Do I need to beat Godfrey to get Rivers of Blood

[Red]

I’m doing a new build and I struggle to get past Godfrey at my current level, and I don’t want to upgrade a weapon I’m not going to use. So to get to Bloody Finger Okina, do I need to get past Godfrey first, or is there some way to get it before fighting him?

[0 Gatto Armstrong]

look, rivers of blood is pretty far in the game, you don't REALLY need to beat godfrey, but if you can't do it you probably won't be getting near it. Also, you get plenty of upgrade stones for your weapons, don't be afraid to level at least one, I am at the end and have around 8 weapons at max level

[0 Gatto Armstrong]

nvm, I mixxed some names, you do have to kill the one past him to get the medallion. Larval tear to reset your kinda common, you shouldn't worry about resetting once or twice

[ReflexShift]

You have to beat him and the next boss to gain access to the next area.

[Red]

Originally posted by Gatto Armstrong:

look, rivers of blood is pretty far in the game, you don't REALLY need to beat godfrey, but if you can't do it you probably won't be getting near it. Also, you get plenty of upgrade stones for your weapons, don't be afraid to level at least one, I am at the end and have around 8 weapons at max level

Alright, I figured it’d be like Bloodborne where you get one max level weapon per new game. I’ll just level my Serpentbone Blade then, since right now it’s doing no damage to him pretty much.

Originally posted by ReflexShift:

You have to beat him and the next boss to gain access to the next area.

That’s what I was afraid of. Somehow I’m struggling more with him than Radahn.

[Draconic Creature]

Originally posted by Gatto Armstrong:

look, rivers of blood is pretty far in the game, you don't REALLY need to beat godfrey, but if you can't do it you probably won't be getting near it. Also, you get plenty of upgrade stones for your weapons, don't be afraid to level at least one, I am at the end and have around 8 weapons at max level

Also you can get bell bearings to be able to buy normal and sombering smithing stones of all grades save for the final 25/10 stone, though the last couple bell bearings are only gotten fairly late into the game. It's expensive in terms of runes, yes, but late game there's plenty of methods you can use for farming up some to buy whatever you want.

[Capt_Lycanthro]

The boss after Godfrey is the trigger for the medalion you need to get to the zone where you get Rivers of Blood. So yes, he's required.