Best Ash of War for Bleed Samurai – Elden Ring Build Guide
As a proud Samurai adrift in The Lands Between, weaving a tapestry of bloodshed with our elegant katana, it‘s vital our weapons strike true with lethal precision.
While the Samurai draws strength from several powerful Ashes of War, three stand tall as the most devastating skills to augment our flowing blades…
Top 3 Samurai Ashes of War
1. Seppuku – The Blood Oath
- Deals medium HP cost of 12% to empower weapon with bloodflame for 90 seconds
- Grants 49 bonus attack power
- Significantly boosts blood loss buildup by 85
Elden Ring‘s take on the ritual Samurai suicide pact, Seppuku, exemplifies the warrior code of honor at the core of our class. By impaling ourselves on our shining uchigatana, staining the steel crimson and enhancing the thirst of its edge, we take a blood oath that our strikes will wreak destruction.
Empowered by this gruesome rite, the weapons of the Samurai become truly frightening surgical tools carved of rage, tearing enemies asunder in a storm of sanguine agony. Their life essence bursting free to pay tribute to our skill and sacrifice.
At 85 blood loss buildup, this Ash catapults our damage into upper echelons, feeding additional HP chunks to the hungry gale of war with each telling blow.
Seppuku is ideal on rapid attacks like the Uchigatana‘s five hit combo, triggering hemorrhage with alarming frequency. Against malnourished Demi-Human mobs in Limgrave tunnels, proccing the loss rips nearly 80% of their HP away per activation. Even towering Gatefront Tree Sentinels fall victim to this bleed barrage.
Activate Seppuku before engaging then exploit openings using the outstanding range and speed of katana movesets for maximum punishment. I‘ve had over 1300 AR (attack rating) at peak according to in-game stats, decimating health bars.
Truly the stuff of legend…if also incredibly messy. Just be sure to pack extra sushi handrolls to recover the HP sacrificed, stalwart Samurai!
2. Bloody Slash – Sanguine Sever
- Charged horizontal slash emitting a crescent wave of blood dealing 106 damage
- Costs 12 HP per activation
- Also adds 55 blood loss buildup
An elegant yet extremely aggressive Ash, Bloody Slash enhances our armory with a searing crimson arc that screams death with each bellowing roar it makes upon contact.
Glintstone sorceries? Elemental incantations? Such parlour tricks pale in comparison to magic powered by severe arterial spray and ironclad will.
Much like Seppuku, Bloody Slash bolsters our lethality tremendously, generating copious blood loss in addition to its impressive standalone damage. Against mid-sized foes, getting off just four activations can induce hemorrhage. The numbers tune even higher after imbuing my keen uchigatana with greases that improve attack efficiency.
Favoring an aggressive rejection of defense in favor of total carnage, I‘ll frequently rush headlong into packs of enemies, triggering Bloody Slash continuously to reap life force, heal via rally, and build my timid spirit emboldened by the shower of sanguine reward. Such joyous slaughter!
The 12 HP activation cost is inconsequential with so much HP to reclaim from my flatten foes. It becomes a cycle of driving death–I bleed to make my enemies bleed even MORE. Not to mention the brilliance of stunlocking colossal horrors like the Abductor Virgins via repeated bloody gashing.
Bloody Slash offers a key transformation all Samurai should indulge in. From loyal warrior to angel of annihilation directed by divine crimson fate. Now come, enemy hordes, and let us paint the grounds a new shade of red!
3. Corpse Piler – Rapture of Violence
- Iconic skill of the legendary Rivers of Blood katana
- Samurai unleashes lethal five hit combo dashing between all nearby targets
- Each strike deals roughly 550 damage totaling 2750 damage per activation
- Costs 24 HP to activate but restores health via rally mechanic
- Absolutely disgusting 130 blood loss buildup
If Bloody Slash and Seppuku were brush strokes of violence wrought in blood, then Corpse Piler is the resulting avant garde canvas framed in sinew and bone.
By acquiring the equally sublime and terrifying Rivers of Blood katana hidden below Leyndell, capital city shrouded in golden erdtree boughs, the Samurai can attain previously unknown levels of damage…for a price.
Nothing exemplifies the intoxicating high and dreadful lows of wielding this weapon quite like Corpse Piler. Activating it mid combat is akin to a berserker‘s fugue state. Any semblance of sanity collapses before the hypnotic dance of our warped, web-like blades carving five sublimematory gashes into surrounding enemies per input.
Health bars recede rapidly from the 550 damage strikes while the copious blood spatter triggers rampant hemorrhage, restoring the 24 HP spent to use the skill and then some. Quick successive taps nets thousands of damage rapidly. I‘ve destroyed end-game Claudia in mere seconds relying solely on Piler. She managed two attacks the entire time, both dodged mere milliseconds before my blades found purchase again.
It‘s macabre yet shockingly graceful. An elegant synchronization of hyper-charged violence no other class can match…nor would most even try, frankly. The Forlorn Samurai bounds between targets to the cadence of organ concourse, hungry steel forever yearning for that next supreme moment of release as it pounds away.
Corpse Piler represents the ultimate realization of the bleed Samurai‘s gruesome desires fully unmasked and set loose upon the world. Cautionary whispers of concern for one‘s very humanity fading away beneath cries of agonized foes added to the pile…of corpses.
Best Weapons For Samurai Ashes of War
While most any katana benefits from the top Ashes here, three weapons stand above their peers as ideal vehicles…
Uchigatana
- Starting weapon showcasing tremendous speed with 132 critical damage
- Scales equally with Strength and Dexterity
- Has 55 blood loss build up
- Moveset mixes fast flurries with evasive dodging
The Uchigatana is iconic, if often underrated as players rush to grab fancier options. But for sheer critical damage tied to Great Rune boosts that also proc status effects, it‘s my go-to right up until end game.
It lacks the raw attack power of late-game katana but has outstanding utility for racking up blood loss quickly. Against sizable targets or bosses with elongation health bars, the Uchigatana can chip away aggressively using Seppuku and Bloody Blade while dodging most retaliation.
The quick five hit combo is perfect for weaving in and out between enemy bombardments in PvE while controlling space. And the punchy charge strong attack allows for catching roll spamming foes in PvP with precise timing for massive counter damage after they whiff.
It may seem plain next to the flashy gimmicks but the Uchi gets it done and looks stylish doing so!
Moonveil
- Split magic/Dex scaling with S ranks when fully upgraded
- Strong attack unleashes arc of 530 magic damage + 200 physical
- The Transient Moonlight shreds foes weak to magic
- Moveset mixes wide slashes with magic projectiles
Upon delving into the Gaol of Caelid and laying low the vile Magma Wyrm, the Samurai can loot this mythic weapon of legend. Imbued with cosmic Int from the darkest night and honed sharp by masters of the blade.
brandish, we tear open reality itself to glimpse the vast cosmicsea and grasp hold of its primordial essence made kinetic.
Moonveil‘s magic aspect enables dealing respectable damage even to heavily armored enemies, complemented further by boosting Intelligence to around 20-25. Enchanted armor stands far less chance defending the surging powers drawn from the reticent moon than common steel.
It lacks Rivers‘ total face-melting damage but offers more flexibility. Transient Moonlight catches players off guard in PvP, whereas spamming Corpse Pilar becomes increasingly predictable. Against magic resistant enemies that require more patience, Moonveil provides.
Plus who doesn‘t enjoy swinging blades wreathed in stellar teal and fuschia while enemies comes apart at the seams? Pure weeb power fantasy achieved!
Rivers of Blood
- Highest attack rating among katanas when upgraded fully
- Innate 55 bleed stack and absurd 40 arcane scaling by +10
- Corpse Piler melts ALL bosses and enemies weak to hemorrhage
- The undisputed string cheese weapon of Elden Ring PvP right now
We‘ve covered the delirious highs of wielding this mythic weapon already above when discussing the raw carnage promised by Corpse Piler. Now let‘s talk cold metrics.
At +10 upgrade, Rivers has a staggering 676 attack rating on my 70 Dex/50 Arcane bleed build, not accounting for enemy weakness multipliers and the significant hp chunk damage hemorrhage provides.
In long, lingering boss fights, Corpse Pilar allows a constant offensive, whereas less OP weapons rely on patience, attacking only at key openings between enemy onslaughts.
Rivers erases the concept of moderation in favor of thousand cut supremacy. All the while healing back damage taken with rally to further enable aggression. Rivers wants you up close and personal inside the enemy‘s grillpiece until they fall.
And frankly, NOTHING punishes groups quite like it, rapidly dancing between all targets to stack hemorrhage across whole mobs that then detonate in sequence like a vile Orchestra of Evisceration.
Git gud casuls or get got by this outstanding engine of annihilation without equal. Mandatory for any true Master Samurai.
Now I‘ve surely given you ample theory and testimony on why these are the most lethal Ashes around. So quit dallying and begin your journey to become Elden Lord one severed vein at a time! Glory awaits us both!
