Bloodstained

Bloodstained overview

Bloodstained is VAMPIR's knight, a melee class that fights at 2.5 m with a sword made of blood and carries the client's DEF tag. Its kit is built to stay standing. Blood Rage deals 470% and heals for 40% of the damage it deals, so it pays off most on a full pack. Blood Moon's Protection cuts all damage taken by 25% for 20 seconds, and Berserk adds damage resistance with every hit dealt or taken, up to 8 stacks, so the longer a fight runs, the stronger Bloodstained gets. Infinite Power, its first passive, stacks all damage amplification by 1.8% on hits, up to 7 times.

That makes it the safest class in PvE and an S pick there, sharing the band with Viper and Carnage: it holds zones other classes have to leave at the same power, rarely dies while you are away, and clears story bosses alone. It is A in PvP, where Bloodlust's pull and its staying power make it a strong duellist, but it brings less damage to a big clan war than the ranged classes. Pick Bloodstained if you are new, free-to-play or plan to leave the game hunting overnight. Pick Viper if you want the faster farmer.

How to play Bloodstained in PvE

Bloodstained's best trait in the field is that it can stay. Blood Rage is the core of it: a 470% hit that heals for 40% of the damage dealt, capped at 20% of max HP, plus 4 seconds of 20% damage resistance against normal monsters and bosses. On a full pack that heal comes back every 21 seconds, so it is safe to hunt a zone a step above your power and leave the character in Offline Mode or Support Mode without coming back to a death and lost EXP.

Its pack damage comes from Blood Sword, which hits up to 5 targets twice for 210% and lowers their melee damage resistance by 15% for 6 seconds, and from Bloodbath's 700% blast. It kills more slowly than Viper, the better pure farmer, and that slower clear is the whole cost of the safety.

On bosses it is strong without being first. At equal power it is the steadiest class on Naricanje Valley's season floor 30, because Blood Moon's Protection and Berserk keep it alive through the pressure, but Grim Reaper and Viper deal more damage there. If the goal is clearing the floor at all, Bloodstained is the class most likely to get there. If the goal is the ranking time, it is not.

How to play Bloodstained in PvP

In a duel Bloodstained wins by outlasting. Bloodlust pulls the target in from 11 m, can root it for 2.5 seconds and cuts its PvP damage amplification by 25% for 7 seconds, which takes the edge off the burst that settles most 1v1 fights. Blood Moon's Protection's 20% status resistance and Disruption Resistance's chance at 30% status-duration resistance make it harder to lock down than any class except Akasha.

That same staying power makes it a safe pick in 5v5 Arena, where it lives through the first wave of crowd control and keeps swinging. In War of Occupation and the other clan wars it sits in A. Its area skills stop at 5 targets, and against a crowd of 20 Viper's poison or Carnage shooting from the back line does more, so in a clan war Bloodstained adds staying power more than kills.

Bloodstained skills

Bloodstained has 15 class skills, five General, five Uncommon, three Rare and two Heroic, plus two passives it always has. Skill names are the official English names from the global client.

1. Blood Rage: The skill the class is built on. The heal scales with the damage dealt, so it pays most on a full pack.
2. Bloodlust: Your PvP opener: the pull brings a ranged target into sword reach, and its 25% cut lasts 7 seconds.
3. Berserk: Stacks with every hit dealt or taken, so it gets stronger the longer a fight runs.
4. Blood Moon's Protection: The reason Bloodstained survives where other classes fall back. Hold it for the boss's heavy phase rather than the monsters before it.

Power spike

For 20 seconds it raises all damage resistance and weapon attack resistance by 25% and status resistance by 20%, on a 45-second cooldown. Hold it for the heaviest part of a fight. It turns a class that survives into one that is very hard to kill, and it is useful in every mode Bloodstained plays.

Bloodshapes for Bloodstained

A Bloodshape's stats work on any class, but its passive skills switch on only when its own class wears it. These 22 carry Bloodstained's passives. The Conqueror line is Bloodstained's own Legendary set. Names are the official English names from the global client.

Bloodstained weapons

Bloodstained has six swords. Four climb the PvE line, each adding melee attack and critical damage. The Prophet pair trades critical damage for PvP attack and PvP damage amplification. A combat preset swaps weapons in one tap, so if you play both modes, keep one of each line.

Changing to Bloodstained

Owning a Legendary Conqueror Bloodshape before the window opens saves the most: it comes across with no conversion, and every other Legendary slot is 100 Class Change Proofs.

1. Opens only in announced windows. Needs character level 60 and 2,000 Diamonds (Farming Diamonds count).
2. Level, EXP, quests and items carry over. Weapons of any class become Bloodstained swords at the same grade, enhancement, refinement and Blessing.
3. Only the old class's own Bloodshapes convert, grade for grade, and never into one you already own. Skill cards keep the highest grade of each. Quick slots and skill settings reset.

Bloodstained compared with the other classes

ViperIts partner at the top of PvE. Viper clears packs faster with poison that hits up to 5 targets; Bloodstained survives longer and gets further on the same gear.CarnageHits bosses harder from 8.5 m, but has no damage-resistance skill of its own. Bloodstained is the one to leave hunting.AkashaThe other melee class that can duel. Three dashes and a full cleanse beat Bloodstained's pull-and-outlast plan one on one, which is why Akasha leads PvP.Grim ReaperDeals more damage to a boss in a short window and far less in the field. Bloodstained trades that burst for a much safer run.