How to level up in Elden Ring

Elden Ring level up site of grace melina accord — (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

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How to level up
Levelling up explained

Want to know how to level up in Elden Ring? It's an essential power to get, but not one you start off with. In fact, it's given to you by a specific NPC character, and depending on what you do, you might encounter that character a lot sooner or a lot later. Check out our guide below for everything you need to know about how to level up in Elden Ring.

How to level up in Elden Ring

Elden Ring Melina — (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

As you play through Elden Ring, you’ll notice defeating enemies awards you with varying amounts of Runes - these Runes can be spent on boosting your individual character Attributes. However, this is not something you can do right off the bat in Elden Ring. After completing the tutorial, you must reach the Gatefront Ruins Site of Grace and rest there. The first time you do this, you’ll be forced into a cutscene, followed by some dialogue, where a maiden named Melina will make you an offer. Once you’ve decided what to do with Melina’s accord in Elden Ring and accept the offer, she grants you the ability to spend Runes you’ve accrued. She’ll also give you the Spectral Steed Whistle that allows you to summon Torrent – thanks, Melina!

Levelling up in Elden Ring explained

Elden Ring level up site of grace rest at site — (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Now, you can rest at any Site of Grace that you’ve discovered and can spend your Runes to level up in Elden Ring. When you do rest at a Site of Grace, choose the option from the menu that says, ‘Level Up’. You’ll then be taken into a stats screen with lots of numbers. On this screen you’ll be able to see your:

Character level
Current Runes
The Runes needed to reach the next level
Your current Attribute Points
All character stats that are affected by changes to your Attributes – this includes your total health (HP), Stamina, maximum Equip Load, and Attack Power.

Elden Ring level up site of grace stats page — (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

You can scroll through the list of Attributes and allocate as many points as you have new levels. For example, if you have enough Runes to take you from level 18 to level 20, that’s two levels, so you’ll get two Attribute points to spend.

When you allocate a point into an Attribute, all character stats that are affected by the change will turn blue, indicating that they have been improved. You can add and remove Attribute points to see exactly how much each stat improves which will better inform your leveling up decisions. If you need more information, you can follow the in-game controls to see a simple view and get help boxes that have individual Elden Ring stats explained in more detail.

All Elden Ring Map Fragment locations

Elden Ring tips — (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Interested in finding all the Elden Ring map fragments? Check our guide to become the greatest cartographer of the Lands Between!

Once you’ve allocated some Attribute points, confirm your choice and your character level, Attributes, and stats will all be permanently increased. You’ll keep any Runes that didn’t get spent so that you can save them for your next level too. While Elden Ring level up changes are permanent at first, you will be able to find a rare item further into the game called the Larval Tear that allows you to reallocate previously spent attribute points. If you're interested in finding out more, check out our Elden Ring respec and Larval Tears page!

It’s also important to know that the required number of Runes for each level increases as you level up, so the higher your level, the more expensive each level is. Dying also causes you to drop your currently held Runes, and if you aren’t able to retrieve them and die again, they’re lost forever. Bosses will give you large amounts of Runes that will usually allow you to level up multiple times, but they’re rare, so you’ll explore the Lands Between to find some Elden Ring Rune farming locations to help you out.