Using the best Great Rune for your character in Elden Ring can make all the difference. But not all Great Runes are created equal.

Elden Ring has plenty of items that can elevate any player’s build. One of these items can actually completely change your playstyle.

From adding five points to every attribute to increasing your health by 20%, Great Runes are some of the most influential items in Elden Ring.

Acquiring them is no easy feat. So you need to know which ones are worth your time.

Here is every Great Rune in Elden Ring ranked.

All Great Rune Effects in Elden Ring

Here’s what all the Great Runes in Elden Ring do:

• Godrick’s Great Rune: Raises all attributes by +5
• Great Rune of the Unborn: Allows you to unlock character respec
• Radahn’s Great Rune: Boosts maximum HP, FP, and Stamina by 15%.
• Morgott’s Great Rune: Increases maximum HP by 25%
• Rykard’s Great Rune: Restores HP upon defeating enemies
• Mohg’s Great Rune: Gives a blessing of blood to spirits and phantoms.
  • Three Phantom Great Runes are given to players after invading another player. It offers a blessing of blood to enemies in the invaded world. This means bosses and world enemies.
• Malenia’s Great Rune: Allows players to recover HP for a short time after taking damage by attacking.

Some of these sound great on paper but are very situational. So it’s good to know which one will help you out amid battle.

And once you hit the soft caps in Elden Ring, Godrick’s Great Rune becomes a lot less useful than a percentage increase like Morgott’s Great Rune.

Elden Ring: Great Rune Tier List

This Great Rune Tier List is made taking into account the latest Elden Ring update.

There are 7 Great Runes in Elden Ring that players will be able to obtain and activate.

The first thing you need to know is that obtaining a Great Rune is a feat, but activating it will require players to climb one of the many Divine Towers in Elden Ring.

These Divine Towers will require players to complete different puzzles and usually fight some powerful foes.

But thankfully, most of the time, the adventure is well worth the trouble.

After activating a Great Rune, players will need to use a Rune Arc to activate its effect.

Rune Arcs can be obtained in a multitude of ways but most consistently from invading other players successfully or helping other players as a summon.

The only Great Rune that does not require this is the Great Rune of the Unborn. This is automatically activated and will allow players to respec their characters.

This can be extremely useful and allow players to try out different builds with varying primary attributes.

Great Rune Tips & Tricks

These tips will help you decide which Great Rune to use in the many scenarios you’ll encounter in Elden Ring.

Best Great Rune for Boss Fights

Radahn’s Great Rune is the best for boss battles because it raises your health, stamina, and focus points by 15%. This means that you’ll be able to attack more often and use an Ash of War more times before your characters become tired.

If you’re still early in the game and haven’t been able to unlock Radahn’s Great Rune yet, then Godrick’s Great Rune is a good alternative. This raises all your stats by 5 attributes.

This seems great since it is 40 free levels, but once you’ve hit the soft caps for abilities, it doesn’t make too much of a difference.

Morgott’s Great Rune will raise your health by 25% if you’re not too worried about Focus Points and stamina.

In an intense battle against the Elden Beast, surviving one more hit can make all the difference.

Best Great Rune for Exploring Catacombs & Dungeons

The best Great Rune for players to use when out exploring caves, catacombs, and new areas in Elden Ring is either Malenia’s Great Rune or Rykard’s Great Rune.

Malenia’s Great Rune allows players to heal after taking damage. This means that if you’re a physical build, you’ll be able to take some risky opportunities and be rewarded for them.

Rykard’s Great Rune allows players to heal after defeating an enemy. This means that players can conserve their flasks and heal themselves. But it doesn’t function well against bosses. Where Malenia’s Great Rune still has an effect.

So for caves where it ends in a boss battle, it might be best to use Malenia’s Great Rune.

Check out our complete guide of every dungeon and catacomb in Elden Ring to see which ones you still need to find!

Best Great Runes for Elden Ring PVP Duels

For PvP duels, the best Great Rune you can equip in Elden Ring is Mohg’s Great Rune, as it has a special Blessing of Blood effect when invading the opponent’s worlds.

Mohg’s Great Rune is catered to Elden Ring PvP and has a unique effect when invading another player. To fight Mohg, Lord of Blood players will need to complete White Mask Varre’s quest.

Alternatively, you can always wait until you’re in the Consecrated Snowfield, where there is a portal to Mohgwyn’s Palace. But this will take a while, seeing as you’ll only be able to access this area after defeating Morgott, the Fell Omen.

How to Use Mohg’s Great Rune on PvE and PvP

For PvE, you can use Mohg’s Great Rune in the following way:

• Activate Mohg’s Great Rune by equipping it in the nearest Site of Grace and consuming a Rune Arc
• Once this Great Rune is active, summon your preferred Spirit Ash
• The summoned Spirit Ash will receive the Blessing of Blood
• Every enemy the blessed Spirit Ash kills will recoup 10% of the maximum HP for the caster; this effect last until the Ash is defeated or vanishes
• The Spirit Ash receives a damage buff similar to the one of the Lord of Blood’s Exultation every time blood loss is caused near the blessed Ash; this effect lasts 20 seconds

For PvP, Mohg’s Great Rune can be used in the following way:

• Activate Mohg’s Great Rune by equipping it in the nearest Site of Grace and consuming a Rune Arc before invading other players
• When you invade other players while using Mohg’s Great Rune, you will get three Phantom Great Runes that can be activated and grant the Blessing of Blood to enemies in the invaded world
• Every enemy defeated by the blessed NPCs (boss or enemy) will recoup 10% of the maximum HP for the caster; this effect last until the blessed NPC dies
• The blessed NPCs receive a damage buff similar to the one of the Lord of Blood’s Exultation every time blood loss is caused near the blessed NPCs; this effect lasts 20 seconds
• If you did not successfully complete the invasion, Mohg’s Great Rune would still be available for the next invasion, the effect is removed after a successful invasion or after the player dies in their own world

Read More: Elden Ring: How to Use Mimic’s Veil to Exploit AI, Troll PvP

Where to Obtain Every Great Rune

These are the bosses you will face for each Great Rune and their locations:

• Godrick’s Great Rune (Stormveil Castle, Limgrave): Defeat Godrick the Grafted
• Great Rune of the Unborn (Academy of Raya Lucaria, Liurnia of the Lakes): Defeat Rennala, the Full Moon Queen
• Radahn’s Great Rune (Wailing Dunes, Caelid): Defeat Starscrouge Radahn
• Morgott’s Great Rune (Leyndell, Royal Capital): Defeat Morgott, the Fell Omen
• Rykard’s Great Rune (Volcano Manor, Mt. Gelmir): Defeat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
• Mohg’s Great Rune (Mohgwyn Palace): Defeat Mohg, the Omen
• Malenia’s Great Rune (Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree): Defeat Malenia, Blade of Miquella

If you need additional details about these locations, here is our full guide on how to get each of them.

Great Runes are potent tools to help any player’s journey to become Elden Lord. And if you want to try out other items, check out some of our other guides:

• Best Weapon For Each Attribute in Elden Ring
• Every Legendary Sorcery & Incantation – Location + Map
• All Merchant Locations & Unique Items