The Bloodhound Fang is one of the best early-game weapons in Elden Ring that’s going to help you build up your confidence with enemies, plus carry you through the first couple of major bosses. You can get this weapon very early, and today I’m going to show you how to get Bloodhound Fang, show off the weapon skills plus how to get the levels needed, and how to get some help with the boss fight.
How to get Bloodhound Fang
To get Bloodhound Fang you’ll need to defeat Bloodhound Knight Darriwil. You can find this boss in the Forlorn Hound Evergaol, in West Limgrave on a high hill.
You can get Bloodhound Fang very early in Elden Ring, in fact, I would recommend everyone get this weapon as early as possible, as it will help you get through the early game as you build up your skills and confidence in taking on bosses. If you can take this guy out on your own, great, if not then you can get some help by doing Blaidd’s questline, and he’ll assist you in the battle.
Bloodhound Fang
The Bloodhound Fang is a curved greatsword with a gently undulating blade wielded by Bloodhound Knights. A fearsome blade capable of brutal airborne attacks.
The Bloodhound Fang’s default weapon skill is Bloodhound’s Finesse, where you slash upward with the Bloodhound Fang, then backflip away from your enemy, following up with a heavy attack to shade step forward and attack again. This is peformed with L2 followed by R2 on PlayStation 5, and your equivalent buttons on your platform. This is a very powerful attack that will eat into enemies healthbars.
Skill FP Cost : 8 (- / 12) FP
Can be infused with other Ashes of War
Weapon Stats
Attack Type: Slash
Weight: 11.5
Passive Effect: Inflicts Blood Loss
Upgradable with Somber Smithing Stones
Physical Attack 141
Critical 100
Physical Absorption 68
Magic Defense 36
Fire Defense 36
Lightning Defense 36
Holy Defense 36
Guard Boost 44
Attribute Scaling D STR, C DEX
Attributes Required 18 STR, 17 DEX
How to level up early game
To wield Bloodhound Fang you’ll need 18 Stregth and 17 Dexterity. Depending on your starting class you’ll need to level up. The quickest way to level up early is to make your way to the Third Church of Marika in East Limgrave, then from there make your way to the bushes behind and find the teleporter.
This will take you to Bestial Sanctum, then from there you want to get on your horse and find the site of grace near Lenne’s Rise. Ride out of the sanctum, down the hill, over the bridge, ignore the dragon and keep going, then at the end of the bridge go to the left and you’ll find the site of grace. Rest to clear any enemies that are targetting you.
Then from Lenne’s Rise do a 180, get on your horse and ride down the hill. Just when you turn the corner to the left, a big ball is going to spawn, which will try and kill you. Do a sharp right, and make the ball roll off the hill, and you’ll get nearly 2000 runes when the ball ‘dies’. You can repeat this to get enough runes to level up. This is a great early game farm to help you level up quickly, and in this case wield the Bloodhound Fang.
How to help against Bloodhound Knight Darriwil
The Bloodhound Knight Darriwil can be a tough fight if you are doing it on your own, so it’s best to get some help. We’re going to enlist the howling Blaidd to help us.
If you’ve just started the game then you’ll want to get Torrent (your horse) at the Gatefront Ruins, this is so you can travel nice and quickly across large distances. Rest at the sight of grace, watch the cutscene and then assign calling Torrent to a shortcut so you can access it nice and easy.
Once you have Torrent, jump on and ride over the Limgrave’s Mistwood Ruins at night. Open up the map by collecting the map fragment nearby if you need to. Approach the Mistwood Ruins and you’ll see a Tower, on the top is Blaidd, howling like a wolf in the night. Be careful not the wake the bears that are prowling nearby, as they will attack you.
When you have heard the howling you can go back to Limgrave’s Church of Elleh, near where you started the game and speak to Merchant Kalé. Ask about the howling in the mistwood and he’ll tell you about Blaidd, plus teaches you the finger snapping gesture, which is needed to get Blaidd’s attention.
Next go back to the Mistwood Ruins and use the Finger Snap gesture while standing near Blaidd and he’ll jump down from the Tower, and you’ll be able to speak to him. He says he’s looking for Dariwil and you should contact him if you find him.
Once you have recruited Blaidd then head back to the Limgrave’s Forlorn Hound Evergaol. Make your way into the gaol and then summon Blaidd to help you in the fight.
Let me know in the comments what you think.