So you want to know where to find all the Elden Ring Great Runes locations? Most provide decent buffs for the player, but some are used to unlock new endings. Awakening a Great Rune allows you to equip it and use Rune Arcs to borrow its power. To do this, you need to seek out that rune’s Divine Tower, a special location mentioned in each Great Rune’s description.
There are eleven of Elden Ring Great Runes. The main Elden Ring bosses drop some of them upon their defeat, while you acquire the rest by completing certain quests. These Great Runes have loose ties to Elden Ring‘s central story, as you can gather a few to access one of the RPG game‘s many key areas. If you want to know where to awaken each Elden Ring Great Rune, read our Elden Ring Divine Tower locations guide.
Elden Ring Great Rune locations
There are a total of eight Elden Ring Great Runes and three others classified in-game as ‘Mending Runes’. The difference between the two is that while some help you in battle, others are required to access one of many Elden Ring endings.
Godrick’s Great Rune
Godrick’s Great Rune is dropped by Godrick the Grafted after you defeat him. You can find Godrick the Grafted as the main boss in Stormveil Castle, which is part of Limgrave. While equipped and you use a Rune Arc, Godrick’s Great Rune raises all attributes by five points.
Great Rune of the Unborn
You can get the Great Rune of the Unborn by defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, who resides at the top of Raya Lucaria Academy in Liurnia of the Lakes.
This rune doesn’t need powering up, and it can’t be equipped like the others. Instead, its buff is passive and instant: it unlocks the ‘Rebirth’ function in the Reya Lucaria Grand Library. This is how you access the Elden Ring respec mechanic, though you will need to use a Larval Tear for the process to work.
Radahn’s Great Rune
Starscourge Radahn drops Radahn’s Great Rune after you slay him. You can find him through a portal in Redmane Castle, in Caelid. While equipped and using a Rune Arc, Radahn’s Great Rune raises the player’s maximum health, FP energy, and stamina by 15%.
Morgott’s Great Rune
Morgott, the Omen King, drops Morgott’s Great Rune once he is slain in the throneroom of Leyndell, Royal Capital. When equipped and you use the Rune Arc, Morgott’s Great Rune raises a player’s maximum health by 25%. Note that you must have already found at least two other Great Runes or have both pieces of the Dectus Medallion.
Rykard’s Great Rune
Rykard’s Great Rune is dropped by Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, upon his defeat at Mt. Gelmir. When equipped and a Rune Arc is active, it restores some health after the player defeats an enemy. This is calculated at 80 + 7% of your maximum health.
Mohg’s Great Rune
Mohg’s Great Rune is dropped by Mohg, Lord of Blood after you defeat him at Mohgwyn Palace, which you can access via teleport in the north of Consecrated Grounds or through using the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, acquired from White-Faced Varre.
While in your world, using this Great Rune and a Rune Arc automatically gives your summoned spirits the Blessing of Blood buff. Each enemy your summoned minion kills heals you by 10% of your maximum health. If your minion causes enemies to lose blood, they get a damage-increasing buff.
If you use it while invading another player’s world, you get three Phantom Great Runes that exist while the player invades.
Phantom Great Rune
Acquired while using Mohg’s Great Rune as you invade another world, using the Phantom Great Rune will grant the Host of Finger’s enemies a buff to their attack whenever blood loss occurs. The invading player who uses the Phantom Great Rune will also get a -13.5% health penalty for 20 seconds, gaining a +10% life steal and a +20% damage boost for the same duration.
Malenia’s Great Rune
Malenia, Blade of Miquella drops Malenia’s Great Rune, after you slay her at Miquella’s Haligtree – north of Consecrated Snowfield.
While equipped and upon using the Rune Arc, getting hit will activate a small window of opportunity, roughly five seconds, where any attack that damages an enemy slightly restores health up to the amount you got hit for, shown as a light-red bar. Flask of Crimson Tears will only have 70% effectiveness while the Rune Arc is active.
This only applies to the last hit you took, so that multi-hit attacks won’t take the full sequence into account. The amount of health regenerated depends on the type of attack you land on enemies, with jumping or charged attacks healing for more of your max health than regular ones. Finally, it’s also worth noting that attempting to heal yourself with self-inflicted damage will not work.
Mending Rune of the Fell Curse
The Mending Rune of the Fell Curse unlocks the Blessing of Despair ending and is only used after you have defeated the final boss. You get this Mending Rune from Dung Eater after you’ve finished his quest and given him five Seedbed Curse.
Mending Rune of the Death-Prince
The Mending Rune of the Death-Prince unlocks the Age of the Duskborn ending and is only used after you have defeated the final boss. By completing Fia’s Elden Ring quest, you’ll receive the Mending Rune.
Mending Rune of Perfect Order
The Mending Rune of Perfect Order unlocks the Age of Order ending and is only used after you have defeated the final boss. You get this from Goldmask after the conclusion of his and Brother Corhyn’s questline.
How to use Elden Ring Great Runes
You can equip a Great Rune at any Site of Grace menu (and only via this menu). You can only have one of these runes equipped at a time. Note that this only applies to most of the Great Runes, requiring you to defeat the Demigod that holds them before restoring the Great Rune’s power. This does not apply to the rest.
To use a Great Rune’s ability, you’ll need to consume a Rune Arc, granting you the effect of the Great Rune you have equipped. This effect lasts until you die. After you die, you need to consume another Rune Arc to get the effect back.
Rune Arcs aren’t common, but there are a few places you can find them. For example, they’re a rare drop from Rats. You can also get them via engaging in Elden Ring multiplayer, such as when you help defeat a boss as a summon. Some merchants also sell them.
That’s everything we know about the Elden Ring Great Runes. For more tips, check out our guide to the best Elden Ring weapons, all Elden Ring Ashes of War locations, and everything you need to know about the best Elden Ring talismans.
Additional contributions by Joe Robinson.