Rune Farming Locations and Guide: How to Get Runes Fast (Souls)

Runes are the main currency used to level up or buy items from merchants in Elden Ring. Read on to learn more about Runes and how to farm them quickly!

How to Farm Runes Fast (Early - Mid Game)

The video above shows the five recommended Rune farming spots for the early game. For a more detailed step-by-step process on how to farm for each location, see the following sections below.

Third Church of Marika Portal

There's a hidden portal north of the Third Church of Marika that will take you to an area in Caelid where you can farm Runes. Once you're there, you can start taking out the enemies one by one, which gives around 1000 Runes per kill. While you're low-leveled, avoid taking them head-on and sneak on their backs for a clean backstab.

This is the best farming method for early game, especially before "storming" the Stormveil Castle.

Obtain the Gold Scarab

The Gold Scarab is a Talisman that increases the amount of Runes obtained from defeating enemies. This is a must-have item for farming and you can obtain it in the Abandoned Cave in Caelid.

Since the talisman is in Caelid, make sure you're leveled high enough before crossing the Limgrave border.

How to Get Gold Scarab: Effects and Locations

Fort Gael Flamethrower

This farming method requires you to travel to Caelid and activate the Site of Grace at Fort Gael. From the site, run past the enemies south and go up the cliff on your left. Position yourself above the green maneuverable flamethrower, jump on top of it, and strike it with a light attack to execute a critical hit.

After taking it down, run back to the Site of Grace with Torrent and repeat the process. This farming method can net you around 2000 Runes in 30 - 40 seconds.

Lenne's Rise Boulder

Head to the northeast corner of the Caelid region until you reach the Site of Grace of Farum Greatbridge. From there, travel southeast until you reach another Site of Grace at Lenne's Rise. Watch out for the poison traps along the way!

Now, run west towards the cliff and eventually, a boulder will magically appear behind you. Right before it moves, make a hard turn to the right so that it rolls off the cliff. Warp back to Lenne's Rise Site of Grace and repeat.

You can gain almost 2000 runes with this method in 15 - 20 seconds.

Video Guide

Fort Faroth Dragon

1	Travel to the Fort Faroth Site of Grace in Caelid (north east of the map).
2	From here, head North West (with the Fort behind you) and head for the left flank of the large, flightless dragon.
3	Equip any weapon with bleed that you can use with your stats and start smacking away at its side.
4	Proc Bleed effects until the dragon dies. This rewards you with 74,290 Runes.

Equip a Bleed Weapon

While players can use Bleed weapons like the Morningstar or Bloodhound's Greatsword, some good early game alternatives for players with not enough attribute points are either Reduvia or the Flail.

Keep Hitting and Proc Bleed

As long as players are triggering Bleed, the dragon should go down after a few minutes of hitting. If there aren't any large damage numbers appearing, make sure to check if your character can actually wield the weapon.

Dragon Slaying Rewards

Despite only being able to farm this dragon once, it gives a lot of rewards once slain. Once killed, players will receive a total of 74,290 Runes. On top of this, the dragon drops 5 Dragon Hearts and unlocks new skills for purchase at the Cathedral of Dragon Communion.

Video Guide

Best Farming Spot - Mohgwyn's Palace

Mohgwyn Palace Bird Farming

An extremely effective way of getting Runes early on is to make it to the Palace Approach Ledge Road site of grace in Mohgwyn Palace and shoot the bird in the swamp nearby with with arrows such that it falls off a cliff. This is very consistent and easy to do. If you are using the Gold Scarab, each kill will give you about 13,000 Runes.

To get to Mohgwyn's Palace in the early game, progress White Mask Varre's quest. You'll need to do a few invasions with the Bloody Fingers he gives you, then go to the Four Belfries and teleport back to the starting area of the game where you fought the Grafted Scion. Go back up the stairs and into the building and examine the maiden to soak the item Varre gave you in her blood. Return to Varre to Access Mohgwyn's Palace.

Note: You can also access Mohgwyn's Palace via a teleporter in the Mountaintop of the Giants to the Northwest of the Yelough Anix Tunnel, however this requires you to progress much further into the game.

Mohgwyn Palace - AoE Farm Enemies

Again, near the Palace Approach Ledge Road site of grace, there will be dozens of passive enemies that give a decent amount of Runes. Use any AoE attack that can kill these enemies all at once. A few recommended weapons are the Starscourge Greatswords or the Sacred Relic Sword as their skills can quickly take out groups of enemies.

If you are also using the Gold Scarab to increase the amount of Runes per kill, one round will give you roughly 20,000 Runes in a matter of seconds.

Note: This method is only recommended if you have enough damage to take down the enemies quickly. If you can't one-shot enemies with an AoE attack, it's best to farm the bird until you have a hard hitting AoE attack at your disposal.

More Ways to Get Runes

Use Golden Runes

Golden Runes are consumable items that give you a certain amount of Runes when consumed or sold to a merchant. They can be found all over the world, with clusters of them located at tombsites.

These can be used at any time so it's best to save them for when they'll be used, such as when you're leveling up at a Site of Grace or purchasing items from a merchant.

Glowing White Skulls

An easy way to obtain Golden Runes is by breaking white skulls that you'll encounter while traveling the world. Each one contains a Golden Rune that's worth 200 Runes.

Using Gold-Pickled Fowl Feet

The Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot is an item that increases the amount of Runes you acquire for a short time. It can be bought from Patches for 600 Runes each. Alternatively, you can buy the Missionary's Cookbook [2] from him to craft it yourself.

Fight Enemies with Golden Eyes

Make sure to defeat enemies that have golden eyes. When slain, these foes will provide around 4 times the amount of Runes they'd normally drop.

Fight Enemies at Night

The number of Runes obtained from slain enemies is boosted at night, making this a great time to farm enemies. They're also much tougher, however, so take extra caution during combat.

Weather Effect That Increases Runes Acquired

Sometimes, a rare weather effect that looks like leaves falling will happen in an area. If you are in this area, you gain a buff that increases the amount of Runes obtained.

What are Runes?

Uses of Runes
Main form of currency Can be used to level up Can be used to enhance weapons and equipment Can be used to purchase items)

Elden Ring Fragments Used as Currency

Runes (similar to Souls from Dark Souls) are the main form of currency in Elden Ring. Runes are the remaining fragments of the shattered Elden Ring. These are used for leveling up, enhancing gear, or buying items from merchants. Runes are primarily gained by killing enemies or from consumable items.

Dying once will leave a mark on the ground with all of the player's current Runes, allowing a portion of these Runes to be retrieved. If the player dies a second time before returning to the mark, the runes will be lost and the mark will disappear from the map.

Can be Used to Level Up your Stats

Accessible by summoning Melina while resting at a Site of Grace. Runes are exchanged in order to increase your stats.

Melina's Location and How to Level Up

Enhance Weapons and Equipment

Used at Smithing Tables or the Blacksmith at the Roundtable Hold to upgrade and enhance your weapons and other equipment.

Using a Smithing Table allows players to give their weapons a stat modifier of only up to +3, while the blacksmith at the Roundtable Hold can enhance them further.

How to Get to The Roundtable Hold

Purchase Items

Done through interacting with Merchants, who are found across the Lands Between and sell useful items like Spirit Ashes or Crafting Kits at the cost of Runes. You can also sell them unwanted items for Runes.

All Nomadic & Isolated Merchant Locations and Items Sold

Related Guides

All Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks Articles

Tips for Beginners
Character Creation Guide	How to Increase Your Health
Stats Explained	What is Dexterity?
All Status Effects	How to Heal
How to Level Up	Rune Farming Guide
What Happens When You Die?	How to Upgrade Flasks
What is Arcane?	Where to Find Melina
How to Remove Skills	-
Best Guides
Best Starting Keepsakes	Best Starting Classes
Best Early Game Weapons	Best Spirit Ashes
Best Builds	Best PvP Builds
Best Equipment	Best Ashes of War
Best Talismans	Best Sorceries
Best Incantations	Best Weapons
Exploration Tips
Rest at Sites of Grace	Day and Night Cyle Differences
How to Change Time	How to Get the Mount and Use It
Fast Travel	Summon Pool Stakes
Illusory Wall Guide	All Scarab Locations
How to Use Stakes of Marika	How to Sprint
How to Get Into the Academy of Raya Lucaria	How to Get to Nokron
All Painting Locations and Rewards	-
Combat Tips
How to Parry	How to Use Ashes of War (Weapon Arts)
How to Summon Spirits	How to Guard Counter
How to Backstab	How to Two-Hand
Power Stance Guide	How to Upgrade Weapons
Hidden Combat Mechanics	Stat Scaling Explained
General Tips and Tricks
All Boss Remembrances	Trophies and Achievements List
Gestures and How to Unlock	How Long to Beat Elden Ring
How to Unlock New Game Plus	How to Increase Memory Slots
How to Get to The Roundtable Hold	How to Alter Garments
How to Strengthen Spirits	How to Respec
How to Equip Great Runes	All Whetblades Locations
All Walking Mausoleum Locations	All Buffs and Debuffs
How to Write Messages	What To Do When You Can't Summon (Co-Op)
List of Weather Effects	How to Leave a Boss Fight
How to Pause the Game	All Bell Bearings and How to Get Them
How to Make Hostile NPCs Friendly	Elden Ring Lore
Farming Guides
Sacred Tears	Golden Seeds
Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone	Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone
Somber Smithing Stones	Smithing Stones
Ghost Gloveworts	Grave Gloveworts
Elden Ring Endings
How to Get All Endings	Elden Lord
Age of the Stars	Lord of Frenzied Flame