Runes are a vital resource in Elden Ring. Similar to Souls in the previous From Software titles, they can be used for levelling up, buying equipment, and upgrading your gear.
Sometimes, you’ll need to get a lot of runes quickly and efficiently – that’s when a good farming spot comes in handy.
For those of you who want to find out where to farm efficiently, we have compiled a list of the best farming locations in Elden Ring that will come in hand no matter what level you’re at.
Maximize your rune gains
Before you venture out on your rune farming run, it’s beneficial to ensure that your loadout supports your goals.
To maximize your farming efforts, make sure that you find the Gold Scarab Talisman as soon as possible, as it increases rune gain by 20% when equipped.
To obtain it, you’ll have to head to the Abandoned Cave and defeat the Cleanrot Knight dual boss.
Note that the Talisman’s effects stack with the Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot consumable, for a multiplicative total of 56% rune gain increase – that’s certainly nothing to sneeze at! While the Gold-Pickled Fowl Feet are a rather rare find, you can learn to craft them from the Missionary Cookbook (2).
You will need three Rowa Fruits, a Four-Toed Fowl Foot, and a Gold Firefly to craft one, and its effect lasts for three minutes after they’re consumed.
There are other ways to increase your rune gain, although many of them rely on random chance. For instance, if you see that an enemy has golden glowing eyes, kill them for five times more runes than usual. Yellow-eyed enemies are more likely to appear at night.
You should also keep an eye out for the golden Leaves of Erdtree appearing in the air – they grant a temporary buff to rune gain, increasing your earings by 5%.
Great Rune Farming spots for early, mid and late-game
The Gatefront Ruins is an excellent farming spot for characters below level 35. Start from the Church of Elleh and move north to access it.
Once there, kill all the enemies guarding the ruins, including the elite soldier – the Godrick Knight – who drops a considerable portion of the runes you will earn here.
If you kill all the enemies, you can make as much as 1220 runes per run, which is a very respectable sum, especially in early game.
There are two Sites of Grace nearby – Agheel Lake North and Gatefront, making it easy to reuse this farming spot frequently. Rest at one of the Sites for the enemies to respawn, rinse and repeat to earn as many runes as you need to get whatever you need from Merchant Kale back at the Church or Elleh.
Another good source of runes early in the game are trolls, which drop about 1000 runes when slaughtered. If you’ve gotten comfortable with killing those monsters, head to the cliffs north of Stormgate where you’ll find five of them.
Or if you’d rather deal with one troll at a time, go to the Third Church of Marika Site of Grace. A single respawning troll just outside of the Site is more manageable than five of them, so feel free to farm it to your heart’s content.
Still not tired of farming trolls? There is another one one just outside the Secluded Cell Site of Grace and it’s accompanied by two Exiles. Together, they are worth around 1500 runes, and as they are standing right outside the Grace, you can force them to respawn with almost no delay between the runs.
A similar trick can be used by the Limgrave Tower Bridge Site of Grace after defeating Magrit The Fell Omen. Instead of trolls, you will encounter three golems which can be farmed for over 3000 runes per run.
If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, you can also let enemies kill each other and pick up the runes they drop. To do that, go to Liurnia North Road Site of Grace. Go further north to witness a battle between spectral soldiers and a giant. Simply stay back and wait for the fighting to end with both parties dead and pick up about 1000 runes.
The same trick can be used by the Impassable Greatbridge Site of Grace. You’ll have to run past the enemies on Torrent to approach this site of grace, which is a bit risky in the early game but can be done.
In the area right before the Redmane Castle, there is a battle going on between knights and beasts. For a low-effort way to earn runes, jump onto a nearby cliff to keep clear of the two groups of fighting enemies.
It takes some time, but waiting for them to exterminate each other is an easy and safe way to get about 4000 runes.
For a fast way to get ~2000 runes, head to Lenne’s Rise and go down the slope that takes you under the bridge. There’s a nasty trap awaiting you there – a round boulder will spawn and roll down, trying to squish you like you’re in an Indiana Jones movie.
This trap can be deadly if it catches you unawares, but when you’re prepared for what’s coming, you can use it to your advantage. Stand near the ledge and roll out of the boulder’s way at the last moment to send it flying down the cliff to get the runes in mere seconds.
By the time you reach mid-game, go to the Bestial Sanctum for one of the most worthwhile rune farming runs. Moving south from the Sanctum, you will come across a group of Vulgar Militiamen.
They are easy to kill, but each of them drops ~1000 runes when defeated. You can earn up to 14,000 runes in one run here. This farming spot is recommended for mid-game, as you will have to get past Black Blade Kindred to access it.
Another good mid- to late-game spot is the Windmill Village, which you can reach once you get to the Atlus Plateau. The village is populated by Celebrants, who are too busy dancing to attack you unless you get too close. This allows you to strike first and farm ~7000 runes.
A great late-game farming spot is located near the Prayer Room Site of Grace in Haligtree. As you head north, you will come across several enemies facing away from you, making them susceptible to backstabs. Each of them drops about 3000 runes, and killing all the knights in your way can earn you up to 30,000 runes – and let you hone your stealth-killing skills.
The Best Farming Spot in Elden Ring
The absolute best and most effective rune-farming spot in Elden Ring is undoubtedly the area leading to Moghwyn’s Palace.
You can earn a whopping 40,000 runes in mere minutes there. To reach these rich farming grounds, you will have to complete the Varre questline and get the Pureblood Knight’s medal, as it’s needed to teleport to this location.
Head north to the Palace Approach Ledge Road Site of Grace – just watch out, as the road there is dangerous and avoiding the enemies on your way is likely the smart choice for you.
Once you’re at the Site of Grace, head down the slope to approach a group of sleeping Albinaurics, who will not wake up unless attacked. Note that three of them are awake and guarding their sleeping pals – make sure they don’t catch you unawares, as they can dispose of you rather quickly if you don’t keep an eye on them.
The most efficient way to get rid of those guards is to send them flying down the cliff by provoking them to use their cartwheel attack when you’re standing there and rolling out of their way.
Once the guards are gone, slaughter the rest of the Albinaurics in their sleep to get rich fast, return to the Site of Grace, and repeat. At low levels, backstabbing is recommended to maximize the damage you deal to the sleeping creatures.
The best way to dispose of them at later levels is to equip the Sacred Relic Sword and use its unique Wave of Gold skill. This will trivialize your run, allowing you to complete it in less than a minute. However, you have to kill the Elden Beast to access this weapon.
If that’s not enough, you can also head west to the edge of a cliff from the Palace Approach Ledge Road Site Of Grace. There, you will notice a monstrous bird.
Shoot it with an arrow, which will make it charge at you and fall down the cliff, earning you around 11,000 runes. Thanks to those two farming methods, the Palace Approach Ledge Road Site of Grace is one of the favourite rune farming spots of many players, even though reaching it for the first time can be a bit of a hassle.
Runes make the Lands Between go round
These are some of the best farming spots in Elden Rings, where you can easily earn large amounts of runes at all stages of the game.
If you’re ever short on currency or need to level up to face yet another boss on your way, be sure to visit one of them – you won’t regret it!