If you know what you are doing and obtain the best blood gems in Bloodborne, you are then looking at a weapon that will crush anything that dares stand in its way.
A true Hunter who knows how build crafting works and how to maximize weapon damage in Bloodborne knows the value of Blood Gems. It is a deep topic in itself, but we’ll make things easy for you and direct you to the best blood gems in the game.
Things to Know About Blood Gems
Here are some things that you should know before we dive into the guide:
- There are five shapes of Blood Gems. Every weapon has three slots of different shapes. Here are all the shapes:
- The most common type of gem is Radial and is mainly linked to Physical damage. Most weapons have two radial slots, so having a good assortment of these Blood gems will prove beneficial.
- The Triangle gem type is less common and is usually linked to Physical, Elemental, and Arcane damage.
- The Waning gem type is even more rare and is often linked to Elemental damage.
- The Circle gem type is exclusively Bloodtinge gems and is usually slotted in blood weapons.
- The Droplet gem is a rare type that can be obtained by defeating Winter Lanterns. Although it has lower natural attack rates, it is unique in that it can be equipped in any weapon slot. This blood gem is not farmable or even viable, so we’ll ignore it for now.
- The best Blood Gems are found in Depth 5 Chalice Dungeons with Fetid, Rotted, and Cursed Offerings. Before you can search, you must have made at least one dungeon with those rites yourself. You can create a single disposable dungeon with all three rites just once to meet the rite search requirements for all chalices.
- Blood Gems have rarity or rating from 1 to 20. We will focus on the top-tier gems only for the most significant impact.
- Use the Eye Caryll Rune to increase your Item Discovery and heighten your chances of finding better, higher-rated gems.
- We will mention the Root Chalice Dungeon Glyphs, which will directly take you to the dungeon where you can find the blood gem. You only need to create one dungeon of your own using the Chalice, and then you can hop into the glyph.
- Cursed Blood Gems have the best effects but come at the cost of a random negative effect. This adverse effect is entirely random, so we can’t state precisely what RNG throws your way. However, their positive generally outweighs their negative aspect.
- Even though we include sure-shot glyphs in the list, the dungeons’ randomly generated nature does not promise the gem’s presence. We recommend that you recreate or reload the Chalice dungeon and search again, and RNG will be in your favor.
Best Radial Blood Gems
First, we’ll list down the best and most widely used gems in Bloodborne, Radial Blood Gems, which leans more toward physical damage:
| Blood Gem Name & Rating | Chalice Dungeon & Glyph | Rites or Offerings | Source | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursed Cold Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (kkvk8gsj) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Pthumerian Elder boss (Layer 3) | Arc Scaling +65 w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Fire Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (6hht8sy9) | Fetid Cursed | Watchdog of the Old Lords boss (Layer 4) | Fire Damage +24.8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Heavy Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (v8n3mqzr) | Fetid Cursed | Headless Bloodletting Beast boss (Layer 3) | Strength Scaling +65 w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (v5v5fpsd) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Rom, The Vacuous Spider boss (Layer 3) | All Damage +19.5% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Tempering Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (y4383xas) | Fetid Cursed | Bloodletting Beast (Layer 4) | Physical Damage +24.8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Adept Damp Blood Gem (19) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (fztc57gk) | Fetid Cursed | Undead Giant boss (Layer 1) | Blunt/Thrust Damage +28.7% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Odd Tempering Damp Blood Gem (18) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (42t2cns6) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Found in a coffin inside the bonus area before the boss (Layer 2) | Physical Damage +46.2 (flat) Random negative effect |
| Cursed Beasthunter /Kinhunter Damp Blood Gem (17) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (exdy2m2t) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped from one of the 4 Cramped Casket enemies inside the first bonus area (Layer 3) | Beast/Kin damage +26.7% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Murky Damp Blood Gem (18) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (23w763zj) | Fetid Cursed | Dropped from one of the 5 Purple Aura Nightmare Apostle enemies (Layer 1) | Slow Poison build up +14 w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Bolt Damp Blood Gem (18) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (56428adr) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by one of two Bone Ash Hunter next to the lantern (Layer 1) | Bolt Damage +23.1% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Tempering Damp Blood Gem (17) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (8y2wes5u) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by Brainsucker in lever room (Layer 1) | Physical Damage +9.1% w/ Arcane Damage +67.5 (Flat) Random negative effect |
| Cursed Tempering Damp Blood Gem (19) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (pwmf22gu) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Watchers boss (Layer 1) | Physical damage +27.2% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Tempering Damp Blood Gem (18) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (7enpbrta) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by the Madman enemy near the lamp (Layer 2) | Physical damage+21% w/ Random stat x2 Random negative effect |
| Cursed Adept Damp Blood Gem (19) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (pwmf22gu) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Watchers boss (Layer 1) | Blunt/Thrust damage +32.6% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Striking Damp Blood Gem (19) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (pwmf22gu) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Watchers boss – extremely rare drop (Layer 1) | Charge attack damage +36.3% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Striking Damp Blood Gem (18) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (v3krwpyp) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by a Kirkhammer Hunter (Layer 3) | Charge attack damage +30.8% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Radiant Damp Blood Gem (19) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (42t2cns6) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Maneater Boar boss (Layer 1) | Reduces stamina costs 8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
Best Triangle Blood Gems
Below are all the best versions of the Triangle Blood Gems that are more inclined toward attribute bonuses and extra effects:
| Blood Gem Name & Rating | Chalice Dungeon & Glyph | Rites or Offerings | Source | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursed Arcane Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Isz Root Chalice (zubap5d4) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos boss (Layer 3) | Arcane damage +24.8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Cold Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Isz Root Chalice (6z4rx8iv) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Pthumerian Elder boss (Layer3) | Arcane Scaling +65 w/ Random 2nd effect 1 or 2 Random negative effect |
| Cursed Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Isz Root Chalice (ufhdmw6p) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Amygdala boss (Layer 3) | All Damage +21.5% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Tempering /Fire/Arcane/ Bolt Damp Blood Gem (19) | Isz Root Chalice (5pwujscd) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Merciless Watchers boss (Layer 1) | Physical/Fire/ Arcane/ Bolt Damage+27.2% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Odd Tempering/Arcane/Fire Blood Gem (19) | Isz Root Chalice (jemmjmpi) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Brainsucker boss (Layer 1) | Physical/Arcane/Fire damage type +9.8% w/ Arcane +72.5 (Flat) Random negative effect |
| Cursed Adept Damp Blood Gem (19) | Isz Root Chalice (4a29jxce) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by the Cannon Undead Giant enemy (Layer 1) | Blunt/Thrust damage +28.7% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Beasthunter/Kinhunter Damp Blood Gem (17) | Isz Root Chalice (fnh9ctui) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by Cramped Caskets enemies (Layer 3) | Beast/Kin damage +26.7% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Heavy Blood Gem (17) | Isz Root Chalice (fn3c6yib) | None | Dropped by the Labyrinth mole inside the bonus area before the boss (Layer 3) | Strength scaling +27.2 w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Poorman’s Tempering Blood Gem (17) | Isz Root Chalice (k4vtsps6) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Found close to the lantern (Layer 1) | Physical Damage +9.1% w/ Physical damage +27% when near death Random negative effect |
| Cursed Adept Damp Blood Gem (19) | Isz Root Chalice (5pwujscd) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Gravestone Watchers boss (Layer 1) | Blunt/Thrust damage +32.6% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Nourishing Damp Blood Gem (19) | Isz Root Chalice (5pwujscd) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Gravestone Watchers boss – extremely rare drop (Layer 1) | All damage +23.6% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Radiant Damp Blood Gem (19) | Isz Root Chalice (kfrk4ycc) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Maneater Boar boss (Layer 1) | Reduces stamina costs by 8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
Best Waning Blood Gems
The table below showcases all the best Waning Blood Gems that add special effects like fire, bolt, and/or healing:
| Blood Gem Name & Rating | Chalice Dungeon & Glyph | Rites or Offerings | Source | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursed Bolt Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (hdvid49c) | Fetid Cursed | Loran Darkbeast boss (Layer 3) | Bolt damage +24.8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Odd Bolt Damp Blood Gem (18) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (sjqsepqh) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Located inside a coffin chest in the bonus area (Layer 3) | Bolt damage +77 (flat) Random negative effect |
| Cursed Cold Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (6tyhmgva) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Pthumerian Elder boss (Layer 3) | Arcane Scaling +65 w/ Random 2nd effect one or two Random negative effect |
| Cursed Fire Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (pn8xkg3m) | Fetid Cursed | Watchdog of the Old Lords boss (Layer 3) | Fire damage +24.8% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Odd Fire Damp Blood Gem (18) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (v6v9hde9) | Fetid Cursed | Looted from a chest inside the bonus area before the boss (Layer 1) | Fire damage +77 (flat) Random negative effect |
| Cursed Fire Damp Blood Gem (17) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (wtxu2x2p) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by Yellow Cloaked Fire Mages in swamp area (Layer 3) | Fire Damage +9.1% w/ Fire damage +67.5 (Flat) Random negative effect |
| Cursed Nourishing Abyssal Blood Gem (20) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (6jcbqsk2) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Either from Amygdala boss or Abhorrent Beast enemy (Layer 3) | All Damage +21.5% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Adept Damp Blood Gem (19) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (ktnrwzvy) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Undead Giant Canon version boss (Layer 1) | Blunt/Thrust Damage +28.7% w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Heavy Blood Gem (19) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (8uerigw9) | Fetid Cursed | Headless Bloodletting Beast boss (Layer 1) | Strength Scaling +50.75 w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Pulsing Damp Blood Gem (18) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (phyptxe6) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Found within a coffin inside the bonus area before the boss (Layer 4) | 5HP regen/3 sec Random negative effect |
| Cursed Murky Damp Blood Gem (19) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (enjids45) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Loran Silverbeast boss (Layer 1) | Add slow poison effect +15.9 w/ Random 2nd effect Random negative effect |
| Cursed Tempering Damp Blood Gem (18) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (ete2cbjc) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by the Madman enemy near the lamp (Layer 3) | Physical damage+21% w/ Random stat x2 Random negative effect |
Best Circular Blood Gems
The Circular Blood Gems below are the best to pair with your firearms and BLoodtingenweapons:
| Blood Gem Name & Rating | Chalice Dungeon & Glyph | Rites or Offerings | Source | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursed Damp Bloodtinge Gem (19) | Lower Ailing Loran Root Chalice (enjids45) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Blood Starved Beast boss (Layer 1) | Blood damage +28.7% w/ Add blood ATK +7.3 Random negative effect |
| Cursed Damp Bloodtinge Gem (18) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (e99tdh9f) | Fetid Cursed | Dropped by the shotgun Merciless Watcher in the starting bonus area (Layer 1) | Blood damage +31.5% Random negative effect |
| Cursed Pulsing Damp Blood Gem (17) | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (9fvuy2us) | Fetid Rotted Cursed | Dropped by a rare Ritual Master enemy with zombie mob (Layer 1) | 5 HP regen/3 sec Random negative effect |
These are only the cream of the crop Blood Gems in Bloodborne. There are way more gems than this extensive list.
To stand the challenge of the latter chalice dungeons and NG+, you must take your time to farm these blood gems and build your weapon right. Know which blood gem synergizes with your weapon and build it accordingly for ultimate results.