Elden Ring has launched and veteran Dark Souls players are clamoring to level and advance through the story. However, with the huge amount of players, there are also many newcomers who may not be familiar with previous Dark Souls and Bloodborne common practices. It can be a bit overwhelming on just how to efficiently level up without wasting time.
Elden Ring uses runes, a similar system to souls and blood echoes from other FromSoftware games. They are both used as experience and as a currency to purchase goods from merchants. When players want to level, they must sit at a Site of Grace and speak with Melina to trade in runes. However, if players die their runes will be left behind on their corpse. If one perishes again, all previous runes will be lost forever.
Leveling spots will only last so long before the amount of earned runes does not outweigh the effort. At that point, players should continue on with the main Elden Ring storyline. However, the same farming tactics of helping or harming other players will always apply through all of Elden Ring.
Rune Acquisition Items in Elden Ring
Before heading out to level in Elden Ring, it is a good idea to collect a few items to boost or otherwise improve rune collecting. All of these are consumable, making their use limited but balanced. Some of the better items include:
- Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot: Boosts the amount of runes enemies drop. Sold by a returning merchant from previous Souls games. Can also be crafted with a Four-Toed Fowl Foot, Gold Firefly, and three Rowa Fruit.
- Sacrificial Twig: Prevents losing runes when defeated. Sold by the Isolated Merchant in the western Weeping Peninsula.
- Fingerfolk’s Rune: Gain a set amount of runes instantly. A common drop found all across the map, best saved once leveling up at a Site of Grace.
- Remembrances: Instantly grants a large number of runes. Different ones are gained by defeating bosses. However, they can also be given to Enia the Finger Reader to create boss weapons, armor, or spells.
Multiplayer Leveling in Elden Ring
Using online modes is the best means of collecting runes in Elden Ring. When visiting a new world, the host’s reaming bosses and other enemies will be farmable for additional runes. There are two main items used, the Small Golden Effigy and Tranished’s Furled Finger, both gained near the start of the game. The former is typically used in the open world, where players can get summoned all around the map. The former places a summon sign just in one location, making it more ideal if players want to farm dungeons, bosses, or a particular region of the world. The Finger Severer can also be used to go home - or manually send cooperators back.
Typically it is best to level up by helping someone else through the beginning of a dungeon, and possibly also assist with a boss. This is because standard enemies are much easier and reliable to defeat. The cooperator will gain no runes from a boss if they or the host winds up dying. If one wants to farm a boss, it should be weaker ones that they can quickly solo without needed assistance. If for some reason a cooperator and host have different agendas, it is best to part ways before wasting each other’s time and effort.
PvP Leveling in Elden Ring
It is also possible to get some runes in Elden Ring by killing others in PvP, though the amount is typically only comparable to a standard enemy. While each fight might not be worth much, chaining together victories can still allow one to level consistently. But, both hosts and invaders should be wary of how the system works. Once summoning a cooperator, an invader can always spawn and turn any co-op into PvP. Alternatively, invaders may have to deal with up to three foes - the host and two cooperators - which means some gritty tactics will be needed to avoid being ambushed or ganked.
A few possible items are needed to start PvP in Elden Ring, though there are additional ones later on in Elden Ring. The first is the Festering Bloody Finger sold by the Nomadic Merchant in east Limgrave which will forcibly invade another world. Second is the Duelist Furled Finger found on a corpse in the furthest northern point of Limgrave; this allows organized hostile summoning by a host. Finally, the Taunter’s Tongue used to lure invaders to the host. This item is inside Roundtable Hold - a storyline base that cannot be discovered via exploring - and one will need to defeat Mad Phantom Alberich to receive it.
Solo Leveling in Elden Ring
While using online is a great method, Elden Ring players may still find themselves at times where they can’t summon others. This may be due to network issues, regional differences, or particular areas where multiplayer might be off. In these cases, it is a good idea to use whatever acquired runes to build up attack stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith) and then go after some of the tougher single enemies. With both combat stats and new stronger weapons, one will be able to kill foes before they have a chance to counter; making defenses irrelevant.
Simpler enemies with lots of runes can be found mostly on the eastern edges of the map, in places like Greyoll’s Dragonbarrow. This can be reached by mounting up on Torrent and quickly jumping over the harsh terrain northwest of Caelem Ruins. An alternate option - especially if Caelem is too high level - is to head to the Third Church of Marika within Limgrave. There will be a blue teleporter that will transport players straight to the north.
It may be for the best to combine some of these tactics together in Elden Ring. This could include purposefully placing one’s Furled Finger summon sign at Greyol’s Dragonbarrow and helping others farm. Players can even use their boosting consumables while others are assisting. However, this could also make the area a rampant invasion or ambush target.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.