Luckily, if you’re in desperate need of some more levels before taking on a certain boss or legacy dungeon, there are a few fantastic rune-farming spots to watch out for. We’ll walk you through each of them below, and how to deal with the enemies there efficiently and safely for a tonne of quick runes. If you want to learn the best stats to prioritise increasing, check out our guide on how to level up in Elden Ring!
Best rune farming locations in Elden Ring
Below we’ll walk you through five of the very best rune-farming locations we’ve found so far in Elden Ring. These areas are characterised by their easy enemies, the high concentration of potential runes, and their proximity to Sites of Grace, allowing you to efficiently farm the areas until you have enough runes for your needs.
Gatefront Ruins
Probably the earliest decent rune-farming location you’ll come across is the Gatefront Ruins encampment in Limgrave, a short distance from where you first set foot in the region. This area is where you’ll find the first Map Fragment of part of Limgrave, and also where you find your first Whetstone Knife for applying affinities to your weapons. It’s easy enough to take on the soldiers in this encampment one at a time if you sneak around and avoid the two soldiers patrolling the central path. Leave the large patrolling knight til last, as he’s the toughest of the lot. But all in all, clearing this encampment should quickly net you a good 1,500 runes - and if you’re feeling adventurous, you can also take on the soldiers and the Troll at the gatefront itself for an additional 1,300 or so.
Secluded Cell Troll
The Secluded Cell in Stormveil Castle is noteworthy for two reasons. First: it’s the last Site of Grace before facing the first Great Rune holder of Elden Ring, Godrick the Grafted. But it’s also a nice little early-game rune-farming spot thanks to the Troll standing guard behind the cell. Felling this beast and the nearby soldiers will net you a quick and easy 1,000-1,500 runes, and thanks to the easily accessible Site of Grace nearby you can reset in short order for some very efficient farming.
Erdtree-Gazing Hill encampment
Heading into the mid-game of Elden Ring, my preferred rune-farming spot is the four-stage encampment east of the Erdtree-Gazing Hill site of grace in the Altus Plateau. Eliminate the soldiers, the ballista-operators, the Pumpkin Head, and the rider on horseback, and that’s an easy 8,000 runes right there - plus the likelihood of some decent weapon and armour drops from the soldiers. My preferred method for dealing with this large encampment is to kill the three soldiers out in front, then skirt around the left, up the rocks behind the second encampment, and stab them all in the back. Then kill the Pumpkin Head in the third section, and finally the knight, rider, and other soldiers in the fourth section of the camp.
First Mt. Gelmir Campsite encampment
Another decent mid-game encampment to target for rune-farming is the one just next to the First Mt. Gelmir Campsite Site of Grace, up in - you guessed it - Mount Gelmir. While killing the soldiers here won’t net you quite as many runes as the above encampment (perhaps 5,000 or so), it’s probably even easier to clear these soldiers out, because most of them are facing away from you as you enter the camp, allowing you to get some nice backstabs on a lot of them.
Nokstella, Eternal City
Once you reach the other side of the underground Ainsel River region, you’ll come across the vast city known as Nokstella. Starting from the Site of Grace by the same name, you should proceed up the stairs nearby. Kill the warrior in front of you, and then as you approach the top of the stairs you’ll see lots of black electric sludge creatures amassing and slowly heading in your direction. These electrical sludges will explode upon death, dealing enough damage to kill its brethren nearby. This moment was obviously designed to introduce you to the concept of using sludges to create chain reactions - but it also makes for an incredible rune-farming opportunity. Killing just one sludge sets off a chain reaction that kills every sludge on the staircase, netting you 4,000 runes in no time at all. Head back down to the Site of Grace, reset the enemies, do it all again. This is by far the most efficient rune-farming location I’ve found so far in my time playing Elden Ring. Now that you’re well prepared to start farming as many runes as your heart desires, you may wish to supplement your strength with our guides on the best early-game weapons and best armour in Elden Ring. Alternatively, you could read up on the different Golden Seed and Sacred Tear locations across Elden Ring to improve your flask’s healing capabilities. Or, if you’re interested in hunting down the most challenging adversaries, consult our map of the different Elden Ring boss locations!
