Two years ago, we learned of one of the greatest video game heroes of all time: a man wearing nothing but a jar atop his head.
His name? Let Me Solo Her. His job? Exactly what his name says he does: standing outside the doorway to Elden Ring's most difficult boss, Malenia, and offering to take down the punishing, scarlet rot-infested warrior on behalf of players who were struggling to do it themselves.
Now, almost two years later, Let Me Solo Her (LMSH) is still fighting Malenia on behalf of the people. But his Malenia-murdering days may soon be at an end, thanks to the recent announcement of Elden Ring's first major story DLC: Shadow of the Erdtree.
We first spoke to LMSH way back in April of 2022, and caught up with him again over email following the DLC announcement and yes, he's still fighting Malenia all this time later. It's not all he does, but he tells us he has about 1200 hours in Elden Ring at this point, and has "probably defeated her about 6000-7000 times by now." Last April, he even beat the game using a mod that turned every single enemy into Malenia.
But when Shadow of the Erdtree drops in June, LMSH concedes it might finally be time to move on from Malenia. For one, he wants to play the new DLC. He calls the new trailer "spectacular" and says it "did not go the way I thought it would be." His excitement is understandable — he's a big fan of other FromSoftware games and their DLC.
"Soulslike games have a history of their DLCs being the best part of the game, and I trust that Mr. [Hidetaka] Miyazaki [Elden Ring game director] will give us another masterpiece to enjoy," he says.
In particular, LMSH is intrigued by the unfamiliar enemies throughout the trailer, particularly the mysterious red-headed character near the end. Miyazaki confirmed for us that this character is called Messmer, and that he is a "key figure" of the DLC who "stands on equal footing to these other demigods and children of Marika." LMSH picked up on the alleged prowess of Messmer, too, telling us that "the new boss is especially exciting as he might be a lost sibling to Malenia and equal in terms of difficulty."
I ask him what he thinks of this absolute atrocity:
To which LMSH replies, "I feel like he will be an enemy that can steal helmets lol."
He's also excited by some of the new items shown, such as the armor sets, because he "loves knight aesthetics," and he's really into the "throwing pot/jar that explodes" — appropriate given LMSH's usual choice of headwear.
When Shadow of the Erdtree drops, it's absolutely no question that LMSH will be playing it all the way through. Though he's made a number of different characters, he expects he'll play on his main account "Let me solo her" because "I like to collect everything in one account."
But if Messmer or another boss proves to be a second Malenia in terms of difficulty, will he offer to solo them, too? He's not sure yet. "Everyone knows that FromSoft likes to make the DLC bosses the strongest (for example, Gael)," he says. "I welcome the challenge and hope newer fans of the genre will also enjoy the difficulty as well. I'm not too sure if I will solo the newest boss yet. I will have to see what the boss will be like."
Whatever awaits him in the DLC, it does sound like Let Me Solo Her is finally about ready to move on from the activity that made him a community legend. He calls his adventures fighting Malenia a "great joy," but admits that after thousands of attempts, "I've had my fill of fighting Malenias lol."
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
