The short version: the stat spread does more work than the weapon, and almost every build guide has this backwards. Two points of Arcane are worth more than a tier of upgrade material, and you can prove it on the first boss you meet.
Why the obvious version fails
Stacking raw damage looks correct on the character sheet and falls apart the moment a fight lasts longer than fifteen seconds. Status buildup decays. If your damage window is too slow, you are paying for a proc you never land.
Buildup decays from the moment it stops climbing, which is why attack speed beats attack power here.
The three numbers that matter
- Arcane, which scales buildup far more steeply than it scales damage.
- Attack speed, because a decaying meter punishes slow weapons twice.
- Stamina, because the whole plan collapses if you cannot finish a combo.
Setting it up
Get the weapon to a mid upgrade tier before touching anything else, then put the next eight levels into Arcane in one go. Splitting them across two stats is the single most common way to end up with a build that does neither job.
Once that is done the rest is routine. Keep one consumable slot free, keep your stamina above half before committing to a combo, and stop chasing the last ten percent of damage. The fight is already over by then.
