Maliketh, the Black Blade in Elden Ring is mainly weak to bleed and other strong physical damage, while being extremely resistant to holy damage. Avoid holy-focused builds and lean into raw physical or status buildup to melt his HP bar.

Core Weaknesses

  • Bleed buildup is very effective , since Maliketh has relatively low bleed resistance and not a huge HP pool compared to other late-game bosses. Fast bleed weapons or Ashes of War that apply bleed can chunk him quickly.
  • Pure physical damage hits hard , with him having noticeably less resistance to physical than to elemental (magic, fire, lightning) and massive resistance to holy. Using non-holy infusions and solid scaling weapons is a safe choice.
  • Frostbite can also work , adding a burst of damage and debuff when it procs, though it’s generally considered secondary to bleed for this fight.

Things He Resists

  • Holy damage is heavily resisted , making holy weapons, seals, or incantations very inefficient against Maliketh. Switching away from holy scaling or removing holy infusions can make the fight feel dramatically easier.
  • Elemental focus (magic, fire, lightning) is less optimal than physical, since he has more mitigation against those damage types.

Practical Tips To Exploit His Weakness

  • Use fast bleed weapons (katanas, curved swords, twinblades, or spears with bleed affinity) and stay close to keep procs coming. Many players report that staying under or very near him causes many of his flashy swings to whiff overhead.
  • If you prefer spells or hybrids, incorporate bleed or frostbite tools (weapons, ashes, or spells that apply those statuses) rather than relying on pure elemental nukes.
  • Whatever your build, just avoid holy and focus on consistent physical DPS; Maliketh does not have the bloated health pool some other late bosses do, so exploiting this makes the fight much shorter.

TL;DR: For “what is Maliketh weak to,” the best answers are bleed and strong physical damage , with frostbite as a backup option, and a big warning to avoid holy-centric setups.