Every foe has a weakness in Elden Ring, no matter how tough they might be. However, one of these weaknesses stands out more than others. Blood loss is one of the many status effects in the game. A surprising number of enemies are weak to blood loss, including some major bosses and even other players. Knowing the best bleed weapons in Elden Ring is perhaps the most vital information for players using Arcane builds and anyone looking to deal the most damage they can.
The 5 Best Bleed Weapons in Elden Ring
5. Rivers of Blood and Eleonora’s Poleblade
The Rivers of Blood katana was quite literally designed for inflicting blood loss. Its split damage is effective against enemies weak to fire, and its unique Ash of War allows the weapon to deal damage from a shocking distance. Unfortunately, it’s also found very late into the game. Players can only obtain this special katana by defeating an NPC invader at the Mountaintops of the Giants. At that point, you might already have stronger bleed weapons in your inventory.
Tying for the number 5 spot is Eleonora’s Poleblade, a member of the Twinblades weapon class. It’s found by defeating an NPC invader at Altus Plateau. The Poleblade is comparatively weaker, but it boasts faster attacks to inflict blood loss more easily. It’s a fantastic alternative for those that want a special, bloody weapon without having to wait until getting closer to the game’s final bosses.
4. Hand of Malenia
The Hand of Malenia is the strongest weapon any Dexterity build can use. Its Waterfowl Dance attack can shred through enemies with ease. Despite not scaling with Arcane, it does boast innate blood loss. The unfortunate part about the Hand of Malenia is that you’ll need to find and defeat Malenia herself in order to obtain it. If you manage to do that, there are very few challenges left – if any – that would be made any easier with this weapon.
3. Reduvia
The Reduvia dagger is one of the earliest and most useful weapons a player can find. You’ll need to fight an NPC invader at Limgrave to obtain this weapon. It boasts relatively high attack when compared to other daggers, and its Ash of War allows you to shoot bleed-inflicting beams from a distance. It can make short work of early bosses such as Margit, the Fell Omen, and its rapid damage can prove useful even when going through the deadliest end-game areas. It’s not the strongest weapon out there, but it deserves to be called one of the best bleed weapons in Elden Ring.
2. Moonveil
The Moonveil katana does not scale with Arcane, and blood loss is not the focus of its attacks. Despite this, it’s an incredible weapon that can be obtained very early in the game. If you manage to meet its high attribute requirements, you’ll be able to rapidly fire out beams of light with each use of your Ash of War. Its innate blood loss is mostly just a bonus, but this weapon is too good to rank any lower – even amongst its more bleed-oriented cousins.
1. Uchigatana and Nagakiba
Despite being a starting weapon for the Samurai class, the Uchigatana is one of the best bleed weapons you’ll ever find. This fact is partially due to its ability to be buffed with items and infused with new Ashes of War. After finding something like Seppuku, an Ash of War that some consider as one of the strongest, this weapon can instantly inflict blood loss on weaker foes. If you didn’t choose Samurai as your starting class, you can still obtain a copy of this weapon by entering the Deathtouched Catacombs. No matter what, the Uchigatana is an early and easy way to make the most out of a build centered around blood loss.
The only weapon that might outclass the Uchigatana is the Nagakiba, which can easily be found by defeating Yura or completing his questline. It’s practically a direct upgrade to the Uchigatana, boasting much greater range and better Dexterity scaling. It can be hard to consider it as anything less than the best katana of them all, a title it deserves even more when infused with an Ash of War that helps inflict greater blood loss. If you get both the Uchigatana and the Nagakiba and manage to wield them both at once, there will be very few foes with the capacity to stop you.
Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
