When Elden Ring launched in 2022, few things ignited the PvP community quite like Rivers of Blood. Its infamous Corpse Piler skill carved through hosts and phantoms with absurd speed and took over the early invasion meta almost overnight. It became a meme, a curse word, and a symbol of "everything wrong with Elden Ring PvP."

 

But now, years later, with the Elden Ring Reforged overhaul mod reinventing mechanics from the ground up, it's worth asking: What happens when you take the most hated weapon in the game into a modded PvP ecosystem where everything works differently?

 

Today's exploration jumps into exactly that. We're invading, dueling, experimenting with talismans, fortunes, Elden Ring Items, self-bleed mechanics, and even dipping into dual setups using Eleonora's Poleblade. What we found is a mode where creativity thrives, traditional metas break apart, and everything-from poise to damage types-works in a fundamentally different way.

 

This isn't just a weapon showcase. It's a look into how Elden Ring Reforged transforms PvP into something more tactical, chaotic, and surprisingly refreshing.

 

A Reforged Sandbox: Why Modded PvP Feels So Different

 

Before diving into the weapon itself, it's important to understand how drastically Elden Ring Reforged reshapes the game. Stats scale up and down automatically for invasions, meaning you can invade players far above or below your level while still maintaining functional balance. If you invade a level 20 host, you'll deal less damage; if you fight higher-level characters, you'll gain buffs to keep things manageable.

 

Status buildup-bleed, frost, madness, poison-is also significantly nerfed in PvP. Unlike in base Elden Ring, you're not going to melt someone's HP bar in two swings with bleed procs. In Reforged, building up status effects on players takes longer, requires more commitment, and demands smarter timing. It means the old Rivers of Blood "spam skill and win" playstyle simply doesn't exist here.

 

Even armor behaves differently. Reforged allows illusion armor layers that cosmetically override what you're actually wearing. So while the player may look like they're using one set visually, the actual armor providing bonuses underneath may be completely different.

 

And because unique weapons can now be coated with greases, even iconic weapons like Rivers of Blood can gain temporary elements for niche breakpoints.

 

All of that adds up to a dramatically new PvP experience.

 

The Build: Rivers of Blood, Eleonora's Poleblade, and Fortune Synergy

 

Let's break down the setup used for these invasions:

 

Primary Weapon-Rivers of Blood

 

Despite its legendary reputation, Rivers of Blood behaves very differently in Reforged:

 

 Corpse Piler is dramatically faster than before

 The weapon inflicts self-bleed buildup with every attack

 Status buildup on enemies is toned down

 Regular R1s feel weaker, requiring better timing

 Poise-both breaking it and maintaining it-matters more than ever

 

It's still flashy, still iconic, but now requires precision instead of spam.

 

Secondary Weapon-Eleonora's Poleblade

 

What's surprising is how often Eleonora's Poleblade ended up outperforming Rivers of Blood in actual fights. Its speed, range, and multi-hit nature seem to mesh better with Reforged's pacing.

 

In many engagements, swapping to Poleblade delivered cleaner hits, safer trades, and more consistent pressure than the signature katana.

 

Class Fortune and Minor Fortune

 

The character uses:

 

 Bold Fortune (class fortune)

 Dynast Fortune (minor fortune)-which leaves blood pools on the ground during bleedouts

 

However, the blood pool effect is mostly irrelevant here. Because Reforged heavily nerfs PvP bleed buildup, getting someone to actually bleed out is extremely rare.

 

Armor Setup and Passives

 

While the cosmetic armor doesn't match what's actually worn, the real gear provides:

 

 Poise attack strength boosts

 Higher physical defense

 Set bonuses from the Bulgoat and Soldier pieces

 A free-weight Cipher Pata offhand for passive HP recovery during combat

 

Small bonuses like these matter massively in Reforged PvP since poise trading and stagger resistance are far more central than in the base game.

 

Talismans

 

The loadout is designed to compensate for Reforged's reduced poise damage:

 

 Hammer Talisman-boosts poise damage

 Bull-Goat Talisman-higher poise and defense

 Two-Handed Sword Talisman-+10% damage when two-handing

 Great Jar's Arsenal-works like in vanilla, boosting equip load

 

These choices reinforce a build designed to land impactful hits-even when the weapon isn't naturally suited for poise breaks.Into the Chaos: Invasion Highlights and Observations

 

Entering invasions in Reforged is a uniquely chaotic experience. Because scaling is dynamic, you often enter worlds where players have far more HP, FP, or stamina than you do. For instance, encountering hosts with absurdly long FP bars isn't unusual when you're being upscaled.

 

That said, these invasions reveal quite a lot about how Rivers of Blood-and PvP-actually functions under the Reforged rule set.

 

1. The Confusion of Upscaling

 

One of the first invasions thrown into view involves a situation where the invader suddenly has 98 FP, with a clearly upscaled HP and FP bar. Meanwhile, the host seems confused, under-leveled, or caught off guard.

 

These moments highlight the unpredictability of scaling: sometimes you're at an advantage, sometimes you're thrown into the deep end.

 

2. Movement and Running Attacks Matter More Than Skill Spam

 

Even with faster Corpse Piler animations, the katana's running attack feels underwhelming. Much of Rivers of Blood's old-school gameplay relied on:

 

 Running L1 pressure

 True combos

 Fast roll-chasing

 Bleed procs to force panic rolls

 

But in Reforged, running attacks are simply too slow and too unsafe unless timed perfectly. You must rely more heavily on spacing and "perfect attacks," a Reforged mechanic rewarding precise input windows to boost damage or poise impact.

 

This pushes Rivers of Blood into an unexpectedly high-skill role.

 

3. Madness Builds, Tanky Fortunes, and Creative Weapons

 

Invasions often reveal wild builds that don't exist in vanilla Elden Ring. One opponent uses an outrageous madness/poise hybrid, while another seems to have a heavily tank-focused fortune known as Warmaster.

 

One of the most surprising encounters involves an opponent wielding what appears to be a weapon dealing true damage-ignoring most normal defenses. The only weapon currently known to do this in Reforged is Morgott's Cursed Sword, which becomes terrifying when combined with poise.

 

Even with talismans and defensive tears providing resistance, true damage chops through health bars effortlessly.

 

4. Spell Tracking is Significantly Improved

 

One notable Reforged change is the enhanced tracking on spells-especially Glintstone projectiles and multi-hit magic. Getting chased by three players and a mage firing improved spells turns many encounters into bullet hell.

 

This forces far more defensive play, careful spacing, and thoughtful resource management.

 

5. When Outnumbered, Positioning Wins Fights

 

During a hectic 3v1, instead of running straight into a pack of players holding a chokepoint, the invader teleports around their position to force them into PvE mobs. This clever movement turns the fight around, causing the host and phantoms to panic under environmental pressure.

 

Reforged rewards smart invasions more than brute forcing your way through.

 

Psychological Warfare: The Real Power of Rivers of Blood

 

In many engagements, Eleonora's Poleblade performs better mechanically. It's faster, safer, and smoother in Reforged PvP.

But Rivers of Blood has something no other weapon in Elden Ring possesses:

 

Fear.

 

When opponents see Corpse Piler ignite, even in a completely overhauled combat system, they panic. The weapon carries years of reputation, trauma, and cultural memory. Even if bleed buildup is drastically nerfed, the psychological threat remains.

 

The funniest part?

Sometimes that fear alone wins neutral exchanges.

 

Final Thoughts: Rivers of Blood in Reforged Is Surprisingly Balanced-and Fun

 

What stands out in all these invasions isn't Rivers of Blood's dominance-it's its novelty. For the first time, you can use the weapon without feeling cheap, because the mod forces it into a fair, skill-based environment.

 

 No instant bleed procs

 No overwhelming ash-of-war spam

 Real consequences for poor spacing

 A self-bleed mechanic to punish brainless pressure

 Heavy reliance on perfect attacks and poise trading

 A meta where other weapons shine just as brightly

 

In Reforged, Rivers of Blood becomes what it should have always been:

 

a stylish, technical, and fun-to-use weapon with meaningful weaknesses and explosive potential when played well.

 

The invasions highlight everything players love about Elden Ring PvP:

 

 unpredictability

 creative builds

 chaotic group fights

 high-skill combat

more Elden Ring Runes

 and, of course, sheer comedic nonsense that only Elden Ring can generate

 

Rivers of Blood has come full circle-from hated menace to balanced contender. And with Reforged's sandbox giving players unprecedented freedom, there's never been a better time to step back into the chaotic beauty of Elden Ring PvP.