Runes (2024)

Runes act as both the currency and experience points (XP) in Elden Ring.

One of the main game mechanics behind runes is that they'll be lost on death and the only way to get them back is to return to the area where they were lost to reclaim them. However, if one should die before they can retrieve the lost runes, they'll be lost permanently.

Runes are gained when killing enemies, but also exist as objects which can be picked up and are sometimes dropped by defeated enemies. These rune objects exist in various forms, which provide increasing numbers of runes when used or sold to merchants (for the same number of runes as when used). The various forms of these rune objects, in increasing order of how many runes they provide, are: Golden Rune 1, Golden Rune 2, Golden Rune 3, Golden Rune 4, Golden Rune 5, Golden Rune 6, Golden Rune 7, Golden Rune 8, Lands Between Rune, Golden Rune 9, Golden Rune 10, Golden Rune 11, Golden Rune 12, Golden Rune 13, Numen's Rune, Hero's Rune 1, Hero's Rune 2, Hero's Rune 3, Hero's Rune 4, Hero's Rune 5, Lord's Rune

Tips[]

• Unlike dungeon boss fights, if one dies inside an evergaol, the runes will be retrievable on the surface/entrance area to the evergaol so there's minimal risk in fighting bosses in evergaols.
• Golden Runes and any other item that grants runes are not lost on death so it's best to keep them in their object state until ready to level up or buy something to minimize rune losses
• Sacrificial Twigs can be used in a talisman slot so on the next death, the twig is lost rather than one's runes.