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FromSoftware games often have one stat that doesn’t seem particularly useful but serves a vital role in fun builds. In Elden Ring, many players have been left wondering what the Arcane stat actually does.

Many of the stats in Elden Ring are straightforward in terms of their use and fit into established RPG conventions. Strength helps players with heavy weapons, Dexterity boosts weapons like katanas, Vigor increases HP, and so on. Then there are Intelligence and Faith, which govern the two primary types of magic in the game; Sorceries and Incantations.

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Off on the side is Arcane, which doesn’t serve an obvious purpose to players and isn’t considered in many spells or weapons. Arcane is still an important stat and is necessary for using some of Elden Ring’s best weapons.

What Does Arcane Do In Elden Ring?

In Elden Ring, the Arcane stat’s primary function is governing item discovery. This influences how frequently normal enemies drop items after being killed. On top of this, leveling up Arcane also increases resistance to Holy damage and resistance to buildup of the Death Blight status condition.

Character with Death Blight.

These attributes are rarely useful as Holy Damage isn’t particularly common and only a few enemies and weapons are capable of afflicting the player with the horrifying Death Blight status effect. Arcane also helps with scaling a number of different sorceries and incantations, which makes it vital for some players.

Weapons That Scale With Arcane

There are 15 different weapons in Elden Ring that scale off the Arcane stat. These weapons tend to deal blood loss buildup or fire damage, but that isn’t always the case. Here is the complete list of weapons that use Arcane:

  • Albinauric Staff
  • Bloody Helice
  • Clinging Bone
  • Dragon Communion Seal
  • Eleonora’s Poleblade
  • Marais Executioner’s Sword
  • Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear
  • Morgott’s Cursed Sword
  • Reduvia
  • Regalia of Eochaid
  • Ripple Blade
  • Ripple Crescent Halberd
  • Rivers of Blood
  • Serpent Bow
  • Varre’s Bouquet

Ripple Blade and Ripple Crescent Halberd are generally conventional weapons that happen to scale off the player’s Arcane stat rather than Strength or Dexterity. The Albinauric Staff and Dragon Communion Seal function similarly to most staves and seals, but with added Arcane scaling.

Rivers of Blood Special Attack Katana Elden Ring

Beyond these are a number of unique weapons that scale with Arcane. How these weapons use the Arcane stat varies, as some have a general damage increase while some use it for their Ash of War. Most notable among them is Rivers of Blood, one of the best PVP weapons in Elden Ring.

Sorceries and Incantations That Use Arcane

dragon communion church in elden ring

There are many powerful Incantations that use the Arcane stat in Elden Ring, as well as two Sorceries. Most of the Incantations associated with Arcane are Dragon Communion Incantations, obtained by beating bosses like Flying Dragon Agheel, with the remainder being associated with blood loss buildup.

The full list of Arcane incantations includes:

  • Greyoll’s Roar
  • Dragonmaw
  • Smarag’s Glintstone Breath
  • Ekzykes’s Decay
  • Borealis’s Mist
  • Agheel’s Flame
  • Theodorix’s Magma
  • Rotten Breath
  • Dragon Claw
  • Glintstone Breath
  • Dragonice
  • Dragonfire
  • Magma Breath
  • Bloodboon
  • Swarm of Flies
  • Bloodflame Talons
  • Bloodflame Blade

The Dragon Communion Incantations are meant to be paired with the Dragon Communion Seal, which also incorporates Arcane into its scaling. Ekzykes’s Decay and Rotten Breath are among the most popular tools in PVP for afflicting opponents with the Scarlet Rot status condition, which quickly melts through their health bar.

There are also two Sorceries that use the Arcane stat:

  • Great Oracular Bubble
  • Oracle Bubbles

These two spells are categorized as Claymen Sorceries but while other subcategories of spells like Dragon Communion Incantations have special items that boost them, Claymen Sorceries do not have a larger network of items or mechanics.

Elden Ring is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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