Elden Ring Patch addresses Graphics Cards but not Arcane Weapons
Today’s patch contains an Elden Ring fix. This patch fixes an issue in the PC game that made it not recognize graphics cards and default to integrated graphics. It was clearly less than ideal. Other issues such as “micro-stuttering”, and odd frame rate drops persist. They seem to be a lot better than the launch version. The Elden Ring autosave should now be available to PlayStation 5 users. They used to have to manually “Quit Game”, every time their console was in rest mode or turned off. There are some arcane issues, sure, but none of these involve my Arcane issue — which is that many Arcane weapons in Eldenring aren’t scaling correctly.
Yes, this patch note news is being railroaded into my personal soapbox about an annoying bug that has slowed my efforts to build an Elden Ring Arcane. There will be MINOR SPOILERS as I discuss spells and weapons that aren’t working properly. Below is the tweet that details the update 1.02.2. You will not receive any additional patch notes other than “Fixed Other Bugs.”
However, I can confirm that the “other bugs” didn’t include a broken Arcane weapon — Rivers of Blood or the Marais Executioner’s Sword. This is disappointing, especially because I chose the Stonesword Key keepsake at Elden Ring. I was sent down a secret dungeon right at the beginning of the game (i.e. Inside the tutorial area, I found a Dragon Communion Seal. I was able to use the magic focus to increase my Arcane character stat. This led me to a personal quest for building my character around this mostly non-combat ability. It’s been quite disappointing to discover that Arcane weapons in late-game aren’t functioning right now.
Arcane, as you can see, does not have combat utility such as Intelligence or Strength. It is the “luck” stat. It increases enemies’ drop rate of items. Unless you have a weapon that “scales” using Arcane. This is the main way to increase a weapon’s damage with Elden Ring, beyond simple upgrades. You see, upgrades only increase the fixed amount of damage to each weapon. scaling increases that fixed amount over time. Most weapons experience some scaling from stats such as Strength and Dexterity. This is also true for Intelligence (which boosts spells called sorceries or incantations) and Faith (which are usually reduced). Arcane is only available to a few items that specifically require it.
This makes it a little more difficult to build around the stat, but also a lot more fun. This esoteric endeavor has been rewarded by FromSoft with powerful late-game weapons that use Arcane (or Luck, as it was known in previous games). This is still true. There is an entire side quest in Elden Ring that involves Churches of Dragon Communion. To steal their power and hearts, you can hunt down dragon bosses spread across the game. These can be scaled with Arcane. Because I discovered a weapon that increases Dragon Incantations very early in my search, I immediately set out to collect them all.
You will still need a melee weapon to make the most out of this build. Arcane is a preferred weapon. These weapons can still be used. Reduvia, a fast-slicing knife, inflicts blood loss ( bleeding and poison) and fires coagulated knives. However, I prefer something with more power. One of the Legendary Armaments that are hidden in the Lands Between. Something similar to the Marai Executioner’s Sword.
This was a prize I had to fight for in one of the most difficult boss battles I have ever experienced. The greatsword is also a beast. The theory is true, at least. However, the “Legendary Armament”, which has an amazing telekinetic drill attack, does more damage per hit than the quicker, easier-to-find Reduvia of the same level. The Marais Executioner’s Sword has zero scales at the moment, just like many Arcane-focused weapons. It is missing the section that shows a small + (indicating how much additional damage you get from scaling). The entire equipment menu is empty. These supposed powerful and interesting weapons are now laughably weak.
This is a real bummer. This is also a problem I haven’t heard much about, in comparison to the performance issues. Elden Ring remains a great game. It still allows me to set other personal goals and then follow them through. It’s sad that I’m unable to see the first achievement I had for myself after 140 hours of playing the game. It’s not the way that I want. I hope the Arcane scaling issue is addressed soon. Perhaps just in time for my next playthrough.
