Arcane is one of Elden Ring's many stats. Despite its name, it is not as outright magical as other stats like Intelligence. Instead, it's more analogous to the Luck of Dark Souls, natively boosting some defenses and a character's item drop chances. Although a less obvious main stat, a character can be partially or entirely built around Arcane.
The techniques and tips to thrive while doing so can be obscure. With the vast number of mechanics at play in Elden Ring, many of which are left for the player to figure out themselves, some may miss things that truly bolster their Arcane playstyle. With these things in mind, however, a player can use Arcane to devastate their foes in the Lands Between.
9 Occult Scaling Is Available Very Early On
Weapons in Elden Ring come with default scaling, deciding which stats improve their attacking power. A great many mundane weapons scale with only Strength and/or Dexterity by default, but the player can change that by putting Ash of War into their weapons and choosing scaling types like Magic or Occult.
Occult scaling boosts a weapon's Arcane scaling, letting a player's Arcane stat deal damage directly to their foes. Although Ashes of War that give Arcane scaling are rare, one is available early on in Elden Ring. The 'Lifesteal Fist' Ash of War, applicable to Claws and Fists, can be found in Caelid on the highway. Although highly dangerous, motivated players can make it one of the first things they do.
8 Bandit Is The Best Starting Class For Arcane
In Elden Ring, a character's class defines their starting stats and equipment and nothing else. Despite this, they can be very important, informing a character's playstyle and letting them optimize their character with minimal stats 'wasted' on unnecessary stats.
By far, the starting class with the highest Arcane is the Bandit, which has 14 (many other classes have 9 or less). Designed for stealth and triggering Bleed, the Bandit is a natural choice for those who want to lean into Arcane, with only the Hero coming close at 11 Arcane.
7 Poison Can Bring Low Powerful Enemies
In Elden Ring, status effects are ailments that have persistent negative effects on enemies, typically inflicted by hitting a target until a gauge is filled. One of these status effects is Poison, which, as many would expect, deals damage over time to an afflicted enemy.
Although each increment of damage is little, Poison damage happens surprisingly often and lasts longer than many expect. Although Arcane isn't required, it has some interaction with the rate at which Poison builds up in enemies, particularly in weapons with Poison scaling from an Ash of War. The exact interaction isn't known, but boosting Arcane can see that damage happen quickly and eat away at formidable foes.
6 Some Sorceries Scale With Arcane
In Elden Ring, Sorceries are best associated with Intelligence, leading many magic builds to rely partially or wholly on Intelligence in a fight. Intelligence-only builds are considered some of the game's most powerful. However, as befitting the name of the stat, some do require and scale with Arcane.
These Sorceries may be useful to some players but they're noted for having fairly niche use cases and not being as effective as spells like 'Glintstone Pebble' or 'Magic Glintblade', and being less impressive than spells like 'Loretta's Greatbow' or 'Comet Azure'. As such, some players may wish to avoid them.
5 Neglecting Other Stats Is A Bad Idea
Due to the incremental leveling of Elden Ring, where only one stat is increased per level-up and the gains are typically small increases that prove formidable over time, it can be tempting to level one stat above all others. This is typically the one that affects weapon damage. As such, in an Arcane build, players may be tempted to increase Arcane and nothing else.
However, other stats are important. Particularly in the early game when a player's damage is low, extra Vigor and Endurance can make them far more survivable than the minor increases in damage from boosting an attacking stat like Arcane. In addition, many Arcane builds will want to improve Mind for Focus Points, whether for Ash Summons or for the multitude of spells that use the stat.
4 Some Items Boost Arcane
Although the primary way to increase stats in Elden Ring is to level up at a Site of Lost Grace, another way is to find equipment that increases specific abilities. Several items boost Arcane, primarily talismans and armor.
In particular, the talismans 'Marika's Scarseal' and 'Marika's Soreseal' increase Arcane - alongside Intelligence, Mind, and Faith - by 3 or 5 each in return for increased damage. The Silver Tear Mask found in Nokron, the Eternal City increases it by 8 while also reducing physical damage.
3 A Few Weapons Scale Naturally With Arcane
Although one of the easier ways to find a weapon that scales with Arcane is to make one with the Occult scaling from an Ash of War, more than a few exist in the game world naturally. From Bows to Greatswords to Daggers, almost any class of weapon can be found with natural Arcane scaling.
A great many of these are out of the way, rare finds, and many require Sombre Smithing Stones to upgrade rather than regular Smithing Stones. Nonetheless, they can more than pay off for those who do hunt them down, with some (such as the 'Ripple Blade' Axe) reaching as high as A Scaling by default.
2 Dragon Incantations Are Powerful And Impressive
Most incantations in Elden Ring are found in the world or bought from teachers, scaling with the Faith stat. Dragon Incantations, however, have a much more involved process, with deep story implications. To acquire them, a player has to slay one of the many dragons of Elden Ring's world to acquire Dragon Hearts and take them to the Church or Cathedral of Dragon Communion.
There, a player can spend Dragon Hearts to learn special dragon-themed Incantations, many of which give the player access to different types of Breath Weapon. Unlike most Incantations, these require a certain level of Arcane to use and scale with the Stat as well, creating a unique type of build.
1 Bleed Is Utterly Lethal
Of all the status effects in Elden Ring, Bleed is the one that has become most notorious since the game's release. Devastating in both PvP and PvE, Bleed can take a massive chunk out of the bosses' healthbar with relatively little effort, and let a player punch above their weight early on in the game.
Like with Poison, the exact nature of Arcane's relationship with Bleed has yet to be revealed. Arcane increases at the rate that Bleed builds up in some fashion - particularly on weapons given Bleed by an Ash of War. Making this devastating status effect land more often is one of the most deadly things an Arcane build can do throughout Elden Ring.