There are multiple ways to develop your character in Elden Ring. With a variety of different stats, weapons and spell types, it can often become a stressful process to choose where your level up bonuses are assigned.
As a result, it’s inevitable at some point you will second-guess yourself and wonder if you truly built your character in the way that best suits your playstyle. Alternatively, you may simply wish to try out something different without having to start from scratch.
Thankfully, once you’ve reached a certain point in the game you can respec your character and reassign those stat bonuses elsewhere. Everything you need to know is right below in this guide of how to respec your character in Elden Ring.
- RELATED: Elden Ring Review (spoiler-free)
How to respec in Elden Ring
You can respec by clearing the Raya Lucaria Academy, which is a legacy dungeon located in the Liurnia of the Lakes region.
Technically this is an optional dungeon but it’s very likely you’ll come across it on your travels and will probably be the second legacy dungeon you discover (with Stormveil Castle being the first).
Once you reach the end of this dungeon, you’ll fight Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. After defeating her, she remains in the final room where you can speak to her. There’s also a new Site of Grace called Raya Lucaria Grand Library, so you can fast travel back here easily.
Rennala will offer you the option of ‘Rebirth’, which is essentially the ability to completely respec your character. You must provide her with one Larval Tear, which are rare items found in the Lands Between (the best locations are listed below).
You can respec multiple times but this will cost you a Larval Tear each time. Therefore it’s best to give this due consideration before you undergo the Rebirth.
How a respec works in Elden Ring
If you select the option to ‘Rebirth’ then you will be sent to the Level Up screen. Here, your stat points earned for levelling up can be reset and reassigned to different attributes.
It is not possible to simply reduce an attribute by a few points and spend them elsewhere. It’s an all-or-nothing approach where you must re-spend all of your points. Of course, if you don’t want to undergo any drastic changes you can simply spend your points in the exact same way as before and just tinker the last few.
You should also note that you cannot reduce your level or attributes below the number you started with when you first selected your class. Therefore certain minimum thresholds are locked in for your entire playthrough. If you want a completely new class altogether, you would need to start a new game, but there is more than enough leeway to adopt any build type in any class so this drastic approach isn’t necessary.
How to change appearance in Elden Ring
The other service provided by Rennala is called ‘Cosmetics’. As you can probably guess, this is the option to alter the physical appearance of your character, basically taking you back to the character customisation screen from the very start of the game. If, like me, you were extremely excited to delve into Elden Ring’s gameplay, chances are you may have rushed this the first time around.
Another option to change appearance in Elden Ring is in Roundtable Hold. Head into the room next to Hewg the Blacksmith, which contains the kindly lady in bed who offers to hold you. In here, approach the mirror and you’ll be given the option to ‘Use dressing table’ and then ‘Apply Cosmetics’. Select this option and you can enter the customisation screen without even needing to defeat Rennala.
The good news is that this service doesn’t cost any runes or any items, giving a free reign to make the adjustments you deem fit. Make sure you don’t quit out of the screen without specifically selecting ‘Finish Cosmetics’ or the changes won’t save.
Larval Tear locations in Elden Ring
Although they are rare, there are multiple places to find Larval Tears in the Lands Between. Here are all of the different places to find them, broken down by region.
Limgrave
- Head to the South Agheel Lake Site of Grace, which is in the southern part of Limgrave. Just to the east, you’ll find a generic zombie enemy. Defeat him and he’ll transform into a bear! Defeat the bear and he’ll drop a Larval Tear.
Liurnia of the Lakes
- The easiest early-game Larval Tear to obtain is probably the one at Village of the Albinaurics. This is in the southwest part of Liurnia of the Lakes. You must travel under the large mountainous landmass on the map and reach a pathway that leads up to a dark, spooky village. Just upon arrival, you’ll see a cemetery on the right-hand side and one of the corpses can be pillaged for a Larval Tear.
- Another Larval Tear from Liurnia is dropped by a Grafted Scion. Find the Rose Church in the southwest area of the lake and fight a lobster enemy who transforms into an identical creature to the first boss of the game. This boss likely annihilated you, so get a bit of revenge and you’ll be rewarded with the Larval Tear.
- After beating Royal Knight Loretta at the end of Caria Manor, you can go around the Northwest part of the building to the Three Sisters region. Drop down the cliff a few times before finding a secret passage down to a merchant named Pidia, who sells a Larval Tear. If she’s dead, you’ll find the Bell Bearing to offer to the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold and you can buy from them instead. I wouldn’t bother with this one because it’s a pain to reach and costs 3,000 runes. There’s another far easier one nearby.
- Instead, go outside Caria Manor and around the northeast corner of the building. Head south to the edge of a cliff where you’ll find a ghost sitting on a chair. Interact with it to receive a Larval Tear free of charge.
Caelid
- At the Cathedral of Dragon Communion, you can find another zombie soldier who will transform into a troll and drop a Larval Tear upon being beaten. He’s in the northwest area nearby.
- In the cemetery in the southwest area of Caelid, there are a few undead enemies. One of them will also transform into a troll who will drop a Larval Tear.
Atlus Plateau
- South of Windmill Village, on the upper level just to the east of the Erdtree is yet another easy-looking enemy who will transform into a far tougher one. This time, a soldier will become a Lion Guardian who must be beaten to earn your Larval Tear. The closest Site of Grace is the Rampartside Path.
- On your way down Mt Gelmir from the Road of Inquiry Site of Grace, there’s an enemy near a corpse-ridden camp who will turn into a Colossal Wormface. Beat it to earn the Larval Tear.
Underground Map
If you’ve beaten Radahn and unlocked Nokron, the Eternal City, then plenty more Larval Tears will be available to you. Some of these are particularly easy, so you should fulfill all of your respec needs here.
- In the very first outer area of Nokron, there is a large building on the right-hand side. Enter to find the Larval Tear lying on the floor.
- A little further on, down a staircase within an altar-like structure, there’s a dead body which has a Larval Tear to be pillaged.
- Afterwards you will shortly come up against the Mimic Tear boss, who drops two Larval Tears upon defeat.
- Reach the city itself by jumping down along the rooftops from near the Ancestral Woods Site of Grace. Eventually you will find a giant ball that rolls around and chases you. This is not simply a trap but an enemy that can be attacked and defeated. It drops a Larval Tear.
- At Siofra River, there is a merchant who sells a Larval Tear for 3,000 runes. Find the wooden platforms with ladders attached, climb them and follow the path all the way around to get inside the ruins and find him.
- If you reach Nokstella (in a different part of the underground map), there’s a bridge where another of these large balls will pursue you down the stairs. Destroy it for another Larval Tear.
- Right around the corner on the right-hand side of this bridge is a door that closes when you enter. Yet another giant ball will emerge, which drops a Larval Tear when killed.
- Last but not least, there is a final giant ball after the bridge if you go up the stairs and through a different door. The ball is on the ceiling ready to drop onto you, with several silver slime enemies around it as well. Be careful!
Other
- In the Consecrated Snowfield, head Southeast from the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace to find three undead enemies. One will transform into a bear who drops a Larval Tear.
Can you farm Larval Tears?
No, it’s not possible to farm Larval Tears. There is still a bit of debate about this, but it appears there are exactly 18 in the game. This isn’t a huge problem since you are unlikely to respec more than a few times, and there are plenty of easy Larval Tears to obtain without the need to farm them.
Best builds to respec in Elden Ring
Whilst the best Elden Ring build comes down to personal preference, it’s generally not a good idea to spread out attributes evenly. Instead, you should pick the particular things you wish to prioritise and focus on them.
For instance, a traditional melee strength build should probably dedicate most of their points towards Vigor, Strength and Stamina, with the odd Dexterity point.
Ranged magical builds will always require Intelligence and Mind, with the likes of Faith and Arcane taking up a fair share of the points. The latter two are also crucial for Dragon-based incantations.
Other than playstyle, the most important aspect of picking your attributes is how they affect your weapons. All of the best weapons have specific attribute thresholds that must be hit in order to wield them effectively. If you wish to use the beast Bleed weapons in the game, these will require significant Dexterity and Arcane enhancements.
Before you respec, it’s a good idea to scroll through your weapons and spells to consider which specific ones you want to use. Generally, the same attributes will be required for superior versions of the weapons and magic in question, and you will therefore be far better off spending your stats disproportionately that try to be an all-rounder. Like life itself, you can’t have it all.
There’s no right answer here, but hopefully with a plethora of Larval Tears you can try out a few variations and find the best build for you.
There you have it, everything you need to know about how to respect in Elden Ring. For some more Elden Ring assistance, check out the articles below.
