Elden Ring's Bloody Slash Ability Is Metal As Hell

thegamer.com:

I love Elden Ring's Ashes of War. These special items—which can be discovered in the world, dropped by enemies, or bought from NPCs—let you apply a variety of wild, wonderful abilities to your weapons. With them you can rain down showers of arrows, spin your weapon like Darth Maul, fire projectiles from a sword, unleash powerful shockwaves, and more besides. But my favourite Ash of War, which I use constantly, has got to be Bloody Slash.

Bloody Slash is one of the most metal abilities I've ever encountered in a video game. Use it on an enemy and your character coats their blade in their own blood before attacking them with a wide, arcing slash that can easily one-shot a regular enemy. It's super effective against bosses too, letting you carve off huge chunks of health with one blood-soaked swing of any armament you apply it to. Is it overpowered? Maybe, but I couldn't live without it.

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The problem is, every time you use Bloody Slash you lose health. This makes sense when you consider that your character has to bleed to use it. But with enough points invested in your Vigor stat, which increases your overall HP, it's never enough to be that big of a deal—especially if you've upgraded your Flask of Crimson Tears. It uses so little health, I don't even think about it anymore. I will merrily spam the hell out of Bloody Slash whenever I can.

A bigger issue with this Ash of War is that it momentarily leaves you wide open to attack. This is classic Elden Ring, making you feel empowered, but with a catch that forces you to still play carefully. Bloody Slash has a big charging wind-up, which feels like a lifetime when you're fighting a fast, relentless