Best Bloodhound Fang build in Elden Ring

Elden Ring offers players a lot of build variety as the game’s story progresses. Depending on the primary stat you choose, different weapon choices open up. One of the flashiest builds in the game revolves around using the Bloodhound’s Fang weapon.

How to get Bloodhound’s Fang in Elden Ring

The Bloodhound’s Fang is a Curved Greatsword in Elden Ring. A weapon of its stature is based on two main stats: Strength and Dexterity. Curved Greatswords like the Bloodhound’s Fang pack the power of a Greatsword with the finesse of a Katana. If you like running circles around your enemies before finishing them off, the Bloodhound’s Fang build is for you.

The Bloodhound’s Fang can be acquired by defeating Bloodhound Knight Darriwil in the Forlorn Hound Evergaol in Limgrave. You can either fight him solo or encounter him as part of Blaidd’s quest. Going through the latter will allow you to summon Blaidd to help you in the battle, making this fight a lot easier. If not, prepare for a tough battle.

Once you defeat Darriwil and gain his weapon, it’s time to craft the perfect build around the Bloodhound’s Fang.

Best Bloodhound’s Fang build in Elden Ring

There are a few good builds that utilize the Bloodhound’s Fang as their main weapon. Most of these builds work as either pure Strength or Dexterity builds, but this build is an exception. This build works as a Quality build, which is a balanced combination of Strength and Dexterity.

Since you acquire the Bloodhound’s Fang in Limgrave, you can get working on this build pretty early into the game. Keep your respecs ready if you need them because this is what the endgame build should look like.

The build is quite simple in terms of equipment because it’s mostly easy to acquire, but knowing how to fight with it is what matters. Once you get the hang of it, you can carry this build over to New Game Plus as well. The strongest equipment is only as strong as its wielder, and this is how you can make the most of your build and gear.

Stat and Skill breakdown

Because this is a Quality build, focus on building up Strength and Dexterity. Since the Bloodhound’s Fang damage scales off both stats, D-tier on Strength and C-tier on Dexterity, leveling up Dexterity over Strength is the preferred approach. Once both stats are at 30, level them both up equally until you reach a sustainable damage cap.

The Bloodhound’s Fang build uses no spells. The only skill to use your FP on is Bloodhound’s Finesse, a skill that attacks the enemy with a backflip at the end. Chaining this attack into the next one will automatically use Bloodhound’s Step, making it a highly evasive combo.

Bloodhound’s Finesse also grants you invincibility frames, allowing you to get out of trouble and launch a counterattack at the same time.

Weapon breakdown

The only weapon in this build is the Bloodhound’s Fang. This weapon cannot be imbued with new Ashes of War, but it can be buffed by magic and grease. The Bloodhound’s Fang naturally has a Bleed build-up that can lead to blood loss, but with the relatively slow attack speed of the weapon, getting blood loss to trigger can be challenging.

In most cases, you don’t need to bother with blood loss because the damage of this weapon scales incredibly well with levels of Strength and Dexterity. Buffing the weapon with magic or other elemental damage is usually the way to go, especially if you want to exploit bosses’ weaknesses or are having trouble with a particular enemy.

Once you get into NG+, acquiring another Bloodhound’s Fang to dual-wield them should carry you through your second journey easily.

Armor breakdown

When it comes to armor choices, you have a lot to work with. Elden Ring is quite gracious with their armor sets, making any of them viable for most builds, including this one. The only piece of armor we recommend as essential would be the Raptor’s Black Feathers chest armor from the Raptor’s Set armor.

The Raptor’s Black Feathers armor increases the jump attack damage of the wearer. While the Bloodhound’s Fang has powerful light and heavy jump attacks by default, the weapon possesses a higher jump attack damage multiplier than most weapons in its category. Bloodhound’s Finesse can transition into a follow-up jump attack as well.

Additionally, the weight of the armor is quite low, allowing you to mix in heavier armor for protection and poise. Just ensure your equip load doesn’t exceed medium load in most cases.

Talisman breakdown

The final part of this build involves getting the right Talismans to boost your survival and endgame damage potential. Millicent’s Prosthesis is a no-brainer, granting you an impressive Dexterity boost with the added benefit of additional damage depending on how often you hit your enemy.

Next up is the Bull-Goat’s Talisman, which increases your character’s overall Poise. The Poise stat will help you power-stance through most enemies’ heavy attacks without interrupting yours. This is especially important because there will be moments when you get caught off-guard in between attacks. This Talisman will almost ensure you don’t get punished by a counterattack.

Shard of Alexander is a staple for almost any build because it greatly boosts the damage of skills. This includes Bloodhound’s Finesse, especially if you enjoy spamming the skill in battle. With two Bloodhound’s Fangs, you would need twice the FP, preferably throwing in a Carian Filigreed Crest along with the Shard of Alexander to make the most of it.

The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman rounds out this build by reducing the physical damage you take from enemies. Since this build necessitates you to be in the thick of battle at all times, negating some of the damage you will inevitably take will help. If you feel like you have enough defense, you can switch up the Talisman for a more offense-oriented option.

Our Talisman of choice is the Claw Talisman. It can be used to replace one of the defensive options in your build if you lack damage. Combining this Talisman with Raptor’s Black Feathers will ensure your jump damage skyrockets. This Talisman is the best option to give your endgame damage a big boost.