As players explore Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, they are more and more willing to try more new builds, weapons, and Ashes of War in this DLC, and combine them into an optimal state to adapt to this version.

However, some Bleed weapons are as powerful as the base game. But this can’t stop players from loving this weapon, and because FromSoftware has added more options for it, more and more people are choosing it.

I believe that you must have tried many weapons that can be built into bleeding builds in the game, but you don’t know which one is the best. Don’t worry, this guide will provide you with some of the most suitable weapons for bleeding builds in Shadow of the Erdtree, which can make your exploration journey easier.

Barbed Staff-Spear

• Location: Darklight Catacombs
• How To Get: Defeat Elder Inquisitor Jori

Barbed Staff-Spear can be used in the most powerful build in the entire game - a large shield and a stabbing weapon together. For those who are not familiar with it, it can be a little difficult to understand.

It’s actually pretty simple to use. When you use Greatshield and a dedicated poke weapon, such as a spear or a greatspear, you can simply hold the shield in your left hand and the weapon in your right hand. This will block any frontal damage, and the weapon in your right hand will also cause continuous bleeding damage to the enemy.

Barbed Staff-Spear has a bleed accumulation of 55, which is much better than the 30 provided by Bloodfiend’s Fork, making it a very favorable choice in this build. Although Cross-Naginata can provide a longer range, Barbed Staff-Spear’s unique skill, Jori’s Inquisition can make its damage even stronger. That’s enough.

It works similarly to Golden Arcs Incantion, but is better because it can fire more small golden arcs at once, so it has a longer range and doesn’t have to worry about turning into a melee weapon.

Dane’s Footwork

• Location: Enir Irim
• How To Get: Defeat Reda and his companions

Although we list Dane’s Footwork here, Dryleaf Arts is also a splendid weapon for your super fast bleeding build, because it can deal a lot of bleeding damage to the enemy at very close range.

In comparison, Dane’s Footwork is better because it can deal very high DPS to the enemy with Shattered Stone Talisman.

Although Dane’s Footwork previously worked very well with Ash of War Palm Blast, if you want to build a bleeding build, you can replace it with Ash of War Dryleaf Whirlwind and inject Blood into it. This will be a very fast AOE option and can also help you deal with more bleeding damage.

Each of your hits in this situation will cause 57 points of bleed damage, which can accumulate quickly. The only downside to this weapon is that it requires more skill to use with bare hands than a simple sword or greathammer.

Sword Lance

• Location: Near Shadowkeep, Back Gate of Grace
• How To Get: Defeat Commander Gaius and use Boar Rider’s Memory at Round Table Hold

Sword Lance is one of the most overlooked weapons in the entire Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, mainly because its unique Ash of War Spinning Gravity Thrust is to eye-catching and takes away the limelight from the weapon itself.

But if you inject bleed effects into this weapon, it has a very crazy scaling effect, and will cause a lot of bleed damage even if you miss the target. Plus, its move - stab-heavy allows it to deal more damage.

If you are a person who likes to stab your enemies, but want to keep a safe distance, then this weapon provides you with a very good bleed option. In addition to Ash of War just mentioned, there are two other wonderful choices - Ash of War Blood Tax and Ash of War Repeating Thrust.

But in comparison, the latter is easier to use because it consumes less FP. Like Barbed Staff-Spear, this weapon is also suitable for Greatshield poke build.

Backhand Blades

• Location: Graveyard Plains
• How To Get: Inside the small mausoleum, northwest of Burnt Ruins

In this DLC, a new weapon type is introduced, Backhand Blade. This is a pair of curved swords that can play very fast. In this way, the multi-hit nature of Backhand Blade is very suitable for bleeding builds. In this build, it is very important to ensure continuous damage output.

Surprisingly, the most powerful variant of Backhand Blades is its own standard version, also called Backhand Blades. The other two variants, Smithscript Cirque and Curseblade’s Cirque, have shorter range and poorer movements, so many players still choose the standard version.

Similarly, the standard version of Ash of War Blind Spot is also the best choice, as it allows players to shuttle freely between some dangerous situations. In addition, after you finish the battle, you can also quickly leave with the Elden Ring Runes on the ground.

Bloodfiend’s Arm

• Location: Not fixed
• How To Get: Can be obtained from Bloodfiends equipped with this weapon

When Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was officially released, Bloodfiend’s Arm was arguably the most powerful weapon. Although it has been weakened in the future, it has gradually faded out of the players’ sight. But you can use it as a good bleeding weapon option to break the balance of the enemy.

In fact, Bloodfiend’s Arm itself has no bleeding effect, but once added to the blood Ash of War, each of your hits will cause 120 points of bleeding damage to the enemy. And because this weapon can be infused with various items and can be enhanced, you can try more possibilities and use different equipment when facing different enemies.

The above are some powerful weapons that you can use in the bleeding build in Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. You can collect them one by one according to the locations indicated in this guide and choose the most handy weapon. I wish you a happy exploration in the DLC!