In Elden Ring, Runes serve as both your experience and your currency, not unlike Souls in previous Souls games. You need lots of ‘em to buy stuff from merchants and level up your stats at Sites of Grace, and when you get killed, you’ll drop all of the Runes you’re carrying on the spot. If you die again without picking them back up, they’re gone forever. Runes are a necessitity to keep up with the game’s escalating difficulty, but if you’re having difficulty holding onto them, there are ways to… ensure a steady stream of the things, let’s say. Here’s what you need to know about the Elden Ring infinite Runes farming exploit.
There’s a fairly simple way to secure large quantities of Runes in Elden Ring. It doesn’t require you to hack or break the game at all, it works with just about any character build and equipment set-up, and you can even do it fairly close to the beginning of the game. Is it a bit of a cheesy way to play the game? Yes, definitely. Should you care? Absolutely not.
Elden Ring Infinite Runes Farming Exploit
We’ll go into detail in a moment, but if you’re strapped for time, here’s an abridged step-by-step:
- Go to the Third Church of Marika in Limgrave.
- Search to the northeast of the church to find a portal near some bushes.
- Enter the portal to go to Greyoll’s Dragonbarrow in Caelid.
- Go down the stairs and follow the path to reach the Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace, where you can rest.
- Search around the immediate area for small enemies in black armor and kill them. Each one will yield around 1,000 Runes.
- Kill as many as you can, then use your map to fast travel back to the Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace. This will restore your HP and make the enemies respawn. Repeat for lots of Runes.
The first order of business in this exploit is locating the Third Church of Marika in Limgrave. It’s located in the eastern part of the region; you’ll find it eventually if you just follow the main road. Behind the church building to the north is a lake, and if you search around the bushes to the east of that lake, you’ll stumble across a portal.
Taking this portal will drop you at Greyoll’s Dragonbarrow in Caelid. Caelid is supposed to be a late-game area, so the enemies around here are much stronger, but that also means they drop lots of Runes when killed. Before you can go hunting, though, you need to establish a base camp.
From the spot where the portal drops you, take the staircase to your immediate south downward and follow the path down the hill. Don’t try to fight anything just yet, just run away if you draw their ire. A little ways down the road, you’ll spot a bridge with a dragon hanging out on it. We’re not interested in the bridge, but what comes right before it. Specifically, the Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace. Have a sit-down at the Site to save your place.
Now that you’ve established yourself, it’s time to start hunting. In the general vicinity north of the bridge with the dragon, you’ll find lots of small, humanoid enemies wearing black armor. These little guys aren’t especially strong, as all of their attacks can be interrupted, so even if you’re just starting out the game, you can get one of them into a stun loop very easily. Every one of the little guys you kill will net you approximately 1,000 Runes, so as long as you don’t let yourself get surrounded, you can pick them off at your relative leisure, using your Flask to stay alive.
When your Flask runs dry, the enemies run out, or you just don’t feel like pushing your luck, open your map and fast travel back to the Farum Greatbridge Site of Grace. Resting here will restore your health and make the little enemies respawn, so you can get right back out there and start racking up Runes again. Whenever you’ve gotten your fill, you can fast travel back to Limgrave, pockets fully loaded.
