Explore These 23 Elden Ring Runes Methods for Early Game Growth
In Elden Ring, your early game experience can dramatically shape your entire playthrough. Whether you're a new player or rolling a fresh build, acquiring runes efficiently at the start is crucial. Runes fuel your level-ups, gear upgrades, and spell acquisitions, and having a strong income early on means fewer walls to hit later.
Here are 23 practical and proven rune farming methods to help you power through the early game without feeling underleveled or under-equipped. These tips are especially useful if you're aiming to build up quickly before venturing into more dangerous regions.
1. Gatefront Ruins Farming Loop
One of the first viable rune spots. The soldiers around Gatefront can be farmed in quick succession, giving you consistent early-game returns with low risk.
2. Stormhill Troll Reset
The lone Trolls in Stormhill respawn easily and drop a solid number of runes. Kite them toward a cliff edge to speed things up.
3. Third Church of Marika Portal Method
Take the hidden portal behind the church to Greyoll's Dragonbarrow. Though the enemies are tough, you can sneak past and use ranged methods to pick off sleeping foes for massive rune gains.
4. Greyoll the Sleeping Dragon
With bleed weapons, you can defeat this passive boss safely and gain over 70,000 runes early. Be warned—it only works once.
5. Waypoint Ruins Sorcerers
These enemies are vulnerable to backstabs and drop decent runes. Great for stealth builds or ranged mages.
6. Bestial Sanctum Farm Route
Enemies here are strong, but careful baiting and using terrain can allow you to take them out one by one. Ideal for rune gains if you're cautious.
7. Castle Morne Frontline Soldiers
After unlocking the Castle Morne area, head back to the fields where Misbegotten and soldiers fight each other. Let them battle it out and clean up the survivors for easy runes.
8. Weeping Peninsula Troll Farm
Two Trolls patrol the road in Weeping Peninsula. With a Spirit Ash companion or mounted attacks, you can down them fairly early for solid returns.
9. South of the Minor Erdtree in Limgrave
Demi-Humans in this region are weak but abundant. They drop decent runes in clusters and respawn quickly.
10. Limgrave Night Cavalry Exploit
Lure the Night Cavalry boss into falling off the bridge at night for a large one-time rune payout. No combat needed.
11. Rotview Balcony Guards
The flame-wielding soldiers here are slow and isolated. They’re a good source of early midgame rune farming.
12. Summon Wolves for Efficiency
Using Spirit Ashes like the Lone Wolf summons can help you speed up farming by safely drawing aggro or staggering enemies.
13. Equip Rune-Boosting Talismans
Items like the Gold Scarab are late-game, but early equivalents (like the Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot) can be farmed or found to temporarily increase gains.
14. Daily Rune Runs Before Boss Attempts
Before tackling early bosses like Margit, doing a 10-minute farm run can give you an edge by funding level-ups or buying more flasks.
15. Buy Elden Ring Runes if You’re Low on Time
Some players with tight schedules look for alternative methods to save time. For those who prefer focusing on exploration over grinding, choosing to buy Elden Ring runes is another way to level the playing field early.
16. Kite Enemies into Each Other
In certain areas, like Fort Haight, you can lead enemies into traps or other enemy factions to thin the crowd, then grab the runes.
17. Backstab Chain Ambushes
Use fog and corners to chain backstab humanoid enemies. Limgrave’s early camps are ideal for this method.
18. Hit and Run on Mounted Enemies
Torrent allows you to dash in, land a few hits, and flee. Great for whittling down slow foes like the Tree Sentinel without dying and losing runes.
19. Time Your Grace Use
Don't rest at Sites of Grace unless you need to. Clearing an area and grabbing the runes before they respawn helps avoid accidental deaths during a loop.
20. Explore with a Light Load
Keeping your loadout light makes you faster and helps you avoid unnecessary rune loss through random ambushes or traps.
21. Sell Duplicate or Cheap Elden Ring Items
If you’ve collected multiple copies of low-value weapons or armor, don’t hoard them. Sell what you don’t need early to squeeze out extra rune income.
22. Join Online Co-op as a Furled Finger
Helping other players defeat bosses through summon signs can net you decent rune rewards without risking your own stash.
23. Use Grace Zones Strategically
Some Sites of Grace are positioned close to enemy-dense zones. Set up a farming route that lets you clear, reset, and repeat in under two minutes.
Early game in Elden Ring can feel punishing if you don’t have enough runes to level or equip yourself for challenges ahead. These 23 methods are efficient, low-risk, and proven to work across multiple builds and playstyles. Whether you’re farming casually or preparing to respec later, getting a strong foundation is key.
While grinding is a traditional route, players sometimes turn to cheap Elden Ring items or purchase runes to streamline their experience, especially when revisiting the game with new characters or builds. No matter how you choose to grow, knowing your options makes all the difference in the Lands Between.