There’s no wrong way of playing Elden Ring as just about any weapon or build can be successful, from powerful staves that cast Sorceries to defensive shield-focused styles. That being said, one archetype stands out due to its potency and relatively simple style - Elden Ring's Bleed build.
Bleed builds in Elden Ring combine a good weapon's raw damage and ludicrous amounts of percentage-based damage that Bloodloss inflicts. When it comes to damage per second, very few builds can compete with Bleed, and the ones that can lack the versatility that a sharp sword brings.
Updated July 13, 2023 by Andrew Scariati: Since release, there have been numerous changes and balance patches that have reduced the power of the Bleed build Elden Ring shipped with, but haven't ruined its viability.
The best bleed build Elden Ring has to offer once required certain weapons like Rivers of Blood (RoB), but now features more versatility in weapon choice. While RoB is still an excellent weapon, it is no longer the only option. In addition, you'll definitely need a few key talismans if you hope to construct this fantastic Elden Ring Bleed build.
What Is A Bleed Build?
Bleed builds are designed to kill an opponent as quickly as possible, through the use of Blood Loss.
The linchpin of an Elden Ring Bleed build is hitting an enemy enough times to fill an invisible bar, and then suddenly - boom. Your opponent explodes in a shower of blood, taking massive percentage damage, and they are briefly staggered.
Not every enemy can be bled, but the ones that can be afflicted will be dead before they can react to your presence.
Stats To Aim For
Stats | Value |
|---|---|
Vigor | 60 |
Mind | 15 |
Endurance | 30 |
Strength | 17 |
Dexterity | 45 |
Intelligence | 9 |
Faith | 8 |
Arcane | 45 |
The first thing to focus on is pumping your Vigor to 60. This will give you a large health pool that will allow you more opportunities to deal massive damage as you endure hits.
60 is the hard cap for Vigor and worth aiming for if you can spare the points. If you are lacking levels, then 40 is perfectly acceptable.
Next, we have Arcane at 45, which is around the soft cap for Bleed build-up.
Not only will this make your Bleed weapons more lethal in terms of raw damage, but it will also make them much more effective at building up Bleed until it procs.
You could push some extra points into Arcane if you prefer, however, Dexterity is a better place to spend those points.
The final major stat to consider is Dexterity, a pivotal stat for many Elden Ring Bleed builds.
45 is around the soft cap for Dexterity and will give you the most damage for the least amount of investment. This will directly push your Physical damage up, giving you more utility when fighting enemies who can’t be bled, like Skeletons.
Everything else has been invested into Mind and Endurance to give you enough resources to allocate as you like.
Endurance will also raise your Equip Load, letting you wear heavier armor which can be immensely helpful in raising your poise.
Poise is essential, as it ensures you can continue attacking without interruption.
What Gear To Use For Bleed
This build is going to focus on inflicting as much Bleed buildup as quickly as possible. This means we are going to use fast-swinging weapons, stack as many buffs as we can, and destroy enemies long before they can react.
While the build won’t be as effective against bloodless targets, your raw damage output will easily be able to power through.
Weapons
- Rivers Of Blood
- Eleanora’s Poleblade
- Godskin Peeler
- Uchigatana
Any of these bleed-inflicting weapons will work wonders for this build.
Rivers Of Blood in particular is brutally effective at killing everything thanks to its Weapon Art – Corpse Piler.
This weapon builds Bleed fast, deals amazing damage, and has access to the phenomenal katana moveset.
Eleanora’s Poleblade is very similar, as this weapon builds Bleed ludicrously fast, and a lot of its damage comes from its powerful Weapon Art. Its standard attacks are much faster than the Rivers Of Blood - especially when using running attacks.
You can inflict Blood Loss on most enemies in a single running attack with Eleanora’s Poleblade.
The Godskin Peeler and Uchigatana are both in the same boat in that they aren’t necessarily effective Bleed weapons on their own.
You will need to infuse them to be Blood variants at the Blacksmith, at which point, they come into their own.
To make them even better, you will want to give them both Seppuku which increases your raw damage and Bleed build-up.
If you are going to use the Godskin or Uchigatana, consider pairing them with another Twinblade or Katana.
Or, you could match the Uchigatana with the Rivers Of Blood, and the Godskin Peeler with Eleanora’s Poleblade if you want the best of both worlds.
Talismans
- Lord Of Blood’s Exultation
- Erdtree’s Favor
- Green Turtle
- Shard Of Alexander
- Winged Sword
- Claw
The Lord Of Blood’s Exultation is easily the most important Talisman of the bunch and is essential to any Bleed build in Elden Ring.
This will increase your damage whenever something bleeds around you.
The Lord Of Blood’s Exultation also triggers when you use Seppuku on yourself - allowing you to keep this buff active at all times.
Erdtree’s Favor and Green Turtle are utility picks.
Erdtree’s Favor will boost your HP, FP, Stamina, and Equip Load, which is fantastic, and Green Turtle will boost your Stamina Regeneration, which lets you be more aggressive with your Stamina usage.
The Shard Of Alexander is especially useful if you are using the Weapon Arts from the Rivers of Blood or Eleanora’s Poleblade a lot. This will make them even more powerful, which just makes sense if that is the playstyle you are leaning on.
The final two Talismans to consider are Winged Sword and Claw.
Winged Sword increases your damage based on successive attacks, which is especially useful when running Twinblades as they specialize in landing those combos.
Claw on the other hand will increase your jump attack damage, which can be a bit dependent on your preferred attack style.
Armor
- White Mask
- Flex Slots
You should wear the heaviest armor you can find that provides the most Poise and Defense whilst still maintaining a Medium Roll.
This will give you plenty of I-Frames as well as provide sufficient damage reduction to tank hits if you mess up.
The only armor piece you want to make a priority pick is the White Mask. This mask will increase your damage whenever something Bleeds - similar to the Lord Of Blood’s Exultation.
The best part about the White Mask is that it stacks with the aforementioned Talisman, letting you double-dip every time you inflict Bleed.
Remember you can use Seppuku to activate these buffs outside combat and against enemies who can’t bleed.
Flask Of Wondrous Physick
- Leaden Hard Tear
- Dexterity-Knot Tear
For Tears, you should consider the Leaden Hard Tear and Dexterity-Knot Tear.
The Leaden Hard Tear will give you perfect Poise for 10 seconds, allowing you to power through even the strongest attacks in the game. This is great when you want to force a Bleed to proc onto a fast-moving or heavy-hitting enemy who you know is going to interrupt you.
The Dexterity-Knot will give you a +10 boost to your Dexterity for 3 minutes, increasing your damage for the duration. It’s just an all-around fantastic Tear to equip.
A Bleed Build In Action
Once you put everything together, you'll want to keep a few things in mind as you go out to test your new Elden Ring Bleed build:
- Drink your Wondrous Physick before engaging.
- If the enemies are tough or do not bleed, then use Seppuku.
- Engage the enemy or group with an initial jumping attack to utilize Claw Talisman.
- Back off slightly as your foes regain composure and close in on you.
- Time your Weapon Art to slash enemies as they come into range.
- Watch as Bleed activates and repeat steps three to five for the next engagement.