Melchiah
Member
Never tried using the arcane gems myself, as there generally doesn't seem to be any benefit to them.
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- Thread starter Robot Pants
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Never tried using the arcane gems myself, as there generally doesn't seem to be any benefit to them.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
I just thought it added fire damage to my attacks which sounded good, I didn't think it removed my physical damage.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
Today was better, killed Amy, One Reborn and Paarl. Plus I got my Holy Sword up to +8. This game is so weird though, one day everything goes wrong and I can't kill a fly, the next I'm knocking bosses out left and right.
Well if you are going for arcane build they have benefits. Physical build doesn't have any benefits of them though.
Like other games if you keep dying you 'lose' your skill overtime. Taking a break usually helps.
Melchiah
Member
Yeah, my arcane level is only at 11, so using them would have no benefits for my build.
JadedWriter
Member
Taking a break usually calms you down and gives you back that much needed patience for the game. That and once you hit that groove you really don't want to restart that much needed progress again either. When I was clearing out the last two Lower Pthumeru chalice dungeon layers I did not want to die after making legit progress. I'm pretty sure if I did I would've just turned the god damn thing off.
Mine is like 8, I haven't touched that stat.
Melchiah
Member
I only increased it to be able to try some of the weapons.
JadedWriter
Member
Which weapons? I didn't think any weapons outside of those weird spells required arcane.
Melchiah
Member
I'm not sure actually, perhaps Tonitrus? IIRC, some had 10 level arcane limit.
KittenMaster
Member
Tonitrus is worth it with just enough arcane to use it, yeah. The Skill + Arcane split weapons are good as well without Arcane investment.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
Outside Old Hunter Bone, and Beast Roar I guess, none of the Arcane items appeal to me. Comparatively speaking, it's just losing out badly to all other offensive stat in terms of damage. It's telling how bad it is when raising strength for burial blade gives you more attack power than raising arcane while the weapon's scaling actually states that Strength is D and Arcane is B, heh.
It doesn't even affect item quality in drops, only its frequency, which I guess can be useful but meh.
Well I suppose Rosmarinus can actually be quite deadly in some circumstances.
It doesn't even affect item quality in drops, only its frequency, which I guess can be useful but meh.
Well I suppose Rosmarinus can actually be quite deadly in some circumstances.
KittenMaster
Member
As I learned in Path of Exile, Item frequency% is actually better than item quality increases, because it also indirectly increases the frequency of quality drops because the quality will roll its RNG m ore often.
That and having high discovery is an amazing boon for an arcane build which relies on gems, which drop almost all the time with its discovery stat.
Melchiah
Member
Ha yeah no use for it then. One of my character has 50 Arcane so having Arcane gems is a must if I want to deal damage with something else than Tonitrus or Hunter Tools.
edit.
A Call Beyond does around 2000 damage if you can get most of the beams hit. The biggest problem in Arcane is the amount of work you have to put into it to make it equally good to physical build since there really isn't that many great Arcane gems in the game. Also you need to turn the weapon to Arcane weapon to get the Arcane scaling give you something.
Sticky&Sweet
Banned
I haven't touched the game in over a month 
Having a hard time gathering enough echoes to level up.
Having a hard time gathering enough echoes to level up.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Finally managed to beat Logarius!!! sogood.gif
I realised what you guys were saying. Its very easy to parry him but after he does that sword buff your bullets just go around him 0_0 . That was some hot BULLSHIT. Tried fighting without parrying for like an hour to avail. Everything changed when I realised you could backstab him when he buffed and then when he got up the buff was gone xD The rest was easy.
I have to say, I feel like STR users got the much better deal for most of the game (in terms of weapons for their build)....but god damn does the Chikage make up for it and more. Best Katana moveset in a Soul's game and then you have the 2 handed mode which is like a berserk mode on a weapon. The transforming attack is godly. I'm cutting through enemies like they are butter. Still have no idea on the point of the 2 handed R2 which is a shame because it looks so cool
There are still so many open paths its insane.
I've got:
1) Darkbeast Paarl (think there's an area behind it)
2) The area right of the Cathedral Ward bonfire
3) Got kidnapped by a spider alien and went to the library and am now in Nightmare Frontier
4) There's another path with the two hunters (electric mace + shotgun duo) spiralling down that I missed.
5) Byrgenwerth
I'm not exactly which ones are optional or will progress the story. I feel like 5) is the one that progresses but Nightmare Frontier looks like its leading me to the end. I mean I'm on some floating rock, have been kidnapped by these mythical creatures that the church has worshipped, the word Nightmare is in it and I can't find Gehrman.
I realised what you guys were saying. Its very easy to parry him but after he does that sword buff your bullets just go around him 0_0 . That was some hot BULLSHIT. Tried fighting without parrying for like an hour to avail. Everything changed when I realised you could backstab him when he buffed and then when he got up the buff was gone xD The rest was easy.
I have to say, I feel like STR users got the much better deal for most of the game (in terms of weapons for their build)....but god damn does the Chikage make up for it and more. Best Katana moveset in a Soul's game and then you have the 2 handed mode which is like a berserk mode on a weapon. The transforming attack is godly. I'm cutting through enemies like they are butter. Still have no idea on the point of the 2 handed R2 which is a shame because it looks so cool
There are still so many open paths its insane.
I've got:
1) Darkbeast Paarl (think there's an area behind it)
2) The area right of the Cathedral Ward bonfire
3) Got kidnapped by a spider alien and went to the library and am now in Nightmare Frontier
4) There's another path with the two hunters (electric mace + shotgun duo) spiralling down that I missed.
5) Byrgenwerth
I'm not exactly which ones are optional or will progress the story. I feel like 5) is the one that progresses but Nightmare Frontier looks like its leading me to the end. I mean I'm on some floating rock, have been kidnapped by these mythical creatures that the church has worshipped, the word Nightmare is in it and I can't find Gehrman.
That's only natural since the arcane base damage is so low.
Any weapon can be good for arcane with the right gems. The best arcane weapon is actually Ludwig's Holy Blade.
KittenMaster
Member
Ludwig's is good, but I am not sure I would call it the best arcane option. Flamesprayer is a viable boss killer before you get any elemental gems, and Tonitrus destroys most bosses in the second half of the game.
Hmm. Thus far, that hasn't been a problem for me even a single time, or more accurately, specifically gathering echoes to level up has barely been a part of my experience. I really haven't found myself grinding for levels remotely in the way I have in the Souls games, which has actually been a bit surprising.I haven't touched the game in over a month
Having a hard time gathering enough echoes to level up.
Whenever I notice I have a bunch of echoes- particularly just after beating a boss- that's my cue to go back to the dream and level up a bit.
If you feel like you need to gather enough echoes to level up, that must mean that you're stuck somewhere- we should focus on what that is and if leveling up is really the solution to it. Where are you at?
Orochinagis
Member
Yep and a healing spell for your summons bros, it also raises your discovery rate to find more rare runes in enemies
I haven't touched the game in over a month
Having a hard time gathering enough echoes to level up.
Where you are? the forgotten woods are a blood echoes farm paradise
Melchiah
Member
Well, I'm getting a good pure arcane AR with this setting and 25 arcane.
Given there are only a few enemies/bosses that are resistent to arcane (only Ebrietas?) it's pretty good.
I compared that with other weapons and the scaling makes really a good difference. I'm not a fan of Ludwig's since it's over used but for arcane damage I think it's hard to do better.
This is my very first character by the way and he's in NG+7.
Melchiah
Member
I'm on my first NG+, and my level is 171 after going through eight dungeons. Where did you find the Lost Ludwig?
My +9 Ludwig with physical attack gems does pretty good damage as well.
(It's the 2nd right hand weapon, the 1st one is +10 Cane.)
So last night I took on the Headless Blood Letting Beast.
Wow that was a challenge. before i started on him i had maybe 80 health vials.
After about an hour and a half of failing, i respawned and noticed i only started with 15 vials and 18 bullets. I looked at the time and said Fk it. Let me try ONE LAST TIME.
I went in there like there was no tommorow. Dodge right attack! dodge right attack, Dodge Right! Bait! Bait! attack! attack! dodge through the legs attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finally took down the HBLB. He was a serious serious challenge, because of his large size and because the room was small, but i did it. Wow did i feel good in the end.
Tried the queen today during lunch, got her down to a sliver of health and just got too greedy when i moved in for the final attack, she one shot me, but i think i got this, Platinum is so close i can taste it.
Wow that was a challenge. before i started on him i had maybe 80 health vials.
After about an hour and a half of failing, i respawned and noticed i only started with 15 vials and 18 bullets. I looked at the time and said Fk it. Let me try ONE LAST TIME.
I went in there like there was no tommorow. Dodge right attack! dodge right attack, Dodge Right! Bait! Bait! attack! attack! dodge through the legs attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finally took down the HBLB. He was a serious serious challenge, because of his large size and because the room was small, but i did it. Wow did i feel good in the end.
Note: I tried Ebrietas like 10 times. That boss is impossible for me. Thank god i could skip that fight.
Tried the queen today during lunch, got her down to a sliver of health and just got too greedy when i moved in for the final attack, she one shot me, but i think i got this, Platinum is so close i can taste it.
I customize my avatar depending on what game I'm into. The previous version were The Order and I'm currently working on Batman.
LowlySmokeGuy
Banned
Finally managed to beat Logarius!!! sogood.gif
I realised what you guys were saying. Its very easy to parry him but after he does that sword buff your bullets just go around him 0_0 . That was some hot BULLSHIT. Tried fighting without parrying for like an hour to avail. Everything changed when I realised you could backstab him when he buffed and then when he got up the buff was gone xD The rest was easy.
I have to say, I feel like STR users got the much better deal for most of the game (in terms of weapons for their build)....but god damn does the Chikage make up for it and more. Best Katana moveset in a Soul's game and then you have the 2 handed mode which is like a berserk mode on a weapon. The transforming attack is godly. I'm cutting through enemies like they are butter. Still have no idea on the point of the 2 handed R2 which is a shame because it looks so cool
There are still so many open paths its insane.
I've got:
1) Darkbeast Paarl (think there's an area behind it)
2) The area right of the Cathedral Ward bonfire
3) Got kidnapped by a spider alien and went to the library and am now in Nightmare Frontier
4) There's another path with the two hunters (electric mace + shotgun duo) spiralling down that I missed.
5) Byrgenwerth
I'm not exactly which ones are optional or will progress the story. I feel like 5) is the one that progresses but Nightmare Frontier looks like its leading me to the end. I mean I'm on some floating rock, have been kidnapped by these mythical creatures that the church has worshipped, the word Nightmare is in it and I can't find Gehrman.
1 and 2 lead to the same area, and you probably should've done that a while ago. It'll be easy when you decide to do it.
LowlySmokeGuy
Banned
Finally managed to beat Logarius!!! sogood.gif
I realised what you guys were saying. Its very easy to parry him but after he does that sword buff your bullets just go around him 0_0 . That was some hot BULLSHIT. Tried fighting without parrying for like an hour to avail. Everything changed when I realised you could backstab him when he buffed and then when he got up the buff was gone xD The rest was easy.
I have to say, I feel like STR users got the much better deal for most of the game (in terms of weapons for their build)....but god damn does the Chikage make up for it and more. Best Katana moveset in a Soul's game and then you have the 2 handed mode which is like a berserk mode on a weapon. The transforming attack is godly. I'm cutting through enemies like they are butter. Still have no idea on the point of the 2 handed R2 which is a shame because it looks so cool
There are still so many open paths its insane.
I've got:
1) Darkbeast Paarl (think there's an area behind it)
2) The area right of the Cathedral Ward bonfire
3) Got kidnapped by a spider alien and went to the library and am now in Nightmare Frontier
4) There's another path with the two hunters (electric mace + shotgun duo) spiralling down that I missed.
5) Byrgenwerth
I'm not exactly which ones are optional or will progress the story. I feel like 5) is the one that progresses but Nightmare Frontier looks like its leading me to the end. I mean I'm on some floating rock, have been kidnapped by these mythical creatures that the church has worshipped, the word Nightmare is in it and I can't find Gehrman.
1 and 2 lead to the same area, and you probably should've done that a while ago. It'll be easy when you decide to do it.
EDIT: Actually never mind. I thought 2nd place you mentioned led to
Old Yharnam
Where did you find the Lost Ludwig?
My +9 Ludwig with physical attack gems does pretty good damage as well.
(It's the 2nd right hand weapon, the 1st one is +10 Cane.)
Physical damage goes way beyond that but having a pure arcane weapon with that AR is very effective as well since almost all the enemies in the game are weak to it. Check this for the Lost Ludwig.
Regarding the level, I don't see any reason why to go beyond 100 TBH. Beyond that we don't talk about builds any more. I actually consider the meta level in Bloodborne to be around 85. You have already enough points to make a very powerful build while you still need to make tough decisions.
Melchiah
Member
I was already around level 100, when I finished the main game. I have no desire to start over from scratch with a new character, so maximizing all the stats while continuing playing allows me to try different weapons better. I probably won't be trying to level up the arcane stat, as each level costs ~200k echoes for me at this point.
EDIT: Is there any difference with the alternate versions of the weapons?
Parmadillo Marshmallow
Member
How do you make a weapon be purely arcane like that?
Oh ok that explains why my Kirkhammer AR doesn't go up when leveling arcane.
Same! Just got it an hour ago. After beating the Queen, the ending trophies were pretty straight forward.
Overall, this was a brilliant game. I would put it up there with Dark Souls, with Demon's and Dark II behind them. I really liked the lore in this game and can't wait for the DLC!
JadedWriter
Member
Lower Hintertomb here I come!! Is this worse than Lower Pthumeru?
Atleast I think this is how it works. Not sure though but atleast with Cane it seemed to work like this.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
None except the gem slot types.
For weapons not slotted with "convert your damage to arcane" gems, I'm quite positive that Arcane also affect the additional bonus damage applied when you put something like Bolt/Fire Paper to them.
JadedWriter
Member
whelp got through the first two layers of Lower Hintertomb pretty easily. Is it just me or is it a pain in the ass to parry with Evelyn?
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
So many stuff seem to just whiff past its bullets... especially hunters/humans-type of enemies.
That's why I just take Blunderbuss +6 for general exploration + parries and +10 Repeating Pistol whenever I want to deal high damage with bullets.
JadedWriter
Member
Ok, means I should just pair it with the pistol because I can parry well with that thing, but Evelyn must just be there for BMA boss damage or something. The timing for it is different too. Makes sense why I could barely parry in Lower Hintertomb since everything in there is humanoid.
Atleast it seems so. Buffed Tonitrus does more damage with higher Arcane than Strength.
Atleast for me parrying with Evelyn works as good as with regural pistol.
Orochinagis
Member
Chalices starts to get easier after defiled, unless you do the root ritual to add modifiers
The only thing that changes is gems slots. Lost weapons are good for arcane builds since they have triangular and waning slots.
When you put arcane gems, most of the weapons attacks become 100% arcane. The only ones that keep the physical damage are the hybrid ones such as Burial Blade, Logarius Wheel and Blade of Mercy.
Melchiah
Member
Good to know, so I won't need to search for them. Come to think of it, it's pretty odd I didn't find any in the eight chalices I went through.
Laughing Banana
Weeping Pickle
It has to be randomly spawned in a chest inside a room that is also randomly spawned.
Well, there's a lot of dungeon codes hanging about in the net if you want a 100% chance to get a specific version of a weapon though. The wiki is a good place to look for it.
Melchiah
Member
So, they're more likely to found in the root chalices? I haven't played any of them so far.
Are there any worthy variations for skill/strength builds?
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
What would you guys say is the best Chikage type? The bloodtinge gems don't fit on the standard version.
Lost version has one slot for bloodtinge gems. So if you want most out of the 2H mode get that.
JadedWriter
Member
So far I've done Pthumeru/Central/Lower and Hintertomb/Lower(first 2 layers) and the only challenging one was Lower Pthumeru. I did a rooted Central Pthumeru I believe and that thing had traps galore. I don't think I want to root some of the other ones.
Wouldn't all damage suit this weapon better?