Katanas are some of the strongest weapons in Elden Ring due to their ability to inflict bloodloss damage, which takes off chunks of your enemy’s health in seconds. There is a total of 8 Katanas you can get in the game, but it can often be hard to build them to their full potential.
In this guide, we’ll explore two very different but equally as powerful Katana builds that leverage the power of this highly sought-after weapon type. The builds below everything from the basics like stats and starting classes to more complicated mechanics like Talismans and Ashes of War.
Elden Ring Rivers of Blood Katana Bleed Build Overview
The Rivers of Blood Katana Bleed Build leverages the Katana’s inherent bloodloss abilities and dials them up to the max with its Ashes of War, incantations, summons, and Talismans. This build can be extremely powerful against almost every enemy in Elden Ring.
- Class: Samurai
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Dexterity and Arcane (primary), Vigor, Mind, and Endurance (secondary)
- Weapons: Rivers of Blood Katana and Nagakiba
- Ash of War: Corpse Piler and Seppuku
- Incantations: Bloodflame Blade
- Spirit Summons: Dung Eater Puppet or Lone Wolf Ashes
- Armor: Black Knife Set with White Mask
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Dexterity-knot Crystal Tear and Greenburst Crystal Tear
- Talisman: Radagon’s Scarseal, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Lord of Blood’s Exultation, and Green Turtle Talisman
Best Stats Choices
Stats at level 60
| Stat | Bleed Build |
|---|---|
| Faith | 8 |
| Mind | 18 |
| Dexterity | 31 |
| Strength | 12 |
| Endurance | 20 |
| Vigor | 18 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 23 |
Stats at level 100
| Stat | Bleed Build |
|---|---|
| Faith | 8 |
| Mind | 26 |
| Dexterity | 41 |
| Strength | 12 |
| Endurance | 27 |
| Vigor | 23 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 33 |
Stats at level 150
| Stat | Bleed Build |
|---|---|
| Faith | 8 |
| Mind | 34 |
| Dexterity | 51 |
| Strength | 12 |
| Endurance | 34 |
| Vigor | 31 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 50 |
Best Weapons for Katana Build
For the bleed build, your main weapon will be the Rivers of Blood katana, which scales with Dexterity and Arcane. This weapon can be acquired after you defeat Bloody Finger Okina near the Church of Repose in the Mountaintops of the Giants.
Your secondary weapon will be the Nagakiba. Like the Rivers of Blood, this Katana also scales with Dexterity and Arcane, making it the perfect addition to the build. You can get this weapon by defeating Bloody Finger Hunter Yura near Murkwater cave in Limgrave.
To use your sorceries, we recommend using the Glintstone Staff as this build primarily uses Carian sorceries. You can find the Glintstone staff in a chest in Sellia, which is in Caelid.
Best Ashes of War Picks
The Rivers of Blood Katana comes equipped with the Corpse Piler Ash of War by default, and this will be the main way you’ll deal damage to your enemies. This Ash of War conjures a blood blade that moves with swift strikes and inflicts additional bleed damage to your enemies.
For the Nagakiba, use the Seppuku Ash of War. This skill makes your character plunge their sword into their stomach, which instantly takes away a little bit of health and grants you the ability to deal more bleed damage. Stacking this with the Rivers of Blood Katana’s inherent Bleeding capabilities and Corpse Piler will let you deal immense bleed damage.
Best Incantations for Katana Builds
Incantations can be used on both builds but aren’t necessarily a requirement. For the bleed build you can use the Bloodflame Blade Incantation. The Bloodflame blade incantation essentially buffs your Katana’s hemorrhage/blood loss capabilities, which lets you build up the status effect even quicker.
You can use Golden Vow for the Magic build, which increases your damage output and defense, and Flame, Grant Me Strength. This incantation raises your standard and fire damage output (the latter isn’t relevant to this build)
Best Spirit Summons Picks
Regarding the spirit summons, you’ll want a summon that complements your build’s playstyle and shortcomings. Pick from any of the two following summons for the Bloodloss build, both of which deal bleed damage.
- Dung Eater Puppet: The Dung Eater Puppet is a tanky single-unit summon that deals bleed damage to enemies. His large health pool makes him a worthy addition to your arsenal. You can acquire this
- Lone Wolf Ashes: on the other hand, Lone Wolf Ashes summons three wolves that swarm your enemies from every side. Each wolf’s health is fairly low when compared to the Dung Eater but they tend to inflict blood loss much quicker.
Best Armor for Katana Builds in Elden Ring
For these builds, any armor set will work just fine, but we recommend the Black Knife Set for the Bleed Build. The set provides decent damage negation while also being lightweight, letting you be as mobile as you want.
The Black Knife set can be picked up from under an archway behind Ordina, Liturgical Town in the Consecrated Snowfield area, while the Land of Reeds set can be bought from the Isolated Merchant in North Caelid.
| Stats | Black Knife Set | |
|---|---|---|
| Damage Negation | ||
| Physical | 22.5 | |
| Physical (Strike) | 21.6 | |
| Physical (Slash) | 24.4 | |
| Physical (Pierce) | 24.4 | |
| Magic | 17.5 | |
| Fire | 18.9 | |
| Lightning | 13.5 | |
| Holy | 22.5 | |
| Resistance | ||
| Immunity | 65 | |
| Robustness | 108 | |
| Focus | 54 | |
| Vitality | 54 | |
| Poise | 40 | |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick
The Flask of Wondrous Physick allows you to use two temporary buffs in a single-use Flask. For the Katana builds, we recommend the following:
Katana Bleed Build
- Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear: The Dexterity-Knot Crytal Tear increases your Dexterity, which is always helpful for this build.
- Greenburst Crystal Tear: This tear increases the rate at which your Stamina recovers. This will ensure you can use the Corpse Piler Ash of War more frequently.
Best Talismans
Talisman allows you to buff your builds in several ways. There are a total of four Talisman slots that you can unlock and use. For the Katana builds, these are the best Talisman:
Katana Bleed Build
- Radagon’s Scarseal: Radagan’s Scarseal increases Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity by 3 each, but this comes at the cost of you taking +15% more damage.
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: This Talisman increases the power of consecutive attacks, letting you deal more damage the more you attack a single target.
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation: Lord of Blood’s Exultation increases your attack power by +20% when you or your enemy experiences blood loss.
- Green Turtle Talisman: The Talisman increases the speed at which you recover your Stamina. This stacks well with the Greenburst Crystal Tear.
