Uploaded April 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Ruleset:
RL1 + Torch Only. Talismans allowed.
Pretty much everything else banned (items, skills, spirits, summons, active buffs, etc)
I also didn't use any stat boosting gear, so you could call it "true" rl1. I'm not going to put that in the title because people are inevitably going to comment that I didn't use an unupgraded club and therefore it's not rl1.

This one was pretty difficult. It's not the longest kill I've done (by far), but hard for a different reason: the lack of hitstun. The only attacks Torch has that stagger Malenia are fully charged heavy, jumping heavy, and running heavy. Even then, the hitstun lasts incredibly short, and these moves don't have much range, nor do they do great damage or stagger buildup. Torch also cannot crit.
A major issue was hitting her point-blank, Malenia doing her fast double slash, and having no possible roll direction that accounts for each second attack variant. Normally you can outspace the second hit with your roll, but that doesn't work if you're right up against her, even while light-rolling. Honestly, people seem to have this idealised version of Malenia's moveset in their head, where everything but Waterfowl Dance is fair and balanced. It's not, and this is just one example. You should never be forced to gamble a roll after cleanly hitting a staggerable boss. Just a small rant.

Part of the reason I went through this torchure is because I'm currently writing a Malenia guide, and I wanted to have clean footage of her moves to create gifs of her entire moveset.

For those who care, the damage per hit with this setup.
She gains fire resistance while in the water, that's why there's two values for each attack.
light attack: 313/335
running/uncharged heavy attack: 409/437
jumping heavy attack: 417/446
charged heavy: 593/633