If you’re looking for a powerful yet straightforward build that can carry you through both the early and late stages of Elden Ring, the Red Rogue Build might be exactly what you need. Built around the Ruvia Dagger and its potent bleed buildup capabilities, this guide will take you step-by-step through everything from stats and skills to weapons and talismans, ensuring you maximize your bleeding potential.
1. Why Choose the Red Rogue Build?
The Red Rogue Build is designed to:
- Maximize Hemorrhage (bleed) buildup for massive burst damage.
- Maintain simple gameplay mechanics suitable for early-game and effective in late-game scenarios.
- Allow flexibility with spells through the Dragon Communion Seal if you wish to add some spellcasting to your arsenal.
This build’s core revolves around Arcane scaling to boost both weapon damage and bleed buildup, ensuring enemies go down fast and efficiently.
2. Core Weapon: The Ruvia Dagger
Weapon Overview:
- Type: Dagger
- Damage Type: 100% Physical
- Weapon Skill: Ruvia Blood Blade — Fires a short-range blood wave that builds up Hemorrhage quickly.
Why the Ruvia Dagger is Exceptional:
- High bleed buildup: Scales with Arcane, making it extremely effective at triggering Hemorrhage quickly.
- Double-hit potential: At point-blank range, the blood wave and the blade both connect, doubling the bleed buildup.
- Physical damage focus: Works well with Flame, Grant Me Strength buff due to its physical damage nature.
💡 Pro Tip: Keep enemies at medium to close range to maximize both the projectile and blade damage.
3. Key Stats for the Red Rogue Build
Stat Allocation:
- Vigor: 50 — Ensures you can survive trading hits while building bleed.
- Mind: 22 — Sufficient to manage the FP cost of Ruvia Blood Blade (6 FP per cast).
- Endurance: 30 — Critical for stamina management due to the spammy nature of the build.
- Strength: 8 — Just enough to meet the Ruvia Dagger requirements.
- Dexterity: 25 — Boosts physical damage slightly and scales with some talismans.
- Intelligence: 16 — Not required unless using spells.
- Faith: 7 — Optional, unless you opt for the Dragon Communion Seal for spells.
- Arcane: 80 — The primary stat to boost both bleed buildup and weapon damage.
⚔️ Focus: Pump Arcane first to maximize bleed buildup, then Vigor for survivability.
4. Optimizing Weapon Skills: Ruvia Blood Blade
How It Works:
- Fires a blood wave that inflicts Hemorrhage.
- At point-blank range, both the wave and blade hit, causing massive bleed buildup.
- Even against bleed-immune enemies, the physical damage and fast attack speed remain effective.
Tactics for Bosses:
- Bleed-Susceptible: Use Ruvia Blood Blade spam to quickly trigger Hemorrhage, which scales off the target’s max HP.
- Bleed-Immune: Focus on critical strikes using a shield with Carian Retaliation for parries, then switch back to the dagger.
5. Talismans: Enhancing Your Red Rogue Build
Recommended Talismans:
- Bull-Goat’s Talisman: Achieve 51 Poise to avoid being staggered during spam attacks.
- Dagger Talisman: Increases critical strike damage — perfect when using parry tactics.
- Shard of Alexander: Enhances the damage of Ruvia Blood Blade’s projectile.
- Millicent’s Prosthesis: Boosts dexterity and damage when attacking rapidly — synergizes well with the fast attack speed of daggers.
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation: Increases attack power upon triggering Hemorrhage — a must-have for bleed builds.
🎭 Alternative: Use Green Turtle Talisman if you struggle with stamina management.
6. Armor Choices for the Red Rogue
Armor Priorities:
- Fashion or Function: You can go with roguish armor for the theme or opt for medium armor to balance poise and speed.
- 51 Poise: Aim for at least 51 Poise to resist stagger during blood blade spam.
🛡️ Tip: Consider lightweight armor for fast rolls if you’re confident in dodging.
7. Flask of Wondrous Physick: Best Choices
Recommended Mixes:
- Stamina Recovery: To offset the stamina drain from spamming blood blade.
- Extra Dexterity: Boosts both damage and attack speed for a burst during tough fights.
- Rapid Strikes Boost: Increases damage if you hit rapidly — perfect for this build.
💡 Flask Strategy: Use stamina recovery as a priority to keep your offense relentless.
8. Dealing with Bleed-Immune Enemies
Common Bleed-Immune Enemies:
- Crucible Knight
- Black Blade Kindred
- Putrid Avatar
Tactics:
- Parry & Crit: Use a shield with Carian Retaliation to parry and counter with a dagger critical strike.
- Projectile Play: Even without bleed, the blood wave’s physical damage can whittle down enemies effectively.
- Dagger Talisman: Buffs your crit damage to make parries even deadlier.
⚔️ Strategy: Swap to a shield temporarily for parries against bleed-immune enemies.
9. Attribute Progression: Leveling Up Efficiently
Early Game Priorities:
- Arcane: Rush to 40 for early bleed effectiveness.
- Vigor: Maintain a steady increase for survival.
- Endurance: Boost for stamina management.
Late Game Goals:
- Cap Arcane at 80.
- Push Vigor to 50.
- Dexterity: Balance for additional physical damage.
📊 Leveling Order: Arcane → Vigor → Endurance → Dexterity.
10. Great Rune Choice: Radahn’s Rune
Why Radahn’s Rune:
- Boosts HP, FP, and Stamina — all vital for the Red Rogue’s spam-heavy playstyle.
- Ensures you can continue pressuring enemies without running out of resources.
🏹 Alternative: Malenia’s Rune for HP regen if you lean towards a more defensive playstyle.
11. Combat Strategy: Hemorrhage and Control
Battle Flow:
- Open with Ruvia Blood Blade: Inflict bleed quickly.
- Maintain Distance: Use the blood wave to chip at enemies safely.
- Switch to Shield: Against tough or bleed-immune enemies, parry with Carian Retaliation.
- Trigger Hemorrhage: Once Hemorrhage procs, use the Lord of Blood’s Exultation buff to deal massive damage.
⚔️ Quick Tip: Keep an eye on stamina — it drains fast during spam attacks.
12. Conclusion: Why the Red Rogue Build Rocks
The Red Rogue build excels at:
- Rapid Hemorrhage application for massive burst damage.
- Flexible playstyles — adapt to both bleed-immune and susceptible enemies.
- Simple but powerful — suitable for both beginners and seasoned players.
By prioritizing Arcane for bleed and dexterity for damage, and using the right talismans and armor, you’ll find this build both satisfying and lethal. Prepare for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC with confidence—your enemies won’t stand a chance!
If you have questions or additional tips, drop them in the comments. Good luck, Tarnished, and may your blades always run red! 🩸
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