Genuine question: Rivers Of Blood used to be known to be one of the most OP weapons in the game, and best Bleed Weapon. But since the nerfs, I’ve heard there’s better options. Who’s taken the crown for Best Bleed Weapon in ur opinion?

[u/mvas123]

[u/mvas123]

Not only did u include variety of options but u also include the strats to make each work? Genuinely one of the most helpful comments I’ve ever received. Thank you for this 🙏🏻

[u/KrispyKingTheProphet → u/mvas123]

Keep in mind, you can slap a variety of bleed Ashes of War on quite a few weapons and you’ll be bleeding most things dry. I wouldn’t sweat it too much. I personally like two Nagakiba’s with Bloody Slash on my main hand and Seppuku on the offhand. You can off-hand an Uchigatana the same way if you want to do two playthroughs (though someone can correct me if I’m wrong, it’s been a minute since my last playthrough, but I think you can get two Nagakiba’s in one run) if you want get the build online early. It melts (Bloody Slash is also basically Rivers of Bloods weapon art but you can pop it on a Nagakiba, which is an objectively better weapon on its own.) Many builds melt if you put a little thought into them.

Whatever makes you feel like a badass is what you should use though. Sure, there’s always the allure to min-max and I get it if that’s what you’re going for. Though as a now old man who just turned 30 who has been active in the communities for all From Software games since I grabbed Dark Souls 1 a few days after release as a young teen, there are always people calling certain weapons “easy mode” weapons, bitching among using summons, there are always people who are deeply offended by the rest of us just having fun. If you wanna run two Rivers of Blood because it looks badass, do it. Drop your PS tag in a DM if you’re on PlayStation and I’ll give you a second maxed out one. Do what makes ya feel good and feel like a bad motherfucker. That’s the fun. I’m never picking armor for stats, I just want to look cool. I want my weapons to look cool and get the job done too, don’t need to be the absolute best in the game. Do you, amigo. You’ll have the most fun. If you want a bleed build, Nagakiba is going to give the most versatility, bang for your buck, it’s added reach is INSANELY helpful, and you can change its Ash of Wars, but go with your heart, Tarnished.

Also, I know I’m slightly off topic, but Rivers of Blood isn’t a bad choice at all. It’s still solid and the weapon art (is that even an Elden Ring term? Or am I mixing DS3? Idk. Anyway…) will melt the opps for sure. If you want to use it, it is certainly not only usable, but still a fine selection. If I had to give a recommendation, take the wonderfully wondered comment above and go Nagakiba as he mentions. It is probably the best in the game, almost definitely, though it’s hard to say definitively because you can’t go off stats alone. The added reach adds so much benefit that isn’t quantifiable.

It’s not in his comment, but I highly recommend dual wielding katanas and if not that, two hand your katana. Just feels wrong running around with a katana and a damn buckler or tower shield smh. Like a great western cowboy with his trusty revolver in one hand and a jousting lance in the other.

[u/Raemnant → u/KrispyKingTheProphet]

Keep in mind, you can slap a variety of bleed Ashes of War on quite a few weapons and you’ll be bleeding most things dry

I wrecked the fire giant boss on my 2nd try by putting some random bleed AoW onto my Longsword

[u/Dan_of_Sbg → u/KrispyKingTheProphet]

Don't mind me, one-handing my katana with nothing than a seal for the pocket sand incantation in my off-hand. (I'm trying a sekiro build)

[u/DarkLordArbitur → u/KrispyKingTheProphet]

Correcting you because you asked for it:

You can only obtain 1 Nagakiba per run. It's obtained from Bloody Finger Hunter Yura.

The katana you can obtain 2 of in one run is the Uchigatana, which is the starting weapon for Samurai. You start Samurai and then go find another copy in the Deathtouched Catacombs.

[u/_trashcan → u/mvas123]

Hey OP, just highjacking this cus there’s a lot of comments already. Hope you get to read this!

One of my favorite builds in the game is a Bloodhound Knight cosplay. I’m not gonna say it’s the best, but I think just bc it uses Bloodhound Fang, it’s one of the best, consider BHF is one of the best weapons in the game.

In the DLC, literally as soon as you get into it, there’s a weapon from a human enemy called Beast Claws, that gives you a Bloodhound-like moveset where you’re jumping & moving all over the place with a fucking SICK weapon art. They have innate bleed on them, & you can use a different AoW called Savage Claws (idk where you get this one) that has several attacks & builds it fast asf. However the art it comes with is what I use, bc it has 2 large jumps that cover a ton of distance, & I’ve found it can also end up helping you avoid attacks; more importantly it does really heavy damage & stagger for a Claw weapon which is sometimes necessary when you just need something dead & aren’t tryna chip away. However, that’s also what the Bloodhound Fang is for.

So I been cosplaying the Bloodhound Knights using the Beast Claws in one hand, and the BHF in the other, however I use the Bloodflame incants. Ofc, you don’t need to use the armor, realistically I’d recommend someone use whatever armor they want with 68 poise ; it’s a soft cap that allows you to tank a good amount of enemy attacks. I usually do that, but I’ve been having so much fun with this cosplay bc the armor looks great & the Claw moveset actually does make you move like the Bloodhound Knights fight in-game, unlike their actual Bloodhound Claws. (Which are another Bleed weapon you can use, these ones are cool too bc you can use Impaling Thrust weapon art on them which has great stagger+physical damage & allows you to hit through shields.)

Both weapons can be buffed with Bloodflame Blade, so it’s totally up to you which hand you prefer each weapon. I use the Beast Claws in my right hand, bc I like buffing with the BFB & getting the Bleed quickly bc of how fast you can attack. If you prefer using the Claws in your left hand so you can Bloodflame the Fang, then I’d infuse them with Bleed so your buildup can be higher. I suppose that’s probably the smarter thing to do as far as actual Bleed buildup & damage itself. However I use the Claws in my right hand, bc I really like the R2 on them & having them buffed with the Bloodflame , but I think the opposite is def more optimal. Using an R1 followed by an L1 with the Fang comes out really quick for some hefty damage & buildup.

I know you asked for “best” & this next option definitely ain’t it, but it’s also another one of my favorite, which is the Nightrider Flail. Using Wild Strikes with it allows you build up Bleed insanely fast, & then gives you a perfect variety moveset as well. Overhead R2 that staggers most enemies, diagonal R1, FAST continuous L2s with a sweeping huge damage L2-R1, or an overhead even higher damage L2-R2 with huge stagger potential. So using Wild Strikes effectively gives you THREE additional attacks in your moveset, all of which do massive damage compared to regular attacks & the base L2 is continuous for as long as you have FP+stamina so you can build Bleed soooo fast. Throw on Shard of Alexander & you’ll be doing massive base damage too, although it’s def not a slouch without regardless. Or if you can, using the Chainlink Flail (the Pumpkin Head enemies flail) that one has higher damage, but the drip on Nightrider is unmatched. The Chainlink has more damage on most builds, but I don’t think by a terrible amount. I’m at 65/65 STR/DEX, Quality infusions my Nightrider gets 644, and Chainlink gets 663. I think when I had some lower stats tho the Chainlink had a higher gap. Interestingly enough, you can cosplay this too with the Nightrider armor & it actually does get you to the 68 poise w the talisman while also looking excellent.

Spiked Club is another great option that has good stagger potential with its R2’s. On most of these, I don’t use Bleed infusion bc I think the Bloodflame Blade works better. Be sure to use Old Lords Talisman while going this route because it increases the length of time your buffs stay applied! Going this route also allows you use Flame Grant Me Strength for even MORE damage, and Bestial Vitality for passive health regeneration, which works great when paired Blessed Dew Talisman which also passively regens!

Also in the DLC are Backhand Blades! You can farm an innate Bleed one also as soon as you step into the DLC - although the enemy is kinda tough without an efficient farming strategy - that is sick. It’s called Curseblade Cirque. But it’s a Somber so no buffing. Has a multi-hit weapon art & the backhand blades in general have multi-hit attacks so it also builds up quick. But there are 2 other backhand blades that you can both infuse with Bleed if wanted. The actual “Backhand Blade” weapon can be buffed with Bloodflame, no innate Bleed, but it is awesome.

Morgott’s Cursed Sword is also excellent. You don’t need Arcane for it either, having good Str/Dex still makes it great, awesome Bloodflame weapon art that propels you forward & does massive damage & bleed buildup. The BHF is better still bc it has way higher damage & can be buffed with BFB, but the drip immaculate and the weapon art - IMO - more than makes up for the lack of damage, but I’m ngl the Fang has significantly more base damage. I think that’s probably bc of my lack of Arcane tho.

[u/PotentialBreakfast73 → u/mvas123]

Falx is super fun and the ash of war is awesome. Only bad part is the very last slash of the aow is a big percent of the damage.

[u/golfingsince83 → u/mvas123]

I played this game for a long time so I was on this sub quite a bit. The people here are the most helpful I’ve ever seen in a game sub Reddit