Fellow Hunters, Heed this Bloodborne Blood Guide to Survive the Hunt

If you‘ve found yourself crushed by massive beasts, overwhelmed by violent mobs, or trembling in fear of the unknown in the gothic world of Bloodborne – listen close. The key to overcoming the challenges of Yharnam lies in understanding the vital role of blood. Which type you collect, how much you store, and when you inject it into your hunter‘s veins can mean the difference between a gruesome death and earning enough Blood Echoes to strengthen your arsenal.

So whose blood should you take in Bloodborne? Here‘s a full breakdown:

Adella the Nun‘s Blood Reigns Supreme

While you may come across vials of blood from various sources in Yharnam, the purest form for restoring your hunter‘s health comes from Adella the Nun. If you make the choice to send Adella to Oedon Chapel after rescuing her, she will gratefully provide you with her blood which offers the following benefits:

• Instantly restores 600 HP upon injection
• Grants regeneration effect for 45 seconds, healing 40 HP per tick

This outpaces what you get from the basic Blood Vials found on enemies or the upgrade from Arianna‘s blood. And speaking of Arianna…

Beware the Dangers of Arianna‘s Blood

The mysterious Arianna, found in the sewers of Old Yharnam, also rewards you with her blood if you offer her Oedon Chapel as sanctuary. At first glance, this temping blood vial seems superior, healing for 700 HP initially and also increasing stamina recovery speed for 20 seconds.

However, partaking too much of Arianna‘s blood comes with a lethal cost. If you collect 3 or more of Arianna‘s blood, Adella will fly into a murderous rage the next time you visit the chapel. And say goodbye to ever acquiring Arianna‘s Umbilical Cord if Adella succeeds in killing her.

To avoid this, simply remove any of Arianna‘s blood from your inventory and only take Adella‘s blood moving forward. Or limit yourself to only 2 of Arianna‘s blood vials before switching. Either method keeps both NPCs alive and well for furthing quest lines.

Top Up Your Storage with Standard Blood Vials

While Adella‘s blood works nicely as your primary method for health restoration, it doesn‘t hurt to keep stocked up on the basic Blood Vials that frequently drop from Yharnamite and beast enemies. These vials heal for +400 HP instantly, without any regeneration buff. But they are extremely common and easy to farm if you run low.

Equip the Moon or Heir runes to boost the blood vial drop rate, and farm away at Central Yharnam, Forbidden Woods, or the Lecture Hall. You can store up to 20 Blood Vials for fast use, then bank another 600 for reserves in the Hunter‘s Dream storage. That prepares you to take on any boss or invade the most treacherous dungeon knowing ample blood awaits.

Boss Blood Echoes Reward Your Survival

Now let‘s get to the heart of progression with those essential Blood Echoes you claim from fallen foes. Bosses reward a glut of echoes – but only if you emerge victorious. To give insight into the major echo payouts from notable bosses:

As you progress through the game and repeatedly challenge areas, you can quickly build up hundreds of thousands of precious blood echoes. Which brings me to a critical tip…

Regain Your Lost Blood Echoes

When you die (and die you shall), drop all your current blood echoes at the spot of your gory demise. If you can reach that same area and touch your blood stain without perishing again along the way, you regain every last echo.

Tip – equip the Moon rune to give you more time before the stain disappears. Or utilize the Hunter rune to greatly reduce damage taken after revive, helping rush back without a scratch.

However, there are two locations where blood stains disappear instantly:

1. Hunter‘s Dream/Waking World Transition: Always spend echoes on level ups, gear, etc. before this shift
2. Lecture Hall Nightmare Slain: Echoes lost forever if the bell maidens revive enemies

So invest those echoes promptly and avoid team wipes in this treacherous hall to not shed tears over lost progression.

Transform Weapons with Fortified Blood

While we‘re on the topic of progression, let‘s cover one of the most satisfying elements of Bloodborne – strengthening your weapons with Blood Stone Shards. These items reinforce your Trick Weapons up to +10, increasing damage, scaling, and letting you shred through beasts with ease.

Farm them as drops from tough enemies or discover them as treasures littered across the world. Every upgrade level makes a major difference. Here‘s a look at the Blood Stone Shard progression:

Don‘t neglect reinforcement – pumping blood gems into a +0 weapon yields far less returns than boosting damage this way first.

Oh yes, those wondrous blood gems deserve their own section…

Empower Weapons and Garb with Blood Gems

Looted as rare drops from bosses and powerful enemies, Blood Gems provide the most potent way to amplify your armaments and attire. Equipping these gems in slots on your gear adds major attribute bonuses. Effects ranging from:

• Physical/Elemental Attack
• Damage Type Conversion
• Critical Hit Damage
• Increased Stamina Cost Reduction
• Raise Resistance to Slow Poison, Frenzy, etc.

While random, the best blood gems reward exploration of Chalice Dungeons – granting around 15-20% buffs. Every build relies on the right combination of Blood Gem effects to maximize damage output against certain enemies. This fuels the depth and theorycrafting that gives Bloodborne such high replay value.

The Old Blood Beckons, Good Hunter

As one sees, blood fuels nearly everything of worth in the world of Bloodborne – healing the player, empowering weapons, unlocking secrets through cords and runes, and building the strength to overcome the greatest challenges. I hope this guide gives you insight into managing blood to get the most of it during the hunt.

May the good blood guide your way, dear hunter. And do let me know if you have any other questions before embarking on this deadly journey! Fear the old blood.