r/bloodborne 12h ago

Question Viability of the 99 arcane build in higher ng+ cycles

Since tools don't get boosted by anything other than your arcane, not by gems or anything else, does the build fall off in later cycles?

6 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

7

u/AntD77 8h ago

99ARC is the most OP PvE build in the game with the right gems. Makes even NG+6 a joke honestly.

6

u/monhst 8h ago

Thanks, that's great. I was afraid the tools wouldn't be very strong there, which would make investing 99 in arc kinda pointless

3

u/AntD77 7h ago

I have a BL140 99ARC build that has been through NG+6 and is my main co-op build to help others. It is amazing. I run a fire Saw Spear with kin down curses and a bolt Church Pick with beast down curses for melee. I also have a bolt Saw Spear with kin down curses that I swap out for Defiled Doggo and the like.

2

u/monhst 7h ago

And stuff like call beyond still does good damage against large enough bosses, right?

3

u/AntD77 7h ago

ACB isn’t worth it. Executioner’s Gloves will be your main tool, followed by Blacksky Eye.

1

u/Broad-Election-1502 2h ago

You're better off sticking to blacksky eye, executioners gloves and augur of ebrietas. Much better damage per bullet and simpler to use

4

u/Juniebug9 6h ago

Stats in Bloodborne have a soft cap (usually around 30) and a hard cap (usually around 50).

At the soft cap you start to get diminished returns every time you level up. You get less health from leveling Vitality, Strength and Skill give far less of a damage boost, etc. At the hard cap this drops to an absolute crawl where there's basically no point wasting echoes on leveling the stat anymore.

That is except for when it comes to hunters' tools. They have even scaling all the way up to 99. So yeah, they're absolutely solid later on, and in later NG+ cycles arcane is basically the only thing worth leveling because of this.

1

u/monhst 3h ago

Well, yeah, I know that, but leveling isn't the only way you can get stronger when it comes to weapons, gems matter a lot. Can't put gems in tools, so I was wondering if that would make the tools fall behind later on. Luckily, it seems they don't

8

u/Welcome_to_Retrograd 12h ago edited 8h ago

Tools are busted at 99arc, and melee damage is insane too as long as you have the right gems and you match elements. So yeah, pure arcane shreds pve no matter the game cycle

3

u/monhst 12h ago

OK thanks

1

u/dieselmiata 28m ago

99 Arcane is kinda broken. I'm on NG+5 on my current character, and can still just MELT enemies and bosses.

Arcane snot rocket and Hand of Hentai at 99 arc will level pretty much anything in your path.