Status effects have a long history in games. We've got some of the oldest such as poison, instant death, and the like. Maybe we bring in a few more elements and have paralysis, frozen, and burning. FromSoftware is no stranger to these either, and though its games don't have the widest variety of them, they've some unique aspects.
For example, bleeding. It would be fair to assume bleeding would be dealing damage over time, but no. In Soulsborne games, bleeding is like hitting an artery, with a massive splash of blood and instant HP loss. In Elden Ring, blood loss suddenly becomes an entirely viable playstyle with great variety - and can be incredibly powerful.
9 Best-In-Class Weapons
Like any reasonable assumption, you need something sharp to cause blood loss, and physical weapons are the best place to start. Plenty of good options exist, and even though katanas are typically viewed as the greatest weapons for blood loss, Elden Ring gives you a few more options than that.
Starting off is the Reduvia dagger. It causes good blood loss and has a unique ranged blood loss skill. Then there's the Cross-Naginata, a spear with a unique moveset and innate blood loss. The Hoslow's Petal Whip has great range in addition to blood loss. But the real winner is Rivers Of Blood, with split fire and physical damage, strong blood loss, and a unique weapon skill that's fast and damaging.
8 Good Dexterity Weapons
A major part of Elden Ring is meant to be diversity. Maybe best-in-class isn't what you're looking for, but rather something fun with the added benefit of blood loss. As is the case with most Soulsborne games, blood loss mainly comes in dexterity weapons, so there's quite a wide selection.
If you're looking for something a bit unconventional, there's Varré's Bouquet, a hammer that deals blood loss and has higher dexterity scaling than typical hammers. Most flails come with blood loss too with decent stagger to boot. Eleonora's Poleblade is also great for the high number of hits, building up blood loss at speed.
7 Good Strength Weapons
Though more unconventional a choice for blood loss, there are a few strength weapons that come with the trait. Though slower attack speed isn't a great combo to counter the falloff of blood loss buildup, it can be a great additive on top of the higher damage of most strength weapons.
The Morning Star is great, dealing blood loss to fleshy enemies while demolishing sturdier enemies without. The Spiked Club falls into a similar place, and can even get an A in arcane scaling with an Occult infusion. Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear is a good choice too, dealing slow, heavy attacks, but has a weapon art that causes blood loss and coats your weapon in bloodflame.
6 Powerstancing
Darks Souls 2 has quite the reputation amongst the entries of the Souls series, but one great feature it did add was powerstancing. Though poorly explained, it allowed you to wield two similar weapons at once, gaining a new moveset and higher damage. This great feature returned in Elden Ring, vastly streamlined.
Like any status effect, it helps to build it up as fast as possible. The thing with powerstancing is that it reduces the power of individual attacks, but not things like blood loss. So while powerstancing, you're dealing double the blood loss at once. As a pure physical build, there's basically no downside to this.
5 Arcane And Endurance Stats
One of the major aspects that defined the Soulsborne leveling experience is how each attribute has a genuine feel of noticeable growth behind it, not fractional increases in damage or defense. And though the effect of the stats can change in each game, they overall are similar.
Endurance in Elden Ring increases your stamina and equip load. Hold more and heavier things, and put up the fight for longer. Having high stamina means you can keep up your combos as long as possible. Arcane takes the place of luck from previous games, though now also is featured for scaling, and most blood-based weapons and occult infusion scale off Arcane.
4 Talismans And Ashes Of War
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Replacing the rings of previous games are Elden Ring's talismans, functioning identically. There are very few talismans directly related to blood loss, though some help. The Lord Of Blood's exultation increases your damage with every instance of blood loss, while the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia increases damage with each successive hit, helpful if the blood loss doesn't finish an enemy off.
Another great tool at your disposal is the Ashes of War, skills that you can attach to non-unique weapons. There are four Blood Ashes of War: Blood Tax - essentially an improved repeating thrust that steals HP, and deals blood loss; Seppuku - adding increased damage and blood loss; Blood Blade - basically turning any weapon into Reduvia; and Bloody Slash - hitting in a wide arc and dealing massive damage, though doesn't deal blood loss itself.
3 Certain Armors
Elden Ring, so lovingly called Elden Bling, has an incredible selection of armor and clothing for you to accessorize in, to a degree that may be detrimental to your health. But who cares about that when you look fashionable. But more than their defenses, some pieces come with unique effects.
Once again, it can come down to playstyle a lot here, whether you want the Black Knife set to complement stealth, or the Raptor's Black Feathers for jumping attacks. But a piece that is absolutely essential is the White Mask, which increases your damage by 10 percent when blood loss occurs, and stacks with similar effects.
2 Blood Incantations
In previous games, most faith spells - miracles - were seen as buffs and support aside from the lightning miracles. In Elden Ring, their replacements of incantations have much greater variety, allowing you to choose from various schools of incantations to diversify your playstyle.
And of course, the Lord of Blood's incantations are essential. Bloodflame Blade is great for the added bleed and extra fire damage, Bloodboon can be used to strike groups or make areas dangerous for other players to touch, Bloodflame Talons has great stagger on it while dealing blood loss, and Swarm of Flies track relentlessly, dealing high damage and blood loss.
1 Double Down With Spirits
But of course, another great aspect of the game is the Spirit Ashes, little buddies you can summon in certain areas to help you handle tough enemies. Or if you just want a friend by your side. There's a whole bunch to choose from, though it may not always be obvious exactly what they do.
For one, the Mimic Tear is great. It's just a carbon copy of you with unlimited use for hot-keyed items. Fanged Imps can also work wonders, keeping up blood loss while you take a step back. Bloodhound Knight Floh does his own thing but deals good blood loss. Omenkiller Rollo burns, bleeds, and has a great health pool, a fine companion to a blood build.