Arcane is an important attribute in Elden Ring that primarily governs the Discovery stat increasing your character’s chances of finding various items after taking out enemies. Each point in Arcane adds +1 to your Discovery, starting from a base of 100 points.
In other words, the more Arcane points your character has, the higher their Discovery rate, and chances of finding rare items.
It also affects your character’s capabilities, such as strengths and weaknesses.
Arcane affects Vitality, lowering Instant Death occurrences. Simply put, leveling up Arcane increases the chances of not being killed during attacks that would normally take you out.
Holy Defense
Arcane improves Holy Defense, reducing damage from Holy Damage sources. The increase varies by Arcane levels: +2 per level up to 20, then diminishing returns up to 99.
Spells
Arcane modifies the effectiveness and damage of certain Spells. The most powerful spells require 26 Arcane points.
Arcane and weapons
Players also need to use Arcane points to equip certain weapons. Each Arcane point further increases weapon damage.
Weapons that scale with Arcane may have increased build-up of status effects like Blood Loss, Poison, Sleep, and Madness.
Some weapons require a certain level of Arcane to be wielded effectively.
Arcane affects the status effect build-up of arrows used with the Serpent Bow, with different scaling curves for poison versus blood or sleep arrows.
Scaling Soft Caps
For attack power scaling, Arcane soft caps vary, typically around 18/60/80 for physical damage and 20/50/80 for other types like magic or fire. For status effect build-up, it’s generally 25/45/60.
⇒ Long Story Short:
Arcane plays a major role in enhancing both offensive and defensive capabilities, particularly useful for item discovery and combat strategies involving status effects.
How do I increase Arcane in Elden Ring?
To increase Arcane, you need to spend a specific amount of Runes at Sites of Grace. The amount of Runes you need to spend depends on your character’s level. You can unlock the ability to increase Arcane after meeting Melina for the first time.
Players can earn runes by defeating enemies and bosses. By the way, Bandit has the highest starting Arcane of all the characters. You may want to select this starting class if you’re interested in getting an Arcane head-start.
Remember, as you progress in the game and your overall level increases, the number of Runes needed to level up any stat, including Arcane, also increases.
While you may not want to specialize in Arcane, you can use the trait to enhance the effectiveness and damage of your weapons and spells. You can also use various Talismans to improve weapon and spell efficiency.
What is the hard cap for arcane in Elden Ring?
In Elden Ring, the hard cap for the Arcane stat is 99. This is the maximum level to which you can raise Arcane through leveling up.
However, for practical gameplay purposes, there are also soft caps where the benefits gained per point start diminishing. These soft caps vary depending on what aspect of Arcane you’re considering (like item discovery, defense, or scaling with certain weapons and spells).
For many players, reaching these soft caps will provide sufficient benefits without the need to maximize the stat all the way to its hard cap.
What’s the difference between Arcane and Intelligence in Elden Ring?
Arcane is more about item discovery, status effects, and specific types of damage and resistance, while Intelligence is centered around casting Sorceries and enhancing magic damage and defense.
The choice between focusing on Arcane or Intelligence largely depends on your desired playstyle and the type of abilities and weapons you want to utilize.
Did this quick guide answer your questions? If you notice other interesting things about this Elden Ring attribute, feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below.
How much does Arcane increase bleed in Elden Ring?
The specific increase in bleed build-up depends on the weapon and how well it scales with Arcane. Weapons with higher Arcane scaling will benefit more from an increased Arcane stat.
Arcane doesn’t impact bleed buildup on weapons without Arcane scaling. While a Uchigatana or a Bandit Knife can inflict bleeding, they don’t naturally scale with Arcane. This means that icreasing Arcane won’t affect their bleed effectiveness.
However, Arcane does enhance bleed buildup on weapons that scale with it, or those given Arcane scaling via Ash of War affinities. Weapons like Reduvia, Eleonora’s Twinblades, and Bloody Helice will have their bleed buildup boosted by Arcane.
This also applies to weapons that gain Arcane scaling through the Blood affinity.
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Updated in November 2023 to include new info and more details.