Since the release of Elden Ring, balancing has been a recurring topic. Players constantly find weapons or abilities that seem or are overpowered. One weapon skill has become a “sad” joke in the community: the Bloodhound Step.
What kind of skill is this? If you equip a weapon with this ashes of war, you can make a quick dodge step. You will become briefly invisible and make a large step in the desired direction.
During this animation, you cannot be hit. This is very useful in both PvP and PvE, as it allows you to dodge attacks that are difficult to time and would otherwise take you out directly.
The skill has consequently spread through the community. A video in the Elden Ring subreddit has sparked the discussion again, showing that the Bloodhound Step is far too strong online and is just a running gag among players.
Here you can watch the video from OroboroTheNinja, who is also known as a long-time Souls YouTuber. The title, meant to be minimally ironic: “Bloodhound Step is fair and balanced”.
Bloodhound Step has no place in the game for many
Why exactly is the skill considered OP?
- The dodge of the skill can be performed so quickly in succession that it becomes impossible to hit its user.
- It consumes very little FP, allowing it to be executed multiple times in a row. While it also consumes stamina and thus cannot be spammed indefinitely, with enough practice it can be used very effectively and be almost impossible to hit with proper usage.
The video demonstrates this well; Oroboro shows numerous PvP clips where three players are attacking him without landing a hit, while he simply spams the Bloodhound Step.
This is how the Bloodhound Step is discussed: Reactions to the video are mostly sarcastic and ironic, with many taking it humorously. Or possibly gallows humor. They “demand” further buffs for the skill, as it could still be a bit more exaggerated. Here are some comments:
- “That’s exactly how Miyazaki [FromSoftware boss] wanted it.” – Ali_-_-_
- “This needs a buff.” – splnached
- “The most annoying build I’ve ever fought against.” – SmokeyThouBear
For the user FishBiterMMGHunter, the skill is not completely OP because you cannot use it in combination with the OP katana Bloody Streams. It still lacks something for the absolute peak. However, others counter that you can simply use the katana in your off-hand.
However, some take the topic seriously and find that the skill should never have had a place in the game. They also debate the general dodge system in Elden Ring. They would prefer to see the dodge animations from Bloodborne, as they would fit the combat system better.
Instead of rolling, one performed quick dodge steps in Bloodborne, which allowed for much quicker repositioning – a necessary function in the faster combat system of Bloodborne.
Here’s another story from the community:
Regardless, many agree: in its current function, the skill is too strong and needs either to be nerfed or removed.
At least this is not a glitch, like the bug that makes bows way too powerful, but rather an easily obtained and used skill that is becoming increasingly common in PvP.
But what do you think about it? Do you feel the same way? How would you adjust the skill? Would you also want changes to the dodge system?
Twitch streamer wants to complete Elden Ring without being hit – tragically fails at the last hit
