Arcane builds turn blood loss into a weapon. Rivers of Blood builds bleed incredibly fast and its skill, Corpse Piler, sends out a flurry of blood-red slashes. With high Arcane both your damage and your blood loss buildup climb, so most enemies that can bleed simply fall over.
| Playstyle | Fast katana and dagger combos built around blood loss |
|---|---|
| Starting class | Bandit |
| Target level | 150 |
| Main weapon | Rivers of Blood |
| Damage | Physical, fire and blood loss |
Stats at level 150
| Vigor | 60 |
|---|---|
| Mind | 25 |
| Endurance | 30 |
| Strength | 12 |
| Dexterity | 25 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Faith | 8 |
| Arcane | 60 |
Arcane at 60 raises both your bleed buildup and Rivers of Blood’s damage. Dexterity 25 covers the katana’s requirement with a bit to spare. Mind 25 is important because you will use Corpse Piler a lot.
Weapons
- Rivers of Blood at +10. Corpse Piler is the main damage tool of the build.
- Reduvia at +10, a light dagger whose skill fires blood blades at range. Handy for enemies you would rather not hug.
Talismans
- Lord of Blood's Exultation: a big attack boost whenever blood loss procs nearby, which is all the time with this build.
- Shard of Alexander: makes Corpse Piler hit harder.
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: rewards long combos with more attack.
- Millicent's Prosthesis: more Dexterity and another combo bonus.
Armor
We used the White Mask for its blood loss attack boost with the Black Knife set. Both are light, so you keep a quick roll.
Spirit Ash
Mimic Tear Ashes copies your build, so you get a second Rivers of Blood stacking bleed on the same target.
How to play it
- Open with Corpse Piler to proc blood loss quickly, then follow up with normal attacks while Exultation is active.
- Many bosses resist or are immune to blood loss. Check their resistances first with our Boss Weakness Finder.
- Use Reduvia’s skill to start bleed from range on dangerous enemies.
- Keep Mind high enough that you never run dry in the middle of a fight.
Other bleed weapons such as the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear also scale with Arcane if you want something with more reach.
Stats, equip load and attack ratings were checked with our Build Planner. Numbers are based on patch 1.09 data, so later balance patches may nudge them a little. Want to compare other setups? Browse all our builds.