Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Katana Build Guide

Elden Ring

By William Parks

Updated Jun 10, 2024

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Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Build Playsytle

Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Build Stats

Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Build Equipment

The Rivers of Blood katana is a powerful weapon in Elden Ring, in no small part due to its ability to inflict Blood Loss and its Corpse Piler skill. While this sword can be quite potent without much support, players who want to maximize its effects should compliment it with a suitable build. This guide is here to assist with that endeavor, and recommendations for building around the Rivers of Blood in Elden Ring can be found below.

This guide to getting the Rivers of Blood katana in Elden Ring will prove useful to players who have yet to obtain this unique sword.

Elden Ring: All Larval Tear Locations

Players who want to respec their characters in Elden Ring can find the location of every one of the game's Larval Tears detailed here.

Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Build Playsytle

There are two primary goals when using the Rivers of Blood katana, and the build detailed in this guide looks to facilitate both of them. The first goal is to frequently inflict Hemorrhage, a Blood Loss status effect that deals damage equal to a percentage of the afflicted foe's maximum HP. The second is to execute Corpse Piler, the Rivers of Blood's unique Skill, as much as possible.

Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Build Stats

The Rivers of Blood's damage scales with Dexterity and Arcane, and players should ultimately prioritize those two stats. Fans should supplement those damage-focused stats by raising their Mind, in order to expand the FP pool that can be used to perform the Corpse Piler Skill , and Vigor. Players can also put a handful of points toward Faith, to gain access to the Flame, Grant me Strength Incantation, and Endurance.

While players should feel free to set those stats to their preferred numbers, here is a recommended allocation for a Level 150 Samurai:

Vigor	Mind	Endurance	Strength	Dexterity	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane
40	40	18	12	45	9	15	50

Players who are not interested in incorporating the Flame, Grant Me Strength Incantation into their builds should feel free to ignore Faith and put those points toward Dexterity and Endurance.

Elden Ring: Rivers of Blood Build Equipment

Offhand Weapons & Ashes of War

There are a couple of ways that players can approach selecting the weapon that they equip alongside the Rivers of Blood. The first approach is simply to offhand the Sacrificial Axe , a weapon that restores 4 FP when an enemy is killed. While this effect may not seem extremely significant, it can increase the frequency with which players can execute Corpse Piler, making the Sacrificial Axe quite potent when coupled with the Rivers of Blood.

The Sacrificial Axe is dropped by the Deathbird that appears to the north of Castle Morne (in the Weeping Penninsula) at night.

Alternatively, players can offhand the Uchigatana , a katana that is found within Limgrave's Deathtouched Catacombs. In fact, it is recommended that fans do exactly that when fighting bosses, as they will receive no benefit from the Sacrificial Axe in most of those battles. Fans are also advised to apply Ash of War: Seppuku to the secondary weapon, as the associated skill will further improve their ability to inflict Blood Loss.

This guide to getting the Uchigatana in Elden Ring and this guide to getting the Seppuku Ash of War in Elden Ring will help fans secure this equipment.

Finally, players who have opted to incorporate Flame, Grant Me Strength into their builds will need a Sacred Seal in order to cast it. This guide to getting the Finger Seal in Elden Ring will help fans procure such an item, though they should feel free to use any Sacred Seal for which they meet the stat requirements.

Armor

Players have some flexibility when selecting the armor to use when wielding the Rivers of Blood katana, though they are advised to equip one of two helmets. Specifically, it is recommended that fans equip the White Mask , a helmet that grants 10% attack power for 20 seconds after Blood Loss has been inflicted, or the Okina Mask , a helmet that raises Dexterity by three at a cost of 44 Focus.

This guide to getting the White Mask in Elden Ring will help players secure that item. The Okina Mask is obtained alongside the Rivers of Blood katana.

Players who like to use jump attacks could also consider equipping the Raptor's Black Feathers chest to strengthen those attacks by around 10%. That piece is not as important to the build as the aforementioned helmets, though, and fans primary goal when picking armor should be staying below a heavy Equip Load.

This guide to getting the Raptor's Black Feathers in Elden Ring will help players secure that item.

Talismans

Talismans play an extremely important role when building around the Rivers of Blood, and it is recommended that players use these four:

Clicking on the name of a Talisman will take players to a guide that details how the item is obtained.

Carian Filigreed Crest: The Carian Filigreed Crest lowers the FP cost of Skills by 25%, allowing players to use Corpse Piler more often.
Lord of Blood’s Exultation: The Lord of Blood's Exultation raises attack power by 20% for 20 seconds when Blood Loss occurs in the vicinity, making it an obvious choice when using the Rivers of Blood.
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia greatly raises attack power with successive attacks, allowing players to deal lots of additional damage.
Shard of Alexander: The Shard of Alexander greatly raises the attack power of Skills, further increasing the power of Corpse Piler.

While players should find that these Talismans improve their Rivers of Blood builds considerably, there are some alternatives that they can try. Here are details on those altenrative Talismans, and, once again, fans who click on their names will be taken to guides that explain how they are obtained.

Talisman	Effect
Erdtree's Favor +2	The Erdtree's Favor +2 Talisman raises maximum HP, Stamina, and Equip Load.
Godskin Swaddling Cloth	The Godskin Swaddling Cloth Talisman causes successive attacks to restore HP.
Marika's Soreseal	The Marika's Soreseal Talsiman raises Mind, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane, but increases damage taken.
Radagon's Soreseal	The Radagon's Soreseal Talisman raises Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity, but increases damage taken.
Taker's Cameo	The Taker's Cameo Talisman restores HP upon defeating foes.

Spells & Incantations

As previously noted, it is recommended that players increase their Faith to 15 so that they can use Flame, Grant Me Strength. For the uninitiated, that Incantation temporarily raises physical and fire-affinity attack power, making it very powerful in River of Blood builds. Fans could also consider taking their Faith to 25, in order to gain access to Golden Vow , though doing so should not be considered high priority.