Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
She's pretty tough, I don't know what it is about her but I messed up a lot. Even this fight was a bit messy.
Rules:
Fresh New Game
'Additional Hardships' from not carrying Kuro's Charm (increases difficulty and introduces chip damage on 'block' but not 'deflect')
Bell Demon on
No prosthetics
No combat arts
No damage or stagger taken
No dragon mask
No items/buffs
She's pretty tough, I don't know what it is about her but I messed up a lot. Even this fight was a bit messy.
Rules:
Fresh New Game
'Additional Hardships' from not carrying Kuro's Charm (increases difficulty and introduces chip damage on 'block' but not 'deflect')
Bell Demon on
No prosthetics
No combat arts
No damage or stagger taken
No dragon mask
No items/buffs
![Malenia gets Big Bonked [level 1, ng+7, +0 Trolls Hammer, mid roll, no hit/buffs/aux/etc]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/prFaHWffuSU/mqdefault.jpg "Malenia gets Big Bonked [level 1, ng+7, +0 Trolls Hammer, mid roll, no hit/buffs/aux/etc]
A buff is an active effect that strengthens the character in some way. This therefore excludes talismans, armor and weapons which are passively equipped for their benefit. I am including great runes as a banned buff. Even though theyre not temporary like other buffs, you still actively use a rune arc.
I did this kill to prove the Malenia fight is consistent even under the worst conditions. The slowest weapon class by far along with medium rolls.
You have to be careful with every punish, some attacks I just entirely avoid using because the recovery is too long, like running attacks. There are multiple openings or stronger punishes I avoided taking simply because you would get unavoidably hit after a successful punish.
Despite all that, surprisingly, this is 3 minutes faster than my kill with Curved Great Club (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBF6T-jKDLE), which was even done in a patch where you deal significantly more poise damage. The high damage per hit, especially on light attacks, reigns supreme.
I had a 17-18 minute attempt choked at the last 1% before this. After optimising the setup a bit (mainly adding buff clothes and the shield) the kills time went down by a whole 2-3 minutes. Phase 2 was a bit sloppy, but it got the job done.")
![Erdtree Burial Watchdog + 4 Imps RL1 no Roll/Block/Parry/Jump [+4 somber]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r0eNm59KhU0/mqdefault.jpg "Erdtree Burial Watchdog + 4 Imps RL1 no Roll/Block/Parry/Jump [+4 somber]
weapon upgrade mightve been a bit high for the fight.")
![Hollow Knight - Absolute Inferno King Grimm [Radiant, Nail Only]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rN4DMT1SePk/mqdefault.jpg "Hollow Knight - Absolute Inferno King Grimm [Radiant, Nail Only]
Mod: Inferno King Grimm by Nickc01 with all settings set to hardest, making it Absolute.
I installed it using (the now deprecated) modinstaller and downpatching HK in steam to version 1.4.3.2
Charms Used:
Dashmaster
Sprintmaster
Steady Body
Unbreakable Strength
Quick Slash
Mark of Pride
Opinion:
TL;DR Amazing modded fight, pufferfish attack couldve been good but is too inconsistent.
This fight is really well made and thought out except for one thing. The pufferfish attack. While the concept is completely fine, a very small proportion of the fireballs just dont behave. They will go off in a pretty much random direction which cannot be controlled. On top of that, the trajectory of the balls can curve slightly while traveling (sometimes, they will swoop across the ground and curve upwards instead of hitting the floor and disappearing)
The stray projectiles can go up to 180 degrees away from your current position, I have even saved a clip in which exactly that happens. Because of the unpredictability and the quantity of fireballs, you will often be forced into extremely precarious situations, which you cannot reasonably be expected to account for in the moment. You have some control over most of the fireballs and when you turn around to dash through, but it doesnt feel like its enough to reasonably dodge this attack consistently, especially in the final phase when the orbs are significantly larger (and maybe theres more, too)")
