Bloodborne’s Ultimate Trick Weapon: Hidden Damage Types Explained

FromSoftware games are notorious for their hidden lore and sparse player instruction, and Bloodborne is no exception. Aside from a few tips and control instructions offered up by the Messengers in the Hunter’s Dream, players are thrown head-first into the nightmare of Yharnam, a Victorian city plagued by beasts and disease. In order to discover enemy weaknesses and advantageous items, the player must rely on exploratory gameplay and the occasional friendly NPC, an approach just as likely to reap rewards as it is a grisly death.

In Bloodborne, many boss weaknesses and suggested play tactics are subtly communicated in the game’s environment. For example, fire permeates Old Yharnam because the beasts there fear it, and antidotes can be found at the back of the Blood-Starved Beast’s boss arena because the monster spews poison. A large amount of information can be found in the item descriptions themselves, a key characteristic of the Soulslike genre. And, when in doubt, Bloodborne players can always rely on trial and error, employing a variety of tactics and weapons until they find the one that works.

But in true FromSoftware fashion, there are two secret damage types in Bloodborne that no item description, environment clue, or NPC ally will ever betray. The first is Serrated, a type of damage dealt by the game’s jagged weapons like the Beast Cutter or the beginning Saw Cleaver. Serrated weapons deal an extra 20% damage to “true” beasts such as werewolves (or Scourge Beasts, as they’re officially known in-game) and bosses like Vicar Amelia. However, as Bloodborne employs “trick” weapons that transform into entirely different armaments at the touch of a button, players must be sure they are using the serrated form of their weapon of choice in order to take advantage of this effect.

What Bloodborne Weapons Cause Hidden Damage

Having a serrated weapon in one’s arsenal gives Bloodborne hunters a substantial advantage during the first third of the game, where the majority of enemies and bosses one encounters are beasts. However, new players need not worry if they are more drawn to the Hunter Axe or Threaded Cane as their first weapon. Hunters can obtain a serrated weapon by defeating the Giant Boar mini boss in the Central Yharnam sewer and obtaining the Saw Hunter Badge, which makes the Saw Cleaver available for purchase from the Bath Messengers. Alternatively, by making their way to the rafters above the sewer, players can grab a free Saw Spear by cutting down a hanging corpse and looting it after it falls to the sewer below.

The second type of hidden damage in Bloodborne is much more specific. Righteous damage is dealt in varying degrees by church-crafted weapons, and exclusively affects “enemies of the Healing Church.” These enemies include the Bloodlickers found in the DLC, the Labyrinth Spirits of the Chalice Dungeons, and, most notably, nearly every creature found in Forsaken Castle Cainhurst. Though getting to Cainhurst requires a notoriously specific set of actions that most hunters miss on their first playthrough, it is well worth the journey, as it presents one of the most challenging, interesting, and all-around spooky areas of the game.

Players can ensure they are wielding a Righteous weapon by checking their inventory in the storage area of the Hunter’s Dream: weapons that deal Righteous damage will appear under the Church weapon categories. And though Bloodborne is notoriously unforgiving, players struggling to choose between a favorite Righteous and Serrated weapon can have the best of both worlds by wielding the Church Pick, a sword/war pick combo that deals both types of damage — if they’re willing to brave the DLC to retrieve it.

With this knowledge in hand, hunters new and old alike are better equipped to take on the variety of challenges Bloodborneposes. So go forth, good hunter, and as they say in game: may the good blood guide your way.

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