The Lands Between is open, but the spine runs through six Great Runes held by demigods. Break Stormveil, Raya Lucaria and enough of the rest, kill Morgott, ride the Grand Lift of Rold, and burn the Erdtree to descend into Crumbling Farum Azula and the finale against Radagon & the Elden Beast. For a bleed Samurai the through-line is your katana: from the Uchigatana to Rivers of Blood and the Seppuku Ash of War. First Hours is the spoiler-light bleed setup; Full Progression is the spoiler-structured walkthrough with every boss, Great Rune and missable; Leveling is the Dex/Arcane stat plan. Every tick saves on this device as you go.
Start Samurai: you begin with the Uchigatana (innate bleed) and a Longbow. Grab the Whetstone Knife at Gatefront Ruins (first 15 min), reforge your katana to Blood affinity, and stack hemorrhage with jump attacks and running hits. Pick up the Reduvia dagger (Murkwater) and start Yura's questline for the Nagakiba. Level Vigor first, then Dexterity. Rivers of Blood is the endgame goal: early bleed katanas get you there.
Light. Covers early Limgrave and names your first couple of bosses only. For the full route + live checklist use the Full Progression tab; for the stat plan, Leveling.
Tally your opening hours as you go. Items marked ↔ shared also live on the Full Progression tracker: tick them in either place and both stay in sync.
Bleed (hemorrhage) is a status buildup, not raw damage. Every hit with a bleed weapon adds to a hidden meter on the target; when it fills, it procs: a burst of damage equal to a percentage of the enemy's max HP. Against big health bars and bosses, that percentage burst is enormous, which is why bleed melts things Strength builds chew on for minutes.
- Buildup wants fast, frequent hits. Katanas, daggers and dual-wielding proc bleed quickly. Jump attacks and running R1s land big chunks of buildup.
- Arcane raises buildup on Blood- and Occult-affinity weapons: that's why a bleed build eventually invests in Arcane (see the Leveling tab). Early, your innate-bleed katana is enough.
- Blood affinity (applied with the Whetstone Knife at any Grace) trades some physical scaling for much higher bleed buildup: the simple, strong early choice.
When bleed procs you'll see a red splash and a damage number pop off the enemy: that's your cue to keep pressure so the meter refills for the next one.
Samurai is the bleed start: you spawn with the Uchigatana (innate bleed), a Longbow for pulls, and solid Dexterity. The first job is turning that katana into a bleed machine.
- Whetstone Knife: in a chest at Gatefront Ruins (western Limgrave, right by the first big grace). It unlocks Ashes of War and lets you change weapon affinity at any Site of Grace.
- Reforge the Uchigatana to Blood affinity for maximum early hemorrhage. (You can keep the Samurai's default skill or swap in something like Unsheathe.)
- Torrent (your horse) and the Spirit Calling Bell come from Melina after a couple of graces: grab summons early; the Mimic Tear later is a bleed-build all-star.
| Weapon | Where (early) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Uchigatana | Samurai start (or Deathtouched Catacombs) | Innate bleed, fast, great with Blood affinity. Your main from minute one. |
| Reduvia | Murkwater Cave (Bloody Finger Nerijus) | Bleed dagger with a ranged blood art: superb early off-hand / opener. |
| Nagakiba | Bloody Finger Yura's questline | Longest katana reach in the game; ideal main or dual-wield partner. |
| Bloodhound's Fang | Weeping Peninsula (Darriwil evergaol) | Bleed greatsword with a fantastic built-in skill: a great safety net. |
Once you have two katanas, holding them two-handed (power stance) lets you unleash rapid L1 flurries that stack bleed incredibly fast. Great against big targets.
Guards the road into Stormveil at the top of Stormhill. He's a skill check: learn to dodge into his delayed swings. If he's too much, go explore Limgrave/Weeping for a few levels and gear (bleed still procs on him). The Margit's Shackle item (from a merchant near the coast) stuns him twice.
End of Stormveil Castle, and your first Great Rune. Bleed shreds his big health bar: stay at his flank, punish after his grafted-axe combos, and watch the dragon-head breath in phase 2. Summon a Spirit Ash to split his attention. Godrick (wiki)
After Godrick, Liurnia and the Academy open. Switch to Full Progression for the spoiler route + checklist (with every bleed-gear pickup flagged), and Leveling for the Vigor → Dex → Arcane plan.
Vigor first (40 → 60), enough Endurance for a medium roll, a little Mind for skills, then your damage: Dexterity to ~80 and Arcane to ~45 for bleed buildup (up to 60 for max bleed). Meet weapon requirements (Rivers of Blood = 12 STR / 18 DEX / 20 ARC). Late game, your +25 weapon and talismans matter as much as levels. First-run target: roughly RL 125–150.
Tick each breakpoint as you hit it. Items marked ↔ shared also appear on the First Hours startup checklist: tick either and both stay in sync.
For a Dex/Arcane bleed Samurai, three stats do the heavy lifting (Vigor, Dexterity, Arcane) and three are support (Mind, Endurance, Strength).
| Stat | Priority | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigor | ★★★ | 40 → 60 | HP. The stat that stops you dying to combos. Soft caps at 40 and 60. |
| Dexterity | ★★★ | toward 80 | Primary damage for katanas. Soft caps around 55 and 80. |
| Arcane | ★★★ | 45 → 60 | Raises bleed buildup on Blood/Occult weapons and scales Rivers of Blood. 45 is the bleed soft cap; 60 for max. |
| Endurance | ★★ | ~25–30 | Stamina + equip load. Just enough to stay in a medium roll with your armor. |
| Mind | ★ | ~15–20 | FP for weapon skills (Seppuku, Corpse Piler) and Ashes of War. |
| Strength | ★ | ~18–25 | Only enough for weapon requirements and a little two-hand scaling. |
| Int / Faith | - | base | Not needed for a bleed build. Leave them alone. |
Blood = simplest, most bleed, less physical scaling: great early. Occult scales physical damage with Arcane and is worth it once your Arcane is high (≈45+). On a Dex-primary run, Blood is the easy default.
A clean order for a first bleed run:
- Vigor to ~40 as your top priority through Limgrave/Liurnia: survival first.
- Endurance up until you're at a comfortable medium roll with your gear.
- Mind to ~15 so you can actually use Seppuku / weapon skills.
- Dexterity as your main climb (toward 80), meeting weapon reqs on the way.
- Arcane to 45 for bleed buildup (push to 60 late if you want max hemorrhage).
- Vigor to 60 and top off Dex for the endgame and DLC.
Rough Rune Level bands. Inside the band means you're on track. Mirrors the region bands on Full Progression.
| Region | Rune Level |
|---|---|
| Limgrave → Stormveil (Godrick) | RL 1–30 |
| Liurnia → Raya Lucaria (Rennala) | RL 30–55 |
| Caelid → Radahn | RL 45–70 |
| Altus → Leyndell (Morgott) | RL 60–90 |
| Mountaintops → Fire Giant | RL 90–120 |
| Snowfield / Mohgwyn / Haligtree | RL 100–140 |
| Farum Azula → Radagon & Elden Beast | RL 110–150 |
| Shadow of the Erdtree (DLC) | RL 120–150 · Scadutree-gated |
In Shadow of the Erdtree your power comes from Scadutree Blessing (raised with Scadutree Fragments found in the DLC), not your Rune Level. Hunt fragments constantly or you'll be underpowered at any RL.
Stats matter, but a bleed build is really carried by its weapon upgrade level and talismans.
- Upgrade to +25. Feed your katana Smithing Stones (Somber Stones for special weapons like Rivers of Blood → +10). A +25 Uchigatana or +10 Rivers of Blood outdamages raw levels: prioritize it.
- Weapon arc: Uchigatana (Blood) → add the Nagakiba / a second katana for dual-wield → Rivers of Blood + Seppuku in the Mountaintops (grab RoB before the Fire Giant!).
- Talismans that snowball bleed: Lord of Blood's Exultation (+attack on nearby bleed), White Mask (same, stacks), Rotten/Winged Sword Insignia (successive-attack damage), Millicent's Prosthesis (+Dex, successive hits).
- Physick tears: Thorny Cracked Tear (successive attacks) + Greenburst (stamina regen) for an aggressive bleed physick.
Seppuku self-applies blood loss to buff your bleed and attack, and it triggers Lord of Blood's Exultation and White Mask on yourself, so you can keep those buffs up on demand. Open a fight with Seppuku, then go all-in.
By the finale a comfortable bleed Samurai looks roughly like: Vigor 50–60, Endurance ~30, Mind ~15–20, Dexterity ~70–80, Arcane 45–60, a +25 / +10 weapon, and the bleed talisman stack. That lands around RL 125–150: plenty for Radagon & the Elden Beast and, with maxed Scadutree Blessing, the DLC.
Pair this with the Full Progression tracker to see which region fits your level (and grab every bleed-gear pickup), and First Hours if you're still setting up the Samurai bleed kit.