ELDEN RING: Shadow of the Erdtree – Great Katana Bleed / Stagger Build

Great Katana Bleed / Stagger Build Guide (Hundred Shinobi Slayer)

By Haru.

This build is primarily for a Level 200 Character, but can be used sooner if the stats are Allocated similarly.

Armaments

Quality Great Katana +25, With the Savage Lion’s Claw Ash of War. Any Seal +10

This build’s highest stats are:

Strength and Dexterity. While you can have decent damage with Keen and Dex alone, With the way this build is formatted, it’s stronger to use Quality. Plus, Strength can increase the damage of two-handing weapons, which this build will be doing. The Savage Lion’s Claw Ash of War deals good stance damage, and can proc bleed at the same rate as the Triple Ichimanji (Overhead Stance) Ash of War.

Talismans

This build Primarily uses the Shard of Alexander, Two-Handed Sword Talisman, and Rotted Wing Insignia Talisman. The fourth talisman slot can be dedicated to whatever you’d like.

The Shard of Alexander is needed primarily for the use of Savage Lion’s Claw, As it’s an attack that might be used more often. The Two-Handed Sword Talisman is also crucial to the build, as it buffs your damage when two-handing the sword, so generally it can be considered as a permanent damage buff since you should be two-handing the weapon at all times.

The Rotted Wing Sword Insignia is generally useful for its consistency, and its follow-up hits will deal more damage. The fourth slot could be used for the Lord of Blood’s Exultation, or used instead of the Rotted Winged Sword Insignia, but the RWSI has more consistent benefits in a battle compared to the Lord of Blood’s Exultation.

Spells

The spells used in this build are the Bloodflame Blade, and Flame, Grant Me Strength.

The build’s most important two spells are Bloodflame Blade and Flame GMS. If you wish to push your damage further, you can also use Golden Vow, though, the best method of using it is with a dagger that has the Golden Vow Ash of war equipped on it.

Stats

Strength and Dexterity are your Highest Priorities. Your dexterity should be higher than your Strength. At the least, your Arcane and Faith should be at 10 and 15 respectively, to meet spell requirements. Your other stats are up to you. Your mind should at least be 20-25, while your Endurance is kept at 40 minimum.

I personally kept my Dexterity at 80, and Strength at 55. Meanwhile, 40 for Vigor and Endurance, and 25 for Mind. Meanwhile, my Faith was raised to 20, as it does contribute a bit of extra damage. Through calculations, this was the best setup I had when it came to the Damage I was doing. Generally, you want your dexterity and strength at the highest, Leveling Dexterity first, as the weapon scales better with Dexterity than strength. Should you reach level 240, Your strength should be at 80 along with your Dexterity.

Flasks

For your Flask, you should be using the Flame-Shrouding Crack Tear, as well as the Thorny Crack Tear.

The Flame-Shrouding Crack Tear is responsible for increasing your fire damage, the damage dealt with your Bloodflame Blade. Meanwhile, the Thorny Crack Tear functions similarly to the Rotted Wing Sword Insignia Talisman.

Extra’s

If you’d like to squeeze out as much extra damage as possible, you can opt to equip the White Mask, which will give you a 10% damage increase when Bleed is inflicted in your vicinity. Me personally, I don’t use it, as I am a slave to fashion.

If you feel staggering isn’t your taste, you can always Opt to change the Ash of war to the Triple Ichimanji (Overhead Stance), Or Wild Strikes. That, and with Overhead stance, you can use Rellana’s Cameo to increase the damage done with Triple Ichimanji.

I hope this was helpful to you!