How to get the Jagged Steel weapon

Beat the boss Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute, in Weeping Creek Valley and his one-handed bleed blade is your reward. Reported · PowerPyx

Getting it

The weapon and the boss share a name, so searches mix them up. The boss is also called The Frenzied Brute (Game8, PowerPyx), or the Frenzied Blade on Fextralife. PowerPyx marks the reward story-related and puts the fight next to the Rustblade Pavilion Bell. Fextralife adds that he sits beyond a Red Thread Barrier, which falls when you kill the Agonized Brute at the Broken Puppet Valley Bell. Reported · PowerPyx The fight itself is in our Jagged Steel boss guide.

What it does

It builds a Bleed Gauge with every hit and triggers Blood Loss when the gauge fills. The Power Surge, Jagged Steel Rampage, spends 1 Sha-Chi Essence on an unblockable flurry that fills the gauge fast. Upgrades add Blood Blade (a slash after a Guard Break that stacks up to three times), a charged version, Frenzied Blood Blade (spend 15% of current HP for three stacks) and Open Wounds, which lets blocked hits still build bleed. Game8 lists starting stats of 272 damage and 103 status; Fextralife's 936 and 482 are at level 30. Reported · Game8

The catch: bleed does nothing to Puppets, Golden Bodies or Phantom Bodies. Reported · Game8

Pairing it

Game8 and PC Gamer both recommend it for the early game, the only weapon two outlets back. A second weapon with strong guard break covers what bleed cannot: Scarlet Wraithblade is Game8's two-handed partner, and the Hunter's Chain Sickle adds damage against bleeding enemies. Best weapons and combos has the full list. Reported · Game8

It is not missable on current reports: PowerPyx files the reward as story-related.