, you may have spotted her words at VG24/7, GamesRadar, and IGN. She’s also held the position of news editor at Gizmodo UK, T3, and The Sun Online.

Best Dragon Age games in 2024 - every series entry ranked

I reviewed the PS5 Pro and recommend these 7 enhanced games to try first

How to watch Gold Rush season 15 online: live stream new episodes with a free trial