Elden Ring’s various attributes have many uses and functions. However, none are as fascinating as Arcane. After all, every other attribute’s usage is pretty obvious, but Arcane? Oh, you might go for a few playthroughs without knowing what it does if you’re going through the game blind. For the savvy ones though, Arcane is an incredibly powerful attribute for many things. Today we’ll go over what the Arcane stat is in Elden Ring. We’ll talk about what the best builds and playstyles for it are, and go over the best weapons that use this attribute to its fullest potential. Let’s begin.
Curious to try other builds? Here is our how to use incantations in Elden Ring guide.
What Is the Arcane Attribute In Elden Ring
Arcane is one of the eight main attributes that players can level up in Elden Ring. All of the 8 attributes, Vigor, Endurance, Mind, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane affect certain parts of any player’s character. For example, Vigor increases HP, Endurance increases stamina, Mind increases Focus Points, et cetera. Arcane, on the other hand, increases your Discovery substat, which is a bit of a weird stat, but very useful. Why? Because Discovery, as its name implies, helps in drop rates.
Discovery is the stat that sees how likely a player gets items on enemies that they defeated. Of course, each item drop will be calculated sequentially and independently. However, there are moments when a player’s lucky by getting every item that an enemy can drop on a single instance, up to a point. There’s a formula for it as well, but here’s what you need to remember: for each point in Arcane, you get +1 Discovery. Thus, having a flat 60 Arcane, AKA its Soft Cap, means you have a +60 Discovery.
In addition to this, Arcane also increases Holy Defense, which defends against Holy Damage, and Vitality. Which increases Death Blight resistance. Death Blight is particularly nefarious as it’s Elden Ring’s version of Petrification. If you max out on Death Blight, you’re straight-up dead.
Last but not least, Arcane also affects certain weapons on their scaling and certain status buildups. Blood Loss and Madness in particular get increased effectiveness the more Arcane the character has. However, we’ll talk about that in the next part of the article.
What Playstyles Are Affected By The Arcane Attribute
There are a few playstyles that Arcane affects in various ways. However, the ones we need to talk about are playstyles that make use of Blood Loss and Madness. After all, these 2 status effects have increased capabilities the higher the player’s arcane attribute. Other types of damage like fire and lightning are also affected by Arcane if the weapon that inflicts said damage type has Arcane scaling.
For those people that use a whetblade to add to their combat capabilities, never fret. Arcane Scaling can be added onto base weapons like the Uchigatana and Godskin Peeler as well. Giving them Arcane scaling, in addition to increasing the effectiveness of their Blood Loss gain.
Best Arcane Builds in Elden Ring
There are a lot of ways to use the Arcane Attribute to destroy your enemies in Elden Ring. The most common of these would be to use the ever-reliable Blood Loss debuff to inflict Hemorrhage damage to your enemies. A lot of weapons inflict Blood Loss, especially katana weapons like the Moonveil. However, weapons that have the Arcane Attribute on their scaling can increase the amount of Blood Loss they can inflict per attack.
In addition to increasing Blood Loss build up though, Arcane can also increase Poison, Sleep, and Madness build up. Thus, weapons that inflict those status effects are great on Arcane builds as well. Madness is particularly interesting, as the Sacred Seal that’s made for Madness-type Incantations doesn’t have Arcane in its scaling. Which is very weird, and doesn’t make sense.
Thus, to reiterate, the best way to utilize Arcane in builds is to get weapons that give Blood Loss and Madness buildup. Of course, you need to get their other Attribute requirements as well, but you can do that by either items or Talismans. Speaking of…
How To Get More Arcane Stats?
In short, if you’re going to go for an Arcane build, make sure to get to the soft cap of 60 Arcane by any means necessary. There are several ways of doing this. The first and most obvious is to level up the attribute manually through runes. For those that aren’t in that life though, here are items and talismans that increase the Arcane attribute when equipped:
- Witch’s Glintstone Crown: Gives +3 Arcane and Intelligence
- Imp’s Head (Elder): Gives +2 Arcane
- Marais Mask: Gives +1 Arcane
- Mask of Confidence: Gives +3 Arcane
- Albinauric Mask: Gives +4 Arcane, reduces Crimson Tears Flask potency.
- Silver Tear Mask: Gives +2 Arcane, reduces physical attack damage (-5%)
- Marika’s Scarseal: Gives +3 Arcane, Intelligence, Faith, and Mind, player takes 10% more damage.
- Marika’s Soreseal: Gives +5 Arcane, Intelligence, Faith, and Mind, player takes 15% more damage.
- Godrick’s Great Rune: Gives +5 to all attributes and requires Rune Arcs to activate.
Best 5 Arcane Weapons on Elden Ring
Now that we’ve talked about Arcane builds and playstyles, we need to talk about weapons. Specifically, 5 of the best weapons on Elden Ring that you can use on Arcane builds. Let’s get started.
Reduvia
The first weapon we’ll talk about, and find early in the game that uses the Arcane attribute is the Reduvia. this dagger can be obtained after defeating Bloody Finger Nerijus near Murkwater Cave in Limgrave. Don’t worry if you’re under-leveled when you fight him, as another NPC by the name of Bloody Finger Hunter Yura will be summoned to aid you.
The Reduvia is a really strong weapon to get during the early to mid-game due to its great arcane scaling. This means that the Reduvia can deal massive amounts of blood loss build-up and destroy enemies weak to Hemorrhage. Its weapon art, the Reduvia Blood Blade, gives the weapon an additional ranged option that can annihilate unaware enemies. When dual-wielded, this weapon can utterly shred any boss in the game weak to Hemorrhage.
Overall definitely a good pick if you’re going for an Arcane Bleed Build on Elden Ring. You can consider this weapon to be a starter weapon to get you on your way to a Bleed Build. Because its easily accessed after an NPC enemy fight, and has great numbers and scaling.
Rivers of Blood
After the Reduvia is the most obvious recipient of the Arcane build: Rivers of Blood. Once maligned for the fact that its scaling was whack due to a bug, this katana is primarily a Dexterity scaling weapon. However, the sheer tomfoolery of its Weapon Art, Corpse Piler, gives Rivers of Blood a rock-solid entry to this list. This is because the Corpse Piler weapon art increases Blood Loss debuff stacks and deals a hefty dose of fire damage. 2 things that the Arcane attribute boosts.
This means that a lot of enterprising Tarnished would go for an Arcane-focused build rather than a Dexterity-based one for this weapon. After all, its Weapon Art deals great damage for the D Rank scaling on Arcane. Blood Loss is self-explanatory. Fire damage is a bonus. However, the fact that you can spam Corpse Piler over and over again? That is why Rivers of Blood is so feared by PvP players. The sheer annoyance of bleeding to death every time your opponent spams Corpse Piler all day, every day is a pain.
This led to the katana being hated by players everywhere, especially those that like PvP. You can usually see invaders straight-up noping out of a player’s world if Rivers of Blood is their main weapon. On the flip side, players getting invaded by Rivers of Blood users would just roar in rage every time they die.
In short, if you want to go for an Arcane Build that will make PvP players rage quit. If you want to feel powerful and scummy at the same time. If you want to lose your friends… Get Arcane Build Rivers of Blood. You’ll feel powerful, yes. But you’ll also feel dirty. You get this weapon by killing Bloody Finger Okina near the Church of Repose.
Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear
For those that want a spear variant of Rivers of Blood, look no further than Mohwyn’s Sacred Spear. This weapon can only be obtained after finding that incest freak Mohg and kicking his teeth in. After doing that, go to Enia and trade his Remembrance for his weapon, which he used to bleed you to death by poking the sky. Now? Now you can do the same thing to your enemies.
The Sacred Spear is a powerful weapon when used correctly and if it’s upgraded to the max. Then again, every weapon in Elden Ring is like that. However, Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear is a bit unique in that regard due to it having great Arcane scaling that increases the amount of Blood Loss it inflicts. Specifically, through the use of its Weapon Art, Bloodboon Ritual.
Bloodboon Ritual is the attack that Mohg used against you while shouting “Nihil! Nihil!” multiple times, and it’s very strong. On par with Rivers of Blood’s Corpse Piler and Eleonora’s Poleblade’s Bloodblade Dance Weapon Arts. If you want a more ranged option when compared to Rivers of Blood and Eleonora’s Poleblade, get Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear.
Eleonora’s Poleblade
Next on this list is Eleonora’s Poleblade, the twinblade version of Rivers of Blood, and the cheaper weapon in terms of Weapon Art FP requirements. You can find this weapon in the 2nd Church of Marika, and you need to kill Eleonora, Violet Bloody Finger to get it. Eleonora’s Poleblade is a great weapon to use in either 2-handing or dual-wielding due to the twinblade moveset being surprisingly great to play with.
In addition to this is the Bloodblade Dance weapon art which is a more elegant version of Corpse Piler. After a tiny amount of prep time, you dance forwards, twirling the poleblade to deal death by a thousand cuts. Every time your enemy gets hit they get blood loss build-up in addition to a hefty chunk of fire damage. This weapon art is the reason why Eleonora’s Poleblade is a great weapon for Arcane builds. Because it only takes 2 or 3 hits from Bloodblade Dance to proc Hemorrhage and rip off a hefty chunk of your enemy’s HP. The same goes for the first 3 weapons on this list.
Overall, Eleonora’s Poleblade is a fearsome weapon to use for Arcane builds in Elden Ring. If you know how to use it, it can turn your enemies into bleeding piles of chunky salsa. If you get the chance, definitely use this in addition to another twinblade like the Godskin Peeler. Give that weapon another debuff type like, oh I don’t know… Frostbite? And watch your enemy’s HP bar flatline in moments.
Marais Executioner’s Sword
Last but not least is the Marais Executioner’s Sword, a unique one on this list because this is a strength-based weapon. Don’t let that fool you though, as this storied blade of House Marais can and will execute all your enemies that go against your path to being Elden Lord.
You can find this weapon in the Shaded Castle, located north of the valley between the Altus Plateau and Mount Gelmir. There’s a poisonous bog there, but it shouldn’t be a problem with Torrent. Once there, simply go over the castle and fight Elemer of the Briar, who will use this weapon to try and kill your ass. Make sure to get piercing and lightning weapons/damage to kill them. Once defeated, you can get the Marais Executioner’s Sword. And you will not regret getting this as it’s Weapon Art, Eochaid’s Dancing Blade can destroy enemies in a jiffy when the sword’s maxed out.
Overall, a powerful weapon to use against the various dangerous elements of the Lands Between. If you get the chance and have the Somber Smithing Stones available in your inventory, get this weapon. It doesn’t give a passive blood loss proc like the other entries on this list, but this weapon is a greatsword. Combine this with the Dragon Communion Seal for Arcane incantations. Yeah, you’ll see some magic.
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