Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree: Best Bloodfiend's Arm Cheese Build Guide
Posted: Sep 27, 2025 Views: 33
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You might be intimidated by the difficulty of Elden Ring, but the game itself isn't particularly difficult (okay, forget Malenia first). The real challenge lies in Shadow of the Erdtree. However, despite this high level of difficulty, There are still a plethora of powerful Cheese builds.
Some builds, like Shield Poke build, can even solo Messmer without even collecting Scadutree Fragments. Below, we'll introduce one of the strongest Cheese builds in Elden Ring: the incredibly defensive Bloodfiend's Arm build.
Weapons
Bloodfiend's Arm (Blood Upgrade) is one of Elden Ring items for this build. You need to pair it with Ash of War: Rock Sword and Hemorrhage Infusion. Because the weapon's critical hits have a built-in bleeding effect, Bloodfiend's Arm with Hemorrhage Infusion not only has high poise but also high bleeding.
Carry either Fingerprint Stone Shield or Verdigris Greatshield on your left hand, but Verdigris Greatshield isn't as heavy as Fingerprint Stone Shield.
Since we'll be carrying Verdigris Discus Talisman, less weight means less stat bonuses, so we recommend Fingerprint Stone Shield. For daily map play, a lighter shield is recommended.
Armor
The choice is simple. If you prefer a cool look, go with Banished Knight Set. If you want stronger stats, go with Bull-Goat Set.
Flask Of Wondrous Physick
Crimsonburst Cracked Tear
Bloodfiend's Arm (Blood Upgrade) reduces poise and causes bleeding, so the poise reduction bonus from Rock-Spiked Dewdrop is crucial and a must-have.
Leaden Hardtear
Because Bloodfiend's Arm (Blood Upgrade) heavy attack has a strong bleeding effect, and this build tends to rely on heavy attacks for daily attacks, Leaden Hardtear can provide a significant damage boost.
Talismans
- Axe Talisman
- Verdigris Discus Talisman
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
- Bull-Goat's Talisman
The core amulets of this build are Axe Talisman and Verdigris Discus Talisman. The former strengthens charged attacks, while the latter increases defense with heavier weight.
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and Bull-Goat's Talisman are changeable. Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman primarily provides damage reduction, while Bull-Goat's Talisman provides resilience, ensuring that charged attacks are not interrupted by the enemy.
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman can be replaced with Greatshield Talisman or Pearldrake Talisman. Bull-Goat's Talisman can be replaced with Two-headed Turtle Talisman, Pearldrake Talisman +3, or Lord of Blood's Exultation.
Incantations & Sorceries
- Flame, Grant Me Strength
- Golden Vow
- Black Flame's Protection
- Scholar's Shield
Because this build requires a lot of Strength, many lower-level players may not be able to use buff-type Incantations.
If your Faith is low, use Flame, Grant Me Strength. If your Faith reaches 25, use Golden Vow.
If your Faith reaches 30, add Black Flame's Protection. This prayer significantly increases physical damage reduction.
In addition to the aforementioned prayers, another Sorcerie is particularly useful for this build: Scholar's Shield. It increases the damage reduction of the left-hand shield and is very useful in many encounters.
Stat Allocation
Regardless of your level, after entering Shadow of the Erdtree, It's recommended to increase both Vigor to 60. otherwise, the damage tolerance will be too low. Endurance is also recommended to be above 40, as this build relies primarily on shields for damage resistance, and holding a shield consumes stamina.
Strength must be maxed out at 48 to use Fingerprint Stone Shield, Dexterity at 11 to use Bloodfiend's Arm, and Intelligence at 12 to use Scholar's Shield.
Faith is the same as explained in the Incantations section. 15, 25, and 30 are the three nodes, which determine how many Incantations you can use. Arcane doesn't require points and can be ignored. This means that the final level of this build is 201. You can farm Albinaurics in Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum for a while and earn hundreds of thousands of Elden Ring runes in half an hour.
Combat Strategy
This build has a very high physical damage reduction rate. Regularly collect Scadutree Fragments. With 60 Vigor and a shield, you can take on any boss or elite monster head-on. Even a Spiral Tower Horned Warrior will be crippled by your attacks. The summoned Mimic Tear is even more tanky, significantly reducing the difficulty of the boss fight.
During the initial buff phase, use Golden Vow and Black Flame's Protectio. Then, switch to a staff in your left hand and cast Scholar's Shield. Buff your weapon with Ash of War: Rock Sword. Then, drink Flask of Wondrous Physick. Enter the boss room and summon Mimic Tear directly.
Let Mimic Tear attack first, while you stand by and watch, looking for opportunities to use heavy attacks to reduce damage and poise. This build makes Mimic Tear both tough and powerful, so you don't have to worry about it being unable to withstand the boss.
If you draw aggro on the boss, you'll need to immediately use your shield to block, but some magic attacks and large-scale AoE attacks can't be completely blocked. This means that while this build is simple, you still need to memorize some of the boss's abilities.
Although Bloodfiend's Arm has been nerfed after several patches, it remains one of the best weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree and is very easy to obtain, making it a top build for players entering the DLC.
Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty is significantly increased compared to the base game. If you're at level 150 in the DLC, you'll almost be instantly killed by the first monster you encounter. New players might want to start at level 190 to be somewhat safer. If your level is significantly lower, you can buy Elden Ring runes and items from IGGM.com to avoid being overwhelmed by DLC monsters.
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