Elden Ring Rune Arc Locations: How to Use Great Runes

Elden Ring is a brand-new game from the studio that brought us Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro. It stays true to its roots, blending challenging gameplay with exploration and social elements, while also pushing the series forward. It does this by offering up a huge open-world area, filled with secrets to find, bosses to kill, and friends to team up with.

Series veterans will no doubt notice a lot of the same mechanics pulled from previous Souls games in Elden Ring, even if they are slightly different this time around. One new feature is that of Great Runes, which allow you to temporarily apply powerful buffs to your character. Problem is, it's not exactly clear how to use them. The answer is tied to another item: Rune Arcs.

Rune Arcs are rare items that allow you to trigger Great Runes. They are tricky to find, and costly if you want to buy them. To help you get your hands on as many Rune Arcs as possible, we've put their locations into this guide. We'll explain where to find them, and how to use Rune Arcs to trigger Great Runes.

How to Use Great Runes in Elden Ring

First off, let's talk about Great Runes. If you're reading this, you will likely have obtained one. If not, continue with the story until you defeat Godrick the Grafted at Stormveil Castle. You will be given a Rune, but will need to activate it at a nearby tower. Once you've done so, you can equip Great Runes at Sites of Grace. Then, you need to consume Rune Arcs to trigger them. This will activate the Great Rune, and its associated bonuses.

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Rune Arc Locations in Elden Ring

Finding Rune Arcs in Elden Ring is pretty tricky at present. As more players spend more time with the game, we'll likely hear more about the best ways to farm Rune Arcs. For now, the best place to get them is to purchase them from the Twin Maiden Husk merchant at the Roundtable Hold. These will cost you 4000 Runes apiece.

The other way we've found to get Rune Arcs is as enemy drops. Specifically, we've had two drops from rat enemies in the Siofra River Well area. We've marked its location on the map below:

The rat enemies can be found at the far end of the area. As well as running around the large open space near the entrance to the underground cavern. Farm these enemies to get your hands on Rune Arcs. We've marked the location of the rat enemies below on the map:

How to Use Rune Arcs in Elden Ring

Now that you have a few Rune Arcs in your inventory, you will want to use them. These can be used like other consumables, either from the inventory or the quick menu. Using one will activate the Great Rune that you have equipped. Each Rune Arc is destroyed upon use.

That's all you need to know about Rune Arcs in Elden Ring. For more help with the game be sure to check out our guide on Crystal Tears. Elsewhere there's our look at where to get Memory Stones.