One of the best things about Elden Ring is the ability to experiment with different builds. This rewards players for collecting a breadth of useful items, while encouraging multiple playthroughs. Sure, it’s easy to gravitate towards Strength or Dex setups, but a highly effective (and underrated) strategy is to utilize a Bleed build. This status effect causes blood loss and can deal large amounts of damage over time. But what is the best Bleed build in the game? There’s lots of room for choice in this regard, but here, we’ll cover one of the best Bleed builds you can use in Elden Ring.
The best Elden Ring bleed build
Armaments
Cleanrot Knight’s Blood Sword x2
The most important aspect of the build is the armament (or, armaments in this case), which will allow you to dish out tremendous amounts of damage while also inflicting blood loss. For this particular build, we recommend dual-wielding the Cleanrot Knight’s Blood Sword, a thrusting sword that inflicts high Bleed damage.
It’s also a relatively fast and lightweight weapon, allowing you to quickly strike with ease. While dual-wielding, you’ll essentially be able to inflict damage twice as fast, maximizing the power potential for the build. You’ll just need to be decent at dodging since you won’t have a shield.
To find this weapon, farm the Cleanrot Knights from the Swamp of Aeonia in Caelid. Then, equip the Seppuku Ash of War to convert it to a Blood weapon.
Ash of War: Seppuku
A forbidden technique used by swordsmen from the Land of Reeds. Plunge the blade into your stomach to stain it with blood. Increases attack power and improves ability to inflict blood loss.
The Seppuku Ash of War is ideal since it improves your Bleed damage and stacks with other buffs that make up this build. It’s also used to convert the Cleanrot Knight’s Sword into a Blood armament. Just be aware that you’ll take a little damage after initiating this Ash of War, but the benefits are worth it.
Seppuku is found east of the Freezing Lake Site of Grace and is dropped by an invisible scarab. You can see its trail, so get into position and strike as it comes by.
Dragon Communion Seal
To enhance this build, you’ll want to use certain Spells, and you’ll need a catalyst to do so. The best one, in this case, is the Dragon Communion Seal, which scales at an S rank with Arcane once you level it up enough. For that reason, the Dragon Communion Seal is highly effective and makes this build even more powerful. Just make sure to cast your buffs before engaging in battle for the best results.
This item is found in the Fringefolk Hero's Grave in a small room past the large chariot.
Talismans
- Claw Talisman — Enhances jump attacks
- Marika’s/Radagon’s Soreseal — Raises fire attack, but lowers damage negation
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation — Blood loss in vicinity increases attack power
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia — Greatly raises attack power with successive attacks
When it comes to Talismans, there are lots of different viable options, but we’ve got four that are highly recommended for this build.
The Claw Talisman is great since it increases damage dealt from jump attacks by 15% (this stacks with the Raptor's Black Feathers chest armor, as well). Both the Marika’s/Radagon’s Soreseal Talismans “greatly” increase your attributes, so we recommend throwing at least one of them on to become more powerful.
The Lord of Blood’s Exultation Talisman is practically essential for this build since it boosts your attack power by 20% if a nearby enemy is inflicted with blood loss. Finally, go with the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia for even more of an attack boost to successive attacks (working in tandem with your dual-wield Cleanrot Knight’s Blood Swords).
Flask of Wonderous Physick
- Greenburst Crystal Tear — Temporarily boosts stamina recovery speed
- Strength-knot Crystal Tear — Temporarily boosts Strength
To boost your performance even further, we advise using the Wonderous Physick mixtures above. The Greenburst Crystal Tear improves your stamina recovery speed, allowing you to start attacking much sooner after your stamina depletes.
As its name suggests, the Strength-knot Crystal Tear improves your Strength, temporarily, and since the Cleanrot Knight’s Blood Sword scales with this stat, you’ll deal even more damage while this Wonderous Physick is active.
Spells
- Golden Vow — Increases attack and defense for self and allies
- Flame, Grant Me Strength — Raises physical and fire-affinity attack power
You should buff your character with a couple of Spells before engaging in battle.
The Golden Vow spell is pretty straightforward, granting you (and any allies) improved attack and defense. You can find this Spell in Corpse-Stench Shack in Mt Gelmir.
As for the Flame, Grant Me Strength Spell, this will increase your physical and fire attacks, making you even stronger. Acquire this from the Fort Gael Tunnel on the western side of Caelid.
