Losing Runes in Elden Ring can be quite disheartening, especially if it happens during a boss fight. If you’re not careful, you might end up losing a great number of Runes inside of a boss arena, which seemingly leaves you with two options: Run inside to grab them and hope you can defeat the boss this time, or simply leave them. However, there is a third way, and it involves an exploit that has been a staple of FromSoftware’s Souls series since Demon’s Souls. By saving and quitting out of the game mid-fight, you can recover Runes dropped during a boss fight without having to win.
To do this, start by going through the Mist Gate leading to the boss you’re facing. Make a mad dash for your dropped Runes, pick them up, and then make a ton of distance between you and the boss. Now, bring up the start menu, scroll down to “system,” go over to the “quit game” submenu, and confirm that you would like to quit the game. You’ll return to the title screen. It’s important to do this quickly before the boss has a chance to kill you.
At the title screen, reload your game. Your character will spawn outside of the Mist Gate with all previously dropped Runes in their possession. Now you’re free to spend them however you like. This method certainly isn’t risk-free, so we recommend you go into boss fights with as few Runes as possible to avoid potentially losing any accrued Runes.
