Bleed Builds – Playstyle, Pros and Cons
The Elden Ring Bleed build is often regarded as one of the best builds across all Souls games.
This is mainly because of the high damage on hemorrhaging enemies that few other builds can compare to.
It’s a very aggressive build that optimizes damage output by getting the hemorrhaging effect as much as possible.
More often than not using weapons that either are dual wielded, attack very fast, or have very high hemorrhage buildup.
Even though limited, the weapons utilizing bleed have a very powerful niché. Below we will explain everything from weapons to talismans, Ashes of Wars, and armor.
In this Elden Ring Bleed build guide, we’ll cover the build’s weapons, skills, level progression, and more.
Be sure to also check out our Strength Build or Dexterity Build.
Pros
- One of the highest damage outputs in the game. Constantly applying bleed deals %max HP damage which means even tanky bosses will get shredded by this.
- Very fast-paced, making for quick boss fights. This is mostly due to the quick attacks that rapidly build up bleed for high damage.
- Fun weapon variety which even though limited has a lot of unique weapons with different movesets or even unique Ashes of Wars.
- It’s a very easy build to use and make since at every point of the game you can find bleed weapons. It also is highly reliant on attacking as much as possible which makes for an easy time killing everything.
Cons
- Risky since you need to keep up the damage or the Bleed bar will slowly go down meaning you need to attack more again to get the hemorrhage effect.
- Requires good dodging ability to get the maximum damage output, since you don’t run shields with this build.
Starting Class, Attribute Leveling and Distribution
For starting class, this time around we will be choosing the Samurai, mainly because of its starting weapon being the Uchigatana(a Bleed weapon), the great starting stats, and the armor is good too.
| Starting Stats | Lv25 | Lv50 | Lv100 | Lv150 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigor | 12 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 40 |
| Endurance | 13 | 13 | 18 | 20 | 30 |
| Strength | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Dexterity | 15 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 60 |
| Mind | 11 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 20 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Faith | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Arcane | 8 | 10 | 20 | 40 | 50 |
This time around we are aiming for a very all-around start. Mainly cause Bleed builds don’t need to invest in Arcane until after the early game. We first want some survivability, otherwise we can’t get through the early game anyway.
After the second checkpoint, LV50, we start investing some more into damage. Here we try to get Arcane leveled up, and Dexterity till 30 for now. The Arcane can be very useful if you are planning to go for the Bandit Curved Sword since it is a dropped weapon, and Arcane also increases discovery.
Next, we try to reach some specific stats for LV100. Get Vigor to 30, Mind and Endurance to 20, and lastly get Arcane and Dexterity to 40. This way we max out our survivability while still getting our damage up by a lot.
The build fully completes once we reach 150 where we have max damage. We cap our Arcane at 50, Dexterity at 60, Endurance at 30 and lastly get Vigor to 40. Prioritize getting Arcane till 50 here because this increases how much blood buildup you do.
Best Weapons and Skills for Bleed Build
There are a ton of great choices for Elden Ring Bleed weapons – below we are putting what are the best in my opinion. It is however very close to the honorable mentions section, meaning any weapon from there you can easily put up here.
See the best Elden Ring weapons here.
Godskin Peeler + Seppuku
Godskin Peeler is already a good weapon, but put Seppuku on this with high Arcane and this turns from a good weapon into a monster.
This happens because of the unique running heavy attack this weapon has. It instantly does 4 hits allowing this to be amazing for Bleed application.
To go with that, the base damage of this weapon is already amazing which only adds to the high bleed build-up.
- Location: Altus Plateau, Windmill Village. Dropped by the Godskin Apostle
- Required Stats: 17 Strength, 22 Dexterity
Dual Wield Scavenger’s Curved Sword or Bandit Curved Sword + Seppuku
This one is 2 weapons cause both have amazing applications for Bleed. Dual wielding the Scavenger’s Curved Sword is the best of the 2. However, this can not be done without going to NG+ because there is only 1 in every world.
This is why the Bandit Curved Sword is here as well in case you do not want to go to NG+. Bandit Curved Sword normally does not apply Bleed, which is why you need Seppuku. But it was almost as strong, coming close behind it.
- Location: Mount Gelmir. Scavenger’s Curved Sword is looted of a corpse near the Grafted Scion.
- Required Stats: 9 Strength, 14 Dexterity
- Location: Bandit Curved Sword is dropped by skeletons wielding it.
- Required Stats: 11 Strength, 13 Dexterity
Rivers of Blood
Even though heavily nerfed still has amazing blood application. It has good damage, great innate Arcane scaling, and a very good Ash of War. Even though there are better alternatives now you cannot go wrong with this weapon.
It still has very good Arcane scaling which already works wonders in every bleed build, next to the high base damage the weapon has, and the high bleed build-up, this is still a powerhouse.
- Location: Mountaintops of the Giants. Dropped by Bloody Finger Okina in the Church of Repose
- Required Stats: 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, 20 Arcane
Eleonora’s Poleblade
An amazing rushdown weapon with one of the fastest Bleed applications in the game. This weapon has a very good unique Ash of War that multihits, it’s a Twinblade which is already amazing at doing multiple attacks in quick succession and has high Bleed buildup making this a perfect weapon. Next to that, it has Arcane scaling which we max out increasing the damage even more.
- Location: Altus Plateau, dropped by Eleanora, Violet Bloody Finger at the Second Church of Marika
- Required Stats: 12 Strength, 21 Dexterity, 19 Arcane
Bloodhound’s Fang
One of two Heavy Curved Greatswords on here, the Bloodhound’s Fang was destined to be up here for bleed builds. It has one of the best Ashes of Wars in the whole game, which has great offense but also amazing defensive capabilities. Just don’t spam it in PVP since experienced players can easily parry it. It also staggers many enemies with its hits, making it great into a ton of enemies without any problems of taking damage.
- Location: Limgrave, dropped by Bloodhound Knight Darriwil.
- Required Stats: 18 Strength, 17 Dexterity
Morgott’s Cursed Sword
Arguably the best Remembrance weapon aside from the Regal Carian Scepter. Morgott’s Cursed Sword has a great Ash of War, amazing blood buildup which is above average, and a good scaling across the board. A solid choice for any Bleed build.
This all makes up for the fact that the weapon does attack slower than most bleed weapons just like the Bloodhound’s Fang, but because of the above-average blood build-up this is perfectly fine for a weapon like this.
- Location: Purchased from Enia at the Roundtable Hold after defeating Morgott the Omen King
- Required Stats: 14 Strength, 35 Dexterity, 17 Arcane
Honorable Mentions
Even though most weapons here are amazing in their own right for use in your builds, they are just not on the level of the weapons listed above.
- Moghwyn’s Sacred Spear
- Moghwyn’s Sacred Spear hits hard but attacks too slow, and even though the weapon art has high bleed build-up, it suffers from you having to remain static which ruins it against bosses.
- Reduvia
- Reduvia suffers from the main dagger problem which is their short range, and the Ash of War not giving enough to make up for it.
- Uchigatana
- Uchigatana is just outclassed by most other weapons the Rivers of Blood being a direct upgrade.
- Hand of Malenia
- Hand of Malenia you get too late to consider, even though it has amazing reach, and the weapon art is inconsistent on bosses.
- Bloody Helice
- Bloody Helice doesn’t have many downsides but it’s not fast enough to rapidly apply bleed.
- Winged Scythe
- Winged Scythe is just not mainly utilizing Arcane and requires you to invest into Faith which bleed builds often don’t want to.
- Hook Claws
- Hook Claws are very good for rapid Application but are still inferior to the alternatives above.
This does not mean these weapons are bad in any manner, and if you like them build them! but if you want the best weapons, I do recommend the ones above this section.
When good Bleed weapons are available
| LV25 | LV50 | LV100 |
|---|---|---|
| Uchigatana | Winged Scythe | Godskin Peeler |
| Reduvia | Bloody Helice | Rivers of Blood |
| Hook Claws | Eleonora’s Poleblade | Morgott’s Cursed Sword |
| Bloodhound’s Fang | Scavenger’s Curved Sword | Hand of Malenia |
| Bandit Curved Sword | Moghwyn’s Sacred Spear |
What are the best Ashes of War for Bleed Builds?
Compared to other Elden Ring builds the skills used by Bleed builds are pretty limited. This is because the best is really the best and because only a couple of weapons even allow for a new Ash of War.
Seppuku
Seppuku is the best Ash of War for any bleed build. It exchanges some HP for 30 flat extra damage and 30 flat extra blood buildup, which is a lot. it is often used in combination with the Curved Swords because of the insane blood buildup those weapons already have.
You can even utilize this on double-wielding Curved Swords, you do first need to empower your offhand, and then when two-handing your weapon apply it on your main weapon, otherwise you cannot utilize the full strength of this Ash of War.
- Location: Mountaintops of the Giants, dropped from an invisible Scarab, on the Freezing Lake
Bloody Slash
The earliest Bleed Ash of War you can find for this build. This Ash of War does a lot of damage and a lot of blood buildup in exchange for some HP. It cannot be parried and also does posture damage.
In general a very good Ash of War
- Location: Limgrave, dropped by a Godrick Knight in Fort Haight
Dual Slash
It is pretty much Corpse Piler from Rivers of Blood without the blood slash. Still very good and gives a lot of attacks for quick blood buildup. It is still inferior to the other 2 Ash of Wars, but amazing on specific weapons where it straight up better than the ones above,
- Location: Caelid, dropped by a Teardrop Scarab in Selia, Town of Sorcery
Best Armor
Any high Defense Elden Ring armor works well with the Elden Ring Bleed build, as long as you maintain the Medium roll. White mask is probably the best combination with this cause of the buff it gives with Bleeding enemies.
White Reed Set + Okina Mask
- Location: The armor can be found in the Spiritcaller’s Cave on a corpse on the Mountaintops of the Giants. The Okina Mask drops from defeating Bloody Finger Okina at the Church of Repose in the same area
Ronin’s Set
- Location: Obtained by killing Yura once Shabriri has taken over his body on the Mountaintops of the Giants
White Mask
Location: Dropped by killing one of three Nameless White Mask NPC invades inside the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum area
Best Talismans to use with Bleed Build
Lord of Blood’s Exultation
- Buffs: Raise your Attack power by 20% after Blood loss occurs around you.
- Location: Drops from Esgar, Priest of Blood in Leyndell Catacombs
Radagon’s Soreseal
- Buffs: Greatly raises attributes at the cost of increased damage taken.
- Location: Found on a corpse in Fort Farot
Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom
- Buffs: Increases your Dexterity by 5
- Location: After finishing the sidequest given by Cowry in Caelid, return to Millicent to receive the talisman
Shard of Alexander
- Buffs: Increases damage with successive attacks up to 13%
- Location: Drops upon completing Iron Fist Alexander his questline
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia
- Increases damage with successive attacks up to 13%
- Location: Given to you by Millicent after helping her defeat her sisters
Claw Talisman
- Increases your Jump Attack damage by 15%
- Location: Stormveil Castle, found on a corpse atop a watchtower
Consumables and Flask Distribution
The recommended distribution is running 13 healing flasks and 2 FP flasks for the Elden Ring Bleed build.
This is mainly because you will be using your Ash of War a lot on some of these weapons. This however is not required, and you can play while running 15 healing flasks if it’s more to your comfort.
Recommended Summons
Mimic Tear
Even though Mimic Tear has been nerfed into the floor, its viability with Bleed builds is still a massive plus. It makes for a super easy time to get Hemorrhage damage on the enemy, dealing massive damage.
- Location: Locked behind an Imp Stattue requiring a Stonesword Key in the Night’s Sacred Ground in Nokron, Eternal City.
Black Knife Tiché
He is unique in that he has the Deatflame weapon art. This is a max HP scaling burn that also lowers the enemy’s HP. Next to that, he is very aggressive with a decent amount of HP. He is considered the best summon in the game. When Bleeding enemies this makes it faster to rush them down.
- Location: Dropped from Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader upon defeating him inside the Ringleader Evergaol. This can only be accessed upon completing Ranni’s quest in the south of Liurnia.
Perfumer Tricia
Though Tricia is not very strong as a frontline, she has very good buffs she will apply to you, next to that she does have amazing zoning making it harder for you to be attacked.
- Location: Rewarded for defeating Perfumer Tricia and Misbegotten Warrior in Unsightly Catacombs on the Altus Plateau.
