Elden Ring Best Bleed Build: Stats and Weapons
Bleed is pretty OP in Elden Ring, and here’s how to make a strong build that’s focused on haemorrhaging foes.
Update: With the release of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, our Bleed build is better than ever. We've updated this page with new level recommendations, as well as new weapons, Incantations, and pieces of Gear from the DLC.
Across the vast expanse of The Lands Between, most are in unanimous agreement that Elden Ring's best Bleed builds are amongst some of the most powerful in the game. With the Arcane scaling issue having long been fixed, players have put together some truly OP Arcane and Dexterity-focused Bleed builds that will inflict devastating amounts of Bleed build-up on their opponents.
Arcane and Dexterity go together like peanut butter and jelly - just in this case the jelly is gross, sticky blood.
For our full list, these are the best Elden Ring builds.
How do you make the best Elden Ring Bleed Build?
There’s something incredibly satisfying about slashing away at opponents, watching Bleed wreak havoc on their HP bar. However, as you can imagine, with every OP weapon or build comes with some controversy that perhaps it's making the game too easy.
You’ll still run into troublesome territory with this build, and some fights will prove challenging no matter your damage output, especially Malenia. In this Arcane/Dexterity-focused Bleed build guide, I’ve noted multiple options you can choose from in terms of weapons, talismans, and your gear.
This is so you can experiment with which weapons you have the most fun with, and if you find Rivers of Blood katana to be too cheesy for your liking, there are plenty of other weapons to choose from for an effective, fun Bleed build.
Elden Ring Bleed Build: Stats and Class
For a badass Bleed build with stacks of damage, you’ll want to primarily focus on putting levels into Arcane, Dexterity, and Vigor. It’s also always worth putting some levels into Endurance.
The "soft cap" for levels in Elden Ring is 60. Past that point, each additional level you place into that stat gives you a smaller boost than it used to. For this reason, you should almost never raise any of your stats higher than 60, because the points can be put to better use elsewhere.
- Arcane is the bread and butter of this build. Your weapons will scale with it, and you’ll use it to collect and cast Incantations, too. Arcane is also a pretty neat stat to focus on, not just because of the Bleed builds you can create, but also because it raises your Discovery. Whether you’re messing around with this build for your first run, or in New Game+, you’ll be able to find more rare items as you fell enemies.
- Dexterity is an offensive stat, that focuses on fast, swift movements rather than brute strength. As you’re going to be wielding a katana or pole, practicing your jump attacks, and afflicting Bleed build-up on everything you touch, you’re going to want a lot of Dexterity to support this. It also stops you being knocked off your horse by enemies.
- Vigor is important to any build in Elden Ring. There’s nothing worse than coming up against an enemy who is so easily capable of one-shotting you. With this build, you’ll often be up close and personal with your foes, so you’ll need the extra vigor to compensate for when you do, unfortunately, get hit.
- You also want to have plenty of Mind in this build to make full use of overpowered Ashes of War and magic.
- For your starting class, I recommend choosing Bandit or Samurai. The Bandit is a good choice due to their starting stats - they have a higher Arcane and Dex stat above all else. On the other hand, the Samurai sees you starting out with the Uchigatana immediately, plus a high Dex stat and some extra points in Endurance.
As you get to grips with the early game in Elden Ring, begin your Bleed build by putting points into Vigor to increase your survivability. Next, focus on your Dexterity. You main weapon at this point will likely be either the Uchigatana or Reduvia, both of which thrive on Dexterity. Finally, boost your endurance to make your character more playable.
- Vigor: 18
- Mind: 12
- Endurance: 16
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 20
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 8
- Arcane: 14
The mid-game of Elden Ring is long, but it's when Bleed builds start to come into their own with a buffed Uchigatana or Eleonora's Poleblade. Continue to boost your Vigor and Endurance as enemies become more difficult, while also pumping Dexterity to deal as much damage as possible. As you get weapons you actually want to use the Ash of War from, begin to bolster your Mind stat.
- Vigor: 30
- Mind: 16
- Endurance: 19
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 40
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 8
- Arcane: 25
As you reach the late-game, this is where the Bleed build starts to pull away from the pack, as well as become much more versatile. Continue with your key stats, as you will now have access to the Rivers of Blood katana - one of the best weapons in the game. But if you want to, you can now also incorporate Dragon Communion and Blood Incantations into your build. Add in some Faith to enable this, with Rotten Breath and Dragon Ice being particularly powerful.
- Vigor: 40
- Mind: 21
- Endurance: 22
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 50
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 15
- Arcane: 30
With the DLC areas beckoning, you should try to pump your key stats of Vigor, Dexterity and Arcane up towards the soft cap of 60. Your Mind and Endurance should be at a level now where you're comfortable playing with them and they don't need to go higher. The strongest Dragon Incantations, which you get from Bayle the Dread in the Shadow Lands, require no Faith, so you can use a Larval Tear to get 5 points back to add to your Arcane or your Mind if you want to run more Crimson and fewer Cerulean flasks (you still need 10 Faith for the Dragon Seal).
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 21
- Endurance: 22
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 60
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 15
- Arcane: 40
As ever, you can adjust these as you see fit, depending on where your build is headed. We want high Dexterity and Arcane as soon as possible, as well as enough Vigor, Mind, and Endurance to support our melee attacks, swift movement, and the magic required from our weapon skills and Incantations. You should focus on putting points into all five of these categories, prioritising Vigor, Arcane, and Dexterity. If you aren't using Faith, either, those points should instead be piled into Vigor, as to avoid being one-hit later in the game.
Of course, nobody expects you to be going through the whole of the game with 150+ levels, and Elden Ring’s endgame is doable at levels 120-150. Disperse your stats however suits you with the above values in mind, and you can use the above stats as an ultimate target to aim for.
Elden Ring Bleed Build: Weapons
With this build being focused on utilising Arcane and Dex to inflict Bleed, you’ve got a few options to choose from when it comes to the best Bleed weapons, featuring some of Elden Ring's best weapons, and all of them look incredibly cool. Additionally, you’re going to need a Sacred Seal alongside whatever weapon you wield, so that you can cast Incantations during battle.
You won’t necessarily want to use Incantations all the time, so you can have a weapon and the seal assigned to one hand, and switch between dual-wielding and using Incantations.
- Blood Uchigatana - If you’re starting as a Samurai, you’ll already have the Uchigatana, but it can also be easily acquired from the Deathtouched Catacombs in Limgrave. The Uchigatana causes Bleed build-up passively, but if you infuse it with a Bleed Ash of War, such as Bloody Slash, it’ll cause even more blood loss. It requires to 11 Strength and 15 Dexterity.
- Blood Nagakiba - Similarly to the Uchigatana, the Nagakiba is all the more powerful when infused with a blood Ash of War. It will cause bleed passively as is, but with an Ash of War, this can be doubled. If you’re wielding the Uchigatana, this is a great choice for a dual-wield. You'll need 18 Strength and 22 Dexterity for this one, and it has C scaling with Dexterity, too.
- Eleonara’s Poleblade - Eleonara's Poleblade puts on a good show, that’s for sure. With its skill, Bloodblade Dance, you can perform a tornado-like attack of slashes and deal plenty of Bleed damage. Its downfall is that it can’t be infused with an Ash of War, but it’s still a strong choice due to its unique attacks, Bleed and Fire damage, and its ability to stagger enemies. This weapon requires 12 Strength, 21 Dexterity, and 19 Arcane.
- Rivers of Blood - The Rivers of Blood katana is one of my favourites, with its skill - Corpse Piler - being a repeat slash attack that can inflict a huge Bleed build-up on enemies. You can grab this by defeating Bloody Finger Okina outside the Church of Repose in the southeast of the Mountaintops of the Giants. It requires 12 Strength, 18 Dex, and 20 Arcane to wield.
- Dragon Communion Seal - With this build's Incantations primarily being dragon ones, this seal is your go-to, as it buffs all dragon communion incantations by 15%. It also increases the build-up of status effects caused by spells, and the seal scales with Arcane. You'll need 10 Faith and 10 Arcane to use it, and it can be found at Fringefolk Hero's Grave.
- Beast Claws - Found on Logur, Beast Claw at the start of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, the ferocious Beast Claws are great for inflicting statuses with fast successive strikes. If you enjoy a fast, up-close-and-personal approach with a lot of dodging, then the Beast Claws seem like a solid option.
- Dryleaf Arts - But you can't get much closer than hand-to-hand combat. The new martial arts can also be incorporated into a Bleed build thanks to their focus on Dexterity. One of the most fun options, for sure.
- Scavenger's Curved Sword - Requiring just 9 Strength and 14 Dexterity, dual-wielding curved swords can be a good way to get through the early-game in Elden Ring. The Scavenger's Curved Sword will also come with passive Bleed build-up, and can be infused with an Ash of War.
- Godskin Peeler - The Godskin Peeler will need to be scaled with Dexterity in this build, and requires a little strength to wield (Radagon’s Soreseal will help in a pinch), and it probably gains the second top-spot after Rivers of Blood for me. The twinblade doesn’t cause Bleed initially, but is arguably one of the most powerful weapons in the game regardless with its skill, Black Flame Tornado, and can be infused with a Blood Ash of War. You'll need 17 Strength and 22 Dex for this weapon.
- Serpent-God’s Blood Curved Sword - This is at the bottom of all weapon options because it’s perhaps the last weapon I’d go for, but if you’re committed to more of a challenge and have extra points to apply to Strength, the Serpent-God’s Blood Curved Sword could work for you. It scales with Strength and Dexterity, but if your Dex stats are better than your Strength stats, this isn’t worth bothering with as the Dex scaling is E. When infused with a Blood Ash of War and upgraded, however, the weapon can scale with Arcane. You'll need 13 Strength, and 9 Dexterity.
- Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear - This is probably better suited for a New Game Plus run, since you obtain it by trading Mohg's Remembrance after defeating the Lord of Blood, but it's an excellent weapon either way. The spear deals physical and fire damage, has a high chance of landing critical hits, and comes with a deadly skill, Bloodboon Ritual. The skill stabs three times and creates blood explosions, then coats your weapon with Bloodflame, which can even damage enemies behind walls. It needs a whopping 24 Strength, and 14 Dexterity, and 27 Arcane to wield, and best scales with Strength and Arcane, which have D scaling.
Elden Ring Bleed Build: Ashes of War
This wouldn’t be a Bleed build without making mention to various Ashes of War that’ll buff the Bleed build-up caused by your weapons. Here are a few viable options for you to choose from that can be applied to katanas, spears, and most swords.
When infusing a weapon with any of the below Blood Ashes of War, bear in mind that once a weapon has the Blood affinity, it will then scale using Arcane primarily. All other scaling types will be decreased!
- Ash of War: Bloody Slash - The Bloody Slash Ash of War sees you coat your weapon in your blood before performing a bloody slash on foes. This particular Ash of War has short to medium range AoE, but can deal rather high damage at a lower level. However, it doesn't cause any Bleed build-up. I’d recommend switching to Blood Blade or Seppuku as you advance further into Elden Ring, though. This Ash of War is dropped by a Godrick Knight up at the top of Fort Haight.
- Ash of War: Blood Tax - The Blood Tax Ash of War will see you thrusting your weapon into an enemy in a powerful combo-attack, with each hit regenerating your health based on your max health (not the damage dealt). We weren't too impressed by this Ash of War at first, but since being buffed in Patch 1.07, which saw the health regen effects and speed of attacks improved, this is an Ash of War well worth using. The Ash of War is found in a cave in the Mohgwyn Dynasty area of The Lands Between.
- Ash of War: Blood Blade - When using this Ash of War, you will wound yourself to coat your weapon with blood. Then, a blood blade will be launched at your opponent causing Bleed build-up, and this can be used repeatedly for some catastrophic damage. Bloody Slash may deal more damage than this, which can you leave you confused, but Blood Blade will cause more Bleed build-up overall. This is dropped by a Teardrop Scarab in Altus Plateau, just north-east of Erdtree-Gazing Hill Site of Grace.
- Ash of War: Seppuku - This is perhaps one of the more popular choices for a Bleed build, and if you’ve ever seen someone stabbing themselves repeatedly before a boss fight or some PvP, this is why. When using Seppuku, you will plunge your weapon into yourself, covering it in blood and also losing some HP. This will greatly increase your attack power and ability to inflict Bleed build-up for up to 60 seconds. You can find this east of the Freezing Lake Site of Grace.
Elden Ring Bleed Build: Talismans
Talismans, and which ones you equip, are often situational. With a Bleed build, there are a handful of Talismans that are significantly more useful than others, and some that you might want to use on the rare occasion that you need them.
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation - This is the talisman that you should have equipped all of the time while running this build. Lord of Blood’s Exultation will raise your attack power by 20% for 20 seconds whenever a nearby player or foe is inflicted with Bleed. Considering this build revolves around Bleed and stacking as much of it as possible, you’re going to be around blood loss regularly. You get it from the boss inside Leyndell Catacombs inside the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds.
- Radagon’s Soreseal - This talisman will greatly increase your stats across Vigor, Dexterity, Endurance, and Strength, but at the cost of you taking 15% more physical damage from enemies. With plenty of HP flasks, this shouldn’t prove too much of an issue. You get it from Fort Faroth in the Dragonbarrow.
- Radagon Icon - This talisman will come in clutch most of the time, as it reduces the time it takes to cast sorceries. If you know that you’re going to be spamming your Incantations during a particularly tricky fight, equip this. In addition, it can give you 30 virtual Dexterity solely for spellcasting.
- Marika’s Soreseal - Marika’s Soreseal functions similarly to Radagon’s Soreseal, affecting different stats. The talisman will increase Mind, Intelligence, Faith and Arcane by +5, but you will also take 15% more damage from enemies. I don’t recommend equipping both Soreseals simultaneously, but if you’re short on points for Faith and are committed to casting Ekzyke’s Decay (mentioned below), this can be viable.
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia - The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia raises your attack power with successive attacks up to three tiers (6%, 8%, then 13% boost), so proves vital in this build where you'll be playing offensively with your weapon a lot of the time. This is an upgrade of the Winged Sword Insignia talisman, which you could also use if you haven’t grabbed the Rotten version yet. This is a reward from Millicent's quest.
- Claw Talisman - The Claw Talisman is simple; it enhances jump attacks by 15%. With this build in particular, I found myself jumping and slashing enemies regularly, especially with curved swords. So, this talisman proved to make those jump attacks a tad more powerful.
- Millicent's Prosthesis - This talisman increases Dex by 5, which is great for this build. On top of that, it'll also increase your attack power by 4%, 6%, and 11% based on your successive attacks, and this includes some spells. All in all, it's a powerful talisman that you should definitely consider, and is obtained by killing Millicent rather than helping her, so you won't be able to get this talisman and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia simultaneously. You can just use the Pristhesis Heirloom if you've not got access to the buffed version.
- Shard of Alexander - The Shard of Alexander talisman will greatly boost the attack power of your skills, and if you’re using a weapon such as the Rivers of Blood katana (with the Corpse Piler skill), this talisman will make it all the more powerful. Not that it needs to be any more powerful than it already is. However, you need to kill your friend Alexander the living jar to get it, which surely you would never do!
Elden Ring Bleed Build: Incantations
While you’re probably going to focus on using your weapons to inflict damage and defeat enemies, magic is important too. With points plunged into Arcane, there are a handful of Incantations that you’ll find to be rather useful in this build, primarily Dragon Incantations.
To purchase Dragon Incantations and unlock new ones, you’ll need to go about slaying dragons, acquiring their hearts, and visiting both the Church and Cathedral of Dragon Communion. We detail where to find them all here.
- Rotten Breath - Scarlet Rot is the most annoying status in Elden Ring, so why not get your own back and use it on your foes? Collected from the Dragon Communion Altar, this dragonbreath attack is useful on otherwise difficult bosses.
- Dragonice - If a boss is resistant to Scarlet Rot, why not try Frostbite? Dragonice gives you another string to your bow which makes the Bleed build capable of inflicting many different ailments.
- Ekzyke’s Decay - I like this one because you almost turn into a dragon temporarily. Almost. Ekzyke’s Decay will summon a dragon that then breathes scarlet rot at targets. The spell deals physical damage, magic damage, and scarlet rot, so you can’t go wrong with it. You can also use Rotten Breath for a similar outcome if you don’t wish to put as many points into Faith. This Incantation requires 23 Faith and 15 Arcane.
- Swarm of Flies - This spell will fire a swarm of bloodflies at your target, dealing plenty of Bleed build-up. You can fire this at a mob before finishing them off with a weapon, and vice versa. You'll need 11 Faith and 16 Arcane for this.
- Greyoll’s Roar - If you’ve got Radagon’s Soreseal equipped, teaming it with this Incantation can be helpful. Greyoll’s Roar can be used against enemies to debuff them, reduce their attack power by around 20%, and temporarily increase your own attack power, too. This one needs 28 Faith and 17 Arcane to use.
- Bloodflame Blade - Only needing 12 Faith and 10 Arcane, this Incantation will enchant your right-hand armament with Bloodflame, if it is eligible. This will buff most bleed weapons so that they can cause even more Bleed build-up, ansd can be acquired from a Teardrop Scarab in Liurnia of the Lakes.
- Bloodboon - This spell, also from Mohg's Remembrance, creates a searing slash of blood and sets the ground on fire, dealing two rounds of damage and continuing to harm all who stand in the flames. For this one, you'll want 14 Faith and 17 Arcane.
- Bayle's Tyranny and Bayle's Flame Lightning - The two new uber-powerful Incantations from the Shadow Realm only have an Arcane requirement. A very high one, in fact, but that means you can remove the points you have in Faith and add them to one of your key stats.
Elden Ring Bleed Build: Armour and Gear
Armour isn’t incredibly important (for the most-part) in Elden Ring. So, provided that you can roll with a medium load and have some protection upon your back, you can be as high fashion as you’d like. There are a few suggestions for pieces of armour that’ll benefit your attack power and Bleed build-up, though.
- White Mask - I know I said armour is your own choice, but this head piece is perhaps the only item I’d suggest that you need for a Bleed build. Varre’s Mask can be acquired by defeating him (well, an enemy taking on the appearance of him) as an Invader by Mohgwyn Palace, and the mask will raise your attack power whenever blood loss is in the vicinity.
- Mask of Confidence - Alternatively, another armour piece that's definitely worth seeking out is the Mask of Confidence, which is found in the Carian Study Hall after you've used the Carian Inverted Statue as part of Ranni's quest. It boosts your Arcane when worn, which we've established is one of your key stats!
- Royal Remains Set - I’m naming this set solely because I think parts of it look cool with this build, and it’s passive ability is alright, I guess. The armour's headpiece can passively regenerate HP whenever your HP is reduced, but I barely noticed this, and the White Mask is a piece of gear you need to be using with this build. That said, the gauntlets and greaves look particularly neat teamed with Raptor’s Black Feathers, if you fancy looking high-fashion while devastating enemies with Bleed. You can grab this set in Roundtable Hold after fighting with Invader, Ensha of the Royal Remains.
- Raptor’s Black Feathers - This piece enhances your jump attacks, and can be found in Sage’s Cave behind an illusory wall. Paired with the Claw Talisman, your jump attacks will be boosted even further!
For more Elden Ring builds, take a look at our Intelligence build, our best Faith build, our Black Flame build, and our Strength build. Alternatively, we have a comprehensive guide to The Lands Between in our Elden Ring walkthrough.