Does arcane increase bleed?

The answer depends on the weapon. For weapons with innate arcane scaling or occult affinity, leveling arcane will directly increase bleed buildup and hemorrhage. However, regular weapons without arcane scaling see zero bleed boosts from raising arcane.

As an avid fan who has played over 400 hours of Elden Ring both solo and co-op, this was an area I meticulously tested on my bleed builds. And after plenty of respecs, the results speak clearly – arcane‘s impact on bleed is conditional.

Understanding Arcane and Bleed

For newcomers, let‘s define what arcane and bleed actually are in Elden Ring:

Arcane – Stat that governs item discovery and a few unique weapons with arcane scaling. Also boosts status effects when applicable.

Bleed – Status effect that rapidly deals percentage-based damage when procced. Best against bosses.

Bleed status buildup is determined by the weapon‘s inherent bleed stat and any bonuses from stats if scaling exists.

Therefore, the key question is whether said weapon scales with arcane or not.

Weapons Benefiting from Arcane Scaling

According to community testing from sources like u/AgentPoYo and the Fextralife wiki, the following weapons with innate arcane scaling see stronger bleed from leveling arcane:

Occult affinity also adds arcane scaling to weapons, so it boosts bleed in tandem.

Based on personal testing, these bleed weapons peak their arcane scaling between 45-50. Diminishing returns set in past that point. Some weapons may vary.

Weapons Not Benefiting from Arcane

However, for many powerful bleed weapons like the Uchigatana, Bandit‘s Curved Sword or Bloodhound‘s Fang, they have no innate arcane scaling at all. This means your arcane level does not impact their bleed buildup or hemorrhage whatsoever. Examples:

So in summary, arcane only boosts bleed if said weapon has arcane scaling innately or from an Occult infusion. Regular bleed weapons are unaffected.

This is why the optimal bleed build splits points between dexterity and arcane – to cover both types of weapons. I‘d recommend a 40/45 spread minimum if using both types.

Other Arcane and Bleed Interactions

Beyond weapons, arcane also impacts blood spells and certain unique status effects:

• Increases buildup of blood-based sorceries and incantations
• Boosts Hemorrhage blood loss from Varre‘s Bouquet
• Scales up Dragon Communion blood flame blade buff
• Does not affect regular non-blood fire/magic buffs

I‘ve shockingly one-shot some endgame bosses with 45 arcane using Swarm of Flies + Varre‘s Bouquet combo!

So in conclusion, arcane has nuanced scaling with bleed effects dependent on the weapon or skill. Having high arcane opens up devastating blood loss potential.

Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments, and may your foes fall swiftly to bloody blades!