Elden Ring: How to Find and Activate All 7 Great Runes

To use a Great Rune in Elden Ring, you must defeat its corresponding Shardbearer boss, travel to that rune's designated Divine Tower to restore its power, and consume a Rune Arc to trigger its passive benefits.

Defeating a Shardbearer drops an unpowered Great Rune. Except for Rennala's rune, bringing the rune to its specific Divine Tower permanently unlocks its activation potential for your character. Once restored, equip the rune at any Site of Grace and use a consumable Rune Arc to activate its stat boosts. The active effect persists until your next death.

Great Rune Locations and Activation Summary

How to Activate Great Runes

Restoring power to a Great Rune requires following a set sequence:

1. Defeat the Shardbearer: Obtain the unpowered Great Rune from the defeated boss.
2. Reach the Associated Divine Tower: Navigate to the specific tower assigned to that rune.
3. Interact with the Tower Crest: Ascend to the top of the tower and interact with the glowing crest to restore the rune's power.
4. Equip at a Site of Grace: Rest at any Site of Grace, select the "Great Runes" menu option, and slot your restored rune.
5. Consume a Rune Arc: Use a Rune Arc item from your inventory to trigger the rune's passive benefits.

If your character dies, the passive buff turns off. You must consume another Rune Arc to re-enable the equipped rune's bonuses.

Early-Game Great Rune: Godrick

Godrick the Grafted in Stormveil Castle yields the most straightforward early-game Great Rune.

• Tower Route: After defeating Godrick, head through the main courtyard of Stormveil Castle toward the Limgrave Tower Bridge. Cross the bridge while dodging or defeating the stone golems to reach the Divine Tower of Limgrave.
• Recommended Usage: Godrick's Great Rune provides a +5 boost to every attribute. Because attribute scaling benefits every build early on, it is the best general-purpose option for early exploration and boss encounters.

Mid-Game Great Runes: Rennala and Radahn

Rennala's Great Rune

Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, handles Great Rune mechanics differently than any other Shardbearer.

• Activation: Her rune activates automatically upon her defeat in the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria. You do not need to visit a Divine Tower.
• Function: It grants access to the "Rebirth" mechanic. Present a Larval Tear to Rennala in the Grand Library to reallocate your attribute points.

Radahn's Great Rune

Defeating Starscourge Radahn unlocks access to the Divine Tower of Caelid.

• Tower Route: Located along the northern coast of Caelid, reaching the top of this tower requires external platforming along ledges and ladders rather than a simple ground bridge.
• Recommended Usage: Radahn's rune scales your maximum HP, FP, and Stamina pools. It provides strong defensive and utility stats for hybrid builds that require balanced resource management.

Late-Game Great Runes: Morgott, Mohg, Rykard, and Malenia

Morgott's Great Rune

Defeat Morgott in Leyndell to acquire his rune, then travel to the Divine Tower of East Altus. This rune provides a massive flat percentage increase to your maximum health pool, making it top-tier for surviving high-damage late-game bosses.

Mohg's and Rykard's Great Runes

These runes cater to specialized combat builds:

• Mohg: Activated at the Divine Tower of East Altus. It boosts summoned spirit ashes and increases attack power when nearby targets suffer from blood loss status effects.
• Rykard: Activated at the Altus-region tower. It rewards aggressive melee playstyles by restoring health whenever you defeat an enemy.

Malenia's Great Rune

Acquired by defeating Malenia, this rune requires travel to the Isolated Divine Tower, which is accessed via a teleporter trap in Leyndell, Capital City.

Malenia's rune alters healing mechanics: after taking damage, dealing quick counterattacks against enemies recovers a portion of your lost health. It benefits aggressive playstyles capable of trading hits safely, but requires active Rune Arc maintenance to stay effective during endgame boss fights.