Ludwig's Holy Blade is a Trick Weapon in Bloodborne.
" A trick weapon typically used by Healing Church hunters. It is said that the silver sword was employed by Ludwig, the first hunter of the church. When transformed, it combines with its sheath to form a greatsword.
It exhibits several departures from the workshop's design, suggesting that the Church anticipated much larger inhuman beasts."
Ludwig's Holy Blade Information
- This Trick Weapon is a longsword that can be transformed into a greatsword (by combining the sheath, as mentioned above in the description).
- The normal form is wielded with one hand.
- When transformed, it's wielded with two hands instead.
- Both forms receive the Righteous Damage modifier and deal 50% extra damage to enemies vulnerable against this subgroup.
Location
Normal
- Can be purchased for 20,000 echoes from the Messengers after obtaining the Radiant Sword Hunter Badge.
- Tayman Gaming - Location Video
Ludwig's Uncanny Holy Blade
- Cursed and Defiled Pthumeru Root Chalice
- Glyphs: brkepzqq (Layer 1), rm9skkef (Layer 1, pre-area)
Ludwig's Lost Holy Blade
- Isz Root Chalice
- Sinister Isz Root Chalice
- Glyphs: 6ig4ifre (Layer 3), gc2nhw6u (Layer 1), 9fzgw3ec (Layer 3)
Player Notes
- The normal form is a basic silver longsword, used for quick strikes against an opponent.
- While it has decent range, it's mainly useful against a single target.
- Remember that you can still use a sidearm while in this form.
- The transformed mode is essentially an oversized greatsword.
- It's slightly slower than the normal mode when swung, but it has a longer reach and great stagger.
- The moveset is modified and grants many anti-mob attacks.
- The charged R2 attack is a thrust with excellent range.
- The charged R2 can be followed up by another R2 capable of pancaking a victim and dealing high damage.
- It can be useful for catching opponents off-guard if they think they're safe after dodging the initial lunge.
- Pressing L2 in the greatsword stance allows you to perform powerful overhead attacks with good forward reach. Though slower, the damage and stagger exceeds R1
- This trick weapon, along with the Kirkhammer, has a unique mechanic where pressing R1 immediately after a neutral transformation causes the hunter to perform a special attack that combines the fighting style of both forms.
- Transforming this trick weapon takes a considerably longer time than others, except the Kirkhammer where it's roughly the same speed.
- Ludwig's Holy Blade is known as a "quality build" (STR/SKL) weapon due to its scalings.
- As a result, it can open up interesting build options.
- In short, the highly adaptable nature of this trick weapon and its dual scalings makes it a flexible choice for players.
- Pair the transformed version with Augur of Ebrietas for parries and visceral hits.
Stats/Scaling
R: Rally/Regain. The amount of HP regained on an R1 attack immediately after taking damage
Move sets & Videos
Ludwig's Holy Blade move set showcaseLudwig's Holy Blade horizontal swing combo
Regular Move set
| Move |
Damage Type & Modifier[1] |
Stamina |
Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 Combo |
 0.70x, 0.71x, 0.72x, 0.74x, 0.76x |
16 |
This is a four attack combo with a little flourish. The first attack is from right to left slashing on a downward diagonal followed by a horizontal slash from left to right, a dexterous spin to bring the sword overhead for a downward slash ending in a forward thrust that tends to also aim up. The first and third strikes hit the ground. |
| Quickstep R1 |
0.67x |
20 |
Each quickstep has a unique animation, All three feature longer than average leaps toward the opponent, making this a gret weapon to use quickstep attacks to close in on an opponent quickly. The left step leads to a horizontal slash from left to right, with a right step being mirrored (right to left slash). The forward quickstep results in an upward vertical slash that starts at the ground near the right foot and ends over the left shoulder. |
| Backstep R1 |
0.67x |
20 |
The weapon is brought to the lower left side of the body and raised rapidly in a mostly vertical upward slash, ending over the right shoulder. The leap forward is less dramatic than the quickstep counterparts, but does place the character very slightly advanced of where they were before the backstep. |
| Rolling R1 |
0.67x |
20 |
The sword is brought from the ground up in a slashing motion that starts with sparks on the ground and ends overhead. |
| Dash R1 |
0.80x |
30 (+run) |
The hunter takes a short step and slashes the sword from left to right horizontally. |
| R2 Attack |
 1.00x |
55 |
A short windup animation leads to a thrust directly forward. |
| Charged |
1.20x |
75 |
The standard R2 windup animation is lengthened and at the end, a quick twist of the arm precedes a violent thurst forward. Very similar looking to the thrust of the standard R2, however the point of the blade is thrust upward as well as forward. |
| Backstep R2 |
0.85x |
40 |
The backstep R2 is very similar to the standard R2 except preceded by a very small step with the left foot which allows for a lunge with the right to extend the sword out. |
| Dash R1 |
0.80x |
30 (+dash) |
Another thrust attack very similar to the standard R2. |
| Dash R2 |
0.95x |
50 (+dash) |
|
| Leap |
1.20x |
50 |
The arm holding the sword is cocked back as the leap starts and the blade is thrust forward and down into the ground. |
| Transform Attack |
 1.05x |
40 (+x) |
There appears to only be one transformation animation, regardless of the prior action. The sword is slid into the scabbard/larger blade, raised overhead and brought down in a vertical slash that strikes the ground. The animation is actually started the same as the standard (not attack) transformation attack. |
| R1 after Transformation |
? |
? |
After sliding the longsword into the scabbard, the hunter uses one arm to slice horizontally from left to right. |
Transformed Move set
| Move |
Damage Type & Modifier[2] |
Stamina |
Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 Combo |
1.00x, 1.00x, 1.06x |
36 |
A three slash combo beginning with a right to left mostly horizontal slash, then a left to right horizontal slash that loses elevation. This loss of elevation is then used to windmill the sword up and down in a vertical slash. While the two horizontal slashes do have some ability to hit enemies to the sides, the arc is relatively narrow than the size of the sword might suggest. |
| Quickstep R1 |
0.90x |
40 |
A quickstep left results in a hop forward and a slash from left to right horizontally. A right step is mirrored to this (right to left slash). A forward step uses the same slash animation as the right step, but has a less pronounced hop forward. |
| Backstep R1 |
0.56x |
20 |
The sword is placed in front of the hunter like a shield with the left hand supporting the flat of the blade. As the player lunges forward, the weapon is used to push out like a shield bash. |
| Rolling R1 |
0.90x |
40 |
Apart from a slight change in attack angle, this is nearly identical to the standard R1. |
| Dash R1 |
1.01x |
30 (+run) |
The sword is slashed from right to left in a mostly horizontal path. There is a slightly longer windup than many of the other similar slashes. |
| R2 Attack |
1.25x |
50 |
This has a somewhat long windup with the sword being brought to the left side of the player and back with the blade parallel to the ground. The weapon is then thrust forward and slightly up |
| Charged |
2.20x1.56x |
75 |
A thrust very similar to the standard R2 but with a significantly increased windup time. |
| L2 |
1.15x, 1.15x, 1.18x, 1.13x |
38 |
The sword is brought down on a diagonal from right to left, smashing into the ground, then left to right in a diagonal, another left to right on a diagonal (with a spin move to make this happen) followed finally by a thrust attack creating a four move combo. |
| Backstep R2 |
1.06x |
35 |
The sword is brought low and to the right and raised very rapidly in a vertical slash that end with the sword pointing behind the character. |
| Dash R2 |
1.14x |
40 (+run) |
The sword is brought up and down in a vertical slash that ends in the ground. |
| Leap |
1.20x |
50 |
The sword is held overhead while leaping and is brought slashing straight down into the ground. |
| Transform Attack |
1.26x |
30 (+x) |
There is only one transformation attack animation which is the hunter bringing the sword from left to right information a wide horizontal slash. This particular slash creates a greater arc than other slashes with this sword and ends with the character smoothly dropping the larger blade/scabbard onto their back and pulling the small sword/handle out. The attack is with the large blade which is significant as most transformation attacks use the attack form of the mode it's being turned into (the smaller sword would be expected in this case). |
| R1 after Transformation |
? |
? |
After removing the thin sword from the scabbard, the hunter uses two hands to slice down vertically. |
Trivia
- This trick weapon was wielded by Ludwig, a famous hunter of the Healing Church who designed the blade based on the Holy Moonlight Sword.
- According to the description, Ludwig wielded this sword in combat instead of the Holy Moonlight Sword.
- However, in his boss fight, he wields the Holy Moonlight Sword during a certain part in the fight.
- It is possible that Ludwig wielded the Holy Moonlight Sword and his fellow hunters, inspired by the huge weapon, sought to make replicas. Unable to make a magic sword, a huge metal sheath was the compromise.
- Ludwig's Holy Blade is named after Lugwig van Beethoven, the composer who wrote the Moonlight Sonata.
- Before the DLC's release, Ludwig's Holy Blade was thought of as From Software's traditional "Moonlight Greatsword" seen throughout various games by the fanbase.
- However, this sword was eventually revealed in the DLC to be a replica of the "true" Moonlight Greatsword in Bloodborne, the Holy Moonlight Sword.
- This isn't the first time Miyazaki used the name of classical music composers in a game.
- A boss from the first "Dark Souls" game, Dragonslayer Ornstein, is named after Leo Ornstein.
- Berlioz from "Armored Core 4" is named after Hector Berlioz.
- The normal form of this weapon is very similar to the sword used for the Kirkhammer.
- However, this sword's normal form has a slightly longer reach when compared to the Kirkhammer's blade.
- The similar nature of these swords suggests that the Healing Church used the method of interchangeable parts to quickly mass produce weapons for their hunters.
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