Whereas stuff like Poison and Toxic do continuous damage after their bar has filled up, Bleed does an instant, large, amount instead.
After inflicting enough bleed damage, the enemy will take 30% of their max HP as instant damage.
This means you can do substantial hurt in a short amount of time – especially to enemies that have lots of HP.
Not too many weapons cause Bleed, though, so let’s go over the best of the limited few in DS1.
5. Reinforced Club
Normally, a club wouldn’t cause too much external bleeding.
But when it has been reinforced with barbed wire and nails around the point of impact, then it causes just as much bleeding as any of its bladed friends.
It’s slow to swing, but the impact is satisfying.
And if you whack an enemy enough, they’ll bleed out pretty nicely.
It also has a better-than-average base attack stat, making it good for early power gaming.
Powerful hits and bleeding make it an attractive weapon.
How to Obtain: Purchased from the Undead Merchant in the Undead Burg.
4. Morning Star
Here’s another member of the blunt family, and the Morning Star makes a name for itself by being naturally spiky.
There’s no doubt that this thing was designed to make things bleed, in one way or another.
It shares a lot of similarities to the Reinforced Club, but deals much better strike damage and can break through enemy’s defenses with ease.
Of course, on top of all that, it makes enemies bleed.
Bust their shield and make them bleed. Make them bleed through their armor!
That’s the power of the Morning Star.
How to Obtain: Found in one of the hidden chests in Firelink Shrine.
3. Jagged Ghost Blade
A true multi-use weapon, the Jagged Ghost Blade is much more than just the sum of its parts.
Granted it’s a bit of a pain to obtain. But once you get your hands on it, it can be an especially useful tool – especially in the early parts of the game.
The Jagged Ghost Blade can deal damage to otherwise incorporeal enemies, which includes ghosts.
Plus, it has a good base attack stat, which is handy-dandy for early game exploration.
And it bleeds! Oh, boy does it bleed.
Ever bleed a ghost!? Now you can!
Make them bleed all the way to the other side.
How to Obtain: Drops from Ghost enemies in New Londo Ruins.
2. Uchigatana
Now we’re getting into the good stuff.
The Uchigatana blends together a lot of particularly good weapon qualities, as well as adding Bleed to the mix to make a very respectable weapon to draw blood with.
It’s quick, powerful, and can be upgraded.
Slice your enemies and watch them bleed out, ensuring your victory in the same way a samurai would as they defend their lord.
Except you serve no lord but the desire to defeat everything in your way.
How to Obtain: Drops from the Undead Merchant in the Undead Burg. Also sold by Shiva of the East.
1. Bandit Knife
Most of the weapons on this list are meant to do two things:
Cause damage to the enemy and make them bleed.
While the Bandit Knife sets out to do the same things, what makes it the best bleed weapon is that it trades damage output for speed – allowing you to trigger the big bleed damage even faster.
With other bleed weapons, the effect is almost a bonus to the main event.
But the Bandit Knife is all about it.
It attacks very quickly, relying on getting the bleed built up just as fast.
And if you’re into all of that, this is the weapon for you, no question.
Plus it makes sense. What better weapon to cause profound bleeding then a sneaky little dagger?
How to Obtain: Staring weapon for the Thief class, and can also be found in Blighttown.
Brian knows more about RPGs than he does world history. Combine with his love of writing and you get somebody who can, and will, go on forever about every nuance of every game he's played.
