New Game+ Guide — What Carries Over & What Changes

2026-07-24·Guides

New Game+ Overview

Arms of God guide screenshot — new game+ guide

Arms of God's New Game+ (NG+) unlocks after defeating Divine Engine Omega for the first time. It is not a simple difficulty increase — NG+ remixes the entire campaign with corrupted enemies, three new global mechanics, exclusive legendary blessings, and cosmetic rewards unavailable in a standard playthrough. Think of NG+ as the game's true endgame: the difficulty spike is real, but so is the payoff. Players who clear NG+ walk away with the Golden Weapon Aura, three legendary blessings that permanently change future run strategies, and bragging rights in every Arms of God community.

How to unlock: Defeat Divine Engine Omega (Act 4 final boss). Once the credits roll, your save file will display "NG+ Available" on the continue screen. You can start NG+ from the main menu — it creates a separate save slot, so your original clear file is preserved for achievement hunting or speedrun practice.

What you lose: Your character level, passive points, weapon inventory, and collected blessings reset to zero. Think of it as a prestige system — you start from scratch, but with permanent unlocks and new tools that change how you build your character.

What you gain: Exclusive legendary blessings (permanent account unlocks), corrupted enemy variants with new attack patterns, three new global mechanics (Affixes, Curse of Mortality, Blighted Zones), and cosmetics you cannot get any other way.

What Carries Over

| Item | Carries Over? | Notes |

|------|--------------|-------|

| Character Level | No | Reset to level 1 |

| Passive Points | No | Reset, but earn faster (2 points per level up to level 10, then 1 point per level) |

| Weapon Inventory | No | All weapons reset — you start with your starter class weapon only |

| Weapon Merges | No | All merge progress is wiped |

| Collected Blessings | No | Standard blessings reset. Legendary NG+ blessings are permanent account unlocks |

| Cathedral Upgrades | Yes | All purchased upgrades remain permanently active |

| Gold | 50% | You keep half your accumulated gold (rounded down) |

| Cosmetics | Yes | All unlocked skins, titles, and auras carry over |

| Achievements | Yes | All achievement progress is preserved |

| Hidden Secrets Found | Yes | Previously discovered secrets stay marked as found |

| Gallery Unlocks | Yes | Bestiary entries, lore pages, and concept art remain unlocked |

Gold strategy tip: Since you keep 50% of gold, smart players grind the Act 4 gold-farming route (Cathedral → Armory → Treasury) before entering NG+. Having 5,000-8,000 gold at NG+ start lets you immediately buy Cathedral upgrades and weapon merges from the first merchant.

Difficulty Changes — Act by Act Breakdown

Enemy Scaling (all acts):

  • Base (trash) enemies: +50% HP, +30% damage, +15% movement speed
  • Elite enemies: +100% HP, +50% damage, gain 1 new attack pattern each
  • Bosses: +75% HP, +40% damage, gain 1-2 additional phase mechanics depending on the boss

Act-by-act difficulty spike:

*Act 1 (Levels 1-15)*: Corrupted basic enemies appear from the first zone. The Blighted Zones mechanic is inactive in Act 1 (tutorial leniency). Boss (Forgotten Warden) gains a corrupted slam attack that leaves lingering AoE damage zones.

*Act 2 (Levels 16-30)*: Blighted Zones activate. Elite enemies gain Random Affixes. Boss (Hollow Phalanx) summons corrupted adds during phase transitions — you must clear adds before the boss becomes vulnerable again.

*Act 3 (Levels 31-45)*: Curse of Mortality activates (max HP reduced 10% per zone cleared). All elite enemies have resistances to one damage type. Boss (Sanctum Leviathan) gains an Unstable phase at 25% HP — periodic explosions fill 60% of the arena.

*Act 4 (Levels 46-60)*: All three mechanics are active simultaneously. Corrupted versions of every enemy type appear with a 30% spawn rate. Divine Engine Omega gains a fourth phase (Omega Overdrive) with rotating damage-type invulnerability.

New Enemy Types

Corrupted enemies (purple aura, 30% higher base stats):

  • Corrupted Zealot (Act 1-2): Charges attacks faster than standard Zealots. Drops a damage-absorbing shield on death that lasts 5 seconds.
  • Corrupted Warden (Act 2-3): Fires three projectile waves instead of one. Gains 15% lifesteal on melee hits.
  • Corrupted Leviathan Spawn (Act 3-4): Splits into two smaller copies on death. Each copy has 40% of the original's HP.
  • Corrupted Engine Sentinel (Act 4): Rotates between Holy, Fire, and Shock immunity every 8 seconds. Requires multi-element builds to kill efficiently.

Elite modifications: All elite enemies gain one random resistance (Holy/Fire/Shock) reducing damage from that element by 40%. Plan multi-element builds — do not rely on a single damage type in NG+.

Unstable enemies (random spawn, 10% chance per zone): These enemies glow orange and explode on death, dealing 25% of your max HP as AoE damage in a 3-meter radius. Kill them at range or use dash/invincibility frames to dodge the explosion.

New Global Mechanics

Random Affixes (Elite enemies only): Each elite enemy spawns with one of three random buffs:

  • Regenerating: Heals 2% max HP per second. Kill priority — focus fire immediately.
  • Shielded: Has a damage shield equal to 30% of max HP that regenerates after 10 seconds of not taking damage. Burst them down in one window.
  • Enraged: At 30% HP, gains +50% attack speed and +30% movement speed. Save crowd control abilities for the enrage window.

Curse of Mortality: Your maximum HP is reduced by 10% per zone cleared. This caps at -50% max HP (after 5 zones without a Cathedral visit). Visiting a Cathedral removes the curse entirely. This mechanic forces strategic Cathedral visits — you cannot clear an entire act without restoring your HP pool at least twice.

Blighted Zones (Acts 2-4, random 2-3 zones per act): The entire zone floor is covered in blight, dealing 3% of your max HP per second while you stand in it. Safe zones (stone platforms, elevated areas) are scattered throughout the map. Movement speed buffs and dash cooldown reduction are premium stats in blighted zones.

NG+ Exclusive Rewards

Legendary Blessings (permanent account unlocks — once earned, available in all future runs including base game):

  • Eternal Flame: +5% max HP per character level (caps at level 20 = +100% total HP). This blessing single-handedly makes tank builds viable in NG+2 and beyond. Pair with Cathedral HP upgrades for a 250%+ HP pool.
  • Soul Reaper: 10% chance to instantly kill any non-boss enemy below 20% HP. Triggers on every damage tick — pairs exceptionally well with rapid-fire weapons, DoT effects, and multi-hit abilities.
  • Time Weaver: 15% chance to reset all ability cooldowns on boss kill. This includes weapon abilities, dash charges, and Cathedral-granted skills. Essential for boss-rush speedrun strategies.

How to earn them: Eternal Flame drops from the NG+ exclusive boss in the Cathedral's hidden chamber (accessible after clearing Act 2). Soul Reaper is guaranteed from your first NG+ Divine Engine Omega kill. Time Weaver requires completing NG+ with the "Curse of Mortality never exceeds 30%" condition — meaning you must visit Cathedrals frequently and never let the curse stack past 3 zones.

Cosmetics:

  • Corrupted Paladin skin: Defeat Act 1 boss (Forgotten Warden) without taking damage from its corrupted slam attack.
  • Omega Slayer title: Defeat Divine Engine Omega's Omega Overdrive phase in under 3 minutes.
  • Golden Weapon Aura: Complete NG+ without dying once (permadeath run). The hardest cosmetic in the game — approximately 2% of players have this.

NG+ exclusive gear drops:

  • Corrupted Weapon Blueprints (drop from elite enemies at 5% rate): Allow crafting weapons with dual-element properties. A Corrupted Fire/Holy sword deals both damage types simultaneously and benefits from both elemental passives.
  • Omega Catalyst (guaranteed drop from Divine Engine Omega NG+): Used in the Cathedral to unlock the Omega-tier weapon merge path — merges three weapons of any type into a single weapon with combined stats.

Best Builds for NG+

Sword & Shield Tank (recommended for first NG+ clear): Stack Cathedral HP upgrades, grab Eternal Flame early, and invest passive points in damage reduction and lifesteal. The extra survivability buys you time to learn new boss patterns. Pair with Holy damage for self-healing synergy.

Dual Blades DPS (speedrun build): Max attack speed and critical strike chance. Use Soul Reaper to delete enemies at 20% HP — on a high-attack-speed build, the 10% proc rate triggers constantly. Weakness: squishy — you cannot facetank corrupted elite attacks. Master dodging or die.

Staff DoT/Hybrid (safe clear build): Apply multiple damage-over-time effects (Holy fire, Shock burn, poison from weapon merges) and kite enemies through Blighted Zones. The DoT ticks proc Soul Reaper at range. Excellent for the "Curse of Mortality never exceeds 30%" challenge.

NG+ Route Strategy — Optimal Clear Path

1. Act 1: Rush Cathedral upgrades first. Buy the HP passive and one weapon merge before the Act 1 boss. Forgotten Warden's corrupted slam is the only new mechanic — dodge sideways, not backward.

2. Act 2: Blighted Zones appear. Prioritize movement speed passives and dash cooldown reduction. Clear the Cathedral's hidden chamber (revealed after Act 2 boss) to unlock Eternal Flame.

3. Act 3: Curse of Mortality activates. Visit Cathedrals every 3 zones maximum. The Sanctum Leviathan fight adds Unstable phase — save your dash charges for the explosion waves.

4. Act 4: All mechanics active. Farm elite enemies for Corrupted Weapon Blueprints before the final boss. Divine Engine Omega's Omega Overdrive phase rotates damage immunities every 8 seconds — bring at least two different damage types or you will time out.

Data Comparison — NG vs NG+

| Metric | Standard (NG) | New Game+ (NG+) |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| Enemy base HP | 100% | 150% |

| Enemy base damage | 100% | 130% |

| Elite HP | 100% | 200% |

| Boss HP | 100% | 175% |

| Gold drops | 100% | 200% |

| XP gain rate | 100% | 150% |

| Passive points (levels 1-10) | 1 per level | 2 per level |

| Exclusive blessings | 0 | 3 |

| Cosmetic rewards | 0 | 3 |

| Elite weapon blueprint drop | None | 5% per elite kill |

| Blighted Zones | None | 2-3 per act (Acts 2-4) |

| Curse of Mortality | None | -10% HP per zone (caps -50%) |

Should You Play NG+?

Play NG+ if:

  • You want the challenge of corrupted enemies, new boss mechanics, and global modifiers
  • You want exclusive legendary blessings that carry into all future runs
  • You are chasing the Golden Weapon Aura or completionist achievements
  • You enjoy build optimization — NG+ forces multi-element setups and smarter Cathedral routing
  • You want Corrupted Weapon Blueprints for dual-element crafting

Skip NG+ if:

  • You only wanted to experience the story (NG+ has no new narrative content)
  • You struggled significantly with the base game's difficulty
  • You do not enjoy resource management (Curse of Mortality + Blighted Zones add survival pressure)

Verdict: NG+ is where Arms of God becomes a different game. The three legendary blessings fundamentally change how you approach builds, and the Golden Weapon Aura is among the rarest cosmetics in the roguelite genre. If you cleared the base game, NG+ is the intended next step — not an afterthought.