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The best weapon in Bloodborne: The Old Hunters is the one that matches your primary stat and the way you actually fight. For a strength run, start with the Whirligig Saw; skill characters should look first at the Rakuyo, Church Pick, or Beasthunter Saif; strength/arcane and quality/arcane builds get the most from the Holy Moonlight Sword; bloodtinge players can choose the Bloodletter or Simon’s Bowblade. Kos Parasite and elemental setups are powerful specialist projects, not the simplest first-DLC choices. Upgrade one main weapon decisively, learn its complete trick-weapon moveset, and add a complementary backup only when the main build is working.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whirligig Saw | Strength PvE progression | Heavy physical damage, transformed pressure, stagger and space control | Oct 2026 |
| Beast Cutter | Strength crowd control | Long reach and sweeping transformed attacks | Oct 2026 |
| Rakuyo | Skill aggression | Fast attacks and a distinctive transformed configuration | Oct 2026 |
| Church Pick | Skill reach and thrust | Longer-ranged attacks with flexible damage types | Oct 2026 |
| Beasthunter Saif | Mobile skill play | Approach, retreat and repositioning tools | Oct 2026 |
| Holy Moonlight Sword | Strength/arcane or quality/arcane | Transformed arcane damage and ranged attacks | Oct 2026 |
| Bloodletter | Strength/bloodtinge | Dramatic transformation with a bloodtinge-focused mode | Oct 2026 |
| Simon’s Bowblade | Skill/bloodtinge hybrid | Melee weapon that becomes a ranged bloodtinge bow | Oct 2026 |
| Kos Parasite | Specialist arcane builds | Unique moveset and arcane identity | Oct 2026 |
What does “best” mean in The Old Hunters?
“Best” is a build-fit question, not a universal ranking. A weapon’s value depends on its primary scaling stat, transformed damage profile, stamina demand, reach, attack speed, and whether its trick form solves a problem your current weapon has. A fast skill weapon can outperform a heavier option for one player simply because its timing and spacing are familiar.
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The expansion adds 16 weapons in total—11 trick weapons and five firearms, according to a 2025-era indexed PlayStation Trophies guide reference. That is a substantial expansion of Bloodborne’s build space, not a small side collection. Compare weapons inside your own build family first: Rakuyo versus Church Pick is a useful skill decision, while Rakuyo versus Whirligig Saw mostly tells you which stat path you should be using.
What is the best strength weapon in The Old Hunters?
The Whirligig Saw is the safest default for a strength-oriented DLC playthrough. The Beast Cutter is the better alternative when reach and crowd control matter more than compact, close-range pressure.
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Whirligig Saw: the default strength choice
Use the Whirligig Saw when you want decisive physical damage, broad transformed pressure and a weapon that can stagger or overwhelm enemies. Its transformed mode is particularly useful for controlling a lane, holding enemies at a predictable distance and maintaining pressure while a target is vulnerable.
Build around strength first, then choose gems and a backup that do not duplicate the Saw’s limitations. A compact weapon can cover situations where the Saw’s stamina demand, turning speed or reach profile is inconvenient. The point is not to collect every heavy weapon; it is to make one primary weapon reliable before spending scarce upgrade materials elsewhere.
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Beast Cutter: reach and crowd control
The Beast Cutter suits a strength character who wants long, sweeping attacks. Its transformed configuration gives you more reach and stronger crowd-management options than a compact heavy weapon, making it useful when several enemies approach from different angles.
Choose it over the Whirligig Saw if your priority is controlling groups and tagging enemies before they enter close range. The trade-off is a less compact feel and a moveset that rewards deliberate spacing rather than constant point-blank pressure.
Boom Hammer and Amygdalan Arm: specialist strength options
The Boom Hammer is attractive if you specifically want fire damage and a high-impact transformation. The Amygdalan Arm offers an unusual moveset and striking attacks. Both are legitimate strength experiments, but neither needs to be part of every strength character’s plan.
Consider one of them after your main weapon is upgraded and your gem plan is clear. They are most valuable when their distinctive damage type or animations answer a problem you have identified, not when they are added simply because they are DLC weapons.
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The Rakuyo is the signature fast skill weapon. The Church Pick favors reach and thrust-oriented flexibility, while the Beasthunter Saif is the mobility choice for players who value aggressive entry and retreat animations.
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Rakuyo: speed and sustained pressure
The Rakuyo rewards an evasive, aggressive style built around rapid attacks and its distinctive transformed configuration. It is a natural fit for players who stay close, punish recovery windows and are comfortable managing stamina through short attack strings rather than long, committed swings.
Its acquisition is late in the Fishing Hamlet route, so plan your DLC progression instead of expecting to use it from the opening area. If you want a Rakuyo-centered run, carry a serviceable pre-DLC skill weapon until the Hamlet section and keep upgrade materials available for the switch.
Church Pick: reach, thrust and flexibility
The Church Pick is the skill alternative for players who prefer more reach or want thrust attacks in their toolkit. Its damage-type flexibility lets you adapt to enemies that punish a single approach, and its longer profile makes spacing less demanding than with a compact blade.
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Beasthunter Saif: mobile hunter-style movement
The Beasthunter Saif emphasizes movement. Its approach and retreat tools let you enter a fight, land a short sequence and reposition without remaining planted in front of an enemy.
It is a strong choice if you find yourself taking damage while trying to disengage from slower weapons. The Saif’s value is not a claim of superior raw damage; it is the way its animations change your defensive options.
Is the Holy Moonlight Sword right for your build?
The Holy Moonlight Sword is best for a strength/arcane or quality/arcane character that intends to use its transformed arcane and ranged attacks. A purely physical strength character can wield it, but treating it as a simple replacement for a physical greatsword leaves much of its design unused.
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Its transformed mode changes both the weapon’s damage profile and how you approach encounters. You gain arcane attacks and ranged options, so your build, gems and stamina management should support switching forms rather than staying in one configuration permanently.
Before committing, ask whether you actually want to invest in arcane. If the answer is no, choose a strength weapon whose primary mode already matches your stats. If the answer is yes, the Holy Moonlight Sword gives you a complete hybrid identity: heavy melee when an enemy is in reach and arcane projectiles when distance or an opening makes them safer.
What are the best bloodtinge weapons?
Choose the Bloodletter for a strength/bloodtinge route with a dramatic transformed mode. Choose Simon’s Bowblade for a skill/bloodtinge or melee/ranged hybrid that wants to change engagement distance.
Bloodletter: strength and bloodtinge together
The Bloodletter gives a strength-oriented character a reason to invest in bloodtinge. Its transformation creates a radically different mode, so the build must account for the health-management and timing considerations that come with switching forms.
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Simon’s Bowblade: melee plus ranged identity
Simon’s Bowblade is the contrast case for bloodtinge builds. In one configuration it behaves as a melee weapon; in its transformed bow mode it changes the engagement distance and gives you a distinct ranged role.
It suits a skill/bloodtinge character who wants to soften or finish targets from range, punish enemies that are difficult to approach and return to melee when ammunition or spacing makes that preferable. The bow mode is not a reason to ignore melee fundamentals: stamina, positioning and a reliable close-range response still determine whether the hybrid build is safe.
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Should an arcane build use Kos Parasite?
Kos Parasite is an intentional specialist choice. Its unique moveset and arcane identity make it appealing for players who want an unconventional character, but it is not the easiest all-purpose weapon for a first Old Hunters run.
Elemental conversions and hunter-tool-heavy setups belong in the same category. They can be rewarding when the whole build supports them, yet they require more planning around gems, stat investment and tool usage than straightforward physical weapons. Start with Kos Parasite when experimentation is the goal, not when you simply need the most forgiving progression weapon.
How should you plan stats, gems and a backup weapon?
Start with one primary damage stat and select a weapon whose normal and transformed modes benefit from that investment. Then decide whether your gems should support physical, nourishing, bloodtinge or elemental damage. The transformed mode matters: a weapon that changes damage type or scaling can make a gem setup that looks efficient on paper feel wrong in play.
- Strength: prioritize the Whirligig Saw or Beast Cutter, then add a faster or more compact backup if stamina and turning speed become problems.
- Skill: choose between Rakuyo’s speed, Church Pick’s reach and Beasthunter Saif’s mobility before splitting materials across several weapons.
- Strength/arcane or quality/arcane: use the Holy Moonlight Sword only if transformed arcane attacks are part of your plan.
- Strength/bloodtinge: build around Bloodletter’s transformation and its health-management demands.
- Skill/bloodtinge: use Simon’s Bowblade when ranged pressure is a core part of the character rather than an occasional trick.
- Arcane specialist: reserve Kos Parasite and elemental conversions for a deliberate theme with the gems and tools to support it.
A backup should cover a weakness, not duplicate it. Pair a long, stamina-heavy weapon with something quicker, or pair a melee-focused build with a tool or firearm that gives you a safer way to create an opening. Upgrade the main weapon decisively before spreading resources across a collection.
When should you enter The Old Hunters?
A community reference commonly describes level 60–80 as a comfortable entry range, but that is player guidance, not an official requirement. Weapon upgrades, blood gems, familiarity with Bloodborne’s timing and your own damage tolerance matter as much as the level number.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →- Enter with a functional weapon. Bring a weapon upgraded enough to survive the early Hunter’s Nightmare. Do not plan to obtain a DLC weapon and immediately rely on it before you can safely reach its area.
- Search the Hunter’s Nightmare thoroughly. Several DLC weapons and firearms are available before the final bosses. Rushing the critical path can leave useful tools behind.
- Inspect the Research Hall. Explore side routes and rooms for its weapon and firearm pickups rather than treating the area as a straight corridor.
- Slow down in the Fishing Hamlet. The Rakuyo is easy to overlook if you rush. Search the well and surrounding routes, and keep exploring after the first obvious objective.
- Complete the route for the Bloodletter. The weapon is also easy to miss if you move through the Hamlet without finishing the required sequence.
- Check the Ludwig sequence for the Holy Moonlight Sword. The cited trophy-guide reference identifies it as the specifically missable DLC weapon. Verify the acquisition before leaving the relevant encounter sequence.
Keep a note of which weapon you are pursuing before entering each area. The DLC’s late acquisitions are excellent reasons to carry a temporary weapon, but they are poor reasons to abandon a functioning build halfway through a boss route.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do level 110 and level 120 templates fit?
Bloodborne Wiki build references use level-110 examples for strength, skill and hybrid archetypes, while Bloodborne.top publishes illustrative level-120 spreads for strength, skill, bloodtinge, Holy Moonlight Sword and arcane characters. These are community formats that help you compare priorities; they are not mandatory targets or official balance recommendations.
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Use the templates as questions rather than prescriptions: which stat is receiving the final investment, does the transformed mode justify a secondary stat, and are you sacrificing survivability for a damage breakpoint you may not need? A lower-level character with a coherent weapon and gem plan can be more effective than a higher-level character who has split points across incompatible scaling paths.
What mistakes make a DLC weapon feel weak?
- Using the wrong primary stat: a weapon can be fully upgraded and still underperform when its strongest mode scales from a stat you have barely invested in.
- Ignoring the transformed moveset: judging a trick weapon only in one form hides its reach, stagger pattern, ranged utility or mobility tools.
- Spreading upgrade materials too early: several half-finished weapons are less reliable than one finished main weapon and an inexpensive backup.
- Choosing gems before choosing a role: physical, nourishing, bloodtinge and elemental setups serve different plans; do not mix them without a reason.
- Rushing acquisition areas: the Rakuyo and Bloodletter can be overlooked in the Fishing Hamlet, and the Holy Moonlight Sword has a missable acquisition sequence.
- Expecting a universal ranking: a weapon that feels slow or stamina-hungry to you may be ideal for another player who has learned its spacing and timing.
Is a physical strategy guide worth buying?
An optional reference such as the Bloodborne: The Old Hunters Collector’s Edition Guide can be useful if you want a paper checklist for weapons, items, characters and progression. It is not required to complete the DLC, and current retailer price, stock and edition details should be verified before purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch from a base-game weapon to an Old Hunters weapon mid-playthrough?
Yes. Keep your current weapon upgraded until the DLC weapon is safely acquired, then compare its stat scaling and transformed role before spending rare materials. A gradual switch avoids being stranded with an un-upgraded weapon in a difficult area.
Which Old Hunters weapon is easiest to build around without a hybrid stat?
The Whirligig Saw is the clearest strength-first option, while the Rakuyo, Church Pick and Beasthunter Saif serve skill-focused characters. These choices let you keep the build centered on one main physical stat instead of requiring arcane or bloodtinge investment.
Does Simon’s Bowblade replace the need for a firearm?
No. Its bow mode changes your ranged options, but firearms still serve parries and other tactical purposes. Treat the Bowblade as a melee/ranged weapon, not as a complete substitute for every firearm function.
Why does the Holy Moonlight Sword feel different after transforming?
Transformation changes more than the animation: it adds arcane damage and ranged attacks, so spacing, stamina use and gem priorities shift. The weapon rewards players who deliberately alternate forms rather than using it as a permanently physical greatsword.
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