Highlights
- Bloodborne's combat requires players to be offensive and dish out more damage than they absorb, relying on twitch reflexes and combat mastery.
- Blood Gems can significantly enhance weapons, giving players an advantage in tough combat situations and making their weapons feel more personal and powerful.
- Different types of Blood Gems, such as Cursed and Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gems, offer unique benefits that amplify specific stats or add elemental damage to weapons, allowing players to customize their gameplay experience.
Bloodborne's combat is nothing to laugh at, with its fast-paced nature coupled with the lack of any viable shields meaning that players must get on the offensive for almost every encounter and ensure that they can dish out more damage than they absorb. This turns combat into a tantalizing dance where twitch reflexes and combat mastery are necessary to battle against the toughest enemies in the game and come out victorious.
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In this regard, Blood Gems can prove to be quite helpful indeed. Fixing these Blood Gems on weapons lets players enjoy a suite of benefits that shift the tide in favor of the player just a bit. This allows the Hunter to get through tough combat situations in Bloodborne by the skin of their teeth while making their weapons feel all the more personal and powerful as a result.
Updated February 10, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Bloodborne is a game where players need all the advantages they can get to take out the toughest enemies. Blood Gems are one such aspect of the game that should be utilized to make the player's weapon as effective as possible.
There are many gems that players can find during their adventures in the main narrative while also exploring the Chalice Dungeons and players who get their hands on some of the most powerful Blood Gems around will wreck the opposition in no time flat.
1 Cursed Tempering Damp Blood Gem
Radial
- Rating: 19
- Effect(s): Physical ATK UP +27.2%, Random curse
Cursed Gems may seem like a mixed bag, but this isn't necessarily the case. By the time players acquire the most powerful ones of the lot, they'll be skilled enough to overcome the debuffs of using these gems while maximizing their benefits.
Such is the case with the Cursed Tempering Damp Blood Gem, which lets players enjoy a massive increase in the regular attacks they use with the weapon of their choice. Most enemies will be toast in a few hits with the proper use of this gem.
2 Cursed Fire Damp Blood Gem
Triangular
- Rating: 19
- Effect(s): Fire ATK UP +27.2%, Random curse
Arcane is a hard sell for Bloodborne first-timers since trying to maximize the damage from this stat is easier said than done. However, players who decide to give this stat a shot will understand how critical Blood Gems are to making the most of this build.
By letting weapons scale with the Arcane stat and adding elemental damage, the threat posed by a lot of enemies in the game can be mollified in no time. The Cursed Fire Damp Blood Gem is perfect for Arcane builds, especially since the vast majority of enemies in the game are weak to fire damage.
3 Arcane Abyssal Blood Gem
Triangular
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): Arcane ATK UP +15.8%, Add physical ATK +8.4
Be prepared to see a lot of Abyssal Blood Gems on this list. After all, this is the highest Blood Gem level that anyone can attain in the game...although getting these kinds of Blood Gems at the very end of the game might reduce their effectiveness somewhat.
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Regardless, the Arcane Abyssal Blood Gem is still one of the best gems that players can use in the game. Players using an Arcane build will love the 15.4% increase to Arcane attack, with regular attack damage also increasing by a set amount.
4 Cursed Heavy Abyssal Blood Gem
Radial
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): Improves STR scaling +65, Random secondary effect, Random curse
Radial Blood Gems are especially useful for many players. After all, this particular Blood Gem slot is one of the most widespread in the majority of Bloodborne's weapons, making them quite effective to use in a wide array of scenarios.
This gem, in particular, is one of the most effective ones in the entire game. It increases a weapon's Strength scaling by a whopping +65, allowing for almost any weapon to scale up with a player's strength to increase build diversity.
5 Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem
Waning
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): All damage up 21.5%, Random secondary effect, Random curse
Waning Gems can be quite a struggle to find, with the slots for the same being quite hard to find on weapons too. However, if the stars align for players, then they can find a powerful Waning Blood Gem that is perfect for their weapon.
The Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem is easily the best Waning Gem around, increasing overall damage by a whopping 21.5%. There's a randomized secondary effect that makes this Blood Gem even more effective to use, with the curse effect barely taking away from the utility of this Blood Gem.
6 Cursed Arcane Abyssal Blood Gem
Triangular
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): 24.8% Arcane ATK, random secondary effect, random curse
An Arcane build can be incredibly useful if players know what they're doing. It takes a bit of work, but players who pursue an Arcane build can dish out colossal amounts of damage...especially when paired with this Blood Gem.
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The Cursed Arcane Abyssal Blood Gem increases Arcane attack by almost 25% and also features an additional positive secondary effect! These benefits more than make up for the minor curse effect that players have to bear while using this Blood Gem.
7 Cursed Damp Blood Gem
Circular
- Rating: 17
- Effect(s): Regenerate 5 health every 3 seconds, Random curse
This Blood Gem is one of the very best in the game simply because it gives players a passive heal to rely on. This allows for Blood Vials to be saved, which is crucial since these healing items are finite resources as opposed to the Estus Flask system used in other FromSoftware games.
The Cursed Damp Blood Gem allows players to regenerate 5 health every three seconds. Suffice it to say, players who incur damage after a single battle will see their HP restored in no time at all...as long as the negative curse effect isn't too much of a dealbreaker.
8 Fool's Blood Gemstone
Radial
- Rating: 12
- Effect(s): Phys. UP at full hp +20.9%
Players who are confident about avoiding any damage in Bloodborne will be well-serviced by the Fool's Blood Gemstone. It gives a physical attack boost to Hunters at high health which can reach truly staggering levels if players have a high-level Blood Gem.
The best variant of the Fool's Blood Gemstone increases physical attack by almost 21%, which is nothing to scoff at! Players can unleash incredible amounts of damage as long as they keep their Vitality maxed out.
9 Cursed Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem
Triangular
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): All dmg up 21.5%, Random secondary effect, Random curse
Most Blood Gems that increase attack only do so for one particular vertical in Bloodborne. However, the Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem is an exception to this rule.
The Cursed variant is even more powerful, giving players a 21.5% damage boost for all types of damage! Suffice it to say, a player that uses this Blood Gem only has to worry about landing their attacks on an enemy and managing the curse effect caused by this gem.
10 Cursed Fire Abyssal Blood Gem
Radial
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): Fire ATK UP +24.8%, Random secondary effect, Random curse
Fire Damage is pretty effective in Bloodborne, with the majority of enemies being quite weak to this element. So, any player who uses fire damage in Bloodborne should ideally use Blood Gems to give them more of an edge in combat.
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This is achieved with the Cursed Fire Abyssal Blood Gem, which increases a weapon's fire damage by almost 25%! Most enemies will be incinerated once players land a single shot with their weapon, which is a testament to the sheer damage boost afforded by this Blood Gem.
11 Cursed Warm Damp Blood Gem
Circular
- Rating: 19
- Effect(s): Bloodtinge scaling +23.9, Add blood ATK +7.3, Random curse
Bloodtinge builds can be pretty interesting in Bloodborne, especially since the guns feel like peashooters otherwise. With enough investment in this stat, even the weakest firearms in the game turn into one-shot monsters that shave away more than half of a tough enemy's health bar!
So, it's in the best interest of any player to increase the Bloodtinge scaling of any weapon if they're pursuing such a build. The Cursed Warm Damp Blood Gem accomplishes the same, with this Circular gem allowing Bloodtinge builds to unleash a wave of destruction upon their opponents with ease!
12 Cursed Cold Abyssal Blood Gem
Triangular
- Rating: 20
- Effect(s): Arcane scaling +65, Random secondary buff, Random curse
Speaking of stat scaling, another unique stat that players can build up in the game is Arcane. It can be slightly daunting to get into, but players with great Arcane weapons and a good understanding of the magic system can wreck house with Arcane attacks in the game!
The Cold Abyssal Blood Gem improves the Arcane scaling of any weapon it's attached to, allowing players to unleash even more damaging magical attacks on their enemies. If the curse effect isn't anything too major, then this should be the go-to Blood Gem for Arcane builds.
