Arcane Enchanted

Arcane Enchanted is one of the Boss Modifiers in Diablo III; a property that Bosses and Champions spawn with that grants them special abilities. This modifier "enchants" the monster with "arcane" energy; Arcane is one of the main damage types in Diablo III, distinguished by a purple coloration.

Numerous "second hands" create a hazardous field.

Arcane does not add a purple glow + Arcane damage to the monster's regular attacks. There are no visual cues at all, until the monsters cast one of their "Arcane turret" attack modules.

Arcane Enchanted

• Monster Level Minimum: 15
• Available to: Bosses and Champions.
• Damage Type: Arcane
• Additional Resistances: Arcane

Properties

Arcane Enchanted bosses and champions have extra resistance to Arcane attacks, but more noticeable and dangerous is their ability to create Arcane turrets at random moments during the fight. These turrets appear as small purple dots, then grow larger for a second (to give players time to move) before springing into full sized, slowly-rotating life.

The purple blade functions like the hand of a clock, slowly turning in a circle and dealing substantial Arcane damage to any character who comes into contact with them. The hands each make about 1.25 revolutions before dispelling, and the speed and dimension of the hand is always the same on all difficulty levels. They are cast more frequently on higher difficulty levels, and of course they do far more damage as well.

The hands can not be stopped or blocked by anything, including character equipment, and the beam will turn freely, passing right through walls, over ledges, through Waller obstacles, etc. Monsters are unaffected by the beam.

• 

  Demon Hunter and Templar take hits.

• 

  Graveyard second hand skeleton.

Removed Hydra Form

Numerous Hydra heads force a speedy Demon Hunter retreat.

Arcane Enchanted bosses had a very different attack during development, and when the beta test began this effect was still in the game. At that point instead of the slowly spinning turret, a purple Hydra was summoned, just like the one seen in the Wizard spell. Instead of three heads there was just one, but the dragon fired Arcane bolts very quickly, and at the time it was easily the most dangerous boss effect in the entire game.

The Hydras were cast at various points during the fight, and always when the boss or Champion died, and the hydra heads generally appeared directly beneath the feet of the player, forcing a quick move to get out of range. Despite the danger, the Arcane Hydra form was very popular with fans and there was general player discontent when the danger was much nerfed in this change of form.

For inexperienced players this was a terrible surprise and many players died before they even knew they were in danger. Looking back after Diablo III's release, the property seems a lot less dangerous. Players have to be aware of Desecrator and Plagued modifiers appearing right under the feet, and that early form of Arcane wasn't much different; it just had a bit more range to it.

• 

  Champion Carrion Bat.

• 

  Hydra heads spring up.

• 

  Lots of Hydras from puking zombies.

Arcane: New in Diablo III

The Arcane type of damage is new in Diablo III, and was not present in Diablo 1 or Diablo 2. Arcane is most commonly found on a number of Wizard spells, and is easily-spotted by the bright purple coloration of such attacks.

There are boss modifiers for all of the damage types, but Arcane clearly presented a naming challenge for the developers. The other elemental damage type boss modifiers all got a one-word name: Poison = Plagued, Lightning = Electrified, Fire = Molten, and Cold = Frozen. But Arcane doesn't translate so easily. You can envision the developers trying out terms like "Arcane-ified" or "Arcaned," and finding them wanting. Hence the two word solution, "Arcane Enchanted."

It's odd that the developers didn't go with that format for all of the boss modifiers, just for the sake of consistency. Cold Enchanted, Fire Enchanted, Lighting Enchanted, and Poison Enchanted along with Arcane Enchanted. After all, that's how the boss modifier naming system worked in Diablo II.

It's possible that the difference there is intentional, as the other four elemental type bosses manifest it constantly during battle and add it to their attacks, while the Arcane Enchanted are not glowing purple and only cast their turret attacks now and then?