The Elden Ring community has a new common enemy: the overpowered Rivers of Blood katana

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Rivers of Blood has become a menace and a meme

Elden Ring Rivers of Blood
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

The infamous Elden Ring katana Rivers of Blood is so powerful - and  so popular - that it's become both a meme and a mark of shame to many players. 

Rivers of Blood is among the strongest weapons in the game and while you can't get it until the later stages of the main story, it's relatively easy to wield for its high power level. It's a unique katana that scales with Strength, Dexterity, and especially Arcane, and it also comes with a potent bleed effect. The real showstopper is its special attack, Corpse Piler. This can deal heavy damage, trigger bleed, and stagger enemies from a frankly disgusting distance, and it doesn't even cost that much mana to use.  

Here's Rivers of Blood making an absolute mockery of Melania, arguably the hardest boss in Elden Ring:

Katanas have always been popular picks in FromSoftware's action RPGs, especially in PvP, but Rivers of Blood is in a class of its own. Its renown has even surpassed the Intelligence-scaling katana Moonveil, which has its own powerful special attack. Moonveil is so strong, in fact, that it was slightly nerfed in a previous patch, but Rivers of Blood has inexplicably endured multiple updates without any balance changes. This has forced PvP fans to find ways to counter it, and footage of a Rivers of Blood user getting curb-stomped is usually met with rapturous applause. 

how_to_handle_rivers_of_blood_users from r/Eldenring
average_rivers_of_blood_fan from r/Eldenring
pov_you_just_spammed_rivers_of_blood_on_someone from r/Eldenring

There are plenty of ways to deal with Rivers of Blood in PvP, but it's still a lethal meta pick and it's nearly peerless as a melee boss-shredder. FromSoftware has adjusted other weapons and tools seemingly because they were so strong that they trivialized much of the game (thinking of you, Mimic Tear), so we wouldn't be surprised if Rivers of Blood is nerfed one day. That said, anything in Elden Ring is perfectly fair to use, so pile those corpses high while you can, even if it does get you some dirty looks from PvP purists.   

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Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.