Rivers of Blood is one of the most powerful and infamous katanas in Elden Ring — a weapon that has dominated PvE and PvP thanks to its brutal bleeding effect and devastating Corpse Piler skill, even after a series of nerfs.

What Makes Rivers of Blood So Strong

In Elden Ring, bleeding-based builds are among most powerful in the game – and for a simple reason. Bleed builds scales with the difficulty of bosses, which means that it deals damage based on how much maximum health the enemy has. So, The more HP an enemy has, the more powerful the Blood Loss explosion becomes.

Rivers of Blood has an unique Corpse Piler ability, thanks to which the weapon inflicts bleeding damage at an extremely fast rate through a series of multiple cuts. Each hit accelerates the bleeding, so opponents lose their lives in seconds.

Although the weapon was weakened in one of the first patches – its base damage and range were reduced –  its core remained intact.

The Rivers of Blood Elden Ring playstyle is aggressive and skill-focused, perfect for players who want to apply constant pressure, maintain medium range and exploit windows for quick, multi-hit combos. The build is most often centered around a Dexterity build and Arcane scaling, maximizing both physical damage and bleed buildup.

How to Get Rivers of Blood

When it comes to Rivers of Blood location, Elden Ring locks Rivers of Blood behind late-game progression. You must first defeat Morgott in Leyndell, Royal Capital to unlock access to the Mountaintops of the Giants. This means the weapon is not obtainable early — expect to reach it well after the midpoint of the game.

Remember that Rivers of Blood becomes unavailable after defeating the Fire Giant.

If you defeat the Fire Giant first, the invader won’t appear and you won’t be able to get the weapon.

The invasion triggers at the Church of Repose, south of Castle Sol. As you approach the church, you will automatically be invaded by Bloody Finger Okina. As he uses Rivers of Blood himself, you need to be careful and remember to:

  • Avoid panic rolls
  • Stay out of Corpse Piler range
  • Use heavy weapons like Frostbite

When it comes to rewards, defeating Bloody Finger Okina grants:

  • Rivers of Blood katana
  • Okina Mask

Rivers of Blood Stats and Scaling

Rivers of Blood is the best bleed build in Elden Ring for many reasons and one of them is stat distribution as well as unique skill design. Attribute requirements for Rivers of Blood are:

  • Strength: 12
  • Dexterity: 18
  • Arcane: 20

From this we can see that the weapon clearly favors a Dexterity and Arcane-focused build.

Rivers of Blood deals physical damage, bleed damage as well as passive blood loss buildup. This hybrid damage type makes it effective against a wide range of enemies.

As you upgrade the weapon, its scaling improves – especially in Dexterity and Arcane – increasing both raw damage and bleed efficiency.

Unlike standard weapons, Rivers of Blood upgrades with Somber Smithing Stones.

This means:

  • It upgrades from 0 to 10
  • Each upgrade level significantly boosts damage
  • It requires only one stone per level (instead of multiple)

At 10, the weapon reaches its maximum scaling potential, making it extremely lethal in late-game builds.

As mentioned before, Rivers of Blood is a Corpse Piler katana. Thanks to this skill, it unleashes a rapid series of extended blood slashes. It can hit multiple times, apply heavy bleed buildup and deal both fire and physical damage. What makes it unique is the multi-hit design. Each slash builds bleed separately, allowing Blood Loss to trigger incredibly fast.

Best Rivers of Blood Build

For optimal performance of Rivers Blood, it is recommended to balance both Arcane and Dexterity. Focus on 50-80 Arcane for increased physical damage, with 40-50 Dexterity for increased bleed buildup speed. 

Elden Ring players often pair Rivers of Blood with Nagakiba in the off-hand. It works good for longer reach, faster bleed through powerstancing and strong jump attacks. It’s great for PvE boss pressure. In PvP, single-wield offers better FP control and skill timing.

A high-Arcane build opens access to powerful Dragon Communion spells when paired with the Dragon Communion Seal. Benefits:

  • Scales directly with Arcane
  • Adds ranged pressure
  • Covers weaknesses against bleed-resistant enemies

It’s highly recommended to use armor synergy –  White Mask, which increases attack power whenever blood loss occurs nearby.

Since Rivers of Blood triggers bleed frequently, this buff activates constantly during fights – effectively boosting your overall DPS without extra effort.

It’s one of the strongest synergy pieces for any bleed-focused setup.

For maximum efficiency, pair it with these talismans:

  • Lord of Blood’s Exultation – Damage boost after blood loss
  • Winged Sword Insignia – Increases damage with successive hits

Why they’re essential:

Rivers of Blood triggers bleed quickly and hits multiple times with Corpse Piler. These talismans stack naturally with your playstyle, multiplying burst damage during procs.

Playstyle Tips – How to Maximize Bleed

  • Maintain mid-range spacing to safely land Corpse Piler
  • Manage FP carefully
  • Trigger bleed, then capitalize during stagger windows
  • Against bleed-resistant enemies, rely more on physical and fire damage