Elden Ring Runes: What You Should Never Buy

In Elden Ring, runes are the most essential currency used to level up, buy equipment, and upgrade your arsenal. However, not every purchase is worth your precious elden ring runes. Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned Tarnished, it's easy to make poor spending decisions that can slow your progress or lead to regret. This guide explores what elden ring items are best avoided to keep your rune usage smart and efficient.

Avoid Buying Common Crafting Materials

Throughout the Lands Between, you’ll encounter materials like Erdleaf Flowers, Rowa Fruit, or Smoldering Butterflies. These items are found in abundance in the open world and respawn regularly, meaning there’s rarely a need to spend elden ring runes on them from merchants. Buying these can feel convenient, but in the long run, it’s an unnecessary drain on your resources.

Better Alternative: Explore regions thoroughly and collect crafting items naturally. Use runes for rare or valuable elden ring items instead.

Don’t Waste Runes on Weak Weapons or Duplicates

It’s tempting to buy multiple weapons early on, especially when you’re unsure which build you’ll commit to. But spending Elden Ring runes on basic swords, daggers, or weapons with mediocre scaling is not cost-effective. Many of these can be looted from enemies or found in the world for free.

Better Alternative: Stick to looted weapons or rewards from side quests until you discover a weapon that suits your build. Then invest in upgrades using smithing stones.

Avoid Stockpiling Low-Tier Spirit Ashes

Spirit Ashes are a fun and strategic elden ring item type, allowing you to summon allies in tough battles. However, not all ashes are created equal. Low-tier ashes like Lone Wolf Ashes or Noble Sorcerer Ashes have limited usefulness in the mid to late game. Buying too many of these early options with your elden ring runes can limit your ability to buy more powerful upgrades later.

Better Alternative: Focus on upgrading one or two versatile ashes, like the Mimic Tear or Lhutel the Headless, and acquire them through exploration rather than purchase.

Say No to Excess Ammunition

Arrows and bolts are often sold by merchants in bulk. While ranged weapons are useful, especially for pulling enemies or dealing with flying foes, it’s not necessary to buy hundreds of arrows at once. Overcommitting to ammunition can drain runes you’ll need for leveling up or more important elden ring items.

Better Alternative: Craft arrows as needed or only buy small quantities until you unlock better options or acquire crafting recipes.

Skip Buying Heavy Armor Sets Too Early

Heavy armor looks cool and offers great defense, but many of the early sets sold by vendors come with major trade-offs. Most notably, they require high endurance to equip without suffering from the dreaded “fat roll.” If your build doesn’t support high endurance yet, investing in these armors with your elden ring runes will be premature.

Better Alternative: Mix and match found armor pieces until your stats support heavier gear. Many powerful armor sets can also be found through exploration or boss drops.

Avoid Respec Items Unless Absolutely Needed

Larval Tears are used to respec your character’s stats later in the game. While they’re rare and valuable, some players waste them by experimenting without a clear plan. If you spend runes acquiring or hunting down Larval Tears just to "test builds," you may end up short on key elden ring items and leveling opportunities.

Better Alternative: Research and plan your build carefully before using a Larval Tear. This ensures your elden ring runes are supporting long-term progression.

Your elden ring runes are your lifeline in the Lands Between. While temptation is everywhere, the smartest players avoid wasting runes on easily farmable or unnecessary elden ring items. Stick to thoughtful purchases, explore thoroughly, and focus on upgrades that align with your build. That way, your rune investments will lead to real power—not regret.