Does Arcane Increase Holy Damage? A Deep Dive into Elden Ring and Bloodborne Mechanics
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The question of whether Arcane increases holy damage is a common point of confusion for players of FromSoftware’s titles, particularly Elden Ring and Bloodborne. The short, direct answer is: No, Arcane does not directly increase holy damage. However, the relationship between Arcane and various damage types, including holy, is more nuanced and warrants a thorough explanation.
While Arcane does not inherently boost the damage output of holy attacks, it does play a role in resistance against holy damage, which is an important consideration when facing certain enemies and areas. Let’s unpack this further.
Understanding Arcane’s Primary Functions
In both Elden Ring and Bloodborne, Arcane primarily influences the following:
- Item Discovery: A higher Arcane stat increases your chance of finding rare items from defeated enemies, making it a valuable asset for farming and collecting essential gear.
- Hunter Tool Scaling (Bloodborne): In Bloodborne, Arcane directly scales the effectiveness of Hunter Tools, which are magical offensive items.
- Status Effect Buildup: In Elden Ring, Arcane plays a crucial role in increasing the buildup of status effects like bleed, poison, sleep, and madness on weapons that scale with Arcane or are infused with bleed. Importantly, Arcane does not affect the buildup of scarlet rot, frostbite, or death status effects.
- Weapon Scaling (Specific Instances): Certain weapons in both Elden Ring and Bloodborne scale with Arcane, and their damage output will increase as you level the Arcane stat if the weapon’s damage type is Arcane, Fire, Bolt or a status effect that scales with arcane.
- Holy Resistance: One of the key benefits of leveling up Arcane is increased resistance against holy damage. This can significantly improve your survivability against enemies that deal this specific type of damage.
Arcane and Holy Resistance: A Defensive Boost
While Arcane won’t make your holy spells hit harder, it does enhance your Holy Defense. This means that attacks imbued with holy damage will be less effective against you. This is particularly important as many powerful enemies and areas in Elden Ring and Bloodborne utilize holy damage as a primary attack type. Consequently, investing points into Arcane can make you considerably more durable against these threats, despite not increasing your own holy damage output.
Arcane and Status Effects
It’s critical to distinguish that Arcane does not increase all status effect build ups. For weapons that already have bleed, poison, sleep, or madness on them, Arcane will increase the speed that these status effects are applied. Weapons without these will not have this buff from the arcane stat. This is an essential fact for arcane builds, as using weapons with these attributes will improve the viability of an Arcane build by adding additional damage on top of direct weapon damage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some common questions players have regarding Arcane and its impact on damage types:
1. Does Arcane directly increase holy damage output?
No, Arcane does not directly boost the damage of attacks that deal holy damage. It increases your resistance to holy damage.
2. Does Ludwig’s Holy Blade scale with Arcane in Bloodborne?
Yes and No, Ludwig’s Holy Blade has “A” scaling in Arcane when fully upgraded. However, this scaling only becomes active if you socket a gem that converts the weapon’s damage to Arcane, Fire, or Bolt. Doing so will remove the Strength and Skill scaling.
3. Does leveling Arcane increase bleed damage?
No, Arcane does not increase the amount of damage bleed does when it procs. It increases the buildup of bleed per hit of a weapon that scales with Arcane or has bleed applied to it. If a weapon has bleed but no arcane scaling, it will not be increased.
4. How does Arcane affect the Rivers of Blood katana in Elden Ring?
The Rivers of Blood katana is unique because it scales with Arcane and applies the bleed effect. Leveling Arcane increases both its direct damage and the bleed buildup per hit.
5. Is Arcane a viable stat for bleed builds in Elden Ring?
Yes, Arcane is crucial for bleed builds. It increases the speed at which blood loss is inflicted, allowing for frequent procs and substantial damage output.
6. Does Arcane affect all status effects in Elden Ring?
No, Arcane increases the buildup of bleed, poison, sleep, and madness. It does not affect the buildup of scarlet rot, frostbite, or death status effects.
7. Is it worth leveling Arcane for the Item Discovery stat alone?
Yes, many players choose to level Arcane for the increased Item Discovery stat, which significantly improves farming efficiency, making it worth the investment.
8. What is the best starting class for an Arcane build in Elden Ring?
The Bandit class is generally considered the best starting point for an Arcane build due to its high base Arcane stat.
9. Does Arcane have a damage cap in Bloodborne?
Unlike other stats which soft-cap at 40 or 50, Hunter Tools continue to scale with Arcane even up to 99, making a high Arcane build extremely powerful.
10. What are some weapons that scale with Arcane in Elden Ring?
Weapons like the Ripple Blade, Ripple Crescent Halberd, and the Albinauric Staff, scale directly with the Arcane stat. Additionally, weapons with status effects such as bleed, madness, sleep or poison can benefit from arcane.
11. Does Arcane affect the Moonveil katana’s bleed build up?
Yes, investing in Arcane will significantly increase the bleed buildup of the Moonveil katana.
12. Which Talismans are beneficial for an Arcane bleed build in Elden Ring?
Lord of Blood’s Exultation is a must-have, as it increases attack power when blood loss occurs nearby. Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Millicent’s Prosthesis also synergize well by increasing damage with successive attacks.
13. What is a good amount of Arcane to have for a bleed build in Elden Ring?
Many players find that having 60 Arcane is an excellent threshold for consistent and high bleed output, especially when combined with other bleed-enhancing gear.
14. Does occult infusion scale with Arcane?
Yes, occult infusion makes a weapon scale with your Arcane stat, also increasing the bleed buildup on weapons that have bleed properties.
15. Does Arcane increase scarlet rot buildup?
No, Arcane does not scale the Scarlet Rot buildup. Only weapons with innate scarlet rot build up scale based on the weapon scaling, not the Arcane stat.
Conclusion
While Arcane doesn’t directly amplify holy damage, it is a versatile and powerful stat in both Elden Ring and Bloodborne. It increases your resistance to holy damage, making you more resilient against enemies that utilize it. It is also a critical stat for increasing the bleed, poison, sleep, and madness buildup of specific weapons, enhances the power of Hunter Tools in Bloodborne, and raises your Item Discovery, making it a worthy investment for many different playstyles. Understanding these nuances will allow you to build more powerful and effective characters, and make the most of your adventures in these challenging worlds.