Elden Ring brilliantly combines FromSoftware's notoriously tough gameplay with an immersive open world. Unlike previous Soulsborne games, players who are struggling can simply choose to explore a different area to gain better weapons and level up, making the game more accessible to newcomers. One way to level up quickly is to collect as many runes as possible throughout the game.
There are several items in Elden Ring that are useful for enhancing the number of runes players receive from fallen enemies. The first is the Golden Scarab talisman, which is obtained from defeating the bosses in the Abandoned Cave in Caelid's Dragonbarrow. The second is the consumable gold-pickled fowl foot, found in various locations across The Lands Between. Although players will gain runes naturally by exploring, there are several locations in Elden Ring that are perfect for rune farming.
The Best Early-Game Rune Farming Locations In Elden Ring
For those right at the beginning of the game, the Gatefront Ruins in Limgrave on the path towards Stormveil Castle is the best place for rune farming. There are several soldiers in a nearby camp, as well as a giant, that will give a good amount of early runes. Those that have gone a little further, but not yet reached Godrick the Grafted, will want to look elsewhere though. The Farum Greatbridge in Caelid is accessible very early on from Limgrave, and is an ideal early-game farming spot.
To get there, players need to take the portal found on the right edge of the lake just north of the Third Church of Marika. This will bring the Tarnished to the Bestial Sanctum in Caelid. Players should exit this room and continue South past the boss on the steps. The area will open up and there will be several small imp-like enemies that roam the area, usually on their own. Approach on Torrent and keep on the move to earn 1,094 runes for each one of these enemies defeated. There is a bridge to the south of this area with a dragon on it, but luckily players can rest at the Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace before crossing to rest up and respawn the enemies for farming. There are easily 15 foes in the area, giving 16,000 runes in roughly five minutes.
The Easiest Mid-Game Rune Farming Location In Elden Ring
Although it doesn't provide as many runes as the previous location, for players that want to put in the least effort, the Impassable Greatbridge is the easiest place to go rune farming mid-game. The bridge, which leads to Redmane Castle, is found in the southeast corner of Caelid. Players will likely come across this location naturally, as the boss found there, Starscourge Radahn, is the next mainline boss after defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon.
At the bridge, players will see a battle taking place between human soldiers and several dinosaur-dog monsters. Each enemy only gives 200-300 runes, but there are a lot of them, so players can still easily gain 7,000 runes in a few minutes. The real attraction here, however, is that players don't actually need to engage in combat. They can simply watch on from afar as the warring parties take each other out. Then the Tarnished can clean up the runes from the defeated foes. The Impassable Greatbridge Site of Grace is nearby too, so players can rest there to respawn the enemies and earn the runes all over again.
The Best Late-Game Rune Farming Location In Elden Ring
The final best rune farming location in Elden Ring is the Palace Approach Edge-Road, found underneath Caelid in the Mohgwyn Palace region. To access this area, players must either have completed White-Faced Varré's side quest or have found the teleporter in the Consecrated Snowfield. The teleporter is accessible to players who have found both halves of the Haligtree Secret Medallion.
It's certainly difficult to find, but the results are worth it. There are loads of low-level enemies just sitting around, and each one drops roughly 2,000 runes when killed. Players with magical combat abilities can easily take down 10 of these enemies right next to the Site of Grace with one spell, earning themselves 20,000 runes in one attack. Again, simply rest at the Site of Grace to respawn the enemies and quickly farm thousands of runes.
There's so much to do and explore in Elden Ring that players will be able to level up easily by simply playing and enjoying the game. But for those who really want to level up quickly, rune farming is the best way to do it. These locations will help players at any stage of the game to become powerful enough to become the next Elden Lord.