Here are the best Arcane weapons in Elden Ring
Looking for the best Elden Ring Arcane weapons?Arcane is one of the eight majorstatsinElden Ringwhich weapons can scale with. Although there are fewer weapons in the game that scale with Arcane compared to Intelligence, Strength, Faith and Dexterity, there are a few surprisingly strong weapons that do.
Arcane primarily raises your character’s Discovery Rate, meaning they’re more likely to find item drops. High levels of Arcane will also increase your Holy defence, Vitality and resistance against Death Blight. Along with these perks, Arcane weapons can usually increase status effects like blood-loss buildup,Poison, Sleep and Madness. As such, it is a stat that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Join us as we go through the best Arcane weapons in Elden Ring across a variety of Weapon Skills and types. This includes bows, staffs, axes, katanas and more.
Ripple Blade
With an Arcane scaling of A and the ability to increase status effect buildup, theRipple Bladeis one of the best Arcane weapons in Elden Ring. Effects like Blood Greases, Poison Greases and Soporific Greases are improved when both the weapon and your Arcane stat have been increased.
Classified as an axe, the Ripple Bladecannot be infusedwith Ashes of War but comes already equipped with theWild StrikesWeapon Skill. This skill allows players to execute a chain of swing attacks, followed up by a normal or strong attack. Each swing will cause 5-6 stance damage, with the final blow delivering 30-42 if it is a strong attack, or 20-28 if it is a light attack. This makes it particularly effective against guarded foes.
This skill will consume FP, so we recommend buffing out this weapon build by applyingTalismanslike theCerulean Seed Talismanwhich boosts FP regeneration or theCarian Filigreed Crestwhich lowers the FP consumed by Skills.Marika’s Soresealis also a powerful Talisman that can raise Mind,Intelligence,Faithand Arcane stats but will increase the damage you take in the process.
You can buy the Ripple Blade fromPidia, Carian Servant atCaria Manor. To find this merchant (or his bell-bearing) you need to drop down the cliffsideeast of the Three Sistersarea to the balcony ledge connected to Caria Manor. The balcony will lead to a rooftop hatch and ladders. Descending these will land you on the balcony above the Manor Lower LevelSite of Grace, where the merchant awaits.
TheRipple Crescent Halberdoffers both range and the same status effect buildup as its sister weapon, the Ripple Blade. This makes it an ideal weapon if you like to experiment with Greases to inflict conditions on enemies.
The Ripple Crescent Halberdcannot be infusedwith Ashes of War. Instead, it comes with theSpinning SlashWeapon Skill which allows players to emit a large sweeping attack with a heavy follow-up slash. This is particularly effective for crowds of enemies.
Crucially, this skill cannot be parried and can deal up to 33 stance damage to enemies. This was increased via the1.07 patchmaking it a long-lasting choice for anArcane build.
The Ripple Crescent Halberd is a random drop whendefeating Albinauric enemiesequipped with it. These foes spawn around theAcademy Gate TowninLiurniaof the Lakes. You may also encounter a group of them equipped with this weapon around the Fallen Ruins of the Lake Site of Grace, also in Liurnia of the Lakes.
We’ve spoken plenty about theRivers of Bloodkatana in the past, and for good reason. This katana specialises in blood-loss buildup which can be increased with more points into your Arcane stat. The fire damage it emits can also be increased via this stat.
The Rivers Of Blood katanacannot be infusedwith Ashes of War but provides an immensely useful Weapon Skill instead, theCorpse Piler. This skill allows players to execute 6 criss-cross slashes that deal stance damage per cut, plus room for additional follow-up attacks.
With physical, fire, stance damage and blood-loss buildup with each slash, the Rivers Of Blood remains a formidable weapon and an ideal choice if you’re looking for a more dexterous Arcane build.
To get the Rivers Of Blood katana, you’ll need todefeat Bloody Finger Okina, near the Church of Repose in eastern Mountaintops of the Giants.
TheSerpent Bowis the only bow in Elden Ring with Arcane scaling despite the stats ability to increase buildup effects. In the case of the Serpent Bow, Poison buildup is applied to all arrow types equipped with the bow and Poison Arrows are buffed even more.
The more you put into your Arcane stat, the more effective Poison, Bleed and Sleep Arrows will become. To raise the base damage of the bow, however, you’ll also need to invest some stats intoDexterity.
The Serpent Bowcannot be infusedwith Ashes of War but comes with theMighty ShotWeapon Skill. This skill allows players to charge up a shot and deliver it across a larger range with increased damage to targets. The shot can also get past enemy shields or blocks.
The Serpent Bow is inside theAbandoned Cave in Dragonbarrow, Caelid. This is located east of the Smoldering Wall Site of Grace. Be careful as the cave is full of pools that will give youScarlet Rot. We suggest stocking up onPreserving Bolusesbeforehand, as they can heal you from the condition and stop Scarlet Rot buildup.
You can acquire the recipe for Preserving Boluses from the Armorer’s Cookbook (6) or buy some from the Nomadic Merchant near the Caelid Highway North Site of Grace.
TheAlbinauric Staffis the only staff that scales with Arcane in Elden Ring. The draw to this particular staff is that it inflicts added blood-loss buildup from Aberrant sorceries like the Briars of Punishment and Briarts of Sin. This is ideal if you’re going for a blood sorcerer playthrough.
Unfortunately the scale of the blood-loss buildup was scaled back slightly with the1.09 patch. Despite this, the Albinauric Staff still shows some promise, particularly when paired as an off-hand option to a different bleed weapon like the Rivers Of Blood katana, mentioned above.
The Albinauric Staff is located within theVolcano Manorregion. From the Prison Town Church Site of Grace, head towards the large church structure within the town. Outside this building and to the right is a ladder. Climb the ladder to get onto the rooftop. From here, head right and jump down onto a balcony below. The staff will be on a corpse in the room adjacent to this balcony.
That rounds off our guide to the best Arcane weapons in Elden Ring. For the best overall weapons in the game across all builds, check out our ultimatebest weaponsguide or see our guide to thebest armoursets in Elden Ring to complete your loadout.
