In Elden Ring, runes are the core currency used for leveling up, buying gear, and upgrading your arsenal. Many players wonder whether it’s possible to trade elden ring runes directly with friends or other players online. While the game has a unique multiplayer system that allows for cooperative play and item exchanges, trading runes comes with limitations that players should understand.
How Trading Works in Elden Ring
Elden Ring does allow players to trade certain elden ring items, such as weapons, armor, talismans, and crafting materials. This is typically done through multiplayer summoning. One player joins another’s world, drops an item on the ground, and the other player picks it up. However, not everything is tradable, and this is especially true when it comes to elden ring runes.
Can You Directly Trade Runes?
The short answer is no—you cannot directly trade elden ring runes like you would regular items. Runes are a form of currency and experience points, and the game does not include a mechanic for dropping or gifting raw rune quantities. This limitation helps preserve game balance and prevents unfair rune farming or boosting.
Indirect Rune Sharing Methods
Although you can’t hand over runes directly, there are indirect ways to help others earn them:
- Rune Item Drops: Some elden ring items, such as consumables like the Golden Rune series, can be dropped and picked up by other players. These items grant runes when consumed, making them the closest legal method of “trading” runes.
- Co-op Rune Farming: You can summon friends to your world (or join theirs) and help them defeat enemies and bosses. Everyone in the group earns elden ring runes for kills and victories, making it a team-based way of boosting rune income.
- PvP Farming & Helping Hosts: When you assist a host in multiplayer or win invasions, you earn bonus runes. So even if you can’t trade runes directly, helping others can generate a good rune income for both parties.
Why Rune Trading Is Restricted
FromSoftware has always placed a strong emphasis on maintaining a fair challenge in its games. Allowing players to flood each other with elden ring runes would undermine the difficulty curve and progression design. By restricting rune trading, the developers encourage players to explore, fight, and earn their progress through gameplay rather than external handouts.
What You Can Trade
Here are some of the elden ring items that can be traded with other players:
- Weapons (provided they meet level restrictions)
- Armor pieces
- Talismans
- Upgrade materials
- Consumables (excluding key items and some rare materials)
These trading possibilities make it easier for friends to share helpful gear while still respecting the limits set on rune exchange.
While you cannot directly trade elden ring runes with others, the game still offers a variety of ways to help friends or farm together. Through co-op battles and dropping rune-granting consumables, players can share a similar benefit. Elden Ring’s item trading rules are designed to keep gameplay balanced and rewarding, emphasizing skill and perseverance over easy shortcuts.
If you’re struggling to collect enough runes or elden ring items, teaming up with experienced players or exploring high-reward farming zones might be your best bet to get ahead.