Elden Ring Rivers of Blood Build: Stats, Armor, Talismans, and More

One of the most useful skills in Elden Ring is the ability to cause blood loss to enemies. Of all the status effects that players can wield, blood loss is a strong tool that can take powerful foes down in seconds. Many weapons in Elden Ring are designed around inflicting this status, usually with the benefit of additional fire damage. The aptly named Rivers of Blood katana makes full use of this ability, allowing for an easy way to inflict it upon anyone that isn’t outright immune to the status. Chances are, if a player has a build meant to make enemies bleed in the first place, they already have a powerful Rivers of Blood build.

Elden Ring Rivers of Blood Build

Players need 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, and 20 Arcane to wield this katana. Its unique Ash of War is very powerful, but it doesn’t cost very much FP to use. Players should focus on levelling up Dexterity and Arcane to make the most out of this weapon. Arcane will mostly help not just with increasing damage, but also with inflicting blood loss much more often. When facing off against enemies immune to blood loss, it’s better to solely level up Dexterity for the sake of pure damage. If you’ve been making a Samurai build, it’s very likely that you’ll synergize perfectly with the Rivers of Blood as soon as you obtain it.

This weapon is dropped by Bloody Finger Okina. He also drops Okina’s Mask, which happens to be a fantastic piece of armor due to it increasing Dexterity. The Silver Tear Mask and Mask of Confidence are other great armor choices that boost Arcane instead of Dexterity. For the most part, though, you’ll want to keep your armor light; katanas are fast weapons, and they work best the wielder is just as fast. Useful Talismans for the Rivers of Blood include the Lord of Blood’s Exultation and Millicent’s Prosthesis, both of which will heavily increase your attack power simply by using the weapon. In the right hands – and with the right gear – this katana really can create entire rivers of blood!

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.