Here, we bring you a deadly Samurai Build that wields a massive Nodachi that overwhelms its targets with maximum thrust damage and bleed procs. Even the strongest and toughest bosses in the game are no match for this build.

So if you’re looking for a powerful Samurai, Bleed Great Katana Build is the one for you. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to maximize this build, explain the challenges this build can face, and help you overcome them. Let’s get straight into it!

Gameplay

This build masters the art of wielding Great Katana and performs Goring Thrust, dealing massive amounts of damage to its targets and causing them to bleed in the process. But what makes it even more terrifying is mastering Bloodflame Incantations and using these spells to your advantage.

This Bleed Great Katana is one of the most powerful builds in the game, making boss fights seem trivial and common enemies drop like flies. This build focuses on Strength and Dexterity as its main stats.

Stats

Let’s move on to the build’s stats.

We allocated 50 points to Vigor to give the user a fair amount of survivability in combat. As always, if you feel that you really need more health when adapting to the gameplay of this build, you are welcome to adjust it to 60 points at any time.

This setup requires a small amount of Focus to perform optimally, so we allocated 20 points to Mind. And for Endurance, 25 points is just right for this play style.

Strength and Dexterity will be the main offensive attributes in this build, so we allocated 69 points to Strength and 63 points to Dexterity.

In addition, Faith was increased by 25 points so that we can cast critical buffs later. Finally, Intelligence and Arcane did not increase any points.

Gear

It’s time to build gear, and Great Katana is making a comeback. This Great Katana requires 14 Strength and 18 Dexterity for the user to properly use the weapon. Meanwhile, it has B scaling for Strength, and B for Dexterity if the user sets it to Quality.

Of course, you can also infuse the weapon with Quality Affinity to get better scaling, and thus a higher attack rating.

Now, for the Ashes of War of Great Katana, we will be setting it up with Repeating Thrust. While Ash of War looks simple and straightforward, in this configuration it will deal a lot of damage while maintaining ease of use.

Pressing L2 once will allow the user to perform a fierce multiple-hitting thrust that will cause the enemy to take continuous damage. This set of thrusts will not only deal tremendous damage as mentioned above, but will also effortlessly bleed the target, causing even more damage.

Continuing with the secondary weapon of this build, you can use Finger Seal to be able to cast critical buffs and offensive spells later on. You can get this base Seal at Twin Maiden Husks for 800 Elden Ring Runes.

Spells

Next up, we have the spells we suggest. The first on the list is Flame Grant me Strength, which grants an additional 20% Physical Attack Boost and Stamina Recovery Buff.

The second buff is, of course, Golden Vow. This buff increases overall damage by 15% and adds 10% damage negation, which is very helpful for this build.

Next up is Bloodflame Blade, so we can drastically speed up the rate at which our targets bleed. It pairs well with Ash of War: Repeating Thrust, since this skill has a multi-attack animation. On the other hand, fire damage is just a bonus, and we’ll be relying on raw firepower with this configuration.

Bloodboon will also make a comeback, since it fits the theme of the build and serves a diversity purpose. Like in the past, you can cast Bloodboon before approaching the boss, so you can increase your blood loss faster. This spell isn’t necessary, though, since you can mainly focus on dealing with Repeating Thrust alone and call it a day.

Talismans

Next up we have Talismans you need for this build. As always, first up is Shard of Alexander, which increases skill damage by 15%.

The next Talisman for this build is Lord of Blood’s Exultation, as you’ll be dealing with fast and frequent bleed procs in this build. When it’s active, you can easily knock out a target and end the fight.

If the enemy isn’t bleeding, you can swap out Lord of Blood’s Exultation for a Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman for increased survivability, or a Two-Headed Turtle Talisman for increased stamina regeneration.

For the third and final slot, we’re dealing with fast multiple-hitting attacks as the major source of damage for this build, slotting in Millicent’s Prosthesis and Rotten Winged Sword Insignia are the best choices for this build. All of your attacks are fast and multi-hitting, so you can easily keep the attack boosts from these Talismans.

Best Wondrous Physick Combination

For Flask of Wondrous Physick Combination, slotting in Thorny Cracked Tear is a smart move for this build. Pair it with Bloodsucking Cracked Tear because the health loss in this configuration is not that devastating, since the enemies will die quickly, anyway. This will allow the user to have a glass cannon playstyle.

However, if you find that the health loss per second from Bloodsucking Cracked Tear is too much, you can equip Greenburst Crystal Tear to restore stamina faster.

Armor Set

Continuing with its Armor Set. Since this build is a dark and edgy samurai theme, we equipped Iron Kasa as a headdress, Death Knight pieces as armor and gloves, and finally Leather Boots as greaves. This hybrid set works well and is definitely worth your time in the long run.

Pros & Cons

Finally, let’s talk about the pros and cons of this Bleed Great Katana from all aspects.

Pros

First, start with the pros. First of course is the insane damage output of this build. Without counting bleed procs, Repeating Thrust can already deal a ton of damage in this setup. Enemies that are resistant to bleeding will still die faster than with other setups.

The amazing damage of this build is made even better by the fact that the build is able to deal bleed procs. Repeating Thrust can easily increase and deal bleeding to a target. Therefore, this makes the game a bit too easy.

Also, dealing a ton of damage while keeping the build easy to use is also a huge plus. Mastering the timing of Repeating Thrust is pretty easy in my opinion. Repeating Thrust can stun enemies during the animation, so most of the time, humanoid targets can’t do anything with this setup.

The last plus is the super high FP Efficiency of this build, which only requires 7 Focus Points per Repeating Thrust.

Cons

Moving on to the cons. To be honest, this is one of the setups that I can’t think of too many cons for. If you equip Bloodsucking Cracked Tear, without any HP Regen buffs, you’ll have this glass cannon playstyle that anyone can adapt to instantly.

However, even without Bloodsucking Cracked Tear equipped, the user still does a ton of damage compared to other builds.

The second downside is the lack of variety in the build. If you decide to focus on maxing out the attack rating of Great Katana, you’ll have very few stats to play with.

Conclusion

Overall, Bleed Great Katana Build is one of the best melee builds we have at the moment. It’s incredible to be able to deal huge burst damage with just one or two skill casts, while also maintaining the overall ease of use of the build.

If you’re the type of player who likes to take it easy with violent sword thrusts and bleed procs while wanting focused and simple gameplay, this build is for you. If you want to find some like-minded players to discuss build ideas with, join IGGM Discord, where you'll not only have the latest news you want to know, but also giveaway events from time to time to participate. Looking forward to seeing you here!