Okay so today I gotta talk about this spear bleed setup I finally got working in the game. Man, it took way longer than I thought it would. Let me tell you how it went down.
The Starting Point (AKA My Mess)
First, I saw some people talking big about bleed damage with spears. Sounded cool, right? More damage over time, less button mashing maybe? So I grabbed my favourite pointy stick and jumped in.
Total disaster. Seriously.
I slapped on Sunder because it feels powerful, y’know? Big slam. Then I tried Cleave thinking “more hits, more bleeds!”. Sounds logical. Threw in Lacerate for good measure because why not? Big numbers flying everywhere, but the actual bleed damage… sucked. Bosses just laughed at me while I spammed flasks like a lunatic.
Felt bad. Real bad.
The Realization (Spoiler: I Was Dumb)
So I crawled back to the forums and actually, you know, read stuff. Big mistake number one: I used skills that hit tons of times super fast. Turns out, for big bleeds? You need a few massive hits. Skills that hit slow but hit like a truck. My Cleave spam was actually making my bleeds weaker because the big hits weren’t happening.
Facepalm moment right there.
Also saw everyone talking about this one keystone passive – “Crimson Dance”. Apparently, it’s the holy grail for bleed? Lets you stack way more bleeds on a single target. I didn’t have it. Explains a lot.
Scrapping Everything & Starting Over
Alright, time to get serious.
- Dumped Cleave: Gone. Too fast, too weak.
- Dumped Lacerate: Still not the big thwack I needed.
- Considered keeping Sunder: It kinda hits hard? But felt clunky.
Then I saw people mentioning Puncture. Oh man, Puncture! The bleed skill! How did I forget the bleed skill? Slapped that on immediately.
But Puncture alone wasn’t enough. Needed that big, chunky hit to really kickstart the bleed stack.
Enter Perforate. Oh yeah. This one. Stabs the ground, spears erupt. Hits like a truck, especially in its Blood Stance mode. THIS felt right.
Picked up a decent phys damage spear, focused on getting flat physical damage and “damage over time multiplier” on gear wherever I could find it. Not easy, but crucial.
The Simple Rotation That Actually Works
Okay, here’s the simple brain-dead rotation I settled on for ripping bosses apart:
- Run Up Close: Obviously.
- HIT PERFORATE (Blood Stance!): Boom. Your big, juicy hit that applies a FAT bleed.
- Spam PUNCTURE: While that bleed is ticking, keep stabbing with Puncture for like 1-2 seconds. This stacks more bleeds on top.
- Move or Dodge: Let the bleeds WORK. You don’t need to stand still! Get out of the fire!
- Repeat Perforate + Puncture Combo: When bleeds start fading or the boss is still too alive, do it again. Perforate for the big hit, Puncture for stacking.
That’s it. No complicated six-button piano. Perforate makes the big bleed, Puncture stacks more. Keep Crimson Dance and bleed duration passives so your stacks last.
The “Holy Crap” Moment
Tested this on that big crab boss I always struggled with. Did my Perforate smash. Saw the bleed stack icon pop up with a decent number. Spammed Puncture twice. Then… I ran around like a headless chicken while the health bar just… MELTED. Didn’t need to touch the boss again. Just watched it hemorrhage to death.
Felt amazing. Finally understood what “max bleed DPS” actually meant. It’s not about speed, it’s about heavy hits, stacking efficiently, and letting time (and the bleed) do the work.
Definitely took some trial and error. Forgot the keystone, used the wrong skills… classic me. But now? My spear feels properly dangerous. Simple rotation, massive payoff. Worth the math headaches to figure out.