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Table of Contents

Standard Builds

Current PvP Meta Builds

Specialty Builds

Cosplay Builds

Old 110 Meta Builds

Build / Weapons Planners

Guides

How to Make a Build in Bloodborne

Beginner's guide to Character Building v3

How to make a mule in bloodborne - BL4 Guide

Meta PvP Builds Guide By Ithmari

Standard Builds [source]

All of these builds are, with a few optional exceptions, designed to be run with the standard PvP layout of Anti-clockwise 3, Clockwise 3, and Clockwise 2.

Name	Starting Class								Recommended Weapons
True Quality	Violent Past/Military Veteran	50	15	46	46	6/7	7/6	120	All physical weapons, specialized only for Ludwig’s Holy Blade
Notes: A great build for a beginner to the game. A standard quality build allows a tremendously diverse selection of weapons, but it’s lack of specialization can be a liability in very competitive PvP. A BL 90 version to guide beginners could be 37/20/35/35/6/7, adding extra stamina to help ease the learning curve. BL 58 template would be 30/15/25/25/6/7.
Pure Strength	Violent Past/Military Veteran	50	15	50	25	6/7	7/6	103	Whirligig Saw, Kirkhammer, Amygdalan Arm, Boom Hammer, Cannon, Gatling Gun, Fist of Gratia
Notes: As there is really only one primary damage stat here, this build is quite flexible. There are 17 free points in this build that may be distributed as necessary. Be sure to use the Cannon (possibly with Bone Marrow Ash) for a surprise burst of damage!
Pure Skill	Violent Past/Military Veteran	50	15	25	50	6/7	7/6	103	Rakuyo, Beasthunter Saif, Blades of Mercy, Burial Blade, Church Pick, Threaded Cane
Notes: As there is really only one primary damage stat here, this build is quite flexible. There are 17 free points in this build that may be distributed as necessary. Make use of your high visceral damage with this build!
Skill Arcane	Cruel Fate	50	15	25	50	5	25	120	Blade of Mercy, Burial Blade, Old Hunter’s Bone
Notes: This build ensures maximum damage with both split damage skill weapons, and the two complement each other nicely, with the transformed Burial Blade offering high rally potential and covering a wide area at range and the Blade of Mercy ideal for fast, close range combat. The extra points into arcane also allows use of the Old Hunter’s Bone for maximum mobility, which combines exceptionally well with the Blade of Mercy, as well as a surprise parry or backstab with the Augur of Ebrietas when in a two Handed mode.
Bloodtinge Strength	Military Veteran	50	15	36	13	50	6	120	Bloodletter, Whirligig Saw, Amygdalan Arm, Kirkhammer, Evelyn, Cannon, Bone Marrow Ash, Madaras Whistle
Notes: This build is very tight to maximize damage. Follow the template exactly for best results. This build can easily wield the cannon alongside the much faster Evelyn, and when combined with Bone Marrow Ash, either one can pack a devastating sucker punch from good range. With the Bloodletter’s transformed L2 attack, a powerful Frenzy resist rune and/or quick access to Sedatives is highly recommended.
Bloodtinge Skill	Professional	50	15	10	37	50	8	120	Chikage, Simon’s Bowblade, Evelyn, Bone Marrow Ash, Madaras Whistle
Notes: This build is very tight to maximize damage. Follow the template exactly for best results. Getting a visceral with the Bone Marrow Ash buffed Evelyn has devastating results, and using either the Evelyn or Bowblade to deal damage from range can safely end close battles.
Bloodtinge Arcane	Almost any	50	15	14	15	36	40	120	Chikage, Simon’s Bowblade, Bloodletter, Evelyn, Bone Marrow Ash, Madaras Whistle, Various Hunter Tools
Notes: Borderline masochistic. Only if you really like blood weapons, but also really like hunter tools. Stats are flexible if you choose not to use either the Bowblade and/or the Bloodletter. Since you upgrade all your stats, any starting template that doesn’t pass the final requirements is usable.
Arcane Quality	Cruel Fate	50	15	25	25	5	50	120	Holy Moonlight Sword, Converted Arcane Weapons, Rosmarinus, Various Hunter Tools
Notes: The ideal damage output for the Holy Moonlight Sword (which this build is centered around) is 25 in both Strength and Skill. When using this build, be wary of Quicksilver bullet consumption via Hunter Tools (or cannon if you so desire), as the Holy Moonlight Sword requires them for its beam attacks. Because of this, a Formless Oedon rune could be equipped to ease the demands on your Quicksilver Bullet supply. If you really like the untransformed version of the sword and aren’t a huge fan of the moonbeam attacks, there is a certain gem layout (that uses heavy abyssals, so that means hardcore dungeon diving) with which 50 str and 25 arcane is the best choice.
Arcane Strength	Cruel Fate	50	15	50/44/38	12	5	38/44/50	120	Logarius Wheel, Amygdalan Arm, Tonitrus, Holy Moonlight Sword, Rosmarinus, Cannon, Various Hunter Tools
Notes: This build is centered around Logarius Wheel, and as this weapon is quite diverse, the balance between Str and Arc is up to the player. It could be 50/38 for good use of the untransformed mode and primarily physical weapons like the Amygdalan Arm, or 38/50 for maximum power on the transformation and use of Hunter Tools, or even 44/44 for balanced use of both forms and other arcane hybrid weapons like Tonitrus. Please keep in mind that the Wheel can be even further specialized for your pick of these playstyles via the users choice of percent physical, flat arcane, or nourishing gems, respectively. You can also combine this build with the Holy Moonlight Sword, but the damage output of its physical form will be a bit less than optimal.
Pure Arcane	Cruel Fate	50	15	10	9	5	81	120	Kos Parasite, Saw Spear (Fire Conversion), Rosmarinus, Various Hunter Tools
Notes: This is a build solely reliant on arcane. The main source of damage here comes from Hunter Tools, but as some of these are less reliable in PvP, the Kos Parasite (with the Milkweed rune of course) alongside a fire converted Saw Spear is highly recommended.

Current PvP Meta Builds [source]

DISCLAIMER: although 2 or 3 misplaced points won't drastically change the final outcome, the builds listed below are the most optimized if you're looking for perfect minmaxing. All the builds are level 120.

Name	Starting Class								Che's Notes
Strength
WoS Strength	Waste of Skin	77	9	50	12	7	15	120	13 skill 76 vit if you wanna use cannon
CF Strength	Cruel Fate	76	12	50	12	5	15	120	13 skill 75 vit if you wanna use cannon
Dedicated MaceLetter build	Waste of Skin	71	9	50	9	16	15	120	12 skill 68 vit if you wanna use HMS, Wheel, Whirligig, Gatling Gun
Skill
Skill Vitgouge	Waste of Skin	76	9	10	50	10	15	120
Skill Vitgouge 2nd	Waste of Skin	68	9	18	50	10	15	120	18 strength will give you 600 AR Saw Spear and Reiter
Skill Endgouge	Cruel Fate	50	40	10	50	5	15	120
Reiter Turtle	Cruel Fate Waste of Skin	50	34	11	50	10	15	120	Reiter and shield build, swap between wooden and loch depending on the damage type
40 End Reiter Turtle	Military Veteran	50	40	14	50	10	6	120	No Beast Roar
Skill feat. Evelyn	Noble Scion	62	8	10	50	25	15	120
My favourite Rakuyo build	Cruel Fate Waste of Skin	50	20	10	50	25	15	120	Actually really good for any Skill oriented weapon. 2Rak works really good on it.
Quality
Standard Strength / Quality	Waste of Skin	64	9	50	25	7	15	120
Endgouged Strength / Quality	Cruel Fate	50	25	50	25	5	15	120
Strength / Quality feat. Evelyn	Noble Scion	47	8	50	25	25	15	120	Probably the best spread for Whirligun
High Strength / Quality	Waste of Skin	49	9	50	40	7	15	120
50 / 50	Military Veteran	47	10	50	50	7	6	120
Standard Skill / Quality	Waste of Skin	61	9	25	50	10	15	120
Endgouged Skill / Quality	Cruel Fate	50	25	25	50	5	15	120
Skill / Quality feat. Evelyn	Noble Scion	47	8	25	50	25	15	120
Skill / Quality feat. Gatling Gun	Waste of Skin	50	9	36	50	10	15	120	Take out some points from Strength and put them into Bloodtinge for better gun damage
Strength / Quality for Nourishing HMS	Cruel Fate	50	15	50	25	5	25	120
Skill / Quality for Nourishing HMS and Burial Blade	Waste of Skin	50	9	26	50	10	25	120
Bloodtinge
Chikage, Letter, Bow	Noble Scion	68	8	14	15	50	15	120
2kat	Noble Scion	73	8	10	14	50	15	120	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGQuWXw9quU
Letter Vitgouge	Waste of Skin	73	9	14	9	50	15	120
2kat Glass Cannon	Noble Scion	45	8	10	14	78	15	120	Going up to 78 Tinge will give you an edge of 40 AR over a 50 Tinge Kage
Lettergun	Noble Scion	71	9	14	11	50	15	120	Take out some points from Vit and put them into End if you wanna go full monkey
Arcane
Arcane Vitgouge	Waste of Skin	83	9	10	11	7	50	120
Arcgouge	Waste of Skin	50	9	10	11	7	83	120	If you're looking for high damage from tools
Arcane VitEndGouge	Cruel Fate	72	22	10	11	5	50	120	Decent build for Kos Parasite as well
Everything Arcane	Waste of Skin	70	9	20	14	7	50	120
Arcane for Nourishing HMS	Cruel Fate	50	15	25	25	5	50	120	48/22/25/20/5/50 is a really good alternative. HMS can be really stamina hungry when 2 handed
My favorite Kos Parasite build	Cruel Fate	54	40	10	11	5	50	120
Kos Gun (or the Chad Arc/Tinge)	Waste of Skin	50	9	10	11	40	50	120
Arcane Vitgouge feat. Evelyn	Waste of Skin	65	9	10	11	25	50	120
Gunglitched Madmans Wheel	Waste of Skin	49	9	25	12	25	50	120
Hybrid
Strength / Tinge	Military Veteran	50	10	50	14	40	6	120	45 vit 45 tinge is a good alternative if you like to play at low vit
Skill / Tinge BR	Noble Scion	47	8	10	50	40	15	120
Skill / Tinge	Noble Scion	48	8	10	50	45	9	120
Standard Blood / Arc	Noble Scion	48	8	10	14	40	50	120	45/45 or whatever. Hit up one of the many arc/cringers if you're looking for a more specific build
Dedicated Letter Blood / Arc	Waste of Skin	48	9	14	9	40	50	120	No Kage, no Saif, no Evelyn. Amazing
Strength / Arc	Waste of Skin	47	9	50	12	7	45	120	Bad build
Dedicated Tonitrus build	Waste of Skin	45	9	50	9	7	50	120
Skill / Arc	Waste of Skin	47	9	10	50	7	47	120
Skill / Arc for Nourishing HMS	Waste of Skin	46	9	16	46	7	46	120
Reiter Rosi	Waste of Skin	47	9	10	47	10	47	120	Make a good use of your bullets
Builds from famous players
OG Drisful's Blood / Arc	Noble Scion	40	8	16	14	46	46	120	Bad build if you're bad
Drisful's 50 / 50	Noble Scion	38	8	10	14	50	50	120
Scorched Knight's Quality	Cruel Fate	50	12	50	38	5	15	120
Ramu's 2kat	Noble Scion	40	8	10	14	83	15	120
Che's QualiTinge	Noble Scion	47	8	25	25	50	15	120	Kage and/or Letter with a decent quality backup
Che's rivisited Arcane VitGouge	Waste of Skin	80	9	10	14	7	50	120	14 skill for offhand thrust Pick
Che's 3HMS	Waste of Skin	47	9	50	32	7	25	120	Hardswapping between Nourishing, Blunt and Thrust
My favourite Quality	Waste of Skin	47	9	50	42	7	15	120	Fits heavy Rakuyo super well
rarepack’s strength quality	Waste of Skin	45	9	50	25	26	15	120

Specialty Builds [source]

Name	Starting Class								Recommended Weapons
Wheel Twink	Violent Past	30	15	20	12	6	10	43	Logarius Wheel
Notes: This build is centered around a regrettable but disturbingly fun unfortunately common practice known as “twinking” in which a player exploits the level-based matchmaking to PvP at low levels with +10 weapons and top-tier gems. Because of the disproportionate damage output, the “twink” finds themselves a free curbstomp at a distinct advantage. As referenced before, certain attacks on the Logarius Wheel hit multiple times, and when combined with the fact that flat attack bonuses apply per hit, this bonus is multiplied several times for insane damage. Because of this - if one is willing to drag oneself through farming FRC depth 5 dungeons with only 30 vit to obtain the optimum Flat Arcane gems - the Logarius Wheel is ideal for such an endeavour.
Beast’s Best	Waste of Skin	46	9	14	9	50	20	98	Bloodletter, Madaras Whistle, Evelyn, Old Hunter’s Bone, Augur of Ebrietas, Executioner’s Gloves
Notes: Very few of the builds on this document are truly minmaxed for high level PvP. This one is. It’s my personal favorite, hence the name. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like. I don't put that kind of stuff on here because such builds are tailored to individual playstyles, and as such are highly specialized and often have seemingly backwards stat allocations. For example, despite this being a Bloodletter build, it has 20 arcane, what would normally be a useless stat. However, the added utility from the Old Hunter’s Bone speed buff, Augur’s ability to be a decent threat and mixup when out of stamina, and the zoning/combo potential of Executioner’s Gloves merits the points. You have far more moves than your opponent expects, and combined with proper usage of the L2 and Madaras Whistle, your enemy won’t know what hit them.
The Relentless	Cruel Fate	50	40	10	50	5	15	120	Blade of Mercy, Beasthunter Saif, Old Hunter’s Bone, Anti-Clockwise 3, Anti-Clockwise 2, Clockwise 3
Notes: This build doesn’t stop. Ever. Seriously. With 220 stamina points, (my builds normally run 120, just for reference) this build gives you the endurance to literally run circles around your opponent. Combined with the dynamic momentum-based moveset of the Beasthunter Saif, the lightning fast engage/disengage capabilities of the Blade of Mercy, and the speed buff of the Old Hunter’s Bone, you’ll leave your opponent exhausted and defenseless in no time.
Vit Gouge	Violent Past	83	15	50	9	6	7	120	Saw Cleaver/Spear, Hunter Axe, Amygdalan Arm, Boom Hammer
Notes: This build gives you almost twenty percent extra health more than a regular 120 build (2255 HP instead of 1897). For those who like the extra padding, this is for you. A few points can be taken from vitality and put into skill to meet stat requirements to use weapons like Kirkhammer (10) or Whirligig Saw (12). If you wish to use this as a skill build instead of a strength build simply swap the origin to Military Veteran.
Parry Fisher	Military Veteran	50	15	27	47	25	6	120	Reiterpallasch, Church Cannon, Bone Marrow Ash, Formless Oedon rune/s
Notes: This build is designed around an odd quirk of Bone Marrow Ash and its effect (or lack thereof) on the Reiterpallasch. Despite its built in gun, the Reiterpallasch is not buffed by Bone Marrow Ash. The damage boost only applies to left handed weapons. Because of this, you can “cock” the Reiterpallasch, hold it in your right hand, and carry a Church Cannon buffed with Bone Marrow Ash in your left, then fire as many bullets from the Reiterpallasch as you want while still retaining the buff for the cannon. Normally, the Church Cannon’s slow fire rate and long wind up make it rather impractical for PvP, but after parrying your target with the Reiterpallasch, you have an immobile target ready to take over a thousand damage straight to the face.
Kitchen Sink	Any Background	30	15	30	30	25	40	120	Everything!
Notes: This build allows for use of all weapons, tools, and firearms; you name it, this build can use it. You certainly won’t get optimal damage from any of them, especially weapons that focus into one stat, but even though your damage will be… sub-par, this build is about experimentation. It should give you a good idea of all the movesets and uses of the different weapons and allow you to choose which one you like, then make a build around that. The level cap on this build doesn’t matter all that much, but you’ll need at least these stats to both meet the requirements to wield everything and get a feel for the weapons without having them be totally useless. I stopped the build at 120 because leveling past that point is, in my mind, too much work for too little reward but if you want to exceed it, go ahead.
Physical Co-Op	Military Veteran	50	27	50	50	7	6	140	All Physical Weapons
Notes: Designed to assist with PvE using physical weapons. Any physical weapons are viable with this build. Not for PvP.
Arcane Co-Op	Cruel Fate	50	15	13	13	5	99	145	Kos Parasite, Saw Spear (Fire Conversion), Rosmarinus, Various Hunter Tools
Notes: As the name suggests, this build is designed for PvE, especially to assist others with troublesome areas and bosses. This build ensures maximum damage with hunter tools with 99 arcane damage, mainly from A Call Beyond. Not for PvP. Remember to use the Milkweed rune for the Parasite! The level cap is flexible, since you might need to adjust strength and skill to meet the stat requirements of certain weapons.
Tomb Prospector	Cruel Fate	99	15	10	9	5	70	158+	Kos Parasite, Fire Converted Saw Spear, Various Hunter Tools
Notes: This build is designed especially with Tomb Prospecting in mind. The 99 vitality (more than a 25% boost) will help ease the pain of FRC dungeons, and the high arcane boosts discovery. The stats are much more flexible than most other builds, since the point of this stat setup is for personal comfort and convenience.

Cosplay Builds [source]

Name	Starting Class								Recommended Weapons
Shadows of Yharnam	Professional	30	12	10	25	25	8	60	Chikage, Madaras Whistle
Notes: This is the hyper-aggressive sword wielding shadow. Whoever uses this build should host, to ensure a proper phase three using the Madaras Whistle and a higher HP pool. Proper Chikage HP management is also important.
Shadows of Yharnam	Cruel Fate	35	12	10	23	5	25	60	Flamesprayer, Rakuyo, Fire Paper
Notes: This is the secondary shadow. Use the flamesprayer for zoning and to keep pressure on the invader. Apply the Fire Paper to your Rakuyo in phase two.
Shadows of Yharnam	Waste of Skin	30	9	25	9	7	30	60	Tonitrus, Executioners Gloves
Notes: This is the tertiary shadow. Stay back, use the Executioner's Gloves as a replacement for the fireballs. Don’t use your Tonitrus unless they get close.
Micolash, Host of the Nightmare	Cruel Fate	50	12	10	9	5	84	120	Kos Parasite, A Call Beyond, Augur of Ebrietas
Notes: This is basically just a standard Pure Arcane build. Be sure to use the Kos Parasite without a Milkweed rune so that your bare fists actually do damage.
Impostor Iosefka	Waste of Skin	50	9	10	42	8	50	120	Threaded Cane, Repeating Pistol, A Call Beyond, Augur of Ebrietas
Ludwig, the Accursed and Holy Blade	Cruel Fate	50	12	38	25	5	40	120	Beast Claws, Holy Moonlight Sword, Beast Roar
Notes: This one was a blast to make. Beast Claws for phase one, HMS for phase two. Use the Beast’s Embrace rune.
Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower	Professional	50	12	10	40	50	8	120	Rakuyo, Chikage
Notes: Maria’s fight is a tricky one to accurately replicate. The first two phases are just her using the Rakuyo Transformed and Untransformed, which is easy. Then the blood attacks come in, which can be mimicked using the Chikage. Then… the blood coming from the Rakyuo catches fire. That’s harder. Originally I entertained using a Fire converted Rakuyo, but that doesn’t work very well. For maximum kosplay, you can either keep using the Chikage, or swap back to the Rakuyo, then apply Fire Paper.
Witches of Hemwick	Cruel Fate	50	12	10	40	5	49	120	Blade of Mercy untransformed, Messengers Gift, Beast Roar, Executioner’s Gloves
Notes: Mad One Weapons: Burial Blade untransformed.

Old 110 Meta Builds

Name	Starting Class								Equipment
Strength Based
Strength Quality	Cruel Fate	45	20	50	25	5	15	110	All Strength Weaponry
Pure Strength	Cruel Fate	50	25	50	15	5	15	110	Logarius' Wheel, Tonitrus, Hunter Axe, Kirkhammer, Beast Cutter & Cannon
Strength/Arcane Hybrid	Cruel Fate	50	18	50	12	5	25	110	Logarius' Wheel & Tonitrus
Vit Gouge Logarius' Wheel	Cruel Fate	90	18	20	12	5	15	110	Flat arcane gemmed Logarius' Wheel
Skill Based
Skill Quality	Military Veteran	50	20	25	50	9	6	110	All Skill Weaponry (except Chikage & Reiterpallasch)
Pure Skill	Cruel Fate	50	25	10	50	10	15	110	BoM, Reiterpallasch, Simon's Bowblade, Threaded Cane & Burial Blade
Skill / Bloodtinge Hybrid	Lone Survivor	50	17	10	50	25	7	110	BoM, Reiterpallash, Chikage, Rifle spear, Threaded Cane & Evelyn/Repeating Pistol
Vit Gouge BoM	Cruel Fate	90	15	10	25	5	15	110	Flat arcane gemmed BoM
Reiterpallasch / Shield	Military Veteran	50	30	14	50	10	6	110	Reiterpallash, Rifle spear, BoM, Threaded Cane & Wooden Shield/Arcane Shield
Bloodtinge Based
Pure Bloodtinge	Cruel Fate	50	21	10	14	50	15	110	TR Chikage, TR Reiterpallasch, TR Rifle Spear & Evelyn/Repeating Pistol
Bloodtinge / Skill Hybrid	Lone Survivor	50	17	11	25	50	7	110	Chikage, Reiterpallasch, Rifle Spear, flat arcane BoM & Evelyn/Repeating Pistol
Arcane Based
Arcane Quality	Cruel Fate	50	20	20	15	5	50	110	All Arcane Weaponry
Note: All below included Arcane Builds are from Pure Souls group.
Arcane-Strength	Cruel Fate	50	18	25	12	5	50	110	Logarius Wheel, Tonitrus, Kos Parasite, Holy Moonlight Sword
Strength-Arcane	Cruel Fate	50	18	50	12	5	25	110	Logarius Wheel, Tonitrus, Boom Hammer, Amygdalan Arm, Holy Moonlight Sword
Holy Knight	Cruel Fate	45	20	25	25	5	40	110	Ludwig’s Holy Blade
Pure Arcane	Cruel Fate	49	17	10	9	5	70	110	Starter weapons and Kos Parasite
Strength-Skill Fakeout	Cruel Fate	50	25	18	12	5	50	110	LHB and Stake Driver
Skill-Arcane	Cruel Fate	50	20	10	25	5	50	110	BoM, Burial Blade, and Rakuyo

Build / Weapons Planners

Character Planner by Mugenmonkey

Multi-Player Level Range Calculator

Bloodborne Build/Weapon Calculator by SilvardCT

Guides

[Video] How To Make a Build in Bloodborne (Guide) by dangitjm

[Video] Best Build for Beginners (Bloodborne Guide) by dangitjm

[Video] How to Skip Chalice Dungeons and Make Builds Fast (Bloodborne Guide) by dangitjm

The Vileblood Handbook - A Hunter's Guide to Bloodtinge by MyHeartsMistakes

The Arcanist 2.0 - Arcane-ing with The Old Hunters by Sljm8D

Arcane Builds Guide by Pure Souls

Information for best Gems to use for weaponry can be found on Best Blood Gems Setups page

[Video] Bloodborne: Building an "OP as Fuck" Bloodtinge Build in 24 hrs by TopherOGR

[Video] Top Ten Tips For Bloodborne PVP by PvPSkillz

How to Make a Build in Bloodborne [source]

Where Do I Start? So it’s your first time playing Bloodborne. What do you do? When creating a character, the first thing you’re confronted with is your choice of six different starting origins which determine your initial stats. Which one do you pick? Well, on your first runthrough it doesn’t really matter, but I would recommend Military Veteran, since it has good strength, skill, and vitality and leaves Bloodtinge and Arcane low. Which Build Should I Pick? If you’re a first time player, go for what is referred to as a “Quality” build, which is a Strength and Skill Hybrid. This lets you optimize your weapon choices and explore almost anything you want, which is ideal for a newbie. Don’t worry too much about capping your level or being optimized on your first character. If you want to spend a few points into Arcane to try out the Flamesprayer or Old Hunter Bone that's perfectly fine, just don’t level yourself into a corner by spending too many points into unnecessary stats. If you’ve played Dark Souls before and you know whether you like heavy or fast weapons better, choose Strength or Skill accordingly, but be warned that Bloodborne’s combat is much faster paced and mobile than that of Dark Souls, so your favored weapons may change to adapt. Perhaps you’ll want heavier weapons to stagger your enemies to keep them in one place, or use faster, low-stamina weapons for maximum mobility. Builds that focus on Bloodtinge and Arcane as their main source of damage are definitely something to avoid until you have fully explored the game, have researched how to get those characters off the ground, and are confident in your skills, especially Arcane. In the end, the most important thing is experimentation. Try all the weapons you can and then make a build around the playstyle you like the most. How Should I Level Up? There are a few basic rules to leveling in Bloodborne, that, to those new to the Souls games, will be less than obvious. Don’t Level Stats You Don’t Need. This means that if you’re making a physical build, Bloodtinge and Arcane should remain at their base levels. If you’re making an Arcane Strength build, Bloodtinge and Skill should remain at their base (or as close as you can keep them to use the weapons you want), and so on. Learn the Softcaps Softcaps are a concept in Bloodborne and other Souls games that enforces diminishing returns. However, rather than a gradual curve, these returns drop off sharply at set intervals. For Skill, Strength, Bloodtinge and Arcane, the softcaps are 25 and 50, with the maximum for all stats being 99. For Vitality, the softcaps are 30 and 50, and Endurance the only softcap is 40. Upgrading past the second softcap is essentially a waste, and unless your weapon is one of a select few that does not scale with other stats very well (Rakuyo, Blade of Mercy, Whirligig Saw, Amygdalan Arm) reaching the first softcap in the other is more effective than hitting 50 with the main stat. This means that if you’re doing a physical build you’ll usually want to hit 30/15/25/25/minimum/minimum before choosing either strength or skill to specialize in, and invest in Vit whenever you feel like you need more. The second damage softcaps are incredibly severe, with damage per level dropping by a factor of six. The vitality softcaps are the most lenient, and if you have points to spare or are running an uncapped build, investing in vitality past 50 isn’t a terrible decision. Note that if you’re running an arcane build, the softcaps still apply to converted weapons, but the damage of Hunter Tools actually increases per level the higher your arcane goes. These tools don’t have softcaps so much as sweet spots, and they are unique to each one. Endurance Doesn’t Matter If you’ve played Dark Souls, this one will be new to you. In Bloodborne, there is no heavy armor and if you've looked down you'll notice that none of my builds exceed 15 endurance. If you feel like you need/want 20, especially for more stamina demanding weapons like Wheel, Kirk, LHB, or Rakuyo, that's perfectly fine, but more than that is rather wasteful, especially for PvP. Endurance doesn’t see nearly as much of an increase as much as other stats do, to the extent that using a top level stamina rune is equivalent to adding ten whole levels of endurance. In fact, many (if not all) of the weapons in the game are completely viable without needing to level endurance at all. Where Do I Finish? If you’ve looked, most of these builds cap out at Blood Level (BL) 120. Why? Well, the PvP meta is at 120 (though some people like the BL 98 meta), but anywhere from 90-140 will still get matches reliably. More than that won’t really get matches, and under that people either don’t do PvP (willingly, that is) and/or any build at that level isn’t finished. You should finish the base game around 90+, or 105+ if you have the DLC. If you’re running a single stat physical build like Strength or Skill you could take about ten to twenty levels off of this, depending on how confident you are in your ability. What Are The Starting Weapons Like? When you first enter the Hunter’s Dream, you can choose between two firearms and three weapons. The big question is: Which one is right for you? While you can only choose one of each, don’t worry too much about this. You can find an item that lets you purchase all of them from the shop pretty early in the game.

Hunter Pistol: The Hunter pistol fires a single projectile like, well, a normal gun. For a bit of an antiquated firearm, it is quite fast to fire, though its damage (like almost all guns in the game) is negligible. Be aware that in order to hit anything at all (with most any gun, but this one especially) you will need to at least briefly lock on to your target before firing. This can also be used to aggro enemies from range, since your character throws pebbles (and molotovs) like they’re a toddler. Hunter Blunderbuss: This firearm fires pellets like a shotgun in a wide arcing band slightly slower than the pistol. This makes it ideal for dealing with evasive targets, namely other hunters in PvP. While it is not able to reliably aggro or damage targets from range, it is surprisingly responsive and actually can be used to deal some small damage at close range (though this is not recommended) because, well, it’s a shotgun. Threaded Cane: Like all main weapons in Bloodborne, the Threaded Cane transforms between two distinct weapons. The Untransformed version is a small sword-cane. This form is lightning fast, and incorporates plenty of thrust damage (a useful subset of physical damage to which certain enemies are vulnerable), but with the downside of a very short reach. The weapon’s Transformed state is a whip composed of several blades, rather like barbed wire. This form isn’t all that fast (a common misconception), but it consumes little stamina, has good area control, and is serrated, meaning that it deals extra damage to certain large beasts. Overall, this weapon has low rally potential and low damage, (though the speed of the cane can sometimes make up for it) so be careful with it in that regard. Both forms have minimal stagger, but the cane can charge its R2 very quickly so it can be used for that sweet tactical backstab later on. This weapon scales with the Skill stat, reaching a B scaling at maximum upgrade, making it a good choice for builds focused on this stat. Pros: Fast, low stamina use, great area control, serration Cons: Low damage, low stagger, low rally, struggles against bosses Saw Cleaver: The Saw Cleaver is a very unique weapon. It is initially a large serrated blade (rather like a crude oversized meat cleaver) wielded by a long arcing handle connecting to the front of the blade rather than the back. When Transformed, the blade whips out, using the full length of the handle. The untransformed mode is where this weapon really shines. It's good speed, damage, stagger, and fairly low stamina consumption are great, and it comes with a serration bonus to boot. However, the offset to these advantages is that the range is minimal, and there are no lunging thrusts like the cane, forcing the wielder into close range combat. Transformed gains range and stagger but makes big sacrifices in terms of speed. The transformed form’s biggest flaw is its moveset, which consists almost entirely of vertical swings. This weapon has essentially zero crowd control capabilities aside from the very slow R2 which doesn't have great range either. This inability to deal with multiple enemies is a big downside, especially for beginners. However, the L1 transformation attack deals a considerable amount of damage and stagger, and has both speed and range. Pros: Fast, good damage, good stagger, low stamina consumption, serration Cons: No area control, forces fast-paced point blank combat right out the gate, lacking moveset in Transformed mode. Hunter Axe: The Hunter Axe begins as a one handed axe with a gigantic blade, and transforms into a much larger, two handed version. Untransformed has massive stagger, rally and damage, but is slow and has tremendous stamina consumption. Its range is very low and when coupled with its slow speed is a bit tricky to use for beginners, but the charged R2 has insane stagger and damage, and charges relatively fast. Transformed is a truly monstrous two handed axe with massive range, rally, and stagger. Its L2 has good crowd control and it’s charged R2 attack basically turns you into a killer beyblade and will not only stagger but actually send pretty much any enemy that’s not the size of a building flying, and probably just flat out kill any human sized one. The Axe reaches a B scaling in strength at its maximum upgrade level, making it a good choice for Strength-focused builds. Pros: Huge damage, stagger, rally, fantastic range and area control Cons: Heavy stamina consumption, very slow. WARNING: If you use the Axe, you will probably spend most, if not all of your time in its two handed form. You won’t learn how to use your gun, which will be fine at first, but trust me it will come back to bite you in the ass later in the game. This is (in my opinion) objectively the best of the starting choices as a weapon, but unquestionably the worst as a learning tool, which is really what you need when beginning the game. Recommendation? Use the Saw SPEAR. You can get it pretty much immediately, but as an item in the world, not from the shop. The untransformed version has the same great moveset as the cleaver, but the transformed version’s attacks have none of the glaring flaws of its counterpart, and is serrated to boot. It does marginally less damage, but the massive improvement in the transformed state is quite worth it, especially for beginners. Additionally, the spear has better overall scaling, focusing a bit more on skill. In late game, this actually pushes the spear’s damage output past that of the cleaver.

Beginner's guide to Character Building v3 [source]

Introduction In Bloodborne, your character has different stats that can be increased when you level up. If one decides to cap their level at a certain amount, then they'll need to choose the proper stats to invest into : this is called making a build. The reason why one would want to cap their level is simple : Bloodborne's random (i.e. not password) matchmaking is based on your level. The meta is the level range in which most people looking for matchmaking are playing. Bloodborne's meta is widely considered to be Level 120, and this meta level has been chosen because pretty much every builds are viable at this point. Of course, you are free to choose a lower or a higher level to cap to, but you then decrease the odds of finding random online action. This is relative though, as there are still plenty people on all level ranges. Bloodborne Multi-Player Level Range Calculator Bloodborne - Mugenmonkey Choose your weapons In order to choose which stats you want to invest into, you first need to choose which weapon(s) you're gonna main. Indeed, each weapon has two properties: base requirement : minimum stat needed to wield a given weapon bonus attribute : weapon's efficiency scaling on a given stat. The bonus is represented by a letter on the weapon's stats, from worst to best : -, E, D, C, B, A, S. For instance, if you wanna main the Chikage : ► requirement : you need at least 10 Str, 14 Skl, 12 Blt ► bonus : you should invest 10 Str (E), 25 Skl (D), 50 Blt (C) You can find a complete list of weapons and their scaling in the following links : ► Main Weapons ► Offhand Weapons ► Hunter Tools: Arcane Items & Bloodtinge Items Stats We can now take a look at the different stats. The most important thing you need to know is that each stat has various soft caps from where the returns vary (often diminishing) and a final hard cap at 99. a) Defensive stats ► Vitality (Vit) : 30, 50, 99 This is the stat that governs how much Health Points (HP) your character has and his Physical DEF. The first soft cap is at 30 where you'll have 1,100 HP, the second soft cap is 50 where you'll have 1,500 HP and the hard cap at 99 grants you 1,900 HP. Advice : No matter which build you choose to make, it is strongly recommended to get your Vit at 50. Survivability is very important both in PvE and PvP. Investing more than 50 is not advised though, as the returns are almost non existent. ► Endurance (End) : 40, 99 This is the stat that governs both your stamina and your resistances (Physical DEF, Slow Poison RES, Rapid Poison RES). The sole soft cap is at 40 where you'll have 160 Stamina. Going above 40 End will mostly only increase your resistances, and you'll have 170 Stamina once you hit 99 End. Advice : Every builds need some stamina, be it for dodging or for swinging your weapon, so get this one to at least 20 (110 Stamina). You can invest more into it if you have extra points you don't use for your offensive stats. Going above 40 is pointless, as needing to resist S. or R. Poison is very situational and is better done with runes anyway.

b) Offensive stats ► Strength (Str) : 25, 50, 99 Investing in this stat will allow you to main large, heavy weapons. The first soft cap is at 25, after which the returns diminish until the second soft cap at 50. The returns are almost non existent past 50. Advice : Aim for 25 if it is your secondary offensive stat or 50 if you indeed want to specialize in heavy weaponry. ► Skill (Skl) : 25, 50, 99 Investing in this stat will allow you to main quick, light weapons. It is also the only stat that increases your visceral damage (which is also affected by your level and the gems in your weapon). The first soft cap is at 25, after which the returns diminish until the second soft cap at 50. The returns are almost non existent past 50. Advice : Aim for 25 if it is your secondary offensive stat or 50 if you indeed want to specialize in light weaponry. Keep in mind visceral damage can take out a lot (if not all) of an opponent's health. ► Bloodtinge (Blt) : 25, 50, 99 Investing in this stat will focus your weaponry around three weapons : Chikage, Simon's Bowblade, Bloodletter. Other weapons benefiting from this stat are Rifle Spear and Reiterpallasch. It is also the stat that increases damage from Firearms and Madara's Whistle. The first soft cap is at 25, after which the returns diminish until the second soft cap at 50. The returns are almost non existent past 50. Advice : This is an all or nothing stat. In practice, there is no build that would benefit from Blt as being a secondary stat, so it would be a bad idea to have something like 25 Blt. Get it between 05-10 or straight to 50. ► Arcane (Arc) : 25, 50, 70, 99 Arcane is a complex stat, and we will go more into the details with the following section regarding build samples. For now, you should know that on most weapons the Arcane scaling is not taken into account by default. Exceptions to this rule are : Tonitrus, Logarius' Wheel, Amygdalan Arm, Boom Hammer and Holy Moonlight Sword. Blade of Mercy and Burial Blade are also exceptions to this rule, but their Arc scaling is very low and shouldn't be considered if one wants to aim these. Regarding soft caps, damage from weapons have diminishing returns from 25 until 50, above which returns are next to nothing. But damage from Hunter Tools have increasing returns from 25 to 50, then even more from 50 to 70 and again more returns from 70 to 99. Advice : Arcane as a main (primary or secondary) stat is more suited for advanced players as there are hidden mechanics behind it. Nonetheless, it is a very good tertiary stat for Physical builds that could use various Hunter Tools with only 15 Arc : Beast Roar, Empty Phantasm Shell, Messenger's Gift and Old Hunter Bone. Choir Bell too, though it is very situational. Quick tips Choosing an Origin is choosing your base stats, so this is important for min-max purposes. Only two come to mind regarding Lv 120 builds : Cruel Fate with its 05 Blt for all non-Blt builds, and Military Veteran with its 06 Arcane for Blt builds. Offensive stats are the third and least important factor when it comes to damage, preceeded by Upgrade and Gems. The general tip is : first go 30 Vit, then 20 End, then base requirements for your weapon of choice, then 50 Vit, then more End if your build includes it and at the end increase your offensive stats. Visceral damage (riposte) scales off your Skl stat, the gems slotted within your weapon, and your level. Beast Blood Pellets are very broken but will only increase your Physical damage and thus don't work very well with builds oriented towards Bloodtinge or Arcane.

Build Samples

a) Quality Builds I wanted to start with this as it would be my recommendation for a beginner. For one, those are the most efficient builds both in PvE and PvP. Your main offensive stats are the classic physical stats i.e. Str & Skl. There are two ways to do it : ► 25 Str / 50 Skl (Skill Quality) : makes best use of light weapons and visc. damage ► 50 Str / 25 Skl (Strength Quality) : makes best use of heavy weapons 40 Str / 40 Skl (Pure Quality) is bad since you summum neither stats. ► Skill Quality, Level 120: Vit : 50 / End : 25 / Str : 25 / Skl : 50 / Blt : 05 / Arc : 15 Skill Quality notes : it is the one that comes with the more pros (DPS + visc. damage). Of the two quality builds, this would be the easier one to gem as well. For weapons here are the ones that are the most suited for this build : Skl/Str weapons : Saw Spear, Ludwig's Holy Blade, Burial Blade, Beasthunter Saif, Church Pick 15 Arc allows you to use various tools : Beast Roar, Empty Phantasm Shell, Messenger's Gift and Old Hunter Bone. Physical builds also make good use of Beast Blood Pellets and Fire/Bolt Papers. Recommended tools: 1. Beast Blood Pellet / 2. Beast Roar / 3. Empty Phatasm Shell, Fire Paper, Bolt Paper ► Strength Quality, Level 120: Vit : 50 / End : 25 / Str : 50 / Skl : 25 / Blt : 05 / Arc : 15 Strength Quality notes : this build is primarily aimed towards heavy weaponry. But with a Heavy Abyssal gem from Headless Bloodletting Beast, one can convert almost any weapon for a Str build. Here are the ones that are naturally the most suited for this build : Str/Skl weapons : Hunter Axe, Saw Cleaver, Kirkhammer, Stake Driver, Ludwig's Holy Blade, Beast Claw, Beast Cutter, Whirligig Saw As for detailed data regarding Str converted weapons, you can check here : Heavy Abyssal AR at 50str/25skl v2 15 Arc allows you to use various tools : Beast Roar, Empty Phantasm Shell, Messenger's Gift and Old Hunter Bone. Physical builds also make good use of Beast Blood Pellets and Fire/Bolt Papers. Recommended tools: 1. Beast Blood Pellet / 2. Beast Roar / 3. Empty Phatasm Shell, Fire Paper, Bolt Paper b) Pure Skill ► Pure Skill, Level 120: Vit : 50 / End : 35 / Str : 10 / Skl : 50 / Blt : 10 / Arc : 15 This build focuses on Skl and End, so you can pressure your opponent. Skill dedicated weapons : Threaded Cane, Rifle Spear, Blade of Mercy, Reiterpallasch, Rakuyo, Simon's Bowblade 15 Arc allows you to use various tools : Beast Roar, Empty Phantasm Shell, Messenger's Gift and Old Hunter Bone. Physical builds also make good use of Beast Blood Pellets and Fire/Bolt Papers. Recommended tools: 1. Beast Blood Pellet / 2. Beast Roar / 3. Empty Phatasm Shell, Fire Paper, Bolt Paper c) Blt/Skl hybrid If you're interested in Bloodtinge builds, I advise you read the following in-depth guide : The Vileblood Handbook - A Hunter's Guide to Bloodtinge ► Blt/Skl, Level 120: Vit : 50 / End : 25 / Str : 14 / Skl : 25 / Blt : 50 / Arc : 06 There are a few ways to build around Bloodtinge, but this would be the best way to do it. The downside for Bloodtinge builds is the need for OOS Blood% gems (very rare gems) to make the best use of it though normal Phys% also increase Blood damage. Your weaponry should include the following : ► Chikage : both forms (Phys% gems) ► Simon's Bowblade : transformed (Blood% gems) or both forms (Phys% gems) ► Bloodletter : transformed (Blood% gems) ► Evelyn / Pistol : (Blood 31.5%) former most damaging, but some prefer the latter ► Repeat Pistol : (Blood 31.5%) damage/bullet ratio lower than Evelyn but shoots 2 bullets at once ► Blunderbuss (Blood 28.7% +7.3 Blood) : spread shots Decent visc. damage, and Evelyn is a monster when associated with Bone Marrow Ash. It also allows to cheese a lot of Bosses with ranged attacks from both transformed Bowblade and BMA Evelyn. Chikage's transformed state will drain your HP, so you have to manage it. Bloodletter will build up frenzy on yourself so prepare Sedatives and/or Vials when transforming it. Also keep in mind that you have access to Madara's Whistle. Recommended tools: 1. Bone Marrow Ash / 2. Madara's Whistle / 3. Sedatives

d) Arcane builds If you're interested in Arcane builds, I advise you read the following in-depth guide : The Arcanist 2.0 - Arcane-ing with The Old Hunters In order to activate Arc scaling from most weapons, you have to infuse said weapon with an Elemental gem (Arcane/Fire/Bolt). Once you do that, the weapon will lose all its Phys. scaling (Str & Skl) and will scale with Arc instead. Note that you can't do that on weapons that have Bloodtinge scaling. Also, only one Element can be used at a time, so it would be really bad to have gems in your weapons with a mix of different Elements. ► Arc/Str, Level 120: Vit : 50 / End : 26 / Str : 25 / Skl : 14 / Blt : 05 / Arc : 50 This build is not very efficient to be honest, but it's my favorite. With this build, you can innately use the following weapons : Tonitrus, Logarius' Wheel, Amygdalan Arm, Boom Hammer and Holy Moonlight Sword. Blade of Mercy and Burial Blade also have innate Arc scaling, but it is negligeable on these weapons. My personal choice regarding weapons : ► Holy Moonlight Sword : Nourishing gems (I only use it 2H) ► Logarius' Wheel : 2H, Flat Arc gems, only using R2s and dash R1. ► Ludwig's Holt Blade : Arcane elemental ► Church Pick : Fire elemental (always serrated when 2H) ► Kirkhammer : Bolt elemental This build also makes good use of the Hunter Tools, as you can use them all past 40 Arc (A Call Beyond's requirement). Recommended tools: 1. Augur of Ebrietas / 2. Blacksky Eye / 3. Exectuioner's Gloves, A Call Beyond ► Pure Arcane, Level 120: Vit : 50 / End : 23 / Str : 11 / Skl : 11 / Blt : 05 / Arc : 70 You could also trade Vit for Arc as the latter can be pumped all the way to 99 and still give you very good returns : worthless for weapons to go past 50, but tools tend to scale better AFTER 50. Weaponry should include : ► Arcane elemental : Threaded Cane, Kos Parasite ► Fire elemental : Saw Spear, Beast Cutter ► Bolt elemental : Hunter Axe, Beasthunter Saif Recommended tools: 1. Augur of Ebrietas / 2. Blacksky Eye / 3. Exectuioner's Gloves, A Call Beyond Notes I hope this beginner's guide will be useful to you, I wanted it to be a quick and comprehensive guide. There are a few builds I didn't mention as I have no personal experience with them. But I did want to give these two a honorable mention : ► Very Quality build : 47/10/50/50/07/06 => low End for monstruous damage ► Nourishing build : 50/15/50/25/05/25 => best build for Toni, Wheel, HMLS, and Boom (though the low End could be bad especially for HMLS) Didn't go into details regarding blood gems, for that I would recommend the following link : Best Blood Gems Setups

How to make a mule in bloodborne - BL4 Guide [source]

PART 1 - UNLOCKING FRCs - Estimated time: 4 hours 1) Central Yharnam Molotovs Hunter Set Blood Stone Shards Saw Hunter Badge Pungent Blood Cocktails Tiny Music Box (optional) Kill Gascoigne with a +2 Saw Cleaver Strategy: Bloodborne BL4 Boss Guide - Father Gascoigne [READ THE DESCRIPTION] 2) Old Yharnam +3 Saw Cleaver Fire Paper from Alfred Fire Paper in Old Yharnam Beast Blood Pellets Ritual Blood (1) x2 Kill Blood-starved Beast with a +3 Saw Cleaver Strategy: Blood Starved Beast Boss Guide | Bloodborne Speedrun Tutorial 3) Twin Blood Stone Shards Cathedral Ward Hemwick (kill Witches later on with better gems and backstab chain) Hypogean Gaol (Snatcher farming later) 4) Cathedral Ward Radiant Sword Hunter Badge Poison Knives from the alley with to the left of the emblem gate Tempering radial gem before the entrance to Forbidden Woods cummmfpk for consumables 5) Pthumeru Chalice +6 Saw Cleaver Kill Undead Giant Kill Watchers for Pthumeru Root 6) False Depth Runes Oedon Writhe (3) jgn2jkkw - pre lamp bonus room, layer 1 - Visceral ATKs grant QS bullets +3, needed for Keeper of the Old Lords Clockwise Metamorphosis (3) jgn2jkkw - pre boss bonus room, layer 1 Blood Rapture (2) dtx7qxbq - layer 1 - Visceral ATKs restore HP +250, needed for Keeper of the Old Lords Anticlockwise Metamorphosis (3) dgt23fwp - pre lamp bonus room layer 1 Eye (3) p2tbyrh2 - pre lamp layer 1 - mandatory for mob farming Great Lake (3) emhiqpp3 - pre lamp layer 1 (optional) Lake (3) srigzz9m - pre boss layer 1 (optional) 7) False Depth Elemental Gems vq6gvene - waning fire 20.3% to 21.8%, looted from layer 1 pre lamp coffin - save scum for better drop apf4ugyz - wandering madness x2 for radials 22.3% fire/bolt/tempering, pre lamp layer 1 - save scum for the fire radials, farm equipping the fire waning apf4ugyz - brainsucker radials 9.1% phys +67.5 flat arc, pre lamp layer 1 before and inside the treasure room - save scum, farm equipping the fire waning and a fire radial if you dropped one on the way to the treasure room 258eatgn - brainsucker boss (layer 1) for triangle flat arc gem 9.8%temp +32.6 arc 8) Uncanny Saw Cleaver +6/10 462yygcg - loot the weapon from the coffin in layer 1, pre lamp bonus room Snatchers farm for twin blood stone shards in Hypogean Gaol for a +6 - Charge R2 to trigger transformation into charged R2 to the back instead of taking the visceral Kill Witches of Hemwick to use runes - 0 insight, chain backstab strat (2:10:40). Reverse depth chunk farming for a +9 - zh784e7n terrible cursed glyph - Boar as layer 1 boss is the most efficient method for a fast +9, equip Eye (3) and use pungent blood cocktails Blood Rocks - all layer 1, pre lamp bonus room treasure - 6gn7kd3v; csdupmbq; 3xmi7j9r 9) False Depth Tempering Gems rz2xju5h radials 25.3% - Merciless Watcher in pre lamp bonus room layer 1, circular room 258eatgn triangles 25.3% - Merciless Watcher in pre lamp bonus room layer 1, circular room Equip Eye (3) and use the flat arc saw cleaver. Parry into dash L1, dash backwards 10) Undefiled Chalice - FRC Shortcut + Sinister Rite Undefiled Pthumeru Dungeon Follow the document linked above to loot the materials and buy Sinister Root chalices needed to open FRCs, Layer 1 - Keeper of the Old Lords (2:03:18) Strategy: flat arc Cleaver, equip Blood Rapture (2), Oedon Writhe (3) and Anticlockwise (3). Shoot, trigger the backdash double swipe. Parry the second swing, R1 twice. Backdash once. Shoot, trigger the backdash double swipe and repeat. If low on stamina, take the visceral to regain bullets and health thanks to the runes. If second phase occurs, use poison knives. Two will poison the boss. Approach Keeper only when she is running at you, dodge to the right and do a trick attack. Some attacks can’t be punished, wait for the right opening to do so. After FRC access, rapid poison gems can be used as a substitute for flat arc. Layer 2 - Watchdog of the Old Lords for Defiled root Strategy: BL4 Watchdog of the Old Lords vwa6kcqd Layer 3 - Amygdala for Sinister chalices (use flat arc Cleaver) Strategy: Amygdala: A Comprehensive Guide by Arti This boss is needed to obtain the Great Pthumeru Ihyll chalice. Having it in inventory will unlock Ritual Blood (3) and Tomb Mold (3) for purchase, needed to conduct the ritual to make Sinister Lower Pthumeru as it’s the cheapest in terms of materials required to unlock the Sinister rite. It can be bought together with the other needed sinister chalices from the bath messengers in cn6anzq4k, layer 1 pre lamp bonus room. Arcane Haze Extractor - FD Lower Pthumeru (depth 3) ux2bg9mk Layer 1 - Watchers in long room Layer 2 - Extractor in the pre boss bonus room

PART 2 - FARMING FOR MANDATORY GEM SETUPS - Estimated time: 1 hour FLAT ARC GEMS RADIALS - 7ebbmq4z Layer 1 - Brainsucker mob inside the cave to the left, past the lamp drops 9.1% arc +67.5 arc TRIANGLE - q2f8y9fh Layer 1- Brainsucker boss drops 9.8% arc +72.5 arc Use Fire gems. POORMAN RADIALS - e8um2a42 Layer 1 - Watchers in long room (1:16:55 - 1:24:30) Kite the watchers, parry dash L1 with flat arc cleaver. Layer 2 - 2 Labyrinth Spirits for 12.2% Phys. near death + 27% Phys. near death (1:27:00) Fire gems and R1 spam. TRIANGLE - khsva3kx (1:29:29) Layer 1 - Labyrinth Spirit near the lamp drops 12.2% Phys. near death + 27% Phys. near death Fire gems and R1 spam. RAPID POISON RADIALS - n6fbw837 (2:54:06) Layer 1 main area - 2 purple aura scorpions with babies in oil pool for +16.8 RP +14 Flat Arc Use Fire gems/molotovs TRIANGLE - 6g62eurh (3:01:20) Layer 1 pre lamp - 2 purple aura scorpions with babies for +16.8 RP +14 Flat Arc Bosses weak to rapid poison generally have 180 rapid poison defense. Need enough RP to proc in 3-4 hits. BRIEF CHALICE BOSS GUIDES Beast Possessed Soul Near Death gems, Pellets, parry into charged R2 -> L1. Optional: use cocktails to backstab into Charged R2 -> Charged R2 -> L1. Merciless Watchers in stairs arena (1:54:00) Optimal Farm location. Get on the second floor. Will keep the gun watcher a floor above and not shooting you. Same parry strat as before. Gems: either near death or flat arcane work Pthumerian Elder (3:16:24) Rapid Poison Gems. Generally Speaking, dash right, pause, dash right. R1 mash. Every 4th R1 procs rapid poison. Undead Giant, chain variant (1:41:19) Rapid Poison Gems, AI loop. If loop breaks in phase 1, circle counterclockwise and roll to reset. If loop breaks in phase 2, take distance and wait for big swing + chain, then walk in. Will trigger a vertical slam. Roll right and loop is reset Strategy: LVL4 No rolling/sprinting/dashing Undead Giant (Ball and Chain) Watchdog of the Old Lords (3:03:00) Refer to Undefiled Watchdog strat. Blood Starved Beast R1 Mash/Backstab into Visceral with Rapid Poison gems. Loran Silverbeast Fire Gems. Celestial Emissary Rapid Poison gems, every 4th r1 staggers and procs. Ebrietas No. Labyrinth Sage/Madman Near Death Initially. Sneak up for the first backstab. Pungent Blood Cocktail. Charged R2 -> R2. Once a full set of fire madmen gems is obtained, swap to those. HBLB/BLB Very inconsistent due to worm, probably avoid or upgrade mule to 24-30 vit. Use Clockwise (2) and (3), Lake (3) as runes, top hat and executioner set. TL;DR to the fight: stay directly underneath the head and roll the first attack backwards then roll in on the second. When in worm phase strafe diagonally right in or out to avoid worm thrust. Allow the boss to approach you. Abhorrent Beast Near Death Gems. Feel free to poison knife, takes 1 to poison. Pulsing gems (all shapes) urx3wn2n - 5 HP regen/2 sec + 2nd effect Sleeping Beast-Possessed Soul (triangles), can be kited towards Bone Ash Hunter (radials), Logarius Wheel Hunter (wanings). All enemies are close to each other on Layer 1. PART 3 - POST AMELIA GOODIES Anticlockwise (1) in Forbidden Woods Anticlockwise (2) from Patches Clockwise (2) in Nightmare Frontier Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge in Upper Cathedral Ward for buying Beast Blood Pellets Reminder to follow Eileen’s quest line before touching the skull in the Grand Cathedral. Spreadsheet Bloodsheets False Depth Runes list by Hakuno Bloodborne fast build Raw Footage: Part 1, Part 2

Meta PvP Builds Guide By Ithmari [source]

Out of all the builds listed here the most viable and optimal ones are Quality and Str/Qual. These 2 builds are relatively close in terms of power with Quality slightly ahead in terms of damage while Str/Qual sacrifices a bit of damage and Visceral Attack for survival to use BR. Though if you know how to heal then your best choice would be Quality. Both builds have access to Heavy Abyssals as well as Adepts and Visceral Damage giving you access to the majority of the weapons in the game. Only downside for both builds is not having more than 50 Vitality but that doesn’t take away anything from both builds. You can make the strongest build arguments for Str/Skl/Gouge builds but VitGouge is only ever useful if you're host so they fall behind in taking trades with your opponents if they are also on builds that deal Physical Damage with Heavy Abyssals (excluding Tinge Burst Damage and Adepts). These 2 builds suffer a lot just like 2Kat when they're the Invader due to cut-hp and not being able to trade well due to it only upside being the invader is, you might have a chance of surviving a visceral. Str/Gouge though is still higher up than Skl/Gouge because of the damage that you have due to Heavy Abyssals while Skl/Gouge has maximum Visceral Damage over Str/Gouge. Skill/Quality Skl/Qual is a dedicated Reiterpallasch build which works like a lesser Saw Spear with short hitboxes but attached with a gun having the best angle to shoot from as well as having Hyper Armour on every single shot that you shoot with it so you can tank hits and potentially parry your opponent if it is a latent fight so it is a trade-off. A Headshot from a Reiterpallasch will true combo into an Evelyn shot. With Tempering Abyssals as well as Reiterpallasch mash and Gunshot chip damage it makes up for the lack of damage compared to a Quality build. This build unfortunately has low damage due to not having Heavy Abyssals and it's a running trend with any Skill oriented build unfortunately. 2Kat 2Kat is the highest skill ceiling build in the game since it requires you to know match-up knowledge as well as advanced understanding of PvP's mechanics. Even if it is the hardest build to play it is obviously not the best build nor a viable build at the end of the day simply due to how atrocious Chikage's moveset is and relying heavily on Evelyn to do the bulk of the damage which then makes it a passive parry-fishing build. You can try to play aggressively with BR Wake-Ups while managing bullet count but apart from that you won't be getting any unzips (Transform Attack) on your opponent with the weapon's moveset alone at the highest level of play and if your opponent is patient enough once you are out of bullets you won’t have much to threaten the opponent and you’re left with garbage moveset to make the work and your only crutch would be then the burst damage of Chikage but for that to work you have to be the host and have HP advantage (excluding Adepts). LetterGun LetterGun is the better Bloodtinge weapon this game has to offer with solid Tricked Tap R2s and Dash R1s. If you use it with 2H Tech then each Dash R1 will true combo into a gunshot (Dependent on Lat). You can also toggle off the weapon to do a LetterBomb (L2) but to make sure not to get hit by frenzy build-up you must have at least minimum of 180 Frenzy Resistance. Best way to fully optimise this build is to use 2H Gun Tech which allows you to use your off hand while having your main hand is tricked. Not only does this give you a true combo with enough lat but also making sure you have Gun Pressure while also having really good Dash Attacks. Arcane/Bloodtinge Arc/Tinge gets heavily nerfed because of the White Church Set as well as the %5 Great Lake Rune. It's not a hard hitting build but Saif/Chikage combo makes it somewhat decent. Despite being a diverse build it simply doesn’t make enough damage output as much as Physical Damage and tools are obviously a joke with only viable tool being BR. Exe Gloves can work sometimes only if you give them a slight curve to throw some timings off but overall it isn’t the best build. Strength/Bloodtinge Str/Tinge is probably the most versatile build in the game having access to both of the Bloodtinge weapons as well as majority of the weapon roster in the game with only downside being not having access to BR as well as close to none Visceral Damage but the damage output and pressure makes up for it. Pairing in this build is also very strong with Saw Cleaver/Bloodletter or Chikage. You also have access to Gatling Gun as memey as it is the damage you can get off of it is decent and you can Recovery Cancel with it. You also have Evelyn which has amazing chip damage, You have access to Adepts, Bloodtinge Weapons, Almost all the weapons from the roster. Best Hybrid build in the game you can’t go wrong with Str/Tinge.

Skill/Bloodtinge Skl/Tinge is a dedicated Bowblade/Reiterpallasch build with Chikage as its pocket weapon (which is the best way to use Chikage. In a Hybrid build used as a quick burst weapon off a toggle.) Apart from that Reiterpallasch gunshots can get a bit more damage but that's about it and Bowblade can be used as a mash weapon instead if you don’t wish to use Reiterpallasch. This build doesn't have the best damage to offer as well as not having access to BR but some versions of the build does use BR by cutting vitality/tinge for more survival but 40 tinge Chikage isn’t really the best burst option sweet point is definitely 45 if you do want burst damage and you’d ideally want Vitality above or at 45 anything lower is definitely not optimal. Strength/Arcane Str/Arc is a dedicated Logarius Wheel build. It has multi-hit Dash Attacks when tricked and can be used for slow poisoning in high-lat matches for passive damage while keeping up pressure with Wheel that you’d use to damage with. Apart from that you have access to Heavy Abyssals so the only upside compared to Skl/Arc is your Physical Damage simply being better so you can actually challenge with it if wheel doesn’t work for you in said match and downside being in comparison to Skl/Arc is not having any Visceral Damage. Skill/Arcane Skl/Arc is a dedicated BoM (Blade of Mercy) build it has very strong Dash Attacks both Tricked and Untricked with amazing multipliers paired with 21s. It's somewhat versatile with swapping between Converted and Physical weapons but again Physical suffers from not having Heavy Abyssals. Arcane Arcane is pretty much the most garbage build overall in the game due to having really bad damage output as well as how easy it is to lower it’s already bad damage output with %5 Lake Rune and Armour Swapping to Choir Set or any set that has relatively good Arcane Resistance. Apart from that tools are really bad to use as a primary way of dealing damage and you’re pretty much stuck with converted weapons that deal very low damage compared to rest of the builds that use those weapons in Physical Damage forms and this build uses Kos Parasite as it’s main way of dealing Arcane damage and it’s not the best weapon in the game due to being very slow and it just ends up as a Dash Attack weapon and at that point you’re better off with Str/Arc if you do want any sort of Arcane Damage with Dash Attacks. Builds Used By Ithmari: Quality: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58953 Str/Qual: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58954 Skl/Qual: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58950 Str/Gouge: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58956 Skl/Gouge: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58957 2Kat: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/53973 LetterGun: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58955 Arc/Tinge: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/53974 Str/Tinge: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58952 Skl/Tinge: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58951 Str/Arc: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/69848 Skl/Arc: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/58958 Arcane: https://mugenmonkey.com/bloodborne/69849