How Leveling Works
A detailed breakdown of Runes, Attributes, Soft Caps, and how to build your character in Elden Ring.
1. How to Unlock Leveling
You cannot level up immediately when you start the game. You must first unlock the ability to turn Runes into strength.
- Find Melina: You need to rest at three distinct Sites of Grace in the overworld. The easiest path is to rest at The First Step, Church of Elleh, and then Gatefront Ruins.
- Accept the Accord: Upon resting at the third grace, a cutscene will play introducing Melina. Accept her offer.
- Level Up Menu: From now on, whenever you rest at *any* Site of Grace, you will have a "Level Up" option in the menu.
2. The Currency: Runes
In Elden Ring, Runes act as both your experience points (EXP) and your money.
- You gain Runes by defeating enemies and bosses, or by consuming Golden Rune items found in the world.
- Dying: If you die, you drop ALL the Runes you are currently holding. A compass marker will show where you died.
- Dying Twice: If you die again before picking up your dropped Runes, they are lost forever. Pro tip: If you are close to a level up, farm a few weak enemies and level up before fighting a boss!
- The cost to level up increases with every level you gain.
3. The 8 Attributes Explained
When you level up, you spend Runes to increase one of your 8 core attributes by 1 point. This increases your overall Level by 1.
| Attribute |
What it Does |
Who Needs It |
| Vigor |
Increases your maximum Health (HP) and fire resistance. |
Everyone. This is the most important stat in the game. Aim for 40-60 Vigor. |
| Mind |
Increases your Focus Points (FP), which is your mana for spells and weapon skills. |
Sorcerers, Clerics, and players who use Spirit Ashes frequently. |
| Endurance |
Increases Stamina (for attacking/dodging) and Equip Load (how heavy your armor can be). |
Melee fighters and players who want to wear heavy armor without fat-rolling. |
| Strength |
Required to wield heavy weapons. Increases damage of Strength-scaling weapons. Boosts physical defense. |
Melee builds using Greatswords, Hammers, Colossal weapons. |
| Dexterity |
Required for advanced weapons. Increases damage of Dex-scaling weapons. Slightly speeds up spell casting. |
Melee builds using Katanas, Curved Swords, Spears. Also good for casters. |
| Intelligence |
Required for Sorceries (Glintstone magic). Increases magic damage. |
Sorcerers using Staves. |
| Faith |
Required for Incantations (Fire, Lightning, Holy magic). Increases incantation damage. |
Clerics/Paladins using Sacred Seals. |
| Arcane |
Increases Item Discovery (loot drops). Scales with Bleed and Poison buildup, and Dragon magic. |
Bleed builds (Katanas with Seppuku, Rivers of Blood) and Dragon Communion casters. |
4. Soft Caps (Diminishing Returns)
Elden Ring has "Soft Caps." This means that after a certain point, putting more levels into a stat yields much smaller rewards. Knowing these caps is vital for an efficient build.
- Vigor Soft Caps: 40 and 60. You get massive HP gains up to 40. From 40 to 60, the gains are good. After 60, the HP gained per level is terrible. Never level Vigor past 60.
- Mind Soft Caps: 50 and 60. (38 Mind is usually enough for one fully upgraded Cerulean Flask).
- Endurance Soft Caps: 50 (for Stamina), 25 and 60 (for Equip Load).
- Damage Stats (Str/Dex/Int/Fth/Arc): 20, 50, and 80. Weapon damage scales decently up to 50, and starts falling off heavily after 80.
5. General Leveling Tips
- Vigor First: For the first 20-30 hours, leveling damage stats (Str/Dex) does very little compared to just upgrading your weapon at the blacksmith. Put your early points almost exclusively into Vigor so you don't die in one hit.
- Respec: Don't stress too much about your build. After you defeat the second major boss (Rennala in Liurnia), you unlock the ability to completely reset your stats using an item called a Larval Tear.
- Stat Requirements: Only level Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Faith enough to meet the minimum requirements of the weapon or spell you want to use early on. Once you hit 40-50 Vigor, then start pumping your damage stats.