Elden Ring Rune Farming Guide: Where to Farm Runes According to Your Progress
In Elden Ring, Runes are the key to growing stronger. These transient items are dropped from just about every enemy in the game, and they can be used to buy new items from shops or to level up your character — by far their most valuable use.
While you'll typically find enough Runes to keep pace with the game through normal play, you may need a more serious infusion if you're looking to play PvP or become severely over-leveled for a particularly fight. In either event, here are some strong Rune farming locations based on where you are in the game.
And as an aside: If you're far enough along in Elden Ring that you can equip the Gold Scarab before you start farming, you'll be happy you did. We have a guide to grabbing it here.
Elden Ring Limgrave Rune Farming
If you're looking to farm right out of the gate, one of the fastest ways to do so is to head to the Third Church of Marika, north of Mistwood, as demonstrated in this video by PowerPyx.
There's a waygate in the water just beside the church that will teleport you to Greyoll's Dragonbarrow. Ride straight down the path until you hit the Site of Grace just before the bridge.
Rest at the Site and then trawl the area for the small, relatively weak enemies nearby to the north. They're not hard to stagger, and they go down in just a few hits using magic or stealth. Clear them out, being sure not to let them hit you — they'll probably one-shot you — and then fast travel to the Site of Grace to reset. Each kill should drop around 1,000 Runes, and you can repeat to your heart's content.
Elden Ring Caelid Rune Farming
If you're looking for Runes with a little less active work involved, you'll need to head to the Impassable Greatbridge in the far south of Caelid. To get there, you can either try sprinting past all the enemies between you and it by heading straight south of the Greyoll's Dragonbarrow, or you can take a more leisurely (but still sprint-heavy) route east from Limgrave.
For that second route, you'll want to reach the northeast corner of Limgrave, past the Summonwater Village Outskirts. If you follow the road northeast from there, it will start to curve south once it reaches Caelid. Follow it all the way to the southern tip of the continent and you'll have reached the Impassable Greatbridge.
Just northwest of that Site of Grace you'll spot a group of soldiers battling some giant demon dogs. As soon as you get close enough they'll start fighting each other. Just stay nearby and out of sight, and you'll reap the rewards of their mutual slaughter to the tune of 313 Runes per dog and just under 200 per soldier. Each run should net you between 2,000 and 3,000 Runes, and you can reset easily by fast traveling to the Site of Grace.
Elden Ring Late Game Rune Farming
Among the most high yield farming methods yet discovered can be found much later in the game. It was discovered by YouTuber TagBackTV, and requires a bow of some kind, plenty of arrows and Starscourge Radahn's Greatsword, which you can get after defeating him.
From there, you'll need to progress through Varré's quest line. Meet him at the Rose Church in Liurnia of the Lake, use three of the Festering Bloody Fingers he gives you, then speak to him again to receive the Lord of Blood's Favor.
Take that to the Church of Inhibition, which lies to the north of the Mausoleum Compound — but it'll be easier to get there if you head west from that Site of Grace, use the stones in the side of the mountain to drop down, then follow the cliff face north as it wraps around up to the church. Alternatively, you can start from the East Raya Lucaria Gate and follow the same cliff face north.
At the Church of Inhibition, you'll be able to dye the Lord of Blood's Favor in the blood of the maiden lying beside the Site of Grace.
Return to Varré and you'll receive a Bloody Finger and the Pureblood Knight's Medal. Open your inventory and use the Medal to teleport to the Audience Grounds. Once you're there, jump on your horse and run northeast along the wall. You'll have to run past a fair number of enemies, and then through the little blood pond, curving south, until you reach the Site of Grace.
Here's where the farming begins. Rest at the Site of Grace, then equip your bow and run to the cliffside. Lock onto the giant chicken across the chasm and shoot it once with your bow. Swap to the Starscourge Greatsword, walk into the cluster of nearby mobs, and use its unique skill to suck them all in, then its second hit to kill them instantly. Meanwhile, the chicken will walk off the edge and die.
Each run should get you 35,000 Runes. At three runs per minute, you'll pick up more than 100,000 Runes each minute — adding up to millions each hour.
If you're more concerned with quests than Runes, check out our guides for Nepheli Loux, Kenneth Haight, Sorcerer Rogier, or Bloody Finger Hunter Yura.