Elden Ring Rivers of Blood Build Guide - Sanguine Samurai

Apr. 22, 2024

Elden Ring Rivers of Blood Build Guide – Sanguine Samurai

In this Elden RingRivers of BloodBuild Guide, I’m going to be showing you mySanguine Samuraibuild. This is a level 150 build for endgame. There are a lot harder bosses at this point in the game, and I need to make sure each build can beat these bosses and tweak them accordingly. So they might come out a little bit slower, but we’re going to do lots and lots of endgame builds.

A Dexterity/Arcane Build that uses the Rivers of Blood Katana to devastating effect.

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So first up, let’s focus onRivers of Blood. This is the weapon that we use for this build. This is a hyped weapon. Lots of videos all over the internet about it, and it is very, very strong, extremely strong. It deals both physical and fire damage, scales offStrength,Dexterity, andArcane, predominantlyDexterityandArcane, I would say.

Something interesting is that even thoughArcaneis only D-scaling here, you can see if you scroll points during a respec or something like that, you’ll come out ahead putting points inArcaneif you just go allArcaneversus allDexterity. Even thoughDexterityhas B-scaling,Arcaneseems to do better anyway. What’s great about that is points into Arcane increase the blood loss buildup, meaning that you’re going to set the Hemorrhage status effect even faster, which is one of the great things about bleed builds. So putting points in Arcane is not only better for your damage with this weapon but also better for your bleed buildup—it’s a win-win.

The weapon skill itself actually does both fire and physical damage too, in my testing. So the weapon skill isn’t just physical or just fire or something like that—it does a mix of both damage types. And its damage increases with the weapon level as well as the scaling from yourArcaneandDexterity. So cranking these, which you’re going to do anyway, benefits this build immensely.

TheCorpse Pilerskill itself is a little unique, but not completely. If you use the double slash ability on, say, theNagakibaorUchigatana, you get the same move set. However, you do actually more bleed buildup and more damage withCorpse Piler. Even though the weapon itself, when compared to theNagakibaandUchigatanaat the same upgrade status with having the blood affinity set on both those weapons, is higher by default on those weapons, the weapon ability actually sets the status effect faster, so it actually increases the blood loss buildup compared to your regular attacks withRivers of Blood.

Swinging twice withRivers of Bloodsets theHemorrhagestatus effect, even though I only have 73 blood loss buildup compared to theNagakibaandUchigatana, which have much higher blood loss buildup, it takes three hits from those to set it. So there’s seriously some blood loss buildup being added to that effect, which is how you’re able to set blood lossHemorrhage, on enemies a lot faster.

What’s really good about theCorpse Pilerweapon skill is that it has better range. It has further range than either theNagakibaor theUchigatana, and even though theNagakibais a close second, it’s still not as far. This range allows you to cue this weapon art up faster as enemies approach, so that you can get into the meat of it. The first couple swings are slower, and the next three are much faster. So sometimes you want to preemptively swing that first one, even though you know you’re going to miss with the first swing, because you want to get into that second combo, which deals a lot more damage and is far more likely to trigger theHemorrhagestatus effect.

One of the things about this combo is that it doesn’t stagger enemies much at all. So you’re not going to go for staggers with this build; you’re relying on thatHemorrhageproc to sort of interrupt an enemy’s attack, where you then go into another combo with this ability. Getting into that second combo is what’s going to guarantee that you procHemorrhage. If you don’t get it in two hits and the enemy doesn’t stagger, if you’re point-blank, you’re going to take damage. But if you miss the first one, hit the second one, and then get two more hits real quick before he’s swinging, and you interrupt him with that slight interruption from getting theHemorrhageto proc, then you’re safe, and then you can do your finishing animation for even more damage.

I like to use theSacrificial Axein my offhand for this build. The reason for that is that this weapon art just consumes FP like crazy. You’re going to be using it all the time. The regular R1 attack with this weapon—like, you shouldn’t be using it unless you absolutely have to. You should be going withCorpse Pileras much as you can. TheSacrificial Axe, being in our offhand even though we don’t use it or meet the requirements for it, gives us 4 FP with every kill we have. So this is going to help give you FP back, which will allow you to use this ability much more frequently.

Additionally, we have theCarian Filigreed Crestslotted here as well to further reduce the cost of this so that you can just spam it. We have a lot ofMindas well, so you don’t have to worry about it. This should become your default attack if you’re usingRivers of Blood.

I also have a seal that I use for this build. Which one you use isn’t particularly important, and you don’t really need to upgrade it because we’re using justFlame, Grant me Strength, which is a default bonus—it doesn’t change no matter what your stats are. And that’s to get additional physical and fire damage for tough fights for 30 seconds. As I mentioned, the weapon does both fire and physical damage, so that synergizes really well.

However, if you’re going to take this build higher, like, if you’re going to go up higher levels, you’re probably going to get more out of putting 10 more points intoFaith, getting 25Faith, and usingGolden Vowto boost your damage by a further 15%, than you will investing 10 more points intoDexterityandArcanehowever you want. The damage is really starting to drop off at this point per point investment in those stats. That doesn’t mean you can’t continue to crank those moving up, but you’ll probably want to get to 25Faithfirst and then continue crankingDexterityandArcane.

What armor you use for this build isn’t super important as long as you can medium roll, but there are a couple of headpieces that are good for this build. Number one isOkina Mask. This increases yourDexterityby plus 3, which is just great. It also sort of fits the Samurai theme. The other option is theWhite Mask, which increases your attack rating by 10% for 20 seconds when something around you suffers from blood loss. This is going to be constantly happening. Out of the two, this is probably the one you want to use if you want to min-max this build. I happen to just like the other mask for the Samurai style, but if you want to get all the damage you can get out of this build, you’re going to want to useWhite Mask.

When it comes to talismans I use for this build, I haveRotten Winged Sword Insignia,Carian Filigreed Crest,Shard of Alexander, andLord of Blood’s Exultation.

Rotten Winged Sword Insigniais an upgraded version of theWinged Sword Insignia, and it increases your attack power by a greater percentage. Since you attack very, very quickly withCorpse Piler, this builds up really fast and increases your damage a lot. You can also useMillicent’s Prosthesisif you have this one instead. This increases yourDexterityby plus 5 and gives you the same benefit of theWinged Sword Insignia, which doesn’t boost your attack power as rapidly or as much as theRotten Winged Sword Insignia, but it does give you the extra 5Dexterity.

However, as you get higher and higher levels, that extra 5Dexteritygets less and less useful as the damage falls off, as the scaling ofDexteritystarts to taper off. So it’s not quite as good in my opinion, particularly because the attack power of theRottenversion builds up faster, so you’re going to get more damage quicker. Something interesting is you can actually use both of these together if you have both. The only way to do that, to my knowledge, though, is to have someone drop you one of them and do the quest line one way to get the other one. So you can actually slot them both at the same time, which is extremely powerful, but probably most people won’t have that, so I didn’t structure the build around that.

As I mentioned,Carian Filigreed Crestis there to reduce the cost ofCorpse Piler, so you can use it as your default attack. With the combined help from theSacrificial Axeand theCarian Filigreed Crest, you can get enough FP to useCorpse Pilermore often. But during boss fights, you’ll probably want to swap this out for theGreen Turtle Talisman, as it’s not helpful there. One of the issues with this build is that your combo eats Stamina. Faster Stamina regen allows you to attack more often and boosts your overall DPS.

Shard of Alexanderis there to boost the damage ofCorpse Pilerby another 15%. This is your primary attack, so boosting that damage is fantastic.

Lord of Blood’s Exultationis a natural choice here too, boosting your attack rating by 20% for 20 seconds when something around you suffers from blood loss. This happens constantly with this build, boosting your damage significantly. I don’t really use any spells for this build besidesFlame, Grant me Strength. However,Golden Vowwould be a nice addition if you boost yourFaithto 25 or more. If you add aDragon Communion Seal, you can use some offensive incantations, likeLightning SpearorBlack Flame. With enoughFaithandArcane, these can be effective options. You can also use Dragon spells, as they synergize with this build if you choose to add them.

Regarding stats, here’s what I recommend for this build. I have 50Vigor, 30Mind, 18Endurance, 12Strength, 48Dexterity, 9Intelligence, 15Faith, and 50Arcane.

Keep inMindthat theDexterityis boosted by 3 from theOkina Mask, so the actualDexteritystat is 45. The 50Vigoris there to keep you alive, as you’re not wearing the heaviest armor, and you’re likely to take hits due to this build’s aggressive nature. 30Mindgives you a good FP pool for usingCorpse Pilerfrequently. This helps you avoid relying too heavily on FP potions.

The 18Endurancegives you more Stamina, which is essential for spammingCorpse Piler. It also provides additional equip load for a medium or light armor setup. 12Strengthis just enough to meet the requirements of your weapon.Dexterityis at 48 to increase weapon damage and boostCorpse Piler‘s effectiveness. However, after this point, the damage output fromDexteritystarts to taper off, which is why I focused on levelingArcanefor better scaling and Blood Loss buildup.

The 15Faithis to meet the requirements forFlame, Grant me Strength, but if you plan to useGolden Vow, you should take it up to 25 to meet the requirements for that spell. The 50Arcaneis there to boost your weapon’s scaling and increase the Blood Loss buildup, making the build more effective overall.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind with this build. Start your combo before the enemies approach, knowing that the first attack might miss. This approach works when facing aggressive enemies, allowing you to land the remaining attacks without taking damage.

When fighting large enemies, get close to their chest to avoid their swings. This strategy allows you to land multiple hits without getting hit yourself. Using theFlask of Wondrous Physickwith aGreenburst Crystal Tearcan be useful in boss fights and tough areas, giving you more opportunities to useCorpse Piler. TheThorny Cracked Tearis excellent because it increases damage with consecutive attacks, which is a key aspect of this build.

That wraps up our Elden RingRivers of BloodKatana Build Guide, as always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming forElden RingandShadow of the Erdtreeso stay tuned for those. If you need help finding the spells, items, or equipment in this build, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check theElden Ring Map.

Castielle

Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.