Like every soulsborne game before it and most RPGs, Dark Souls has a bunch of negative statuses that can cause a bunch of nuisance to the players. There are poison pits, rotting zombies, frost breath attacks, and each causes a different effect.

One of the good things about FromSoftware’s action RPGs is that enemies are not the only ones to have access to such tactics.

Players can actually lure monsters to a poisonous area or rub their swords with some rotten item to cause harmful effects to a monster they hit. There are toxic knives, magical objects that make your blade crack with electricity, and much more.

One of my favorite status effects in Elden Ring is Blood Loss, also known as Bleeding or Hemorrhage. So, if you suddenly died to a little stone imp and don’t know why you lost so much HP, this guide might be for you.

This is how Bleed works in Elden Ring.

How Does Blood Loss Work?

Generally speaking, negative statuses don’t suddenly cause you trouble in Elden Ring. They have to be built over time until they are applied.

For instance, walking in a poisonous puddle won’t make you instantly poisoned. Once you’re in physical contact with something that causes a negative status, a bar will show you that particular status building up. When you apply poison to your enemies, even though you can’t see their poison bar, the same thing happens.

That being said, Bleed damage works the same way. There is a bar of Blood Loss that builds up every time you hit a target with a weapon that causes this effect. Once it’s completely filled up, the Blood Loss effect happens.

In Elden Ring, Blood Loss is just damage based on the target’s maximum hit points. It doesn’t happen over time like poison, and it doesn’t affect your speed or anything else. It just instantly causes damage, and sometimes a lot, once you were hit enough times to make the Blood Loss bar fill up entirely.

So, if your enemy has too much HP and you deal almost no damage to it, using a weapon that causes Blood Loss is probably the way to go. This is precisely how I managed to defeat the giant dragon in Dragonbarrow.

There are weapons that cause Blood Loss buildup, but there are also items and spells that make your weapon temporarily do it as well.

The Best Bleed Weapons in Elden Ring

There are quite a few weapons that cause this effect on enemies, and they are all quite good, in my opinion.

The samurai’s starting katana and the hatchet, used by the imps you see in catacombs, have both helped me quite a lot.

However, there are other places where you can find the katana if you are not a samurai. If you like the bleed effect but dislike the Uchigatana, it’s not that hard to find other weapons that also cause this effect.

That being said, one can say that Rivers of Blood, Morgott’s Cursed Sword, and Ghiza’s Wheel are some of the most powerful bleed weapons in Elden Ring.

Still, there’s a lot to consider. Some weapons might fit your playstyle better than others since their move sets are widely different, so the best weapon will depend on the attributes you are willing to invest in and what fits your playstyle.

So here are some of the weapons that I enjoyed using to cause the Blood Loss effect on some bosses.

Forked Hatchet

This is the first Bloodloos weapon that most people come across in Elden Ring, and it’s also the easiest to find.

It’s a peculiar hatchet wielded by imps. The gently undulating forked blade is known as an “imp’s tongue” and causes blood loss.

One of the imps in the Stormfoot Catacombs drops this weapon once defeated, so you might want to take them all out just in case.

Reduvia

The Reduvia is a jagged dagger with a distinctive curled blade carried by the noble servants of the Lord of Blood. This dagger rips the flesh as it enters, inflicting blood loss with sickening efficacy. A proud testament to the success of its vicious design, this weapon is perpetually coated in blood.

You get this weapon after defeating Bloody Finger Nerijus. That’s the NPC who invades you near Murkwater Cave, the area past the lake where you fight Flying Dragon Agheel.

Uchigatana

The Uchigatana is a katana with a long single-edged curved blade. A unique weapon wielded by the samurai from the Land of Reeds. The blade, with its undulating design, boasts extraordinary sharpness, and its slash attacks cause blood loss.

As mentioned above, you start with this weapon if you choose the samurai class. However, if you decide to go with a different class for any reason, you can still find the Uchigatana.

So if you want to be a spellcaster and get the Uchigatana later, you don’t have to worry. It’s possible to do that. You can find this weapon on a dead body inside the Deathtouched Catacombs. It will be in a room with skeleton archers.

Rivers of Blood

Rivers of Blood is the weapon of Okina, swordsman from the Land of Reeds, a cursed weapon that has felled countless men. When Mohg, the Lord of Blood, first felt Okina’s sword, and madness, upon his flesh, he had a proposal, to offer Okina the life of a demon, whose thirst would never go unsated.

This katana is dropped by Bloody Finger Okina, the NPC who invades you near the Church of Response. That’s the one in the Easter area of Mountaintops of Giants.

Morgott’s Cursed Sword

Warped blade of shifting hue used by Morgott, the Omen King. The accused blood that Morgott recanted and sealed away reformed into this blade.

You can find this weapon after you beat Morgott. Make your way to the Elden Throne, where you will fight Morgott, the Omen King. This will be a tough battle. Once you defeat him, you will gain 120.000 runes, Morgott’s Great Rune, a Talisman Pouch, and the Remembrance of the Omen King.

Now, take Morgott’s Remembrance to the Roundtable Hold. You can build the Regal Omen Bairn or Morgott’s Cursed Sword with the Remembrance.

The scaling of this weapon is E for Strength, C for Dexterity, and D for Arcane. You better know how scaling works in Elden Ring before opting to use this weapon or not. The Morgott’s Passive Effect is a 36 blood loss buildup.

Hookclaws

This weapon was worn on the fist comprised of sharp parallel blades favored by those who lurk in the dark. Lacerations cause blood loss with great effect. Claw weapons come in pairs, and two-handing this weapon will equip it to both hands.

This weapon is located on a corpse in Stormveil Castle. You have to take the secret back entrance of the castle. The item will be within the first level of the wine cellar.

Ghiza’s Wheel

The Ghiza’s Wheel is a great iron wheel lined with flesh-flaying blades. It’s a torture device used by Inquisitor Ghiza. As the wheel spins, it causes severe pain and blood loss.

This weapon is very weird-looking and cool at the same time. It’s a colossal weapon given to you as a reward for defeating Inquisitor Guiza in Volcano Manor.

Vulgar Militia Saw

The Vulgar Militia Saw is a scary-looking weapon of the Halberd type. It scales with Strength and Dexterity, and its innate skill is the Spinning Slash.

This weapon is dropped by one of the enemies wielding it near the Bestial Sanctum in Greyoll’s Dragonbarrow.

Flail

The flail is a weapon that consists of a bludgeoning head attached to a handle by a chain. The iron ball is spiked and induces blood loss. Blows from this weapon cannot be parried. The charge attack whirls the iron ball around for increased force before striking.

It is a chest kept in a chariot at Gatefront Ruins. A few soldiers of Godrick guard this item, but this is a low-level area, so it shouldn’t be much trouble to get.

Bloody Slash

This Ash of War grants the Blood affinity and the Bloody Slash skill to a weapon.

Bloody Slash is an ability that the Lord of Blood grants. The character goes into a low stance, cuts his own hand with the blade, and then unleashes a rending blood slash in a wide arc.

A Beast Crest Heater Knight drops this Ash of War at the top of the ramparts of Fort Haight. This Ash of War is your reward for defeating the knight.

Bloody Slash also provides the Blood Affinity to a weapon, causing it to scale with Arcane. Once a weapon is equipped with this Ash of War and Blood affinity, it passively adds bleed buildup to its attacks but decreases other scaling types.

If you know how to use Ashes of War and want a Bleed build with a weapon that isn’t listed here, this is the way to do it. Bloody Slash can be used with any kind of sword, except for the colossal ones.

Final Thoughts

Blood Loss is a powerful effect that is especially useful to cause damage to bosses that barely take any damage from you.

Once you hit a creature enough times with a weapon that causes bleed buildup, it won’t matter how much HP they have. Because of the blood loss effect, the enemy will lose a good chunk of their health since this damage is a percentage of the target’s maximum health.

If you know you can dodge and avoid a boss’s attacks, but you are having a hard time dealing any damage, you should definitely try bleed weapons.