Bloodborne: Chikage vs. Bloodletter (What’s Better?)

The Chikage and the Bloodletter are the two best Bloodtinge-scaling weapons in Bloodborne. Each weapon plays very differently from the other:

• The Chikage is a Skill/Bloodtinge katana that delivers fast, nimble strikes
• The Bloodletter is a Strength/Bloodtinge mace that delivers slow, massive strikes

Which one is best for you depends heavily on the way you like to play Bloodborne.

We’ll give you a complete rundown of each weapon down below.

Chikage Details

The Chikage is a small katana in its standard form, scaling with Skill exclusively and dealing very fast attacks.

While the katana is certainly the weaker of the Chikage’s two forms, it’s still very useful for getting in a few quick strikes before dodging away again.

The Chikage’s alternate form is a large, bloody tachi that scales with both Skill and Bloodtinge.

This alternate form is the main reason to use the Chikage as your primary weapon, as its dual-scaling gives it the potential to deal massive damage.

In this form, blood flies off of the weapon with each slash, dealing bonus damage to any enemy that it hits.

The Chikage stays relatively fast in this form, too, allowing you to keep up with Bloodborne’s most dangerous foes.

The one drawback of this form is one shared by many Bloodtinge weapons – its blood-infused form slowly drains your health over time.

While the damage is slow enough to not be a problem most of the time, you may want to consider equipping the Communion Caryll Rune to offset this effect.

How To Get The Chikage

The Chikage can be unlocked for purchase in the Hunter’s Dream Messenger Shop.

Before you can do that, though, you’ll have to unlock Forsaken Castle Cainhurst and beat the boss at its peak.

Step 1: Finding Castle Cainhurst

To gain access to Castle Cainhurst, you’ll have to complete a small quest.

The steps are as follows:

1. Find the poisonous cave behind the village in the Forbidden Woods
2. Travel up the ladder in the cave to reach the back entrance to Iosefka’s Clinic
3. Pick up the Cainhurst Summons from a hospital bed in the Clinic
4. Head to Hemwick Charnel Lane and approach the monolith in the final graveyard
5. After the cutscene plays, interact with the carriage to warp to Castle Cainhurst

Step 2: Unlocking the Chikage

Once you’ve reached Castle Cainhurst, you’ve a few more steps left to complete before you can buy the Chikage:

1. Climb through the castle and defeat Martyr Logarius on the rooftops
2. Pick up the Crown of Illusions in the boss arena and equip it
3. A secret door will now open, revealing a path way that leads to Annalise
4. Speak to Annalise and choose to kneel

With these steps complete, you can purchase the Chikage in the Hunter’s Dream Messenger shop for 40,000 Blood Echoes.

Bloodletter Details

The Bloodletter is a Strength/Bloodtinge weapon that usually takes the form of a one-handed morningstar. In this form, it scales exclusively with Strength and deals medium-speed blows.

While not as fast as the Chikage, this form of the Bloodletter still allows you to remain nimble and out maneuver opponents.

In its alternate form, the Bloodletter transforms into an enormous two-handed morningstar that scales with both Strength and Bloodtinge.

Unfortunately, the large size and damage output of this form comes at the cost of speed.

Each swing of the transformed Bloodletter is slow and deliberate, traits that don’t meld very well with Bloodborne’s toughest challenges.

Towards the late-game, Bloodborne moves away from the crowd control-focused encounters that slow weapons thrive in. Combat becomes much faster as a result.

It takes a skilled player to use the Bloodletter effectively in these situations.

The transformed Bloodletter has another drawback along with its slow speed – the same damage over time effect that comes with the Chikage.

Luckily, wielders of the Bloodletter probably won’t feel the pain of this effect too much, as Strength builds typically have higher HP than Skill builds.

How To Get The Bloodletter

Finding the Bloodletter is a simpler process than finding the Chikage.

Unfortunately, “simple” doesn’t necessarily mean easy.

You’ll have to own the Old Hunters DLC for the Bloodletter, and defeat three difficult DLC bosses to pick it up.

Here’s how to get the Bloodletter:

1. Access the DLC by getting grabbed by the Amygdala in Cathedral Ward
2. Travel through the Hunter’s Nightmare until you defeat Ludwig, the Holy Blade
3. Continue into the Research Hall, and defeat the Living Failures at its end
4. Enter the Clocktower at the back of the arena, and defeat Lady Maria within
5. Continue into the Fishing Hamlet and find the Underground Cell Inner Chamber Key
6. Take the key to the cells between the Ludwig boss arena and the Research Hall
7. Open the cell down the narrow stairs and kill the NPC inside to get the Bloodletter

Which Bloodtinge Weapon Is Better?

Both the Chikage and Bloodletter fill an important niche, acting as the best Skill/Bloodtinge and Strength/Bloodtinge weapons respectively.

If you’ve already invested many points into Strength or Skill, go for the weapon that scales with the stat you’ve already invested into.

If you’re undecided on what kind of build you’re going to be building, the Chikage is by far the better weapon. It’s equippable much earlier on than the Bloodletter, and is much easier to use in Bloodborne’s toughest moments.