Does Rivers of Blood Count as Fire Damage? Unpacking Elden Ring’s Scarlet Katana

The short answer is yes, the Rivers of Blood katana in Elden Ring deals fire damage. While its primary strength lies in inflicting blood loss and its scaling leans heavily towards Dexterity and Arcane, a portion of its damage output is indeed fire damage. This split damage profile makes it a unique and powerful weapon, but understanding how the fire damage component works is crucial for optimizing your build. Let’s dive into the specifics of how Rivers of Blood dishes out its fiery punishment and explore some common misconceptions.

Understanding Rivers of Blood’s Damage Profile

Rivers of Blood doesn’t just deal fire damage. It’s a hybrid weapon, and understanding this is key to using it effectively. The weapon deals both physical (slash and pierce) and fire damage.

• Physical Damage: This component scales primarily with Dexterity. Higher Dexterity translates to more physical damage dealt with each swing.

• Fire Damage: This scales a bit differently. While Dexterity has some effect, Arcane surprisingly plays a larger role than its D scaling suggests. This means investing in Arcane not only boosts bleed buildup but also contributes meaningfully to the fire damage output.

The weapon’s Corpse Piler skill, a rapid flurry of attacks, also applies both physical and fire damage with each hit. This is a significant reason why Rivers of Blood is so effective at rapidly building up blood loss and dealing significant damage overall.

Optimizing Your Build for Rivers of Blood

To get the most out of Rivers of Blood, consider these factors:

• Prioritize Dexterity and Arcane: These are the primary scaling stats. Dexterity will enhance the physical damage, while Arcane will boost both bleed buildup and fire damage.

• Consider Talismans and Buffs: Talismans like the Fire Scorpion Charm will directly increase your fire damage output (at the cost of increased physical damage taken). Incantations such as Flame, Grant Me Strength provide a significant damage buff to both physical and fire attacks.

• Understand Enemy Weaknesses: Many enemies in Elden Ring are weaker to either physical or fire damage. Use this knowledge to your advantage. If an enemy is resistant to fire, focusing on physical damage and bleed procs will be more effective.

Addressing Common Misconceptions

One common misconception is that Rivers of Blood is primarily a fire weapon. This is incorrect. Its primary function is to inflict blood loss, and its scaling reflects this. The fire damage component is more of a supplemental damage type that contributes to its overall effectiveness. It also gets confused with other bleed weapons that may not do split damage.

The Importance of Bleed Buildup

The fire damage, while present, shouldn’t overshadow the importance of bleed. Rivers of Blood excels at rapidly inflicting blood loss, which deals a percentage of an enemy’s maximum health as damage. The Arcane stat significantly impacts this bleed buildup.

The Meta & Rivers of Blood

Even after numerous patches, Rivers of Blood remains a powerful and popular weapon. While it may not be as dominant as it once was, its combination of physical, fire, and bleed damage makes it a versatile choice for many builds. Experiment with different stat distributions and talismans to find the optimal setup for your playstyle.

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Rivers of Blood – FAQs

Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify how Rivers of Blood works and how to best utilize it in Elden Ring:

1. What stats does Rivers of Blood scale with?

Rivers of Blood primarily scales with Dexterity and Arcane, with a lesser scaling in Strength. Dexterity enhances its physical damage, while Arcane increases both bleed buildup and fire damage.

2. How much fire damage does Rivers of Blood actually do?

The amount of fire damage depends on your stats, primarily Arcane. While the scaling is listed as “D,” Arcane has a significant impact on the fire damage output compared to its listed scaling.

3. Does the Fire Scorpion Charm boost Rivers of Blood’s damage?

Yes, the Fire Scorpion Charm increases Rivers of Blood’s fire damage by 12% (8% in PvP). However, it also increases the physical damage you receive, so weigh the pros and cons.

4. Is Rivers of Blood better than Moonveil?

Whether Rivers of Blood is “better” than Moonveil depends on your build and playstyle. Rivers of Blood focuses on bleed and split physical/fire damage. Moonveil has magic scaling and unique weapon art. Both are powerful katanas.

5. What is the best talisman setup for Rivers of Blood?

A good talisman setup for Rivers of Blood could include the Lord of Blood’s Exultation (increases attack power when blood loss occurs), Fire Scorpion Charm (increases fire damage), Millicent’s Prosthesis (increases Dexterity and attack power with successive attacks), and Marika’s Soreseal (increases Mind, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane, but also increases damage taken).

6. Does Arcane affect the fire damage of Rivers of Blood?

Yes, despite the D scaling in Arcane, it has a significant effect on the fire damage. Furthermore, Arcane is critical to bleed build up.

7. Can I dual-wield Rivers of Blood?

Yes, dual-wielding Rivers of Blood is possible, although obtaining a second one requires entering New Game Plus or trading with another player. Dual-wielding katanas is a very powerful build strategy in Elden Ring.

8. What is the Corpse Piler skill, and why is it important?

Corpse Piler is the unique weapon skill of Rivers of Blood. It unleashes a rapid six-hit combo that inflicts both physical and fire damage, and is highly effective at applying bleed buildup, making it the core of the weapon’s effectiveness.

9. Is Rivers of Blood still good after patches?

Yes, Rivers of Blood remains a strong weapon even after various balance patches. While it may not be as overpowered as it once was, it’s still a viable and effective choice for many builds.

10. What is the best class to start with for a Rivers of Blood build?

The Samurai class is a good starting point, as it begins with decent Dexterity and a katana, allowing you to respec your points later into the desired build.

11. What incantations synergize well with Rivers of Blood?

Flame, Grant Me Strength provides a significant damage buff to both physical and fire damage. Other useful incantations include those that provide healing or buffs to survivability.

12. What armor sets complement a Rivers of Blood build?

Armor sets with high poise and decent protection are generally recommended. The White Mask increases attack power when blood loss occurs near the wearer, which is excellent for a bleed build.

13. How do I counter Rivers of Blood in PvP?

To counter Rivers of Blood in PvP, focus on spacing to avoid the Corpse Piler skill, using weapons with high poise damage to interrupt attacks, and utilizing status effect resistances to mitigate bleed buildup.

14. Where can I find Rivers of Blood?

Rivers of Blood is obtained by defeating the NPC invader, Bloody Finger Okina, at the Church of Repose in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

15. Does Rivers of Blood’s fire damage scale with Faith?

No, Rivers of Blood’s fire damage scales with Arcane, not Faith. Faith scaling applies to weapons infused with Flame Art or Holy damage.