Your starting build is pretty important in any RPG. Leveling up your character by upgrading stats is crucial in Elden Ring, as it has always been in FromSoft games. There’s a lot of laboring and theorycrafting that goes into designing these class-based systems, and even more work is done by players in understanding them. And sometimes, you make mistakes. Or maybe you found out a build just wasn’t that fun to play. Luckily, you’re not super locked in.
RPGs as a genre have long had this kind of player choice baked in. This is known as “respeccing” and it refers to the process of changing your allocation of levels and stats. The process is a bit more complex than it first might appear. You need to get through the game a bit, and then you need to find a certain item. Keep reading to learn what to do.
How to respec in Elden Ring
Elden Ring allows you to respec your character’s stats pretty soon into the game. You do need to get some game progress under your belt though, as the developers clearly intend you to find a build that works for you. The game wants you to experiment, and you’re encouraged to try and find a gear and stat makeup that works for your desired experience. But if you’re not having fun, there’s no harm in using a respec in Elden Ring.
To unlock the ability to respec, you need to reach the Academy of Raya Lucaria, and defeat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. She is the second major boss in the game after Godrick the Grafted, so it’s likely to take you some time to reach that point. These bosses aren’t meant to be easy, after all. Once you defeat Rennala, she will offer you a chance at “rebirth,” which is the term the game uses for a respec. You need a special item though.
Rennala will appear in the Raya Lucaria Grand Library after being defeated but will not be hostile and can be talked to. From here, you can respec in Elden Ring to reroll your stat choices.
How to get a Larval Tear
To do this, you need a special item, called a Larval Tear. Each zone of the game map has some Larval Tears, you just need to find them. They are all over, usually hidden in different areas. To find Larval Tears, you’ll need to find and hunt down the mimics in the game. These aren’t like Mimics that imitated chests from previous games, but they often take the form of powerful mini-bosses. They can be randomly found throughout the open world. Larval Tears are very rare items, and they take some work to get. There are a few locations you can find a mini-boss that should drop them.
- Head to the Village of the Albinaurics in southwest Liurnia. There will be a side road out of the ravine in this area that leads there. Explore the tombs and kill the creepy crawling enemies here, some of them may drop Larval Tears.
- The other location you can check is the Fallen Ruins of the Lake in the center of the Liurnia’s lake zone. From there, just head south until you find the Giant Crayfish. Beating that enemy should spawn a second enemy called a Grafted Scion, kill that to get the Tear.
- There’s another in the Central Altus Plateau. head east of Minor Erdtree to the ruins and defeat the Lion beast enemy to obtain the Larvel Tear.
- Two Larvel Tears can be obtained by defeating the Mimic Tear boss, who is located in Nokron, Eternal City.
- You can also obtain one as part of the reward for finding the Resurrection Painting craft location.
If you’re playing and enjoying the game, good for you! You might have questions though, so we have some guides to help you out. When making a character, picking the right class is important. Figure out how to level up your character once you’re in the game. From there, you might want to learn how to upgrade gear, or maybe how to find powerful weapons, like the Meteorite Staff. Or perhaps you’re a melee player and want that shiny new Rivers of Blood katana to hack away with? If you’re dealing with a lot of Undead, try grabbing the Golden Epitaph. Get the Mimic Tear Summon for a powerful ally. If you’re after better gear, give the Ronin Armor or the Urumi Whip a try.
