What I feel interesting about this discussion is that people often disregard the early game (lvl <120) and discuss only end-game weapon capabilities. To try to complement on this discussion, I will mostly focus on the early.

Early/mid game (<120 lvl)

• Just pick any weapon with low stat requirements that you’re comfortable with — e.g. I typically pick broadsword, just because I really feel comfortable with its moveset and the requirements are extremely low (Strength 10 and Dexterity 10). But it could be anything, really — claymore, Flamberge, etc.

• Reduvia - in an ARC build, it costs almost nothing (13 dex is a joke as a requirement for how good this is) just pick it and keep it upgraded, only after you upgrade your Dragon communion seal. It has so much utility that I always have it equipped no matter what. Very little commitment for a huge pay-off.

• The motivation behind this is leaving enough space to upgrade what should really be your number 1 priority: arcane. Getting to 50 ARC should be your main concern, while also keeping up with FAITH in order to be able to cast the key spells. Also, just get the dragon communion seal.

• Always carry a Strike-type low-requirement weapon at all times for pure utility. You do not even need to upgrade this weapon a lot. This is key for certain enemies, specially skeletons, gargoyles, miners, and crystalians. As I said, this is not my main weapon, but when I enter catacombs or mines, I switch to it and the overall experience is so much better. My favourite picks are the Morningstar or the regular mace — the one sold by the crone twins in the Roundtable. I upgrade it a bit just to keep up, say 70% of what I would upgrade my main weapon. Actually, this could be merged with Point 1. Hence, this strike-type low-requirement weapon being your main weapon. Strike-type damage is really good early game. It is not fantastic against anything — except crystalians — but it is not weak against anything either. Thus, just pick the regular mace or morning star and keep it fully upgraded with it until lvl ~120.

• Do not sleep on the Cleanrot Knight’s Sword — this could perfectly also become your main weapon until later in the game (lvl > 100). It has a really nice moveset, and R2 attacks damage enemies with a shield up. It is the longest weapon in its category. The best part is that it has the same requirement Dexterity 13 as the Reduvia, so, using this weapon is free. The only downside is that you cannot get it until Caelid. But, honestly, it is not that big of a deal.

The main key for everything that I mentioned above is that, your main melee weapon is not really your main weapon. In an ARC/FAI build, your true main weapon is the Dragon Communion Seal. So what people typically refer to as main weapon — as in, always equipped in your right hand — should be auxiliary or your second priority when building your character. What really makes this build fun and OP to use are the spells that you unlock with these stats.

Mid/late game lvl > 120

By this time you should have ARC maxed out at 50 and Faith at ~25 to cast a wide array of spells.

The next step is a matter of choosing your favorite weapon. As soon as you’ve decided, just level up the stats required to wield it. Just go watch youtube videos with the top 10 ARC/FAI weapons. The usual suspects are Morgott’s Cursed Sword, Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear, Rivers of Blood, Blasphemous Blade, etc.

At the time of writing this, I’m exactly at this turning point and I’ve decided to go with Str just to get enough to equip Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear. Just for fun.

Final Comments

• You can get pretty early in the game Ash of War: Bloody Slash, that scales with arc and increases bleed proc. This should be 90% your pick for ash of war. It is actually pretty powerful, the HP price that you pay per use is very low considering the massive damage that it dashes out.

• A little bit after that — I would say around lvl ~80 — you get the black whetstone, and access to some occult ashes of war to finally complement your weapon configuration.

• Do not sleep on the Catch Flame spell. It is actually super convenient and you get it pretty early. Just use it and judge by yourself.

Do not neglect VIGOR, ENDURANCE and MIND, even if you mainly focus on ARC, you should also level these up.