Saw Cleaver Bloodborne Wiki » Weapons » Saw Cleaver

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Table of Contents

Basic Information

In-Game Description

Overview

Availability

Gem Shapes and Alternate Weapons

Gem Advice

Key Attacks

Durability

Notes

Merchants

Upgrade Table

Average Physical Attack Increase (Strength & Skill)

Normal Mode Attacks Properties

Transformed Mode Attacks Properties

Key

Basic Information

Image	Name	Damage	QS Bullet Use	Durability	Stats Req. / Bonus	Special Attack	Rally	Buffable
	Saw Cleaver	90 / - / - / - / - (Physical)	-	200	8 / 7 / - / - D / E / - / -	- / - / 100 / 100	35 (no upgrade)	Yes

Saw Cleaver ❘ ノコギリ鉈	Right Hand Weapon

In-Game Description One of the trick weapons of the workshop, commonly used in the hunting business. This saw, effective at drawing the blood of beasts, transforms into a long cleaver that makes use of centrifugal force. The saw, with its set of blood-letting teeth, has become a symbol of the hunt, and only grows in effectiveness the more grotesquely transformed the beast. Note: The same in-game description in US & UK versions. ✓ Overview The Saw Cleaver is a very balanced, easy-to-use weapon. It only requires 8 strength and 7 skill, meaning that characters of any origin can use it without leveling up at all. It receives even bonuses from strength and skill, though it does benefit more from strength. The Saw Cleaver's normal mode deals 20% extra damage to enemies weak against serrated weapons, making it very useful against a number of strong foes. The cleaver doesn't have any special thrusting attacks, so beware when facing enemies with high physical defense. If the cleaver is your main weapon, you may want to consider using items like Molotov Cocktails against certain enemies, such as Brainsuckers. Normal Mode: The attacks in this mode have higher damage multipliers and cost less stamina; normal mode's attacks also benefit from the 20% boost in attack power against foes weak to serrated weapons. They are also slightly faster than transformed mode attacks. The Saw Cleaver is widely considered to be one of the best weapons in the game. Its quick Transform attack is both powerful and also raises your beast meter a large amount when coupled with Beast Blood Pellets. Keep in mind, the meter is smaller if you have low Beasthood or high Insight. Initiating with an R1 attack and following up with multiple L1 transformation attacks can max your beast meter rather quickly. Once the meter is raised, simple chains of R1 attacks can lead to a lot of damage. Transformed Mode: The Saw Cleaver's transformed mode is all about additional range. You sacrifice speed and damage and have higher stamina costs. You also lose the serrated bonus in this mode, but it can be worth it if you need to keep away from an enemy or when you need the range to strike an enemy's weak point. Even when transformed, the Saw Cleaver is a one-handed weapon; you can still use your gun, torch, or shield in this mode. Availability Normal: Treasure in (Main Story): Starting gift from messengers in Hunter's Dream; Sold by: Bath Messengers Saw Hunter Badge: This badge is found in Aqueducts beside the Maneater Boar in Central Yharnam. In addition to unlocking the basic hunter weapons, this badge will make Throwing Knives and Beast Blood Cocktails available for sale, providing you with a backup source of ranged attacks and an extremely helpful means of distracting beast-type enemies. Uncanny: Treasure in (Root Dungeons): Pthumeru; 462yygcg, Pthumeru L1, side area before layer lamp [tested May 12, 2020] Lost: Treasure in (Root Dungeons): Lower Pthumeru; k52km3m3, Lower Pthumeru L1, side area before layer lamp [tested May 12, 2020]; alternatively found in False Depth Dungeon, se6jfxke, Lower Pthumeru L1, side area before layer boss [tested May 12, 2020] Gem Shapes and Alternate Weapons Right-hand weapons can have up to three gem slots, and some left-hand weapons have one slot. There are different slot shapes, though; not every gem will fit every slot. The slot types are: Radial, Triangular, Waning, and Circle. Your gem's shape needs to match the slot you want to use it in. If you find a really great gem but the shape doesn't properly match your weapon, don't give up hope. There are actually two alternate versions of every right-hand weapon - the Lost and Uncanny versions. They're identical to normal weapons except that they have different slot configurations (► Blood Gems Sockets on the right). These alternate weapons can be found in Chalice Dungeons. There is also an exceedingly rare fifth type of gem shape - Droplet gems. These are "almighty" gems; they can fit in any type of gem slot! Gem Advice As you see in the "Upgrades" table, the Saw Cleaver does have Arcane scaling. This does not affect your physical damage, though, so it is completely unused unless you put an elemental gem into your weapon. If you want to make an elemental version of this weapon, you'll need to slot a gem such as Fire or Odd Arcane Doing so will convert all of your weapon's physical damage to the element that you used, and strength and skill will no longer benefit you. Instead, your arcane stat will be used to increase the cleaver's damage Since the Saw Cleaver is already quite specialized for killing beasts, fire is a good element to choose. Most beasts are already weak against fire, and the serrated bonus will apply to that damage as well! Remember the bonus applies in normal mode only. For more information check the Best Blood Gem Setups page. Key Attacks Normal Mode: The R1 chain is the quickest way to deal damage, and its damage modifiers increase as the chain progresses. If you can execute five consecutive R1s safely, do so. The rolling and frontstep R1s have the quickest startup of all the cleaver's attacks; they're useful when you need to strike quickly and are difficult to interrupt. Be cautious, though, as other players will be able to interrupt them if you use them predictably after rolling; if your opponent is expecting these attacks, a double forward roll or frontstep can get you through the bullets and into the enemy's face. A fully-charged R2 attack is slow to perform but can stagger the enemy when you connect from behind; you can then follow up with a rear visceral attack. A more damaging option if you have an upgraded weapon is to perform a second charged R2 on the staggered enemy. This is dependent on your stats and weapon level, so experiment to see which works best. Normal R2s are slow and don't combo, which reduces their usefulness a bit. The normal mode transformation attack is this weapon's key attack; it has a naturally heavy impact and is still reasonably fast. These features make it ideal for combos UP + CIRCLE > L1 is a great opener against light enemies, such as Huntsmen, and standard foes, such as Church Servants. You can frontstep in and immediately cause the enemy to flinch. This can then be followed up with additional L1s for a damaging combo. Transformed Mode: The R1 chain is a series of vertical slashes that are good for narrow corridors or hitting specific enemy weak points, like the heads of Church Giants and Vicar Amelia. It also strikes low to the ground, making it useful for killing Carrion Crows and Wandering Nightmares. The transformed mode dashing R1 is one of the few transformed attacks with better damage than its normal counterpart, and it has better range, too. The R2 chain is primarily horizontal, making it a good choice for fighting crowds. The fully-charged R2 can stagger enemies when used from behind, and the range of the charged R2 is very useful when sneaking up on a dangerous foe. Also, you can completely control the direction of the charged R2 until it executes when not locked-on to an enemy. Use this to surprise other players that are trying to roll behind you. If you press R2 again immediately following a charged R2, you can perform a special attack with massive impact. It can knockdown even large foes, so remember this when fighting bosses in co-op play! The follow-up R2 is often a better choice in terms of damage than a visceral attack on a staggered enemy, as well. The transformation attack is once again useful; this version has less range and deals less armor damage, but it still works in combos against some enemies. The main issue is that its impact is less than that of the normal mode transformation attack. You'll notice this when breaking an enemy's super armor; the enemy won't flinch or stumble as much as they would against the normal mode version. This can allow some enemies to recover before you can continue your combo. Sometimes, it's better to roll away and reset the situation. Durability Durability of the weapon depletes when used. This means hitting an enemy, destructible object or bouncing off the walls. Hitting undestructible objects and environment does not deplete your durability. Style of an attack or upgrade of the weapon, even different weapon, does not matter - each count as one hit. Every 10th hit against the enemy/object depletes 1 durability. Exception is Tonitrus, which when in self buffed mode, depletes durability at rate of 2 hits. Hitting an enemy in dying animation still counts as hit. Also hitting multiple enemies/destructible objects at once counts as one hit per enemy - hitting 3 enemies at once counts as 3 hits towards durability counter. Shields lose 1 durability every 10th hit. Bounce means when your hit is bounced back off the wall or other objects. Every 5th bounce depletes 1 durability. Not every weapon can be bounced off, Saw Cleaver belongs into the category which cannot. Damage reduction when heavily worn. When weapon is at 30% of total durability, it reaches the Risk state and AR is reduced by 30% and when it hits 0% of total durability, weapon is Broken, then AR is reduced by 50%. Saw Cleaver which has 200 points of durability reaches risk state at 60 Dur. Workshop's Repair: cost of repair depends on the weapon and its upgrade. For Saw Cleaver +0 it's 3 Blood Echoes per 1 point and for Saw Cleaver +10 it's 9 (values are rounded), full repair costs for +10 are 1800 Blood Echoes. Notes Available for purchase after obtaining Saw Hunter Badge. Weapon's Rally: A lot of attacks multiply the rally number by their attack damage multiplier. Some of them are special-cased to have a different amount of rally, both multipliers can be seen in the Normal & Transformed Mode Attacks Properties tables below. Rally number (in flat HP) can be raised by upgrading the weapon, as seen in the Upgrade Table below. Charge Attack Notes: The Saw Cleaver is the only weapon in the game with three different charged R2 attacks. In tricked (cleaver) mode, charging an R2 while the weapon crosses your body (for example, after a single R1), will result in a backhanded charge attack that swings in the opposite direction of the nomal R2. [Backhanded Saw Cleaver Charge] Knockback: While enemy is in visceral state be it for visceral attack or backstab, Saw Cleaver can knockback enemies with transformation attack. [clip] You can find concept art of the Saw Cleaver in Bloodborne Official Artworks, on page 229.

Blood Gems Sockets Saw Cleaver Uncanny Saw Cleaver Lost Saw Cleaver

Merchants

Shop	Buy (Day)	(Evening)	(Night)	(Red Moon)	(NG+)	Sell	Requirement
Bath Messengers [Hunter's Dream]	1000	1000	1000	1000	1000	500	Saw Hunter Badge
Insight Bath Messengers [Hunter's Dream]	-	-	-	-	-	-	None
Chalice Bath Messengers [Chalice Dungeons Common]	-	-	-	-	-	-	None
Patches, the Spider [Chalice Dungeons Rare]	-	-	-	-	-	-	None

Upgrade Table

Name	Blood Gem Sockets	Rally
Saw Cleaver +0	0 / 3	35	90	-	-	-	-	D	E	-	D	-	-	-	-	-
Saw Cleaver +1	1 / 3	37	99	-	-	-	-	D	E	-	D	3	-	-	-	240
Saw Cleaver +2	1 / 3	39	108	-	-	-	-	D	E	-	D	5	-	-	-	280
Saw Cleaver +3	2 / 3	41	117	-	-	-	-	D	E	-	D	8	-	-	-	340
Saw Cleaver +4	2 / 3	43	126	-	-	-	-	D	E	-	D	-	3	-	-	400
Saw Cleaver +5	2 / 3	45	135	-	-	-	-	D	D	-	D	-	5	-	-	460
Saw Cleaver +6	3 / 3	47	144	-	-	-	-	D	D	-	D	-	8	-	-	500
Saw Cleaver +7	3 / 3	49	153	-	-	-	-	D	D	-	D	-	-	3	-	560
Saw Cleaver +8	3 / 3	51	162	-	-	-	-	C	D	-	D	-	-	5	-	620
Saw Cleaver +9	3 / 3	53	171	-	-	-	-	C	D	-	D	-	-	8	-	660
Saw Cleaver +10	3 / 3	55	180	-	-	-	-	C	D	-	C	-	-	-	1	720
		(in flat HP)	Damage					Stat Bonuses				Cost

To fully upgrade Saw Cleaver requires 16 Blood Stone Shards, 16 Twin Blood Stone Shards, 16 Blood Stone Chunks, 1 Blood Rock and 4780 Blood Echoes.

Name
Saw Cleaver +0	0.40	0.20	0.00	0.33
Saw Cleaver +1	0.42	0.22	0.00	0.35
Saw Cleaver +2	0.44	0.24	0.00	0.37
Saw Cleaver +3	0.46	0.26	0.00	0.39
Saw Cleaver +4	0.48	0.28	0.00	0.41
Saw Cleaver +5	0.50	0.30	0.00	0.44
Saw Cleaver +6	0.52	0.32	0.00	0.46
Saw Cleaver +7	0.54	0.34	0.00	0.48
Saw Cleaver +8	0.56	0.36	0.00	0.50
Saw Cleaver +9	0.58	0.38	0.00	0.52
Saw Cleaver +10	0.60	0.40	0.00	0.55
	Scaling

Scaling determines how much additional damage a weapon deals. You gain a percentage of the weapon's base damage as additional damage, indicated by a "+" next to the weapon's base damage.

Average Physical Attack Increase (Strength & Skill)

Stat Range (Strength)	Damage per Point	Estimated Attack Gained	Stat Range (Skill)	Damage per Point	Estimated Attack Gained
9 to 25	2.94	50	8 to 25	1.89	34
26 to 50	1.52	38	26 to 50	1.00	25
50 to 99	0.33	16	50 to 99	0.22	11

Normal Mode Attacks Properties

Attack	DMG X	Type	Stamina	Rally X	Impact	Note
R1	1.00	Physical	20	1.00	Light	quick and efficient
→ R1 (2nd)	1.02		20	1.02	Light
→ → R1 (3rd)	1.04		20	1.04	Light
→ → → R1 (4th)	1.06		20	1.06	Light
→ → → → R1 (5th)	1.09		20	1.09	Light	multiplier resets following this attack
R1 (backstep)	0.95		15 (+10)	0.95	Light
R1 (rolling)	0.95		17 (+10)	0.95	Light	fast startup
R1 (frontstep)	0.95		17 (+10)	0.95	Light	fast startup
R1 (sidestep)	1.00		17 (+10)	1.00	Light	better damage than R1 (frontstep) for the same cost
R1 (dash)	1.09		30 (+X)	1.09	Normal
R2	1.20		35	1.20	Normal
R2 (charged)	1.90		50	1.90	Normal	continuously hold the button to execute
R2 (backstep)	1.10		25 (+10)	1.10	Normal
R2 (dash)	1.25		45 (+X)	1.25	Normal
R2 (forward leap)	1.40		50	1.40	Normal	tap forward on the stick just as you press R2 to execute
Transform Attack	1.30		23 (+X)	2.00	Normal	press L1 while performing another action to execute; forced Guard Break
Plunge Attack	1.40		50	1.40	Massive	press R1 or R2 while falling to execute
Plunge Attack (2nd hit)	0.90	Blunt	-	0.00	Normal	Plunge (AoE)

Note: Damage Multiplier data from official guide checked with http://darksouls2verificationdata.web.fc2.com/motion-bloodborne.html for correction after patch 1.09.

Feb 2022 Update: All attack properties (damage multiplier, damage type, stamina cost & attack impact) verified with datamined game files and added rally values for each attack.

Transformed Mode Attacks Properties

Attack	DMG X	Type	Stamina	Rally X	Impact	Note
R1	0.97	Physical	24	1.30	Light	hits high; useful for striking weak points
→ R1 (2nd)	1.00		24	1.35	Light
→ → R1 (3rd)	1.02		24	1.37	Light	multiplier resets following this attack
R1 (backstep)	0.95		15 (+10)	1.28	Light
R1 (rolling)	0.95		20 (+10)	1.28	Light	fast startup
R1 (frontstep)	0.95		20 (+10)	1.28	Light	fast startup
R1 (sidestep)	1.00		20 (+10)	1.35	Light
R1 (dash)	1.15		30 (+X)	1.55	Light	better multiplier and range than Normal R1 (dash)
R2	1.25		38	1.68	Normal	good against groups of enemies
→ R2 (2nd)	1.27		38	1.71	Normal	good against groups of enemies
R2 (charged)	1.70		50	2.29	Normal	continuously hold the button to execute
R2 (charged followup)	1.27		50	1.71	Massive	tap R2 after performing an R2 (charged); great impact
R2 (backstep)	1.10		27 (+10)	1.48	Normal
R2 (dash)	1.20		45 (+X)	1.62	Normal	good against groups of weak enemies
R2(forward leap)	1.30		50	1.75	Normal	tap forward on the stick just as you press R2 to execute
Transform Attack	1.30		30 (+X)	2.00	Light	press L1 while performing another action to execute; forced Guard Break
Plunge Attack	1.40		50	1.89	Massive	press R1 or R2 while falling to execute
Plunge Attack (2nd hit)	0.90	Blunt	-	0.00	Normal	Plunge (AoE)

Note: Damage Multiplier data from official guide checked with http://darksouls2verificationdata.web.fc2.com/motion-bloodborne.html for correction after patch 1.09.

Feb 2022 Update: All attack properties (damage multiplier, damage type, stamina cost & attack impact) verified with datamined game files and added rally values for each attack.

Attack: Attacks are named for the input command required to execute them.

Attack Damage Multipliers: Each attack has a different multiplier. Your attack's power is equal to the attack power of your weapon times this multiplier. Higher multipliers mean stronger attacks.

Type: Damage type determines which gems will boost your attack and which defense the enemy will use to reduce the damage. If multiple types are listed, the attack has two separate damage components that are calculated separately.

Stamina: Each attack costs a different amount of stamina. Numbers in parentheses indicate the cost of the additional action required to execute the attack. For example, a backstep attack requires a backstep, which costs 10 stamina.

Impact: When you hit an enemy, it will be stunned momentarily. Impact is an assessment of how heavy the stun will be. The scale is Light > Normal > Heavy > Massive. Attacks with Massive Impact often cause knockdowns.

Key
Damage	Requirements	Stat Bonuses	Special Attack
The Damage stat dictates how much damage the weapon does. The Damage stats for a weapon are V / W / X / Y / Z: V is Physical damage W is Blood damage X is Arcane damage Y is Fire damage Z is Bolt damage	The Requirements determines how high various Stats must be in order to wield the weapon effectively. The Requirement stats for a weapon are W / X / Y / Z: W is the Strength required X is the Skill required Y is the Bloodtinge required Z is the Arcane required	The Stat Bonuses rating indicates the level of bonus you receive based on the associated Stat when you use a weapon. This rating can be S , A , B , C , D , or E (in order from most to least bonus for the associated stat). For more information about the scaling as a whole and its values visit the Scaling wiki page.	The special attack attributes for a weapon are W / X / Y / Z: W is the Slow Poison attack X is the Rapid Poison attack Y is the VS. Kin attack Z is the VS. Beasts attack