Summary
It would be impossible to talk about the greatest games on the PS4 without mentioning the absolute masterpiece that isBloodborne. FromSoftware took the special formula they’d devised inDark Soulsand applied it to a new IP(one with a surprising amount of meme potential)with excellent success. The Lovecraftian world ofBloodborne, coupled with its brutal yet fair combat, has made this title one of the greatest games of all time.
Two stats govern a player’s damage in melee combat — Strength and Skill. While other stats can also play a role in close-range combat, there’s no denying that these two skills are what players should focus on while creating a build. Skill builds might be great and all, but people who wish to make the most of the bigger and heavier weapons inBloodbornewould be served well with an investment in Strength instead. For the people who wish to make the most of their Strength build and deal as much damage as possible, thebestBloodborneStrength weaponswill be right up their alley.
Updated On December 2nd, 2024 By Joshua Leeds:Bloodborne has a lot of intricate places, especially when you add the DLC into the mix. This article has been updated to include more detailed locations to help players get a better idea of where to go or where they need to get to before they can use one of the better strength weapons found in the game.
15Fist Of Gratia
A Left-Handed Weapon With Excellent Stunning Abilities
TheFist of Gratiawas added in the game’s expansion,The Old Hunters,and was a favored weapon of Simple Gratia. Gratia, the game’s lore explains, lacked the intelligence to operate complicated firearms, so she opted to pummel beasts with a slab of solid metal instead.
While the Fist of Gratia can be very niche (taking up the valuable Firearm slot), certain Strength builds will appreciate its effectiveness at opening up enemies and interrupting their attacks. It may be an unconventional tool for those who have tried numerousBloodbornebuilds, but it’s far from essential equipment. There are far betterStrength weapons inBloodbornethat players can rely on instead.
14Tonitrus
A Mace That Can Be Infused With The Bolt Element
TheTonitrusis a great weapon simply because it can apply additional bolt damage when transformed, allowing it to deal extra damage to most of the enemies andsuper-challenging bosses in the game.
That being said, one can only maximize the damage of the Tonitrus if they go for a Strength/Arcane build, which might be asking too much. Still, in the right hands, it’s a great backup weapon to damage enemies weak to bolt, which includes most of the kin enemies that will be encountered in the latter stages of the title.
Heavy
Boasts The Strongest Charged Heavy Attack In The Game
TheStake Driveris a powerful and impractical creation of the Powder Kegs, a division of hunters who favored such experimental, super-dangerous weaponry. It may require some practice, but players who tailor their moveset around this weapon will find themselves enjoying one of the betterStrength weapons inBloodbornesimply because of how much fun it is to use.
The Stake Driver is a short-ranged, brutal weapon that can drive stakes into its opponents (hence the name, of course). A fully charged R2 attack, in particular, is incredibly powerful, but it’s hard to land because it’s outrageously slow. The Stake Driver is one of the most under-appreciated Trick Weapons in the game, boasting great potential but lacking in comparison to other Strength weapons.
12Kirkhammer
A Sword-Hammer Hybrid That Switches Between Slow And Fast Movesets
TheKirkhammerhas thesecond-highest scaling with Strengthout of all the base game weapons, which is enough in itself for this weapon to bag a spot on this list. However, keep in mind that the Kirkhammer is such a double-edged sword in that its untransformed state deals very little damage, while the transformed state can deal a ton of damage.
Unfortunately, the attacks in this transformed state are so slow that the player is open to a counter with every single attack. So, players should switch to the sword against faster enemies or be really careful about when they decide to swing this hammer for optimal results. It takes a while for players to get things right, but mastering the Kirkhammer can let players enjoy a dynamic moveset with one of the coolerStrength weapons inBloodborne.
11Holy Moonlight Sword
A Legendary Weapon That Becomes Even Deadlier By Leveling Both Strength And Arcane
Some people may find it cheating to add theHoly Moonlight Swordto the conversation about Strength weapons. Most players would consider this to be a weapon better for Quality builds that focus on both Strength and Arcane, but there’s no reason why players who just focus on the former can’t use this weapon.
After all, the moveset of this weapon is so alluring that fans can’t help but try and accommodate this blade in their arsenal somehow. It can be a challenge, but players can make good use of this weapon even if they haven’t invested too many points in Arcane. For what it’s worth, players can always dump more points in this stat after reaching the hardcap for Strength if the Holy Moonlight Sword catches their fancy.
10Boom Hammer
An Explosive Hammer That’s A Lot Of Fun To Use
The next DLC weapon on this list comes in the form of theBoom Hammer, a handy weapon that can cause an explosion with its transformed attack. Lighting up the weapon to unleash this bombastic attack makes the Boom Hammer one of the most funStrength weapons to use inBloodborne, even if the novelty wears off after a point.
That being said, there’s nothing really of note about it aside from this added caveat, making the Boom Hammer rather one-dimensional in combat. As a result, like the Stake Driver, it’s often overlooked in favor of weapons with flashy transformations. Still, players who don’t mind sticking to a relatively boring moveset will find the Boom Hammer to be right up their alley.
9Beast Claw
A Claw That Lets The Hunter Transform When Paired With The Beast’s Embrace Rune
TheBeast Clawmight not have a ton of range, but it’s easily among the most fun and intenseStrength weapons inBloodbornethat players can use to turn combat into a deadly dance of death where players must dodge and attack with great skill.
The best — and recommended — way to use this weapon is to pair it with the Beast’s Embrace rune. This allows the Beast Claw to unleash a new moveset on enemies while also garnering Beasthood with every successful attack. This puts the player in a position where they can dispatch most enemies in just a few hits while also being vulnerable to being one-shotted themselves. It’s easily one of the mostadrenaline-inducingweapons that players can utilize in the game if they wish. It doesn’t utilize the Strength stat as heavily as some others and has a very limited range, but these are minor complaints in the grand scheme of things.
8Bloodletter
An Excellent Weapon For Strength-Bloodtinge Builds
BeforeThe Old Huntersexpansion was released, there wasn’t really a weapon that made effective use of a Strength/Bloodtinge build. TheBloodletterfilled this niche in a glorious fashion.
This brutal weapon is obtained from the assassin Brador. Its base form is a short and simple club, but its transformed mode (which the player must activate by sacrificing some HP) has a huge range and damage potential. It even has a great AoE blast attack, but this can also heavily damage the Hunter if they’re not careful with their build! It’s very tough to use and acquired super late in the game, diminishing its value somewhat.
7Hunter Axe
A Starting Weapon Perfect For Strength Users Who Want Crowd Control
It’s a testament toBloodbornethat the starting weapons present in the game have been scaled so efficiently that they can last to the endgame without causing too much trouble for the player.
TheHunter Axeis a great example of this, with this weapon being incredibly powerful and easy to use as well. Players can’t go wrong by choosing this weapon to start and end the game with. Its transformed mode has incredible reach and an infamous spin-to-win charged move; the player is equipped to take on any of the game’s numerous nasties with this in their hands.
6Saw Cleaver
A Simple, Easy-To-Use Weapon With Valuable Serrated Damage
TheSaw Cleaver was heavily featured duringBloodborne’s promotion, and it’s easy to see why this is the case. After all, this weapon is arguably the best starter weapon and completely decimates most foes in its path with the greatest ease.
The fact that it does 20% extra damage to beasts is incredibly helpful throughout the game, especially during the starting moments when most of the tough enemies that players encounter fall under this category.
