What if I told you chalice dungeons can be fun? Or that you can PVP in a completely new and unique way?

Behold the Sinister Chalice Dungeons: the only place in Bloodborne where you can PVP 3 against 2, in settings that are always unique. It’s like your first time playing Dark Souls ever, because you don’t know what’s around the corner.

The premise of 3v2 Sinister Chalice is simple: explore randomized dungeons, CO-OP, and PVP – all at the same time! My friend likes to call it PVX (you heard it here first).

Does this sound the least bit exciting? Read on to find out all the other cool things that you can get out of Bloodborne PVP Chalice events and what you need to do to join them.

BLOODBORNE PVP & CO-OP IN THE SINISTER CHALICES

I’ve talked to several Bloodborne players, speed-runners, and streamers. I’ve also read multiple threads on the topic of chalices. The general consensus among players seems to be that, at best, the Chalice Dungeons are the “weaker” part of Bloodborne. Many players simply hate them and never bothered exploring them.

In my opinion, this is a mistake. Chalice dungeons hold great value, both from a lore and PVP perspective.

• Lore-value: you can learn a lot of things about the lore and history of Yharnam, that you couldn’t by simply playing the main game. Chalices are also required to Plat the game and obtain the mysterious Yharnam Stone, by fighting the Pthumerian Queen.
• CO-OP and PVP value: players can create their own, procedurally generated chalices. These chalices are randomly populated with enemies, traps, bosses, rooms, treasures – never the same experience.

WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE BLOODBORNE SINISTER CHALICE PVP A CHANCE

• Sinister chalices are the only place in Bloodborne where you can organize 3v2 PVP and CO-OP set-ups.
• It’s always a new and different experience.
• PVX is more difficult than regular PVP. You’re not just fighting off invaders, you’re also trying to overcome challenges that you’ve never had before.
• You can encounter new and unique bosses or creatures (like the wandering chalice bosses, white pilgrims, skeletal puppets, labyrinth sages, the super rare Chalice Dungeon Slug creature, and many more.) in certain glyphs. For a full documentation of weird chalice dungeon enemies, check out this sub-reddit.
• You can farm great-quality gems, insight, and a crazy amount of echoes, all while having fun.
• You can make new friends and discover new things in a game that has been released over 3 years ago.
• You can take amazing selfies (check out our gallery below).

GENERAL RULES

• It’s PVX, not dueling – This is not your regular fight-club or duel. We are exploring through PVP and co-operation, so the main goal is to complete all chalice layers, while working together and fighting off invaders.
• Clearing the chalice – all participants (apart from the host) should clear the three layers of the chalice before the match actually starts. This will prevent people from being summoned into the wrong world.
• Participant Roles:
  • HOST – the host is responsible for summoning cooperators/invaders and shot-calling.
  • COOPERATOR (maximum 2) – cooperators must assist and protect the host.
  • INVADER (maximum 2) – invaders must prevent cooperators from exploring the dungeon by any means

• Healing is allowed.
• Bone Marrow Ash is not allowed.
• NEVER kill the Bell Maiden.
• Recommended level: BL 120-125

BASIC RULES FOR HOSTS

• Summoning: the host must ring the Sinister Bell shortly (for the second Sinister Maiden to appear) and then follow-up with the Beckoning Bell. Balanced player set-ups are 2v1 or 3v2.
• Keep track of participants. Don’t AFK while summons are coming in and let everyone know how many slots have been filled. Set a password to prioritize summons.
• Inform participants of your next move. In this form of organized PVP, communication is key. The host should inform the party of his/her next move at all times. This can be done via stream or voice-chat.
• Blue Elixis & Bone Marrow Ash are not allowed.
• NEVER back down from a room.

BASICS RULES FOR COOPERATORS

• As a cooperator, your goal is to work together with the host to advance through the chalice. Cooperators are the weapons and protectors of the host.
• Team work – In this game mode you will not only be facing two invaders, but entire rooms filled with dangerous mobs, traps, burning boulders, swinging axes, and god knows what other atrocities. This is why it’s important to stick together and create a battle plan.
• Blue Elixis & Bone Marrow Ash are not allowed.
• Stick to the host (and invaders) – Don’t wander off to a different section of the layer. Always stay close the host.

How do you win a round as a host or cooperator?

• DON’T LET THE HOST DIE! Sometimes, winning is simply a matter of outliving the invaders. When the host dies everyone gets sent back to their world and the invaders win.
• Kill your invaders. This is the easiest way to win a round.
• Finish exploring the layer. A good invader will take you on a “guided” tour of the chalice. If you manage to survive the horrors of the chalice and reach the boss door, your invader will have nowhere else to go. Complete the round by killing the invader in a duel, or simply walking into the boss fight.

BASICS RULES FOR INVADERS

• Goal: lead the team of cooperators through he dungeon and use all the weapons and monsters at your disposal to kill them.
• Be creative! As an invader, you can use corners for sneak attacks, ambush in choke-points, overwhelm with swarms of monsters, bait cooperators in fire traps, and so much more. The entire layout of the chalice is your ally.
• Don’t get stuck. If the team of cooperators have cleared a section of the chalice (e.g. pre-lamp treasure area), you can always back down and ambush them in another section (e.g. main lair). You should only resort to dueling if the entire lair has been cleared out and everyone is ready to move to the next lair.
• Work together with the other invader. Team-play can be very effective, especially as an invader. You can synchronize withyour partner or with other monsters, if you know their abilities. By clearing the chalice beforehand you can also get a better understanding of the Chalice’s layout. Use swinging axes, traps, choke points, and the geography of the dungeon to your advantage. I also recommend using items such as Molotov Cocktails, Poison Knives, Numbing Mist.
• Forbidden items: Bone Marrow Ash.

How do you win a round as an invader?

• Kill the host and send everyone back to their world,
• Kill everyone, one by one, in horrible and unspeakable ways.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably interested in participating in a Sinister Chalice match, you little masochist. The following section of the article contains all the information and resources needed to set-up your character, my personal recommendations, as well as references to the best farmable gems, runes, and weapons.

2.1. UNLOCKING THE SINISTERS CHALICES

There are 3 Root Sinister Chalices available (depth 5). Here’s how you can obtain them:

• Sinister Ptumerhu Root Chalice
  • Obtain the Depth 1 Pthumeru Chalice by killing the Blood-starved Beast in the main game.
  • To unlock the Sinister, complete the following chalices in order: Pthumeru Chalice -> Central Pthumeru Chalice -> Lower Pthumeru Chalice -> Defiled Chalice -> Great Pthumeru Ihyll Chalice.
  • Buy the Sinister Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice from the Messengers on Layer 3 of the Great Pthumeru Ihyll Chalice (hidden behind an illusory wall).
• Sinister Isz Root Chalice
  • Obtain the Depth 5 Great Isz Chalice by defeating Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos in the main game.
  • Buy the Sinister Isz Root Chalice from the Messengers on layer 3 of the Great Isz Chalice.
• Sinister Loran Root Chalice
  • Obtain the Ailing Loran Chalice by defeating Amygdala in the main game.
  • Unlock the Sinister glyph by completing the following chalices in order: Ailing Loran Chalice -> Lower Loran Chalice.
  • The Sinister Lower Loran Root Chalice is sold by the Messengers on layer 3 of the Lower Loran Chalice.

After obtaining all Sinister Chalices, you must host one Sinister chalice of your own to gain access to other players’ open Sinisters. Do check out this amazing Bloodborne Chalice Guide for a better understanding of the layout and enemies.

2.2. CHARACTER BUILD & RECOMMENDED LEVEL

Sinister 3v2 PVP & CO-OP events attract hardcore players, so you want to give yourself the best chance possible.

The recommended level for Chalices is 120-125. Having an over-leveled character isn’t the end of the world, but it does mean that you can only get summoned in as a friendly (with a password).

There are many character builds that you can go for. Any character build can work as long as you are comfortable with it. I personally run a quality build (50 /35/35 /35/10/10) and a pure arcane build (50/18/22/10/8/65). You can use the Bloodborne tool developed by MugenMonkey to plan your character.

Here are a few guides that you may want to follow when crafting your character:

• The Vileblood Handbook – A Hunter’s Guide to Bloodtinge
• Dex It Like Fundzo (Dex + Vit build)
• The Arcanist 2.0 by TheArcanist – good farming locations for Arcane builds

2.3. CHARACTER UPGRADES, GEMS, AND RUNES

2.3.1. BLOOD GEMS

High-quality blood-gems are very important, especially if you want to get the extra-edge. I don’t want to go into too much detail about Blood Gems, especially since they are explained very well here and here, so let’s stick to the basics required for 3v2 Sinister Bloodborne PVP.

• For the best possible set-up, you will want to get Rating 18+ blood gems. Rating is determined by chalice depth and layer progression.
• You can check-out the optimal blood gem set-up from this guide.
• The shape is (generally) determined by the type of chalice you are farming: RADIAL – PTHUMERU / ISZ – TRIANGLE / LORAN – WANING. Shape matters for perfect imprint on the weapon.

Example of Burial Blade Imprints

• Different weapon types have unique blood gem imprints. For example, the Uncanny Burial Blade can slot 2-radial + 1-triangle gems, while the lost and normal versions of the weapon feature waning gems.
• For physical damage setups I recommend CURSED, single-bonus gems with – durability in a 1 x Triangle + 2 x Radial set-up.
• Waning gem slots are generally recommended for nourishing/arcane setups, while triangle slots are better for physical setups (the 27% top physical gem can drop as a triangle, while a 27% waning would be considered out of shape and take forever to farm).
• If you’re running a Bloodtinge build, you should know that drops for the perfect 31.5% gems are insanely low. You can boost it with the help of discovery runes.

If you’re planning on farming Chalices for the perfect gems, I STRONGLY recommend that you use the Bloodborne Sheets. They contain the locations of all important weapons, glyphs, and runes.

Below are my favorite locations for farming blood gems:

– pwmf22gu (Pthumeru) – radial 27.2% gems with random curse on the Layer 1 bosses (Watchers).

– rpkipbdn, 5wagd6c4, yzb3qrhr (Isz) – Damage Type +27.2% (physical, fire, bolt, or arcane) + random curse.

– y592byza (Isz), e99tdhf (Pthumeru) – circular Blood +31.5% gems + random curse.

2.3.2. CARYLL RUNES

Caryll Runes are additional upgrades that players can use on their characters for unique bonuses. The runes can be memorized in the Hunter’s Dream, through the Memory Altar, with the help of the Rune Workshop Tool. Each player can slot a maximum of 4 runes – 3 generic ones + 1 covenant rune.

Each rune has different variations, each more powerful than the other. The table below only shows the effects of the most powerful Caryll Runes (and where you can find them). Runes of the same type, but with different levels, can be stacked.

2.3.3. WEAPONS

Bloodborne offers a wide variety of right-handed weapons. I believe that any weapon can be effective in the right hands. It’s up to the player to decide on one that he/she is comfortable with. Here are a few rules of thumb:

• Always use a +10 weapon.
• Make sure your blood gem imprints match – never use out-of-shape gems.
• Get comfortable with your weapon and understand its entire move-set (including transform and sweeping attacks) before PVPing.
• Don’t forget that your pistol is a powerful parrying weapon and it can also be upgraded at the workshop. Landing a visceral in PVP can win you the round. Pistols can also be used to land viscerals upon blood-vial use.

So, are you ready to join the hunt? 

• All three Sinister Root Chalices (Depth 5) unlocked
• Minimum 1 Sinister Chalice placed
• Main weapons are +10 and have the best blood gems in-slot
• Max. level Caryll runes in-slot
• No Radiance, Corruption, or Hunter Covenant Runes
• You have cleared all three layers of the Sinister Glyph provided by the host.

If the answer to all these questions is yes, then we’ll see you in the chalice!

Connection problems?

Make sure your Networking configuration is set to GLOBAL, you are using the correct password, and you are in the right glyph. Since Bloodborne (probably) uses a proximity system for summoning, there are a few things you can do to make summoning faster:

• Stand in the same approximate location as the host,
• Don’t stand behind an opened gate or section of the layer,
• If you still aren’t connecting, use the silencing blank and chime again.
• Make sure you have the same level range as the host.
• IMPORTANT – A Note on Covenants: please make sure you are not wearing the Vileblood rune (CORRUPTION) or the Executioners rune (RADIANCE). Wearing either rune will trigger a special summon and you might join the world as a hostile, even if your intention is to cooperate. Players wearing the Hunter of Hunters rune (HUNTER), also have a small chance of getting summoned in as hostile if the summoner is considered “Blood Addled”.

Conclusion

Still with me? We’re almost done! Now you know everything you need to join Bloodborne Sinister Chalice PVP events.

You can find us live almost every Friday from 10pm EET (12pm Pacific time) on www.twitch.tv/baabuska

I know it’s a lot to take in and some parts can be confusing, so don’t hesitate to contact me via email at baabuska@unleashthegamer.com, or to DM me on Twitter (@baaabuska) with your questions. Also, if I made any mistakes, or there are points that could be improved, please let me know.

Article created in collaboration with Enterres.