Bloodborne Best Weapons: Top Trick Weapons Ranked

Ask the Bloodborne community for the best weapon and you will get a dozen passionate answers, because the game is full of excellent trick weapons and the right one depends on your build. Still, a handful consistently rise to the top for their versatility, damage, and sheer fun. This is a grounded tour of those standouts, organized by the stat they favor so you can match a weapon to your hunter.

Bloodborne released in 2015 and has not changed mechanically in years, so the details here are stable. I cross-checked the specifics against the Bloodborne Wiki on Fextralife, the Fandom Bloodborne Wiki, and the r/bloodborne community, all checked in October 2026. Where an exact numeric value could mislead, I have kept it qualitative and pointed you to verify it in-game or on the wiki.

The quality all-stars

Quality weapons scale with both Strength and Skill, making them the most flexible choice and the backbone of most recommended builds. Ludwig's Holy Blade is the poster child: available relatively early, it transforms from a nimble short sword into a heavy greatsword, covering fast and slow combat in one package. It is powerful, has excellent reach in its greatsword form, and remains effective from the early game all the way through the DLC. If you want one weapon that does everything, it is the standard answer.

The Kirkhammer is the Holy Blade's heavier cousin, pairing a one-handed sword with a massive stone hammer form that delivers enormous blunt damage and stagger. It is slower and more stamina-hungry, but devastating when its hits land. The Saw Cleaver, your possible starting weapon, also belongs in any quality conversation thanks to its serrated beast bonus and reliable all-round performance.

These weapons are forgiving and strong, which is exactly why they anchor so many builds. If you are unsure where to invest, a quality spread with the Holy Blade is the safest high-performance choice in the game.

Skill-focused standouts

Skill weapons reward precision and often enable faster, flashier play. The Blade of Mercy is a fan favorite, a pair of curved blades that transform into dual wield for rapid, mobile combat; it scales heavily with Skill and excels at racking up quick hits and visceral setups. The Threaded Cane's whip form gives Skill hunters reach and crowd control, and the Rifle Spear and Reiterpallasch blend melee with a built-in firearm for a distinctive hybrid feel.

From the DLC, the Rakuyo stands out as one of the best Skill weapons in the game, a dual-form blade known for its excellent moveset, strong thrust damage, and satisfying transformations. Skill builds tend to prize mobility and the ability to punish openings with precise strikes, and these weapons deliver exactly that.

Strength heavy hitters

If you want to feel every swing land like a truck, Strength weapons are the answer. The Hunter Axe is the accessible starting option, with great reach and a spinning charged attack in its poleaxe form. The Kirkhammer, as mentioned, doubles as a Strength favorite for its colossal hammer. From the DLC, the Whirligig Saw is a standout Strength weapon, a brutal rotating saw that shreds beasts and builds stagger with its charged attacks, and the Boom Hammer and Beast Cutter offer their own flavors of heavy, aggressive combat.

Strength builds lean on charged attacks, stagger, and the rally system, trading speed for the ability to stance-break and punish hard. If that playstyle appeals to you, our dedicated Strength build guide goes deeper into the stat spread and gem choices that make these weapons sing.

The arcane and elemental picks

Arcane builds open up a different set of weapons. The Holy Moonlight Sword, a DLC reward, is one of the most iconic weapons in the game: a greatsword that unleashes moonlight beam attacks and scales with Arcane, offering both strong melee and ranged magic-style damage. The Tonitrus adds bolt damage and benefits from Arcane, and with the right runes and gems, otherwise ordinary weapons can be converted to elemental damage for an arcane hunter.

The Kos Parasite, obtained with a specific rune, is the signature weapon of a pure arcane build, transforming your attacks dramatically when you equip the right setup. Arcane is the most build-dependent path in the game, and getting it right is rewarding; our arcane build guide walks through the whole package.

Bloodtinge and the Chikage

Bloodtinge is the rarest build path, powering firearms and a small set of blood weapons. The Chikage is its centerpiece, a katana-style blade that, in its transformed blood mode, coats itself in your own blood to deal heavy Bloodtinge-scaled damage at the cost of your health. Paired with a strong firearm like the Evelyn and the right blood gems, a Bloodtinge build is a stylish and powerful alternative for players who want something off the beaten path.

Bloodtinge is less beginner-friendly because it relies on specific gear and gems to shine, but in the hands of a dedicated player it is one of the most satisfying ways to play. It is best treated as a second or third build once you know the game.

How to actually choose

There is no universal best weapon in Bloodborne; there is only the best weapon for your build and your taste. For a first playthrough, a quality spread with Ludwig's Holy Blade is the safest and strongest default. From there, let the stat you enjoy guide you: Skill for speed and precision, Strength for heavy stagger, Arcane for elemental flexibility, and Bloodtinge for a niche but powerful blood path. To tie it all together, read our best builds guide, and remember that every one of these weapons lives or dies on its blood gems, so our blood gems guide is essential reading before you commit to optimizing one.

Why moveset and range matter more than numbers

A weapon's listed damage tells you little about how it performs, because Bloodborne fights are decided by moveset and reach. A weapon with a long, sweeping transformed attack controls space and punishes from safety, while a short, fast weapon demands you get dangerously close. The best weapons in the game are beloved as much for how their attacks flow, the way a transformation can be chained mid-combo for extra damage, as for their raw scaling. When you test a weapon, pay attention to how its two forms feel to swing and whether its reach matches the enemies you struggle with.

Every trick weapon has a transformation attack, performed by shifting forms mid-swing, that often deals bonus damage and extends combos. Learning each weapon's transformation chain is where its real power lives; many weapons that feel mediocre when you use only one form become excellent once you weave the shift into your attacks. This is a big reason a weapon you dismissed early can become a favorite once it clicks.

Damage types and the beasts and kin of Yharnam

Bloodborne enemies broadly split into beasts, the feral werewolf-like creatures of the early city, and kin, the more alien cosmic enemies of the late game. Some weapons carry hidden properties that exploit these: serrated weapons like the Saw Cleaver deal bonus damage to beasts, while righteous weapons punish kin. Blunt weapons such as hammers are strong against certain armored or bony foes. Matching your weapon or your gems to the enemy type in front of you is a subtle but real way to boost your effectiveness, and it is part of why many players keep a secondary weapon for the opposite enemy type.

A practical habit many veterans adopt is carrying two weapons that cover different damage flavors or ranges, for example a serrated blade for the beast-heavy early areas and a thrust or righteous weapon for the kin-heavy endgame. Because swapping weapons at a lamp is free, there is no downside to maintaining a small stable of favorites rather than marrying a single weapon for the entire game.

It is worth stressing that many of the standout weapons are optional and take effort to earn. The Logarius' Wheel comes from an optional boss in a hidden region, the Rakuyo requires finding its parts in the DLC, and the Holy Moonlight Sword is a reward for a specific DLC encounter. None of them is handed to you on the critical path, so if you want a particular weapon you should look up how it is obtained rather than assume you will stumble onto it. More importantly, do not let a tier list dictate your fun. Bloodborne's weapons are distinct enough that the one you enjoy swinging will almost always outperform a theoretically stronger weapon you find awkward, simply because you will land more hits with it. Try several, upgrade the one that clicks, and treat any ranking, including this one, as a starting point for your own experimentation rather than a verdict.

Enjoying the arsenal without the grind

Trying every weapon means a lot of Blood Echoes and upgrade materials. If you own Bloodborne and want the resources to experiment freely, the store offers a max Blood Echoes, Insight and consumables package, and the full range is on the Bloodborne page. It is a convenience for existing owners who want to try builds quickly, not a shortcut around the skill each weapon demands.

Frequently Asked Questions