Elden Ring Great Runes and Rune Arcs explained

Elden Ring Great Runes are one of the strongest in the game, using their power as Rune Bows for temporary buffs and stats improvements, which can be extremely powerful in the right situation, including boss fights. But how do you get more Greater Runes and where can you find Rune Bows to get them? In our guide below we’ll explain the Elden Ring Great Runes mechanic and even how to farm Rune Arcs.

Great Runes in Elden Ring revealed

Many major bosses in Elden Ring drop Great Runes, legendary artifacts that can be added to your character for potential power-ups if limited. After you restore one, you can navigate to any Grace Site and use the “Great Runes” menu option to effectively place it in the Great Rune slot.

This is where things get complicated. On their own, Great Runes do nothing, but if you use a consumable Rune Arc while equipped with one, it will have a temporary effect on you, depending on the Great Rune you have in the slot. For example, using a Rune Arc effectively equipped with Godrick’s Great Rune gives a temporary bonus to all of your attributes, making you better at everything for a short time. Radahn’s Great Rune increases your health, stamina and FP. Whichever you choose, it’s always a powerful ability and one that serves well when used just before or even during boss fights.

How to get Great Runes

Great Runes are unique items found by killing the main bosses of the game such as Godrick, Renalla and Radahn. If you want a hint on where to find the next one, go back to the Roundtable and talk to Gideon Ofnir, who can tell you all about it.

How to restore Great Runes

Any Great Rune you find should be empowered in a Divine Tower, and specifically in the Tower in the same area as the boss that dropped that Great Rune. For example, killing Renalla at the Raya Lucaria Liurnian Academy will require you to restore the Great Rune in the Divine Tower of Lurnia nearby. It will only work for that particular Great Rune, and you will only have to do it once. This is true throughout the game, but some Towers are harder to get into than others and require you to kill tough enemies, find items or solve puzzles. They all follow the same visual theme that sets them apart from the rest – huge layered structures made of dark stone, often (though not always) with a bridge leading to another point in their middle. In our guide on how to find the Divine Tower of Limgrave in Elden Ring, we even explained how to find the first of these and restore Godrick’s Great Rune.

Rune Ark farming

Rune Bows used to trigger Great Runes are somewhat rare and mostly there is no real pattern for where to find them. They tend to be found in more structured areas after Godrick – buildings, temples, places of power, or those associated with big bosses – although they may appear outside of them. The trader on the cliffs between Raya Lucaria Academy and the Grand Lift of Dectus even sells a few like the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold.

However, we did find an enemy that seemed to have little chance of taking them down: standard giant rats that spawn in various places around the Lands In Between, such as the basements under Stormveil Castle or the beams of Liurnia’s Divine Tower. We found that rats sometimes drop Rune Arcs when killed, but farming at a slow enough rate would not be immediately rewarded. Still, if you’re struggling with a boss, the chance to power-up may make it worth doing. Increase your Arcane stat for the best Item Discovery chance and try to kill them as efficiently as possible.

Elden Ring Tree Sentinel Boss guide | How to beat Margit in Elden Ring | How to beat Godrick in Elden Ring | What to do with Melina’s tuning in Elden Ring? | Elden Ring Stormveil gate selection | Can you beat Grafted Filiz in the beginning?