FAQ - Game tips from the dev

[Dark Jay Studio]

Weapons and building

Q: How does weapon merging work?

Most weapons can be merged to create more powerful versions. When a weapon is merged, part of its stats are transferred to the new weapon. More importantly, its damage is converted into a permanent Flat Damage bonus, which is one of the most important ways to increase your overall DPS throughout a run.

Learning how to transfer and stack Flat Damage efficiently is a key part of mastering the game's build system.

Combining two identical weapons usually creates an upgraded version of that weapon. However, some special combinations also exist. For example, merging a Sniper Rifle with a Magnum creates a Laser Rifle.

All discovered weapons and merge recipes are permanently recorded in the Codex under the Weapons tab.

Q: Do weapon perks carry over after merging?

No. Perks marked with a star (*) are unique weapon effects - they don't stack and they don't transfer during merges. After a merge, the new weapon uses its own perk set. Keep this in mind when deciding whether to merge a weapon that has a perk you rely on, or use it as an upgrade donor instead.

Q: What's the difference between upgrading a weapon and merging it?

Upgrading improves a weapon's stats and can unlock new Perks or effects.

Merging combines two weapons into a new, more powerful one. In most cases, merging two weapons of the same type creates a higher-tier version of that weapon. Some special combinations can also produce entirely different weapons.

During the merge process, one weapon transfers part of its stats to the other, and its damage is converted into Flat Damage, which is then inherited by the resulting weapon. Because Flat Damage is one of the most important sources of damage scaling, merging is a key part of increasing your overall DPS.

Keep in mind that a weapon sacrificed during a merge loses all of its Perks. Perks gained through upgrades are not transferred, making the decision of when to upgrade and when to merge an important part of the game's progression system.

Q: I have five weapon slots - should I fill all of them?

At the start of a run, it's usually a good idea to fill as many weapon slots as possible. More weapons means more damage sources, more upgrade opportunities, and more options for future merges.

As the run progresses, however, the focus often shifts from collecting weapons to merging them. Merging increases a weapon's DPS by transferring Flat Damage and creating higher-tier weapons. In some situations, combining several weapons into one or two powerful carry weapons can be far more effective than keeping five separate weapons.

For example, a Minigun fires a huge number of projectiles but has relatively low base damage. If you have another weapon with high damage that has been heavily upgraded, merging it into the Minigun can transfer a large amount of Flat Damage. Because the Minigun applies that bonus to every shot, the resulting DPS can be much higher than if both weapons were used separately.

The best builds often evolve throughout a run. Start wide, then decide which weapons are worth investing in and which should become donors for your strongest weapons.

Q: What are Weapon Types and why do they matter?

Each weapon type fires or deals damage differently, and some mechanics only apply to certain types. Here's a quick breakdown:

• Ranged - standard projectile weapons; can use Bounce, Pierce, and multiple Projectiles
  
  
• Melee - always pierce everything in their hitbox; can't Bounce, but adding Projectiles
  creates a shockwave attack; Range upgrades are 25% efficient but still worth taking
  
  
• Vortex Emitter - projectiles travel to a point and orbit; Pierce and Range are the core stats here
  
  
• Air Strike - guided projectiles that always hit; can't Pierce, but break enemy shells and hit backline targets easily
  
  
• Laser - instant beam that pierces all enemies in a line up to Range; Bounce splits the beam at the first enemy
  
  
• Grenade Launcher - parabolic arc, explodes on ground contact; great for grouped enemies; can't Pierce
  
  
• Mine Launcher - deploys proximity mines that always hit; Bounce splits mines into additional mines
  
  
• Aura Emitter - damages all enemies in area; can't Bounce or Pierce; extra Projectile Count adds additional pulses; Range is 25% efficient but still matters

Stats and attack / damage types

Q: What are the damage types and what do they do?

Holy - no status effect, but weapons are generally stronger with faster projectiles and base Critical Damage. Synergizes best with Critical Damage builds.
Fire - applies Burning, dealing damage over time based on weapon damage. Effectively deals damage twice: on hit and then via burn.
Electric - applies Shock, slowing enemies. Slow strength scales with damage dealt.

Q: How does Critical Damage work?

Critical Damage is the chance to deal double damage on hit. It cannot exceed 100%. Many upgrades and weapon effects trigger additional effects on crit, so Critical Damage synergizes with a large portion of the upgrade and weapon pool. Worth investing in if your build has any crit-reactive triggers.

Q: What's the difference between Stagger and Stun?

Stagger disrupts enemy movement and comes in three levels - Light (1), Medium (2), and Heavy (3). Only Heavy Stagger interrupts an attack animation. Values above 3 extend duration instead of increasing level. Bosses are immune to Stagger.
Stun is a special status that fully prevents enemy actions. Stunned enemies always take critical damage, making Stun very powerful in crit-focused builds. Duration scales with damage dealt.

Q: How does Freeze work?

Frost applies Freeze, stopping enemies immediately. Killing a frozen enemy triggers a 3-meter explosion dealing damage based on the enemy's max health - useful in dense groups.

Q: What are Pierce and Bounce?

Pierce - lets a projectile pass through enemies. The value is how many enemies it can penetrate.
Bounce - lets a projectile ricochet after hitting an enemy, usually targeting the nearest one. Each projectile tracks its own Bounce value independently.
If a projectile has both Pierce and Bounce and reflects off an enemy, it splits into two: one continues forward (with remaining Pierce), one bounces to another enemy (also retaining Pierce).

Q: What does the Explosion stat do?

Explosions have two values: Explosion Chance (probability of triggering) and Explosion Radius (blast size). Both projectiles and melee hits can trigger explosions - but for melee, only the first enemy hit can trigger it.

Enemies and encounters

Q: Any general advice for enemy groups?

Most enemy types have a clear weakness in how they move or what they do - check the Codex for tips on each one. A few general rules: eliminate support enemies first (Broodcaller, Wretchchant, Fleshweaver) before they amplify the rest. Use stagger-heavy weapons on chargers and rushers. Keep moving when facing projectile enemies - many of them predict your movement path, so changing direction often is key.

Q: Do enemies get harder as I progress?

Yes. On higher difficulty levels, most enemy types gain new attacks or abilities. A few examples: Hellhounds can empower themselves, Harrowfiends can turn invisible, Ruinborn gains a spinning strike, and Detonant learns a rolling charge. The Codex details what each enemy gains at higher difficulties.

Q: Are bosses different from regular enemies?

Bosses have multiple distinct attack patterns and significantly more health. They're immune to Stagger. The Codex has a breakdown of each boss's attacks - worth reading before a fight so you know what to expect.

Events and in-run objects

Q: What do Chests do?

Chests grant Shards when opened. Shards is a persistent resource used in the Cathedral to unlock permanent upgrades. Shards carry over between acts and are not lost on death.

Q: What's a Shrine?

Shrines grant a temporary Blessing when activated. Blessings modify character stats for the duration of the current Crusade and are removed when it ends.

Q: What is the Blood Chalice?

A large event structure that spawns on the battlefield and creates a designated kill zone. Only demons killed inside the radius count toward filling it. Once full, it rewards condensed relic fragments. Higher waves require more kills to fill it.

Q: What is the Path of the Crux?

Recover abandoned banners scattered around the area to complete a procession. Finishing it rewards Edicts issued by the Order - worth prioritizing if you're near the banners.

Q: What are Signal Arrays and Power Relays?

Signal Array - activates and begins transmitting data; survives the transmission cycle and rewards energy cores. Protect it while it runs.
Power Relay - pick up the volatile core and carry it to the relay device. Movement is slower while carrying it. Once installed, it fires periodic arcs of consecrated lightning at nearby enemies and rewards energy cores.

Q: What is the Resurrection Spire?

A hell-forged structure that reanimates fallen corpses into skeletal servants. Destroy it to stop the spawning and claim the relic fragments locked inside it.

Q: What are Corrupted Shards?

A shrine-like object grown from demon remains. Disturbing it releases toxic miasma that reverses your movement controls for a time. Endure the corruption and claim the Shards as a reward.

Q: What is the Sermon of Revelation?

Scattered scripture pages near an abandoned pulpit. Collecting them reassembles a forbidden doctrine and unlocks previously sealed Blessings, Weapons, or Upgrades in the Cathedral archives for future runs.

Q: Where can I find more detailed guides and tips?

We're building a community wiki at https://armsofgod.wiki.spellsandguns.com/Arms_of_God_Wiki - it's still early days, but that's where deeper guides and detailed info will live as the community builds it out. If you'd like to help as a contributor, reach out to us.

[Chuggy]

just to clarify, are the following correct?

• Combining two different weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Mergy
  
• Combining two identical weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Uppy

[Dark Jay Studio]

Originally posted by Chuggy:

just to clarify, are the following correct?

• Combining two different weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Mergy
  
• Combining two identical weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Uppy

Just updated the post to clarify that :)

[Chuggy]

Originally posted by Dark Jay Studio:

Originally posted by Chuggy:

just to clarify, are the following correct?

• Combining two different weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Mergy
  
• Combining two identical weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Uppy

Just updated the post to clarify that :)

thx a lot! it is clearer now!

[Pani Fotograf]

Power Relay - is the damage affected by my stats (esp. +% Energy dmg)?

[Bitterguy]

How do i get more vows? They seem very rare and I'm vow locked rn in terms of resources

[Grimhowl]

Originally posted by Bitterguy:

How do i get more vows? They seem very rare and I'm vow locked rn in terms of resources

You get them from killing bosses (or winning a run). It doesn't have to be NEW bosses, so you can get them by beating old acts. Act 3 is pretty decent for it, because you get some Dual bosses (and you don't have to deal with the control inversion gimmick of act 4).

[ag0nii]

Anyone know how the passives from the statue work? do i need to enable them somehow before a run or are they active as soon as i unlock them?

[Xylion]

Is tier 3 the maximum for combining two identical weapons? ? I tried to merge 2 identical tier 3 weapons and there wasn't an upgraded tier 4 weapons :'(

[PHOBIE]

Originally posted by Dark Jay Studio:

Originally posted by Chuggy:

just to clarify, are the following correct?

• Combining two different weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Mergy
  
• Combining two identical weapons of the same tier produces a new, higher-tier weapon──Uppy

Just updated the post to clarify that :)

Doesn't help you updating it, when the mechanics are sorely lacking. You kill one weapon's perks and funnel player progress into the void which is illegal, then make huge post on Steam where STILL people don't understand you, only to launder the missing capability and lack of agency. Then you also took the demo offline, so people have no way to see this mess BEFORE they buy.

Also you missed the point that a combined weapon occupies an upgrade slot, so not only do you drop the perks; you also block a slot. Now your weapon-fusion competes with an upgrade slot, and to be honest, that slot seems worth more than the fused weapon, provided that the weapon fusion does evolution at all, which it sometimes doesn't according to you.

So, essentially you ripped-off the concept of "weapon evolution", ruined it, and started a huge explainer, so people applaud your sophistication. Your time would be spent better fixing it than explaining the idiosyncratic lack.

[Kogan]

Originally posted by PHOBIE:

Originally posted by Dark Jay Studio:

Just updated the post to clarify that :)

Doesn't help you updating it, when the mechanics are sorely lacking. You kill one weapon's perks and funnel player progress into the void which is illegal, then make huge post on Steam where STILL people don't understand you, only to launder the missing capability and lack of agency. Then you also took the demo offline, so people have no way to see this mess BEFORE they buy.

Also you missed the point that a combined weapon occupies an upgrade slot, so not only do you drop the perks; you also block a slot. Now your weapon-fusion competes with an upgrade slot, and to be honest, that slot seems worth more than the fused weapon, provided that the weapon fusion does evolution at all, which it sometimes doesn't according to you.

So, essentially you ripped-off the concept of "weapon evolution", ruined it, and started a huge explainer, so people applaud your sophistication. Your time would be spent better fixing it than explaining the idiosyncratic lack.

This is pretty damning and no response to this in over a week?

As someone just discovering this game I'm about to put it on my ignore list after reading this.

[Chuggy]

Originally posted by Kogan:

Originally posted by PHOBIE:

Doesn't help you updating it, when the mechanics are sorely lacking. You kill one weapon's perks and funnel player progress into the void which is illegal, then make huge post on Steam where STILL people don't understand you, only to launder the missing capability and lack of agency. Then you also took the demo offline, so people have no way to see this mess BEFORE they buy.

Also you missed the point that a combined weapon occupies an upgrade slot, so not only do you drop the perks; you also block a slot. Now your weapon-fusion competes with an upgrade slot, and to be honest, that slot seems worth more than the fused weapon, provided that the weapon fusion does evolution at all, which it sometimes doesn't according to you.

So, essentially you ripped-off the concept of "weapon evolution", ruined it, and started a huge explainer, so people applaud your sophistication. Your time would be spent better fixing it than explaining the idiosyncratic lack.

This is pretty damning and no response to this in over a week?

As someone just discovering this game I'm about to put it on my ignore list after reading this.

why not just try the game yourself!
i don't see what PHOBIE said was really a problem within the game, but more like a designed challenge which makes this game isn't just another roguelite autoshooter game.

TBH, i find this mechanics quite interesting, you know, not the type of gam3 all you need to do is upgrade upgrade, higher lv defines everything--THAT'S BORING

you can't have the cake and eat it, right?

plus that's how players are able to going through runs with distinct builds all the time

[Kogan]

Originally posted by Chuggy:

Originally posted by Kogan:

This is pretty damning and no response to this in over a week?

As someone just discovering this game I'm about to put it on my ignore list after reading this.

why not just try the game yourself!
i don't see what PHOBIE said was really a problem within the game, but more like a designed challenge which makes this game isn't just another roguelite autoshooter game.

TBH, i find this mechanics quite interesting, you know, not the type of gam3 all you need to do is upgrade upgrade, higher lv defines everything--THAT'S BORING

you can't have the cake and eat it, right?

plus that's how players are able to going through runs with distinct builds all the time

Because I don't have low standards like you.

If I don't like what I'm seeing from a dev, making poorly thought out decisions like what PHOBIE has mentioned, avoiding valid complaints and criticism like this (the dev has replied to other threads within the past 24 hours but hasn't responded to PHOBIE's concerns in over a week, in their own sticky thread to make matters worse), I'm not playing the game period.

You wouldn't understand that because you clearly have no respect for yourself, blindly supporting any dev no matter how egregious their behavior.

You don't tell me how I determine a game is worth investing my time and money or not, stay in your place.

[Prov]

I have a question: If say I get a lightning weapon, and I put inferno core on it, the damage should change to fire right?
But then say I put an upgrade on it that reduces shock damage, and increases fire, it shows lower DPS in the calcs - Does this then mean, that the upgrade reduces shock damage before it is converted to fire damage? Is this how it is supposed to work? Basically, should I upgrade it as though it is a shock weapon, even if the final type is fire?

[Dark Jay Studio]

Originally posted by Prov:

I have a question: If say I get a lightning weapon, and I put inferno core on it, the damage should change to fire right?
But then say I put an upgrade on it that reduces shock damage, and increases fire, it shows lower DPS in the calcs - Does this then mean, that the upgrade reduces shock damage before it is converted to fire damage? Is this how it is supposed to work? Basically, should I upgrade it as though it is a shock weapon, even if the final type is fire?

There is additional descirption in the Inferno Core "Change element, keep bonuses from both"

You will have stats from both elemets but the weapon will be using fire as the base damage.

[Prov]

Got it - So to be clear, since the base damage is shock, any upgrade nerfing shock will technically nerf the weapon damage output, since basically inferno core is changing it to fire at the end?

Or to put it clearly into numbers
Base damage is 20s
if I put an upgrade that does +30% fire - 20% shock
The expression would be
(20s*0.8) = 16f
rather than (20f*1.3) = 26f

Do I have it right?
Or is it actually more complex, since it keeps both

So it's (20s*0.8)=16f
(16f*1.3)= ~21f

Sorry if it seems I am being daft, I basically just want to understand the order of operations for upgrade application.