Our tips will help you level up quickly in Elden Ring, collect lots of runes and spend them properly.
As usual with Dark Souls and co., not only the story of Elden Ring is cryptically told. The developers also leave us in the dark about various gameplay mechanics. But don’t worry: We’ll pass you a torch and explain what the fair maiden is all about, who suddenly lets you level up with these ominous runes, how you can quickly collect many of them – and what else you can spend them on.
You can read why Elden Ring is such a fantastic game in spite of this, or precisely because of it, in our detailed review.
How to unlock leveling in Elden Ring
Once you’ve escaped the catacombs and maybe even taken down your first boss, you’re bound to wonder how to spend your freshly earned runes. As with previous From Software titles, you can do this at the Places of Grace (formerly: Beacons), but you’ll need to find and activate one of two very specific ones first.
These are the two Places of Grace North Side of Lake Agheel and Before the Gate. As soon as you rest at one of them, a mysterious lady appears who has certain similarities to the Firekeepers from Dark Souls. She is Melina, your Fingermaid, who then supports you and enables you to level up.
From now on, you can spend your runes (formerly: souls) for leveling up at any place of grace. By the way, you will now also get your spectral steed as a practical mount and can travel back to the place of grace at the Church of Elleh, as a mysterious witch is now waiting for you there and will give you the spirit bell. With this you can conjure up valuable allies, but they cost a lot of focus points, i.e. mana.
How to effectively farm runes to level up faster
Important Items
So far we have found three items that temporarily make enemies drop more runes. Keep in mind, however, that the world of Elden Ring is huge, so there are probably still some helps hiding in front of us. As more armour, shields, consumables or talismans are found in the future, we will of course update the list.
You can also get a lot of runes by using a different item. Because this is closely intertwined with the main story, we send a spoiler warning ahead:
If you defeat the main bosses in their dungeons, you will receive an echo in your inventory. As soon as you enter the second area Liurnia, you will be granted access to the Round Table, where you can show the Echo to the Finger Reader and exchange it for weapons of the bosses – or keep it if you expect another, secret benefit from it later in the game. But there is a third variant: If you use the echoes directly in your inventory, you will receive the same amount of runes as for the boss fight. That can be 20,000, 40,000 or more!
Of course, this is a quick way to level up. Don’t worry if you have exchanged or sacrificed an Echo for equipment. If you stop the walking mausoleums you’ve seen in the trailers, you’ll be able to retrieve an Echo you’ve already used up from inside them.]
Spots that are worthwhile, especially at the beginning
Compared to older titles from From Software, you’ll find quite a few places of mercy in Elden Ring, checkpoints where you get back up after you die. Or you can use them to fast travel from anywhere in the open world. This makes rune farming especially enjoyable.
Spot 1: In this ruin you will not only find special items like a map piece or a greatsword, but also a whole bunch of stationed knights. Furthermore, there are two places of mercy, which are located directly north and south of the ruin.
Spot 2: The ruins destroyed by the dragon are home to another host of enemies. These are not particularly strong and drop a good amount of runes en masse.
Spot 3: You can hear the trolls from a distance. They are located above the cliff of the first spot. Either use the ghost jump spring on the right side with your horse to jump up there or run the classic way past the archers and the big troll.
At the top you should be able to spot five trolls. One of them will give you exactly 1,000 runes. The trick: The trolls can hurt each other, which is why you should lure all the trolls to one point with your horse and let them loose on each other. If you just ride steadily around their legs, the trolls will almost take care of themselves and you will be 5,000 runes richer.
* (Ruins are marked with this icon on your map. These places are usually filled with hordes of enemies. In addition, a place of mercy is often nearby, which minimises the walking distances. So if you want to farm runes in no time at all, look out for this icon)
As soon as we have found more ways to farm runes effectively, we will of course update this article. Especially in the Souls series, there have already been armour pieces or rings that have provided a greater yield. We’ll keep you up to date!
Have you found other ways to farm runes or do you have an item that gives a buff to the amount you get? Let us know in the comments!
