Elden Ring: The Best Rune Farming Locations To Help You Level Up Quickly
It's no secret that "Elden Ring" is a tough game, and depending on who you talk to, that's a good or a bad thing. Some players find Radagon to be just as easy as a Tibia Mariner, but others struggle to find their footing facing the game's early elites. Finding "Elden Ring" difficult isn't something to be ashamed of — everyone experiences the dopamine rush of beating a FromSoftware boss eventually, even if it takes some longer than others.
The number one way to make roaming the Lands Between easier is farming runes. At the end of the day, to afford the best spells, to upgrade ashes and weapons, to gain power for both martial and arcane abilities, to purchase key items and consumables from merchants — almost everything in "Elden Ring" depends on runes, not just a player's level.
To truly maximize rune gain, be sure to use items like the Gold Pickled Fowl Foot and the Golden Scarab, as these items boost the number of runes gained by a percentage. The Gold Pickled Fowl Foot can be crafted or bought, while the Golden Scarab is found at the end of a cave halfway down a cliff face bordering the Dragonbarrow and Caelid. Just don't turn to buying runes with real life money.
There are a handful of lucrative locations throughout "Elden Ring," with two that reign supreme as the best methods for rune farming in the Lands Between. As one goes through the game, rune farming locations can be found in almost every zone, but the locations that follow are the ones most worth spending a few hours at.
Limgrave: pit trolls against each other
One of the earliest rune farming locations in "Elden Ring" can be found within minutes of getting the Spectral Steed Whistle. Indeed, players are practically required to get Torrent to be able to take advantage of this rune farm, as it's hard to dodge a troll's attacks on foot — let alone about seven or eight of them. This first rune farming spot is found in Limgrave, specifically its northern portion called Stormhill. From the Warmaster's Shack head south east to find a large plateau, one that overlooks the rest of the zone.
Even from far away, one can see a large number of trolls dotting the plains, but trolls in "Elden Ring" have one fatal weakness low-level players can take advantage of when they're in groups. The trolls' attacks are so wide-ranging that they can hit each other if standing too close. Mount Torrent, then dash as fast as possible by every troll in this area. Kite them in a circle until all of them are roughly grouped in one spot. Then — and this takes some deftness — weave into the fray and jump out to bait the trolls' attacks.
Chances are, these attacks will connect with other trolls, taking away a massive chunk of health. When these trolls reach half health-ish, they will pull out a sword, which makes the process even easier, thanks to its longer reach and harder hits. Just be sure to avoid the attacks, keep the trolls close together, and you'll come away with a neat 1000 runes each.
Liurnia: pop Mannequin balloons for a quick 3000 runes each
The trolls in Stormhill are arguably the best rune farming location in Limgrave, but after Stormveil Castle is complete — or after players take the shortcut by the colosseum — Liurnia of the Lakes comes next. Players won't find as many trolls here, but the game actually provides a non-exploitative way to farm runes — but it only works once.
Throughout Liurnia, players will encounter a number of mannequins, magically animated puppet-like foes that wield spears, swords, and bows. Ride Torrent around the base of Raya Lucaria and around the lakes of the zone to find mannequin enemies hanging off of what appear to be balloons. When the Tarnished gets close, the mannequins will drop down and start attacking. But if players pop these balloons, they get a special reward: a Golden Rune worth 2000 runes. This is automatically added to the inventory, so all players need to do is get close enough to fire a spell or arrow at the balloon, then run away.
It is worth noting that this is one of the few rune farming methods that is not renewable, as the balloons will only drop these Golden Runes once. The best way to take advantage of this is to ride around Liurnia upon first arriving, when the 2000 runes rewarded for each balloon mean the most. Take even better advantage of this trick by heading to Liurnia through the aforementioned shortcut earlier in the game, when 2000 runes are still about equal with a whole level-up.
Greyoll's Dragonbarrow: Vulgar Militamen near the Beast Clergyman
By the time players have explored Limgrave a bit, beat Margit, and made it to Stormveil Castle, Melina will invite them to the Roundtable Hold. Here, players can progress the questline for D, Hunter of the Dead. After giving him the first piece of Deathroot from Summonwater Village — where players fight a Tibia Mariner just east across the Saintsbridge in north Limgrave — he will guide the Tarnished to a portal. This portal, just behind the Third Church of Marika, leads to the Bestial Sanctum, the current residence of the dread Beast Clergyman. But we're not here for the dog — nor are we here for his guardian Black Blade Kindred.
Instead, head south from the Bestial Sanctum along the edges to avoid the guardian boss, and look for the little guys that dot the landscape heading south. These enemies are Vulgar Militiamen, which players will have likely encountered already if they've explored Liurnia a bit. But because the Bestial Sanctum is located in the late-game area of the Dragonbarrow, these Vulgar Militias are worth a lot more runes.
For each one, players can expect to receive just over 1000 runes. That might not seem like a lot until one realizes how many Militiamen dot these fields. In total, players can get dozens of thousands of runes, with a convenient grace nearby to reset them all. Just be careful not to get hit, as they attack hard and fast — using a colossal weapon, bow, or sorcery on horseback is the best way to avoid getting too close.
Greyoll's Dragonbarrow: bring bleed weapons for Greyoll, who gives 50k runes
One of the most lucrative single rune farming spots in all of "Elden Ring" must surely be Greyoll, the enormous dragon that lies south of Fort Farroth. She is the namesake of Greyoll's Dragonbarrow, where she resides in a near-death slumberous state surrounded by smaller dragons — her kin. When players get close, she lets out a terrifying screech to wake up the dragons, but despite her size, ferocity, and assistants, players can down the gargantuan Greyoll for a huge chunk of runes.
She has an enormous health pool, so enormous that players must use percentage-based attacks to whittle her down. The most reliable source of this is Bleed damage, which deals a chunk of damage all at once. Take a bleed weapon with you south of the Bestial Sanctum, across the greatbridge, and past the rotten Minor Erdtree and its Putrid Avatar to find the landscape-spanning body of Greyoll. Find her side, and get ready to swing your bleed weapon hundreds of times over the next few minutes. Slowly but surely, her health will chunk away, and eventually, she will succumb and leave behind 50,000 runes.
Scarlet Rot and similar damage-over-time effects aren't nearly as effective, as Greyoll will simply shrug it off after a few seconds. The best way to avoid her dragon kin from attacking is to approach Greyoll from Fort Farroth, where there are several spots near her hind haunch that the dragons won't be able to see you. Keep in mind this can only be done once. Greyoll will not respawn.
Mohgwyn Palace: another Albinauric genocide and a bird with terrible AI
The two most famous rune farming locations in "Elden Ring" are actually one and the same, albeit with different methods. In Mohgwyn Palace, after arriving via the Consecrated Snowfield's portal to the Palace Approach Ledge-Road, players will find a grace. Just beyond this grace is the Ledge-Road inhabited by a number of the downtrodden Albinaurics: some sit, some pace, and some will attack on sight. This is only one of the two spots — look over the cliff face towards the lake of blood, and there should be a Monstrous Crow sitting near the ledge below.
The Monstrous Crow is not the smartest in the Lands Between, and if players shoot it with even a single arrow or bolt, it will lurch out in attack and head toward the ledge. When it falls off and dies, players get an enormous 11,000 runes, and the bird will come back every time the nearby grace is used.
The Albinaurics on the ledge are mostly non-violent, though they will attack if provoked. Each is worth thousands of runes, though, so there are two ways to go about farming these outcasts: wide-area spells and Ashes of War, and one-hit kills. Players who charge up a heavy attack or backstab each Albinauric will find them fall one by one, though backstabbing tends to be more reliable. However, the Ash of War on the Sacred Relic Sword can kill almost all of them at once thanks to its huge damage and range, which nets tens of thousands of runes with each use.