The best Elden Ring rune farms you can use to level fast

Elden Ring is, to put it mildly, a very hard game, and Shadows of the Erdtree, the exceptional DLC, has doubled down on being hard.

Managing your levels and stats is extremely important in making progress in the game, and reaching the stat caps can make a huge difference in how challenging the experience is.

If you just want to level up fast in Elden Ring (perhaps to experience the DLC, which requires beating some particularly difficult bosses), there are a few items you can grab to speed up the process and some locations in the game to efficiently farm runes. Feed Torrent a Rowa fruit and strap in.

The Golden Scarab Talisman – increase Runes gained

If you’re looking to seriously speed up your leveling in Elden Ring, there’s one must-have item and it’s the Golden Scarab Talisman. This talisman increases Runes gained by a whopping 20% when worn, making it well worth the equipment slot.

The Golden Scarab is the reward for beating the boss at the end of the Abandoned Cave, a cave in Caelid filled with Scarlet Rot and tough enemies. You can get to the cave very early in the game, but it isn’t trivial to clear (nothing in Elden Ring is easy!).

The path from the Smouldering Wall Site of Grace to the Abandoned Cave. Image credit: Bandai Namco

Start at the Smouldering Wall Site of Grace and run East in an almost straight line until you get to a canyon. Stop approximately where the crosshairs are on the map above and look down, it should be possible to see the cave from there, although the entrance is quite dark. Walk across the branches on Torrent to get to the entrance.

You can see the entrance to the Abandoned Cave from the west side of the canyon. Image credit: Bandai Namco

The Abandoned Cave can be tricky because the floor is flooded with Scarlet Rot, making it impossible to reach the boss without using up several of your healing Flasks. It’s worthwhile finding or crafting some Preserving Boluses to counteract the Rot.

There also isn’t a Stake of Marika near the boss fight either – you have to run through the cave every time you need to fight the boss. Luckily the boss fight, while not easy, isn’t one of the hardest ones. Players have to battle two Cleanrot Knights, one with a spear and one with a sickle.

The second Knight doesn’t spawn in until the first one is at around half health and the easiest way to finish the fight is to focus down the first Knight and kill it before engaging with the second – it’s much easier than trying to juggle both at once.

The Golden Scarab talisman, which boosts Runes by 20%, is the reward for defeating the Abandoned Cave. Image credit Bandai Namco

Gold Pickled Foul Foot – increases Runes gained for a short duration

Another key item for Rune farming is the Gold Pickled Foul Foot. This is a consumable item that increases Runes gained by 30% for three minutes. It stacks with the Golden Scarab Talisman, increasing Runes gained by 56% in total.

Several can be found throughout the early game zone of Limgrave. Players can also craft their own Foul Foot – the recipe is sold by Patches in Murkwater Cave.

The locations of the four Gold Pickled Foul Feet in Limgrave. Image credit: Bandai NamcoNext to a crucifix on a small hill On a balcony near the Grace Mimic in Stormveil On a beach surrounded by skeletons (jump down with the Spirit Spring) Buy from Patches in Murkwater Cave for 600 Runes.

Best Rune farming locations in Elden Ring

So you’re ready with your Golden Scarab and your Foul Foot. All that remains is the Runes themselves. By far the best rune farming spots in the game are located in Mohgwyn Palace. Now that is a pretty late game area, but don’t despair – through completing Varré’s questline you can get there very early in the game.

Varré’s quest in brief

After defeating Godrick, go and talk to Varré at the Grace of The First Step Go to Round Table Hold and talk to the Two Fingers and Finger Reader Enia (exhaust all of Enia’s dialogue) Head to the Rose Church in Liurna of the Lakes and talk to Varré there The Rose Church in Liurnia of the Lakes. Image credit: Bandai NamcoTell Varré the Two Fingers “didn’t seem right” to progress. If you accidentally tell him they are magnificent, you can still talk to him again and say something seemed weird. Keep talking to Varré until he gives you five Festering Bloody Fingers Use the Festering Fingers to invade other players three times. You don’t have to defeat them, just invade. ALTERATIVELY, if you’re playing offline, you can find Magnus, the Beast Claw in Altus Plateau and invade and defeat him to progress Talk to Varré again to get the piece of white fabric You can either choose to murder a maiden (Irina or Hyetta are the easiest options) or take the cloth to the Church of Inhibition in Liurnia to get your Maiden’s Blood from someone already dead How to get to the Church of Inhibition. Image credit: Bandai NamcoReturn to Varré and get the Pureblood Knight’s Medal (you have to agree to have your finger cut off to get it, sorry)

Now you can use the Pureblood Knight’s Medal to get teleported directly into Mohgwyn Palace, where the game’s two best rune farms are located.

When teleporting to Mohgwyn Palace using the Medal, you are placed halfway through and have to backtrack through the area to find the Palace Approach Ledge-Road Site of Grace. Luckily you can hop on Torrent because the enemies here will hit hard if you let them.

Getting to the Palace Approach Ledge-Road Site of Grace. Image credit: Bandai Namco

Killing the Albinaurics

From that site of Grace, you’re right next to two excellent sources of runes. Don’t forget your rune-boosting items. The easiest and most obvious source of runes is the huge collection of passive Albinaurics sitting on the road right near the Grace. They aren’t hostile and you can take them out safely and methodically – just keep an eye out for the guards who might appear.

The passive Albinaurics. The Grace is directly behind in this screenshot. Image credit: Bandai Namco

Each of the passive monsters here will drop 2,000 runes, which you can boost to over 3,000 with the Scarab and a Foul Foot. If you have any area of effect attacks, you’ll make extremely quick work of this area, but even a pure melee character can clear the zone for an easy 50,000+ runes in just 3-4 minutes.

Killing the huge bird

While running through the area you might have had to dodge some huge, disgusting birds. Now’s your chance for revenge. From the Grace, you can overlook an area with a big bird and a big ledge. Do you see where we’re going with this?

The big bird and the big ledge, a match made in heaven. Again, the Grace is directly behind the character in this screenshot. Image credit: Bandai Namco

Equip a bow and some arrows – it doesn’t need to be anything fancy, the cheaper the better (you can also use a ranged spell, though it has to be one with a long-range). Take aim and shoot the bird from your vantage point. The bird, enraged, will charge at you…directly off the edge of the cliff to its death. This will net you an easy 11,000 runes (and can be boosted to over 15,000) and the bird respawns when you sit at the Site of Grace, about five steps behind you.

This handy YouTube video (hat tip to the creator Necrodaemus) shows just how quickly these runes can be farmed. You can level up in Elden Ring extremely quickly with this method.

Featured Image credit: Bandai Namco