Runes are the souls of Elden Ring — the currency you use for everything, and we can never get enough. You level up with runes, spending them at any of the checkpoints to increase a single stat. The level up cost increases every time. You lose them if you die, forcing you to recover or lose them permanently if you die again. They’re everything you expect from XP in a Souls game, and we all want to know how to get more.
I’ve found two simple methods for farming souls. These straightforward locations can be done in the early or mid-game and still get you enough Runes for an easy level increase. The best place to farm is actually a late-game area that you can reach much earlier with a hidden portal — but if you’re strong enough to take on Starscourge Radahn the optional Shardbearer, then you can earn an even better rune farm location. Check out both easy methods below.
More Elden Ring guides:
10 Tips You Need Early | First Shardbearer | Walkthrought Pt. 1 | Unlock Raya Lucaria | Walkthrought Pt. 2 | Great Lift of Dectus | Walkthrough Pt. 3 | Margit, The Fell Omen Boss Guide | Godrick, The Grafted Boss Guide | Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon Boss Guide | Starscourge Radahn Boss Guide | Godfrey, First Elden Lord Boss Guide | Morgott, Omen King Boss Guide | How To Find Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy | How To Find Malenia, Blade of Miquella | How To Find Mohg, Lord of Blood | Frenzied Flame Ending Guide | Age of the Stars Ending Guide
Early-Game Farming Method: Beastial Sanctuary Shortcut
You can reach an end-game area right from the start of Elden Ring. Travel to Marika’s Third Church in Vimgrave and search the nearby riverbed. In the high bushes and grass, you can discover a partially hidden portal. This portal takes you to the Beastial Sanctuary — a very late-game area with a helpful beastman inside.
To farm this area, activate the site of grace and ignore the giant dormant beast boss guarding the sanctuary. If you attack it, it will attack you back. Early in the game, this boss is completely impossible. Don’t even bother. Only target the little enemies.
Ride on your mount and target the little enemies in the area. They’re quick to kill and drop 900~ runes per. That builds up fast. Clear the immediate area, then reset at the site of grace to continue the hunt. Do this for an hour and you’ll be swimming in runes for early-game leveling.
Mid-Game Farming Method: War-Dead Catacombs
Found in the far north of Starscourge Radahn’s arena. Access the dungeon by defeating Starscourge Radahn — you can reach him (and the beach with the War-Dead Catacombs) by entering Redmane Castle in Caelid. By talking to the festival host, you’ll unlock a portal leading to Radahn.
The War-Dead Catacombs are packed with infinitely spawning soldiers. They’ll fight each other in the main room and constantly reappear. Each kill gives you 1,000+ runes, and they will spawn every thirty seconds.
If enemies drop into the lower chamber, don’t try to follow them. The entire area is soaked with Scarlet Rot. Run back to the entrance (right next to the stairs) to reset and clear out the room again. And again. And again. You can easily earn 50,000~ runes very quickly by repeating the process. If you farm this area after defeating Rennala, you can easily earn more levels for the challenges ahead.
By the end of the game, you’ll need 30,000~ runes just to level up once. We’ll keep searching for powerful rune farming spots in the future and update this article accordingly.
More Elden Ring guides:
How To Find Ancestor Spirit | How To Enter Nokron, Eternal City | How To Enter Lake Of Rot | How To Find Lichdragon Fortissax | How To Duplicate Remembrance | Stonesword Keys Locations | Regenerating HP Talisman Location | How To Customize Your Character | How To Respec | How To Unlock Ash Spirit Attunement | How To Transmogrify Into Objects | How To Reset NPC Aggression | How To Get The Clawmark Seal Talisman Early | How To Begin The Black Knife Secret Quest | How To Join Volcano Manor Covenant | How To Return To The Chapel of Anticipation | How To Get The Moonlight Greatsword
