Blood Gems are upgrade items in Bloodborne that the player can upgrade their Weapons with at the Workshop. Can drop in Chalice Dungeons, be found in chests or dropped by certain enemies. You can also consume some special items to gain unique Blood Gems.
There are several types of Blood Gems, which are further divided into categories determined by the general shape of the Gem. Radial, Triangular, and Waning Blood gems are installed onto right-hand weapons. Circular gems are installed onto left-hand weapons (Except the Lost Chikage, which has a circular socket). Droplet can be fit into any socket regardless of its shape. Blood Gems can be installed to Weapons after their Imprint sockets are unlocked via upgrading. A new socket is unlocked at upgrade levels +1, +3 and +6. (Firearms only have 1 or no socket). However, installation of a Blood Gem is not permanent: One can remove blood gems and reinstall new ones at the workshop table at any time without consequence or cost.
Blood Gems' strengths vary greatly. This is represented by its rating of 1-20, although higher rarity blood gems are not guaranteed to be stronger than lower level gems.
Some Initial Blood Gem Tips
- You can read This very detailed guide to understand Blood Gems, drops and farming. Further articles include builds and farming tips, check them out here.
- The only known way to gain Bloodtinge Gemstones as drops are from Bloodsucking Beasts and Labyrinth Ritekeepers from chalice dungeons.
- Gems that grant bonus elemental damage will change your weapon's damage form from physical to bolt/fire/arcane and become scaled by your Arcane stat (strength and skill scaling will be disabled) when installed, unless the weapon deal multiple damage forms by default, in which case the weapon will retain physical/skill scaling but changes damage form to bolt/fire/arcane.
- Some blood gems have the "cursed" prefix and reduce the weapon's durability. However, multiple installations of such gems do not stack up in effect. E.g. installing 1 cursed blood gem which decreases weapon durability by say 50 and installing 2 of the same gems will make the weapon equally easy to break.
A complete list of Blood Gem effects:
- increase physical damage (/percentage) = Tempering
- increase blunt damage (percentage) = Adept
- increase thrust damage (percentage) = Adept
- increase arcane damage (flat/percentage) = Arcane
- increase fire damage (flat/percentage) = Fire
- increase bolt damage (flat/percentage) = Bolt
- increase blood damage (flat/percentage) = Bloodtinge
- increase all damage (percentage) = Nourishing
- decrease all damage (percentage) = (random curse)
- increase damage vs. Beast (percentage) = Beasthunter
- decrease damage vs. Kin (percentage) = Kinhunter
- increase stamina cost (percentage) = (random curse)
- decrease stamina cost (percentage) = Radiant
- increase charge attack damage (percentage) = Striking
- add slow poison effect = Murky
- add rapid poison effect = Dirty
- boosts rally potential (increased health recovery by dealing damage after taking hit) = Lethal
- increase physical damage at full HP (percentage) = Fool
- increase physical damage when near death (percentage) = Poorman
- increase damage against open foe (i.e. counter damage) (percentage)
- increase strength scaling = Heavy
- increase skill scaling = Sharp
- increase arcane scaling = Cold
- increase bloodtinge scaling = Warm
- HP gradually depletes by a flat amount = (random curse)
- HP gradually regenerates by a flat amount = Pulsing
- decrease weapon durability = (random curse)
- increase weapon durability = Dense
- Adds flat physical damage = Odd Tempering
Adds flat arcane damage = Odd Arcane
Adds flat fire damage = Odd Fire
Adds flat bolt damage= Odd Bolt
Adds flat blood damage = Odd Bloodtinge
- A blood gem may contain up to 3 effects
- not every combination of 3 effects is possible
Blood Gems List
Radial Blood Gems
| Name & Icon |  |
Best Possible Gem Versions Location |
|---|---|---|
Effect: Physical ATK UP +% |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Physical ATK UP +% |
1-10 | Fetid Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice awd85dhdd: Layer one. Dropped by fire wielding mummy that's guarding the lever |
Effect: Physical ATK UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Physical ATK UP +27.2% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Watchers) Glyph: pwmf22gu |
Effect: Blunt or Thrust ATK UP +% |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Blunt or Thrust ATK UP +% |
1-10 | ?? |
Effect: Blunt or Thrust ATK UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Blunt or Thrust ATK UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Undead Giant) Glyph: pwmf22gu |
Effect: Fire ATK UP +% |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Fire ATK UP +% |
1-10 | ?? |
Effect: Fire ATK UP +23.9% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Watchdog) |
Effect: ATK UP +flat |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Amygdala and Rom, the Vacuous Spider) |
Effect: ATK UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Amygdala and Rom, the Vacuous Spider) |
Effect: Adds physical ATK +flat |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Add physical ATK +flat |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Adds physical ATK +flat |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Improves STR scaling +flat |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Improves STR scaling +65 |
20 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Headless Bloodletting Beast) |
Effect: Improved Skill Scaling +flat |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Skill Scaling UP +flat |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (with Cursed rite) Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Keeper of the Old Lords) |
Effect: Arcane Scaling UP +flat |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Adds slow poison effect +flat |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect:Adds rapid poison effect +flat |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Adds rapid poison effect +flat |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: ATK vs Beast UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: ATK vs the kin UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Charge ATKs UP % |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Charge ATKs UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Charge ATKs UP +% |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice (Watchers) |
Effect: Reduces stamina cost -% |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeon |
Effect: Reduces Stamina costs 8 % |
11-19 | Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Bosses in this Chalice Dungeon (Maneater Boar) |
Effect: Phys. UP at full HP +% |
1-10 | Lower Pthumeru Root Chalice Bosses Chalice Dungeo |
Effect: ATK vs beasts UP +% |
11-19 | ?? |
| Cursed Fire Abyssal 24.8% fire add random second effect |
20 | FRC Ihyll Boss: Watchdog |
| Cursed Bolt 20-22% bolt second effect doubled |
Gold Blood Gem
Gallery
Other Blood Gem Guides (external sources)
- The Bloodborne Sheets by Sljm8D (guide for top-tier Blood Gems, Runes and other Labyrinth goodies)
- The Arcanist Cookbook by Sljm8D (farming guide for the setting up Arcane builds)
- Fixed Blood Gem locations (main game and labyrinth) by Sljm8D
- How Do Gems Drop In Labyrinths by Sljm8D
- Chalice Dungeon Codes for Blood Gem Farming by kazin1979
Anonymous21 Jul 2018 04:54
For anyone who is wondering, you can get a cursed cold abyssal blood gem (65+ arcane scaling) from the last boss (pthumeru elder) from this chalice: 6fsa5tyt.
16 Apr 2018 14:55
you get the gold blood gem for selecting the "use" over Vicar Amelia after she drops her gold pendant.
- Anonymous
12 Feb 2018 23:01
The shark Giants from the DLC routinely drop damp bloodtinge gems of a relatively high level (+14-22% blood atk up, +5-10 flat blood atk) and even some tempering damp bloodtinge gems rarely (+8-14% physical atk, +8-14% blood atk up)
- Anonymous
03 Feb 2018 17:38
There's one kind of Bloodgem missing from this list. I got a pulsating bloodgem from a random Bagman in the Lower Pthumeru Chalice once. I dont know any locations besides that but surely someone else has encountered them? Their effect seems to solely be HP regen.
- Anonymous
01 Aug 2017 22:25
Common locations (for Chalice farming)
Radial Gems: Pthumeru
Triangular Gems: Isz
Waning Gems: Loran
Circular Gems: Bloodlickers (Visceral attack everything, revisit rooms for decent chances of encounter.)
Additionally I recommend Root chalice diving due to high chances for ornate doors. (which lead to mini-bosses & gold coffins)
Outside of chalices it is also possible to find gems that are dependent on the enemies they drop from. (For example snakes in the garden er-forest I mean drop gems with slow poison buildup. )
- Anonymous
14 Jun 2017 08:00
I have once looted a bloodtinge bloodgem as a random drop from a cloacked beast in old Yharnam
- Anonymous
31 May 2017 21:15
For farming the Watchers, If you're not that great at visceral attacking (like me), Amygdalan Arm charged transformed attack pancakes them and has high range. Makes it an easy fight...space, pancake, dodge...repeat
- Anonymous
22 Jan 2017 12:49
I've noticed the 'Damp' prefix on some blood gems. I get the feeling that it just means that they're more powerful than 'dry' blood gems, but I don't know for sure. Can someone explain?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
24 Nov 2016 20:58
You can get the gold blood gem by defeating Vicar Amelia and using the gold pendant.
- Anonymous
19 Nov 2016 06:37
Is it me or does the Orphan of Kos's strange weapon thing almost look similar to a giant Waning Blood Gem?
- Anonymous
17 Nov 2016 03:51
I don't know if this was already said, or if this information is even helpful, but I got a Tempering Blood Gemstone from fighting the Executioner in Central Yharnam. It's random as far as I know since I was just getting Blood vials beforehand, but I got it before fighting Father Gascoigne.
- Anonymous
Yall speak english.28 Sep 2016 16:39
Whoever did the Radials in spanish, your a waste of space and time.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
strength gems05 Sep 2016 14:06
I think you get strength gems for bloodstarved beast. Can anyone confirm?
- Anonymous
DLC Gem Farming02 Sep 2016 01:06
It would appear that the Hunter Enemies( Beastcutter variant at least) in Hunter's Nightmare drop some nice radial blood gems. I got my Chikage outfitted almost entirely thanks to this.
- Anonymous
Radial Bolt23 Aug 2016 17:05
I have radial bolt gems on another character, but I cant remember how to get them. Any Ideas?
- Anonymous
Tempering Circle Gems22 Aug 2016 01:51
I actually have a Tempering Circle Gem with 8.8% Phys and 11.3% Blood Atk up. I just don't know where I got it.
- Anonymous
Storng Gems05 Jul 2016 14:41
at higher chalice maps, you got very powerfull gems. I got level (5) - (6) gems with a evaluation of 17 - 19 at defiled pthumeru and lower loran.
- Anonymous
non-consumable05 Jul 2016 14:41
it appears that bloodgems are not consumed when placed in a slot ands can be easily added and removed at the workbench.
- Anonymous
Elemental damage gems05 Jul 2016 14:41
Does adding a gem that gives a weapon elemental damage negate the physical scaling of the weapon or just split the damage and make it scale with Arcane as well? I'm seeing different opinions about this and no one seems to have talked about it or added info on it here yet.
- Anonymous
poison gems05 Jul 2016 14:41
I put a slow poison in my weapon but i cant push the poison to any enemy. Why? (sorry for my english)
- Anonymous
Bolt Gem?05 Jul 2016 14:41
I noticed there is a gem type for every sub category except for bolt. Is it simply not been found, or does it not exist period. Also is there locations for these.. or is it random? My friends and I have got the same items off static chests (dead bodies) but I could see it being different on monster drops.
22 Jul 2018 07:07
What if u put two elemental gem types on a weapon and the weapon was t converted to an arcane scaling weapon.But is still able to do the % elemental damage from the gem.Ex:add atk%+add fire atk along with add atk%a long with add bolt atk.Do they cancel out or do u do both damage?
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