Elden Ring Best Arcane Weapons With Locations

As a seasoned Elden Ring player with over 800 hours across 5 playthroughs, I‘ve tried just about every weapon there is. And let me tell you, arcane builds open up some incredibly fun and devastating options that are extremely viable both for PvE and PvP.

After extensive testing on all the arcane scaling weapons, these are my definitive picks for the absolute best ones – whether you just respec‘d to arcane or are looking to round out your arsenal, these weapons deserve special attention. I‘ll cover what makes them exceptional choices, where to find them, and how to maximize their potential.

Key Takeaways: Best Elden Ring Arcane Weapons

Below I‘ve highlighted and compared some key stats across the top arcane weapons:

As you can see, they offer an excellent balance of high physical attack and massive bleed status buildup. Their unique skills reference the blood loss theme as well, inflicting extreme hemorrhaging damage versus enemies. Let‘s take a deeper look at why these three weapons stand at the top of their respective classes.

Rivers of Blood: Pinnacle of Bleed Katanas

The infamous Rivers of Blood undoubtedly deserves the hype – after over 300 PvP duels and countless PvE encounters with it equipped, I can definitively say it stands on a tier of its own compared to all other bleed weapons.

At +10 with optimal stats, it reaches a mountainous 91 bleed buildup per hit. Which when coupled with its flashy, multi-hit Corpse Piler weapon skill, allows you to rapidly melt through any foe‘s health bar. Bosses and invaders alike quickly crumble before the Rivers of Blood‘s onslaught. And with an S rank in Arcane scaling, it gets exponentially more lethal as you level.

In addition to the devastating hemorrhaging potential, the base katana moveset itself remains versatile and viable. The long reach, sweeping R1s and nimble dash R2 poke enable you to challenge enemies at any range. Rivers just as competently delivers its massive damage through traditional slashes as it does unleashing its flashy weapon art.

And this tremendous flexibility truly allows the Rivers of Blood to shine both in PvE and PvP…you can adapt to any combat scenario and downright bully most opponents through sheer pressure and bleed procs. Approach with caution though – your enemies will grow to fear and respect the crimson glow exuding from your blade.

To obtain this magnificent katana, travel to the Mountaintops of the Giants and venture to the Church of Repose in the northern cliffs. Here you can trigger an invasion by the samurai Okina which will drop the Rivers of Blood katana upon defeat. But come prepared – he will immediately put your skills to the test with his nagakiba‘s deadly reach. Once bested though, the rivers will indeed flow red as this prized weapon becomes yours.

Moghwyn‘s Sacred Spear: PvE Carnage

While I initially ignored it for plain old melee weapons, after respec‘ing my build into dedicated arcane the immense potential of Moghwyn‘s Sacred Spear quickly became apparent. This deceptively beefy armament doesn‘t just impale your enemies…it dramatically causes their essence to explode outwards in visceral bloodflame bursts.

And OH boy does this spear bring the pain against PvE content – its meaty R1 thrust combos stagger even colossal enemies, allowing you to rack up massive hemorrhaging damage as they struggle to respond. But the real highlight is definitely the Weapon Skill called Bloodboon Ritual.

Charging Bloodboon momentarily impales yourself to stock massive bloodflame energy within the spearhead, before furiously erupting that accrued power outwards in a wide cone of pure carnage. Anything caught within the blast radius takes insane damage AND has their blood loss buildup bar FILL nearly instantly.

So while slower than my other favorite arcane weapons, Moghwyn‘s Sacred Spear undoubtedly DOMINATES versus slow tanky enemies and groups that you can blast apart with Bloodboon. It lacks the mobility for effective PvP but remains a mandatory addition to my PvE loadouts.

To claim this awesome weapon, defeat Mogh Lord of Blood within his namesake Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum. Trading his Remembrance with Enia yields the spear. Just beware Mogh‘s constant bloodflame area attacks and cleanse his nasty blood curse as soon as possible. Perseverance pays off though, as this spear soon empower you with limitless taboo blood power.

Eleonora‘s Poleblade: Graceful Bloodletting

While Rivers of Blood and Moghwyn‘s Sacred Spear occupy their own respective tiers of power, Eleonora‘s Poleblade stands at the peak of "standard" arcane weapons. Its elegant moveset and modest stat demands makes it accessible for nearly all builds, while still retaining high damage and blood loss potential.

In terms of bleed utility, it inflicts a very solid 76 buildup per hit at max upgrade. But additionally, Eleonora‘s unique Weapon Skill Blood Blade Dance unleashes a visually striking barrage of 8 consecutive hits – effortlessly shredding apart enemies with a virtuoso dance of blades.

This Weapon Skill in particular empowers the weapon‘s versatility – able to pressure even distant foes once charged. The visual spectacle and satisfaction of executing the full skill perfectly represents Eleonora‘s identity as an elegant vessel of bloodletting.

And beneath the blood-soaked twirls lies an effectively flexible twinblade moveset – with horizontal slashes, thrusting stabs, even long reach 2-handed R2s allowing you to properly duel at any range.

To claim Eleonora‘s Poleblade for elegant blood-fueled domination, defeat the Bloody Finger Eleonora invader within the Second Church of Marika at Altus Plateau. But beware – her nimble moveset and bloodflame buffs present a challenge.utilize ranged spells from the adjacent cliffs if needed. But persevere, and these twin blades shall dance with vim and vigor as you lacerate foes to death.

Dragon Communion Seal: Ultimate Blood Sorceries

Thus far I‘ve covered pure melee weapons – but what about range and versatility? Look no further than the Dragon Communion Seal, which unlocks exponentially powerful bloodflame sorcereries to dominate from afar.

With S-tier Arcane scaling when fully upgraded, this sacred seal ACTIVELY buffs blood, dragon, and swarm type incantations by an extreme multiplier based on your arcane level. I‘m talking over 3000+ damage per cast Exodus of Rot explosions and bloodflame lasers that melt enemies faster than actual rivers flowing blood.

And thus Dragon Communion Seal perfectly complements dedicated arcane melee builds by covering any range or situation. You can snipe groups of enemies from safety with powerful hemo magic before engaging with your bloodlusting weapons in close quarters. It also significantly diversifies your combat options against foes resistant specifically to melee hemorrhaging.

Purchase the Dragon Communion Seal from Miriel at Church of Vows once giving her multiple Dragon Hearts found across the Lands Between. While normally costing 3000 runes, further tributes dynamically upgrade the seal‘s potential up to 8000 runes. But the obliterative power you unlock far outweighs the upfront investment. Soon you‘ll champion Mohg himself with full primal domination over sanguine sorceries.

So there you have it – my personal picks for the DEFINITIVE best arcane scaling weapons within Elden Ring. All offer tremendous power through myriad means of crushing enemies under blood loss buildup and hemorrhaging damage. Their sheer raw numbers and lethal movesets enable seriously devastating play.

Let me know down below what your favorite arcane weapons are or if you have any other suggestions for ones to try in my future playthroughs! I‘m always experimenting with new tactics on how to best leverage the bloodflame to my advantage.