Are Runes Important In Elden Ring?

Are Runes important in Elden Ring? Let’s take a look and find out!

Elden Ring has no shortage of items and weapons you can try out during your runs. While that game’s ecosystem is supposedly as far from microtransactions as possible, you still need a way to upgrade your character and gear.

Runes are the primary currency of Elden Ring and are required for almost every in-game progression and upgrade. While most of Elden Ring is skill-reliant, you will have to upgrade yourself to match the rising difficulty of scenarios unless you’re a pro.

Needless to say, there are only a few things that rely on the rune system of Elden Ring. Therefore, it’s still possible to pull off a deathless run without runes if you’re good enough.

In this guide, we will be determining whether runes are important or not by analyzing their in-game use cases. With that said, let’s jump in and get started!

Guide Contents

What Are Runes In Elden Ring?

As mentioned, Runes are the primary currency of Elden Ring that indicates your purchasing power. They work like normal in-game currency and can be used to upgrade a bunch of weapons. While their job might seem extremely integral, they’re surprisingly not as important as they seem.

Uses Of Runes In Elden Ring

In Elden Ring, Runes are mainly used for upgrading stuff. However, they’re only a part of the equation. Besides, it’s not always worth spending time grinding to upgrade your weapons in Elden Ring. While this aspect tends to differ from normal games, it’s what ultimately makes it so fun to play.

Having said that, here are the main uses of Runes in Elden Ring:

Leveling Up

Your character is extremely reliant on Levels in order to get stronger. Each level grants you a bunch of stats that can then be leveraged while fighting enemies. Since every enemy in the game works on the level system, you’re going to want to have it upgraded as soon as possible.

Nonetheless, Leveling in Elden Ring is not exp reliant. Rather, it’s about pouring your Runes into a single state to increase your proficiency. Therefore, general leveling can often become much more expensive than what it’s originally worth.

Enhancing Gear

Each weapon comes with a modifier which can later be increased from the Blacksmith. However, this process costs Runes, a boatload of them. Since you’re going to need all the help you can get in the later stages of the game, it’s better to invest in your weapon from early on.

By default, you can have a +3 modifier on your weapons. After that, you need to pay the Blacksmith a visit. Despite being time-consuming, it’s a legitimate way of getting stronger. However, it’s not the be-all-end-all either. Thus the ultimate choice is yours.

Buying And Selling

Unlike most of FromSoftware’s previous titles, you have the ability to buy and sell your in-game items. While the selling price will be significantly lower than the buying price, it’s still better than letting useless iron catch rust in your inventory.

Besides, it’s a good venue for finding gear that is hard to find otherwise. Consequently, you will be mainly looking to purchase good weapons while selling your useless equipment away. Therefore, having spare Runes at hand is always recommended.

Conclusion

Are Runes worth the effort? Absolutely not! Are they necessary? Yes! While the mechanic can slow your progression down by a significant amount, skipping on it won’t do you any good since the difficulty ramps up in the later stages of the game. Therefore, you need to be your best version on the battlefield.

Looking for more Elden Ring guides? Here’s some more:

Elden Ring is available to play on Steam here.