Elden Ring: How to Get Bloodhound’s Step?

You can obtain Bloodhound’s Step as a drop by defeating a Night’s Cavalry Boss in Dragonbarrow at the bridge near Leanne’s Rise. This is among the best Ashes of War that will step up your gameplay and turn your Tarnished into a literal ninja.

Slightly overpowered previously, it was nerfed because the players abused it frequently. The nerf comes into effect when the Bloodhound Step is used continuously in battles reducing the efficiency.

Follow the steps below to get Bloodhound’s Step in the Early Game. You can even refer the video above. 

1. Get to the Third Church of Marika. It is directly northwards, right along the road from the bridge that’s on the east of the Gatefront Ruins. 
2. Directly north of the church is a river. Head east along the river, and you will see a glow emanating from the bushes. It is coming from a waygate. 
3. Take the waygate, and it will teleport you to the gate of the Bestial Sanctum in Dragonbarrow. You should enter the gate by pushing it open and rest at a Site of Grace in there, just to be safe, as strong enemies here can one-shot you if you are in the early game.
4. Now start traveling south, and you will come to the Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace, located just before a long bridge guarded by a dragon. 
5. From here, there are three ways to get to Leanne’s Rise, but one of them is too long and inefficient, so we will cover just two. Both paths are marked in the map below. 
6. Path 1
   • Travel a bit north from Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace.
   • Immediately turn east till you reach the edge, You should see a downhill path.
   • Follow this path to reach a smaller bridge. Be very careful while on the path.
     It is guarded by a group of Vulgar Militia who have laid poison traps all along the road. So, travel swiftly and safely, avoiding poison traps.
   • Once you get to the bridge, cross it and get to the Site of Grace right past the bridge in front of the tower and rest there. 
7. Path 2
   • Directly cross the bridge defended by the giant dragon and immediately turn left once you are across.
   • If you reached a field with Fulgurbloom being struck by lightning, turn back northeast while traveling along the edges of the cliff.
   • You should see a Spirit-Spring at the edge of this cliff.
   • Use the Spirit-Spring to jump down and circle around the tower’s base to reach the Site of Grace. 
8. If you used the first path and crossed the bridge at night, you should have already met the Night’s Cavalry on the bridge. If not, rest at the Site of Grace at Leanne’s Rise and change the time to night, then head to the bridge to meet the Night’s Cavalry. 
9. Defeat the Night’s Cavalry to get the Bloodhound’s Step Ash of War. 

How to Defeat the Night’s Cavalry ?

This is a difficult boss for the early game, but not that hard once you get the hang of defeating him or her, whoever is inside that suit of awesome dark armor.

I personally get on my feet and battle the Night’s Cavalry than try a horseback duel.

If you keep getting defeated, you can cheese the fight by attempting to drop the Night’s Cavalry down the bridge or cliff into the ravine, killing the rider and the horse instantly. 

Note: The technique to drop him off the cliff is shown in the video guide.

Alternatively, if you remember the poison trap from the first path, you can make the Night’s Cavalry follow you and get him/her poisoned.

You might have to keep running away and poison the Night’s Cavalry a couple of times more till the poison does its job. 

What does Bloodhound’s Step do?

This movement-based Ash of War instantly transports you a short distance. The distance traveled is two times the distance covered by a mid-roll and one and a half times the distance covered by a light-roll.

You also have a window of invincibility during the movement and briefly become invisible as well.

Remember that if you use Bloodhound’s Step continuously, its potency will decrease. The first use provides 16 invincible frames at 30 fps, and the consecutive provides 14 at same fps. 

Being out of MP reduces the distance covered greatly and only gives 5 invincible frames at 30 fps. 

The Bloodhound’s Step also helps you easily traverse lakes of lava, rot, and poison. It can be used to dodge enemies and get to your destination quickly.

You can also use the Bloodhound Step in the battle to get behind an enemy and backstab them quickly. 

Bloodhound Step is popularly used in combo with the Rivers of Blood Katana to shred enemies in PVP, this overpowered strategy, although, has been nerfed.

Quickstep Vs Bloodhound’s Step?

These two are very similar, but we’ll try to give the pros and cons of both skills.

Bloodhound’s Step Pros:

1. Travels longer distances.
2. You become invisible, and Bloodhound’s step gives more invincibility frames.
3. Looks cooler.
4. Best dodge mechanic in PvP.

Bloodhound’s Step Cons:

1. It consumes more MP compared to Quickstep.
2. It has a longer recovery time compared to Quickstep.
3. Using it only travels toward the direction the player is facing.
4. It was nerfed harshly for balance, making it a lot less overpowered.

Quickstep Pros:

1. It can be used to perform a side quickstep.
2. It can be used to circle around a locked-on target.
3. It costs less MP.
4. More versatile and practical than Bloodhound’s Step.

Quickstep Cons:

1. Looks less cool.

Conclusion: Even if Quickstep is the more common and considered the weaker version, it can be a better option than Bloodhound’s Step for general use.