The Crumbling Farum Azula is the last real area of Elden Ring, with only three bosses between you and credits once it is completed. The beast that awaits you at the end of the zone is the shadow of Queen Marika herself, Maliketh, the Black Blade. This boss is beloved for his design and lore but is also one of the more challenging bosses in the game due to his heavy hits that will permanently cut your health in half and quick and frantic movements around the arena. However, there is an item that will allow you to combat several of these difficult moves, not completely nullifying Maliketh’s fight into a cakewalk but definitely making it more manageable. The item in question is known as the Blasphemous Claw, and luckily, there is. This guide will explain to players how to get and use the Blasphemous Claw in Elden Ring.
How To Get and Use The Blasphemous Claw In Elden Ring
The Blasphemous Claw can be gotten when you defeat Recusant Bernahl, an NPC invader that you can encounter in the Crumbling Farum Azula. Note that you can meet Bernahl earlier in the game at the Warmaster’s Shack. Killing him here will drop his Beast Champion armor set, but not the Claw. To get the Claw, you will need to face him in Crumbling Farum Azula. Start from the Side of the Great Bridge Site of Grace and go up the stairs towards the Maliketh, the Black Blade’s boss arena. Instead of going to the right towards the boss, go to the left and go down some stairs at the Dragon Temple at the end of the bridge. Go through the doorway, to the right of the stairs, then turn right again once outside to see a ladder. The bottom of the ladder leads to a lone tower with a chest. On this bridge to the tower, you will be invaded by Recusant Bernahl. Defeating him will see him once again drop the Beast Champion armor set as well as the Blasphemous Claw.
After getting the Beast Clergyman down to about half health, he will shed his cloak and become Maliketh, the Black Blade. This is the phase in which you will be able to use the Blasphemous Claw. Equip the item in your hot bar, and keep an eye out for when Maliketh’s sword glows gold. When you see these types of attacks coming down, use the Claw to parry Maliketh, staggering him and letting you get a few easy hits in. This makes the fight much simpler since Maliketh likes to jump around the arena with challenging attacks to dodge. This item gives you the ability to not only stop many of the more powerful attacks but also gets you to large windows of opportunity to get some damage in.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
