How to make the best Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Bleed is still the most broken and borderline overpowered affinity in Elden Ring, something that also holds true for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. In fact, Bleed is the only affinity that works against all the bosses in the expansion, including the incredibly challenging (and often frustrating) final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree - Promised Consort Radahn.

And unsurprisingly, the DLC comes with a host of new weapons that you can easily work into a Bleed-focused build, and trounce every single PvE encounter in the game.

From the Falx, which causes hemorrhage with a single combo to Bloodfiend's Arm, which despite being a Colossal Weapon, is oriented more towards Bleed, there are a lot of choices to consider. Naturally, you may wonder which weapon to choose for the best Bleed build.

Here's a comprehensive guide on how to make the best Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, alongside a few additional weapon recommendations.

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Breakdown of the best Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

For a Bleed build, you already have multiple options from Elden Ring's base game, like Nagakiba, Eleonora, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, Scavenger's Curved Sword, and Rivers of Blood. However, if you're looking to make a build from scratch using only weapons found in the DLC, you've still got plenty of options, arguably better ones compared to the base game.

The recommended best Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (Image via FromSoftware)

Among the many options for a Bleed build in Shadow of the Erdtree, we found three weapons that work best: Bloodfiend's Arm, Falx, and Great Katana. However, if you're looking for something that works against all bosses in the game, there's only one weapon that does the job the best - Bloodfiend's Blood Arm.

To be fair, you can also make the Falx and the Great Katana work incredibly well. However, based on our testing during the latest Bleed-focused playthrough of the DLC, Bloodfiend's Arm works the best.

That said, the build we have decided on works equally as well with any other Strength-Arcane weapon in the game. As such, you can easily use the Great Katana or even the Falx (with some points invested into Dexterity). As for Talismans and other weapons, those are standard Bleed-build stuff, with some minor changes.

The Dragon Communion Seal is an important part of the Bleed build (Image via FromSoftware)

That being said, here's a breakdown of the best Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree:

Weapon(s):

• Bloodfiend's Blood Arm +25
• Dragon Communion Seal +10

Talisman:

• Erdtree's Favor +2
• Dragoncrest Greartshield Talisman (Swappable with Pearlshield Talisman +3, depending on the boss fight)
• Two-Handed Sword Talisman
• Lord of Blood's Exultation

Incantations:

• Flame, Grant Me Strength
• Golden Vow
• Black Flame's Protection
• Beastial Vitality

Armor:

• White Mask Varre's armor set or Ansbach's armor set (You can also wear any heavy armor you like, but Varre and Ansbach's armors provide a slight boost to Bleed damage)

The attribute distribution for this build is primarily focused on Arcane and Strength. However, if you're planning to go for the Great Katana or Falx or any other lighter weapon, do make sure to invest in Dexterity. This build has been created on a Level 243 New Game+ character, but you should be fine as long as you're above Level 180.

That said, here's the stat distribution for the best Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree:

• Vigor: 60
• Mind: 40
• Endurance: 50
• Strength: 50
• Dexterity: 20
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 30
• Arcane: 63

Do note that if you're not going to use Bloodfiend's Blood Arm for your entire playthrough, there's no need to invest 40 points into Mind, you can do just fine with 30. As for Faith, that's necessary to be at 30, so that you can use some passive Incantations to buff your attack power as well as defense.

Antspur Rapier is a good choice for a Bleed build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (Image via FromSoftware)

As for other good options, for this build, there's Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, Rivers of Blood, Eleonora's Poleblade, and also the Antspur Rapier. During our testing of this build, we tried it out on a New Game+2 run, and it helped to easily defeat the likes of Maliketh, Fire Giant, Godfrey, Godskin Duo, Malenia, and even Messmer the Impaler, with little to no hassle.