Elden Ring Build Guide: Bleed (2024)

Just about any weapon or build can be successful in Elden Ring, from quick-slashing katanas to powerful Sorcery-hurling staves. 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 Blood Loss 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 June 29, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: An Elden Ring bleed build can help you through any challenge, even the best new bosses from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. We've included more weapons and Talismans to help you make the best bleed build Elden Ring can offer, so get out there and hunt them down to complete your Elden Ring bleed build.

What Is A Bleed Build?

An Elden Ring bleed build is designed to kill an opponent as quickly as possible, using the status condition, Blood Loss.

Hitting an enemy several times with your weapon that inflicts Blood Loss is the linchpin of an Elden Ring Bleed build.

Your main goal is to fill an invisible bar by repeatedly doing damage with a weapon that then inflicts Bleed, and suddenly – boom – your opponent explodes in a shower of blood.

Inflicting Bleed will cause your target to take massive percentage damage, and they are briefly staggered.

Best Bleed Build Stats To Aim For

An Elden Ring Bleed build's stats are key, so pump Vigor to 60.

This will give you a large health pool that will make it so much easier to deal massive damage as you endure hits.

Next, you 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.

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 in 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.

What Gear To Use For A Bleed Build

This Elden Ring bleed build is going to focus on inflicting as much Bleed buildup as quickly as possible. This means you are going to use fast-swinging weapons, stack as many buffs as you 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

• Eleonora's Poleblade
• Godskin Peeler
• Uchigatana

Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC-only

• Dragon Hunter's Great Katana
• Star-Lined Sword

Any of these bleed-inflicting weapons will work wonders for this Elden Ring bleed build.

Rivers of Blood is brutally effective at killing everything thanks to its Corpse Piler Skill .

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.

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 into Blood variants at the Blacksmith, at which point, they come into their own.

If you're using the Godskin Peeler 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.

Once you've acquired the Star-Lined Sword in the Shadow of the Erdtree, you'll enjoy using its Bleed passive to trigger Blood Loss with the Onze's Line of Stars weapon skill.

The Dragon Hunter's Great Katana can inflict even more Bleed per hit than the Star-Line Sword (55 vs 45), which is simple with the Dragonwound Slash weapon skill.

Talismans

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.

Erdtree’s Favor and Green Turtle are utility picks – the latter boosts your Stamina Regeneration, so you can 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 is especially useful when running Twinblades as they specialize in landing those combos.

Claw on the other hand can be a bit dependent on your preferred attack style and if you enjoy jump attacks.

The Two-Handed Sword Talisman is an excellent pairing for two-handed weapons like the Dragon Hunter's Great Katana.

The Blessed Blue Dew Talisman is a must-have if you use your weapon skill often, as this talisman will replenish the FP you use ahead of the next fight.

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.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

• Leaden Hardtear
• Dexterity-knot Crystal Tear

For Tears, you should consider the Leaden Hardtear and Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear.

The Leaden Hard Tear will give you perfect Poise for ten seconds, allowing you to power through even the strongest attacks in the game.

The Dexterity-Knot will give you a +10 boost to your Dexterityfor 3 minutes, increasing your damage for the duration. It’s just an all-around fantastic Tear to equip.

How To Use A Bleed Build

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:

1. Drink your Wondrous Physick before engaging.
2. If the enemies are tough or do not bleed, then use Seppuku.
3. Engage the enemy or group with an initial jumping attack to utilize Claw Talisman.
4. Back off slightly as your foes regain composure and close in on you.
5. Time your Weapon Art to slash enemies as they come into range.
6. Watch as Bleed activates and repeat steps three to five for the next engagement.