As part of the Soulsborne genre that started on PlayStation 3 but really came to prominence during the PlayStation 4 generation, Bloodborne is a jewel in Sony's third-party crown. Punishingly difficult, yet more accessible than the Souls games, Bloodborne places a premium on aggressive action rather than plodding, careful combat.
The game does, however, share its heritage of massive beasts and close-quarters combat with its brethren. How successfully these encounters turn out has everything to do with how you build your character, especially if you are a beginner in this daunting universe. This includes not only the beginning class (Origin) and initial weapon choices but how you choose to increase your stats when you gain the ability to level up. Nailing the right character build is vital to give you a potential edge. Here's what you need to know to get the advantage you'll require for survival.
Updated on April 14, 2022 by Ritwik Mitra: Bloodborne is one of the greatest games in FromSoftware's library. Even the massive and popular release of Elden Ring hasn't stopped hardcore fans from singing praises about this game. The fast-paced combat and amazing lore make for two of Bloodborne's biggest strengths, and many people bought a PS4 mostly to play this amazing title. For newcomers who want to get into Bloodborne, here are some extra tips to make the early game easier.
15 Benefits Of A Hybrid Build
Dumping all your points into a few stats might be fine, but we recommend that you invest in a single combat skill so that specialization is less complicated and damage is optimized. However, beginners don't necessarily need to adhere to this advice.
After all, hybrid builds are extremely powerful in the game and can decimate even the strongest enemies around. As long as you have a proper end goal and know what weapon you'll use till the endgame, a hybrid build can definitely work in your favor.
14 What Playstyle To Opt For
Bloodborne is a game that prioritizes quick reaction skills and aggressive combat. As a result, it becomes important to adhere to this style, although that doesn't mean you don't have any freedom to try out other playstyles.
With sufficient investment in Arcane or Bloodtinge, you can definitely use a build that prioritizes ranged attacks as well! This is just the cusp of what you can accomplish, although you'll need to decide on a playstyle early on so that you don't gimp your character further down the line.
13 Blood Gems
Blood Gems are weapon augmenters that add a bunch of passive benefits to the weapon that you're wielding. It can range from a damage boost to a rally bonus and everything in between.
Some Blood Gems also add magical effects to a weapon, but be wary about using these upgrades. This is because they switch a weapon's scaling to Arcane, which can render your build useless if you have no idea what you're doing.
12 Caryll Runes
Caryll Runes are powerful tools that you can equip on your person to enjoy a slew of benefits. The idea of having more Blood Vials, Quicksilver Bullets, or just having high-damage visceral attacks is enough to sell this upgrade.
You will find several Caryll Runes over the course of your journey, so it's important to frequent the Hunter's Dream and mix and match these ruins whenever you get the chance. With the proper build, a combination of the best Caryll Runes can turn you into a damage-dealing machine.
11 Armor
Those who love Dark Souls know just how important armor is in this game. It's the difference-maker between a light punch and a one-hit kill, so you need to wear armor that gives you the protection you desire while also measuring how heavy your character becomes as well.
Equip Load is a mechanic that is absent from Bloodborne, and armor isn't really all that important in the game either. You should care more about the aesthetics of the armor you're wearing over the resistances they provide, due to how meager they are in the grand scheme of things.
10 Origin
Just like most RPG's, the journey in Bloodborne truly begins with the creation of your character. This game does it a bit differently, in that Class selection is done via a brief Origin story, with the character's stats arranged in a way that supports the stated background. For a beginner build, relying on physical attacks makes the most sense, as it requires the least amount of knowledge about the game's somewhat deeper magical systems and buffs. The game also rewards aggressive, decisive action in combat, making melee combat a good path regardless of experience level.
That said, an Origin heavy with allocation in Endurance and Strength is a good choice. The importance of each individual stat will be explained further, but just know that these two stats are the most important for using and dealing damage with physical weapons. Vitality (health) is important, but healing won't be the biggest worry in Yarnham, so starting with high stats there isn't as important.
The "Violent Past" Origin gives the highest Strength, a mid-high Endurance, and correspondingly the lowest Arcane and Bloodtinge stats of any Origin. This allows for heavy weapons to be yielded with good stamina for multiple swings to take out most basic enemies. Points are not wasted on the magical abilities that will not come much into play in this build. Alternately, concerns over health can be assuaged with the "Lone Survivor" Origin, which sacrifices some of the Strength to bump up Vitality, while still keeping Bloodtinge and Arcane low.
9 Vitality
Vitality is health in Bloodborne, and the value of the stat affects how much health the character begins the game with. This should not be the first consideration for a beginner build, as the Blood Vials (in-game health recovery) are relatively plentiful in the early going. They can also be purchased in the Hunter's Dream, so farming for them in Central Yarnham is an easy affair once comfortable with the combat basics.
Feeling nervous about how many hits can be suffered is normal for first-timers in Yarnham's horrific halls, though, so the Lone Survivor origin allows a bit more comfort if that is the case.
8 Endurance
Endurance here is akin to stamina in other games, crucially governing how many times the character can dodge or swing their weapon before tiring and becoming vulnerable to attack.
A high Endurance stat in the Origin will allow you to defeat most basic enemies in the early going without opening themselves up to a counterattack while recovering. Getting in close, swinging away aggressively, and dodging back out is a solid strategy for most enemies in Central Yarnham, and an Origin that prioritizes Endurance will make that all the easier.
7 Strength
The Strength stat determines how much damage is done by physical attacks. It is also very important later in the game, where many weapons require a certain strength level to even be wielded by the character. As one might suspect, those weapons are also the ones that deal the most physical attack damage, so the beginner build which prioritizes Strength puts you in a good position both early and late.
In the early going, the damage done is the most crucial aspect, as it pairs with Endurance to allow dispatching basic enemies with one set of swings. Later, when the bosses get bigger and uglier, those high-Strength weapons will be a sight for sore eyes.
6 Skill
Skill determines speed and effectiveness with physical attack weapons, and pairs with Strength to determine the overall effectiveness of weapons.
Each weapon has a rating for Skill and Strength, from S (highest) through E. The higher the ranking, the more each weapon benefits from stat boosts in those two categories. So a high Skill stat not only gives you more speed with which to inflict damage, but it also sets you up to make your weapons more effective in the later stages of the game.
5 Bloodtinge & Arcane
Bloodtinge is a stat relating to weapons that use Quicksilver bullets. This stat, like Skill, scales with weapons that have a Bloodtinge rating. Arcane, similarly, governs a weapon's Arcane attack rating, influencing the damage that weapon can do.
Both of these stats fall outside what the beginner's build is concerned with, as they primarily influence magical weapons instead of the physical damage weapons that beginners should prioritize. Hence the choice of Origins minimizes the points that are allocated to both of these stats.
4 Trick Weapon
Once your character has been created, the game begins in earnest. Very quickly upon awakening in the world, a wolf-like monster encounter will result in the player's death. This results in a trip to the Hunter's Dream, where the player will be offered two things. One of those is the Trick Weapon, the initial melee combat weapon you will use to slaughter the earliest monsters in Yarnham.
There is a choice of three: the Saw Cleaver, Threaded Cane, and Hunter Axe. For the beginner, the Saw Cleaver offers an excellent balance between power and speed and is the perfect starting weapon. It also only needs the Right hand to wield it, leaving the left hand open for the other type of starting weapon.
3 Firearm
After receiving the Trick Weapon, you will be offered a choice of two different firearms. Unlike most games, firearms in Bloodborne aren't specifically designed for damage, they are more for stunning the enemies in the service of landing devastating physical attacks.
The Hunter Pistol is a single-shot weapon that deals a good amount of damage but requires more skill to stun the enemy. The Hunter Blunderbuss, on the other hand, does significantly less damage but fires a spread shot that is much more effective at stunning.
The beginner needs to choose the Blunderbuss, increasing the likelihood of a stun which will make defeating early enemies and bosses much less difficult.
2 Leveling Up Early In The Game
Early on in the game, you will encounter the game's first boss, the Cleric Beast. At this time, you'll receive Insight, which opens up stat progression for the character. Once this happens, all the Blood Echoes that are received from dispatching monsters can be used to purchase level upgrades for the stats involved with character creation.
Beginners will want to pour those echoes into Skill and Endurance, opening up the punishing high-level physical weapons and maximizing the damage they can do with their associated ratings for these two skills.
1 Don't Forget To Upgrade Weapons
Speaking of weapons, it's easy to forget that they can be upgraded just like stats can be leveled up. These upgrades require the spending of Blood Echoes too, along with other items such as Blood Stone Shards.
Once the requisite materials are gathered, the workbench inside the hut in the Hunter's Dream is where the work gets done. Fortifying the weapons increases the damage they can deal and opens up the Blood Gem slots each one possesses as well. That gets into the Arcane stat that this build doesn't so much deal with, but if Blood Gems happen to find their way into your inventory, so much the better.