How to level up in Elden Ring

James Busby
Elden Ring combat screenshot

Leveling up in Elden Ring is incredibly important for any player looking to maximize their character’s HP and DPS. Whether you’re looking to make the best Elden Ring builds or just stave off a mighty hit from the game’s bosses, learning how to level up is incredibly important. 

Elden Ring’s level up system shares a lot of similarities to previous Souls games. While the usual stats like Strength, Mind, Endurance, Dexterity, Vigor, Arcane, Intelligence and Faith are all present, the process needed to level up requires a few extra steps first. 

In fact, you can’t level up at all in Elden Ring until you meet certain requirements. This can make your survival in the Lands Between a little tricky, especially if you don’t have enough health or damage to beat the game’s bosses. Fortunately, our Elden Ring level up guide has you covered and can save you a lot of early-game frustration. 


Contents


How to level up in Elden Ring

Site of Grace in Elden Ring
Leveling up in Elden Ring is fairly simple.

In order to level up in Elden Ring, you’ll first need to discover three Sites of Grace. These resting points are similar to Dark Souls’ Bonfires, which replenish your character’s health, remove ailments, restore Focus Points, and refill all of your Sacred Flasks. 

Upon visiting the third Site of Grace, an NPC named Melina will appear and reward you with the Spectral Steed Whistle. This mysterious woman will also enable you to level up your character.

However, leveling up in Elden Ring doesn’t come cheap. In fact, you’ll need to get your hands on plenty of Runes – the game’s main currency if you wish to strengthen your character. 

How to get Runes in Elden Ring

Elden Ring Dragon boss fight
Runes are needed to level up in Elden Ring.

Runes can be obtained from any creature or boss that you encounter in Elden Ring. Of course, the bigger and tougher the foe, the more Runes they will drop upon their death. It’s often best to take down a boss or simply run a lap of an area that has harder enemies to farm Runes fast in Elden Ring. 

Once you have acquired enough Runes, simply head back to any Site of Grace select and ‘Level Up’ from the menu. From here, you’ll be able to spend your Runes on any stats you wish to increase.


So, there you have it, that everything you need to know about how to level up in Elden Ring. Make sure you check out our Elden Ring page for all the latest news and guides. 

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About The Author

James is Dexerto's Associate Games Editor who joined the website in 2020. He graduated from university with a degree in Journalism, before spending four years freelancing for GamesRadar+, PCGamesN, RPS, LoL Esports, Red Bull Gaming, and many more. You can find him covering everything from CoD, Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and Monster Hunter. Need to get in touch? Email James at james.busby@dexerto.com.