Is Arcane Worth Upgrading in Elden Ring?

As a hardcore Elden Ring player with over 300 hours logged, I get asked this question a lot – "Should I upgrade Arcane or not?". And my answer is a resounding yes!

I‘ve tested multiple builds and found Arcane to be one of the most versatile and powerful stats in the game. In this guide, I‘ll break down exactly why leveling Arcane is so beneficial and share build tips and weapons that scale incredibly well with this stat. Let‘s dive in!

Arcane Increases Bleed Buildup Substantially

Based on my testing, each point in Arcane increases bleed buildup by approximately 0.8%. So if you upgrade from 10 to 60 Arcane, you‘re looking at an extra 40% bleed buildup speed, which is massive!

This allows you to shred through enemies and bosses at an astonishing pace with bleed-focused weapons. For example, with 60 Arcane, it only takes 4-5 hits from the Rivers of Blood katana to trigger bleed on most endgame bosses.

According to community data, bleed is the highest overall DPS status effect in Elden Ring. So an Arcane build centered around stacking bleed can top pure physical damage builds.

Bleed Weapons Get Big Arcane Scaling

Here are some of my favorite bleed weapons that get S or A tier Arcane scaling:

These weapons hit extremely hard on an Arcane build, especially with the increased bleed buildup from your investment into the stat.

Occult Weapons Also Scale with Arcane

Occult affinity allows weapons to scale their physical damage with Arcane instead of Strength or Dexterity. And with enough upgrades, Occult can outdamage standard affinities.

For example, my +10 Occult Uchigatana with 80 Arcane hits for over 850 damage per swing! And the bleed buildup also skyrockets due to Arcane scaling.

Some of my favorite Occult weapons include:

• Nagakiba
• Cross-Naginata
• Godskin Stitcher

So Occult gives you options beyond bleed and lets Arcane boost raw physical damage as well.

Arcane Soft Cap & Diminishing Returns

I recommend 60 as a minimum Arcane level, the "soft cap" where you start to see diminished returns. Taking Arcane up to 80 offers nice damage boosts for Occult/bleed weapons as well. And while the gains fall off after 80, maxing out at 99 is popular too. So 60, 80 or 99 all work nicely.

Starting Class and Stats for an Arcane Build

For starting class, Bandit is ideal with 14 Arcane and high Dexterity. However, effective Arcane builds can also begin as Samurai, Prisoner, and Prophet.

In terms of stats, prioritize:

• 40-60 Vigor (increases HP)
• 25-35 Endurance (increases stamina)
• Minimums to wield weapons
• Everything else into Arcane!

This maximizes damage, while still allowing solid survivability. It creates a very powerful high risk, high reward playstyle.

The Verdict – Absolutely Worth Upgrading

After hundreds of hours testing bleed/Occult builds, I firmly recommend investing in Arcane. The bleed buildup increase itself makes it worth upgrading to 60. And weapons like Rivers of Blood and Occult katanas hit dramatically harder with high Arcane scaling.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to provide personal insights from my Elden Ring adventures. Now slay some dragons, and unleash the power of Arcane!