Alright, so diving into the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, one of the first things I wondered was how my old reliable gear would hold up. Naturally, my mind went straight to Rivers of Blood. We all remember the pre-nerf days, right? It was just insane. So, I figured, let’s dust it off and see if it’s still got the magic in the Land of Shadow.
Getting Started and First Impressions
First step, I pulled it out of my chest. Checked my stats, made sure my Arcane and Dex were still respectably high to give it the best chance. Felt kinda nostalgic equipping it, not gonna lie. Went out into the first new area, the Gravesite Plain. Found some of those creepy bird-guys and the headless soldier dudes wandering around.
Started swinging. The basic attacks felt… okay. Decent speed, as you’d expect from a katana. Then I tried the weapon art, Corpse Piler. The animation is still cool, that blood slash flying out. Against these early, squishier enemies, it worked alright. Got some bleed procs pretty quickly, and they went down without too much fuss. Felt familiar, you know?
- Equipped Rivers of Blood +9 (didn’t have materials for +10 immediately in DLC).
- Checked stats: High Dex and Arcane build.
- Tested on initial mobs in Gravesite Plain.
- Corpse Piler worked okay on weaker enemies.
Hitting a Wall
But then things got a bit trickier. I pushed further in, ran into some of those bigger, armored guys. The ones that look like knights fused with pots or something? And those big furnace golem things. That’s where RoB started feeling less… impactful.
Here’s what I noticed:
- Bleed buildup felt slower on tougher enemies. Maybe they have higher resistances, or just way more health than base game mobs.
- The actual damage from Corpse Piler, even when it hit, wasn’t staggering. It took quite a few volleys to take down anything substantial.
- The fire damage component seemed almost negligible against many enemies I encountered.
- Getting locked into the Corpse Piler animation felt way riskier. DLC enemies hit hard and fast, and standing still for that long often got me punished, badly.
I tried it against one of the early bosses, the big lion dancer thing. Man, that was rough. Trying to find a window to use Corpse Piler safely was a nightmare. The damage just wasn’t there to justify the risk compared to just dodging and getting in quick single hits. The bleed proc, when I could finally get it, took off a decent chunk, but getting to that point was the problem. I felt like I was fighting uphill the whole time.
Switching It Up and Final Thoughts
After struggling for a bit, I decided to switch things up. Tried a heavy strength weapon with Giant Hunt ash of war, and honestly, the difference was night and day for me. Staggering enemies, doing big posture damage, it just felt more effective against these new threats.
So, is Rivers of Blood good in the DLC? My personal experience says… it’s okay-ish for clearing trash mobs, but it falls off hard against tougher enemies and bosses. It’s definitely not the powerhouse it once was. The enemies in the Shadow of the Erdtree just feel built differently, maybe specifically to counter strategies that were super dominant in the base game, like bleed spam.
My verdict:
- Not top-tier for DLC content.
- Bleed feels less effective overall.
- Corpse Piler animation is often too risky.
- Damage output feels lacking compared to other options or newer DLC weapons.
It was fun to try for old times’ sake, but I quickly put Rivers of Blood back in the storage box. It just wasn’t cutting it for me in the Land of Shadow. Maybe with specific talismans and buffs you could make it work better, but out of the box, it felt underwhelming compared to its former glory. Had to adapt and find something else that packed more punch for this challenging new area.
