In Elden Ring, the Gold Scarab talisman is all but essential for farming runes en masse. The well-hidden but incredibly useful item boosts the rate at which you acquire runes (the game’s term for XP or “souls” in previous FromSoft games) by about 20 percent. It’s also a permanent upgrade. As long as you equip the talisman, of course. It even stacks with other rune acquisition buffs, like the Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot consumable. This makes the Gold Scarab the equivalent of the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring from Dark Souls. You almost definitely want it in your arsenal. The trick is finding the dang thing. That’s what this guide is for! We’ll help you find your very own Gold Scarab and make Elden Ring rune farming just a bit less painless. Let’s take a look.
To begin, you need to have reached Caelid: the red, swampy region full of poisonous muck and horrible mutations. You can enter the zone in one of two ways. One is simply following the roads. The street that leads northeast of Limgrave, starting at the Stormhill Shack where you meet Roderika, will eventually take you through Summonwater Village. Past there things take a turn for the crimson. Just a bit southeast of this entry point is a Birdseye Telescope and the Smoldering Wall Site of Grace. If you have trouble finding either of these locations, remember that you can always see the telescopes as an icon on your map, and you can always find maps at the obelisk-like “steles” that are also always marked on your map.
The second way into Caelid lies under the Dragon-Burnt Ruins. These are the, um, dragon-burnt ruins in the lakebed of Limgrave. The very same lake where you can encounter your first dragon. You don’t need to fight the scaly one to get inside. Just run past him and the undead weaklings nearby. Amidst the rubble is a set of stairs leading down into a cellar. Open the chest in said cellar to transport into Caelid.
This latter method into the swamp can be faster, in theory, but it’s more dangerous. Taking the transporter will lock you in a place called Sellia Crystal Tunnel. You won’t be able to leave until you exit the dungeon and rest at a Site of Grace. Luckily, you can stealth your way through most of the tunnel. Then just ride Torrent southwest through the (rot-infested) swamp of Aeonia before turning north to reach the telescope.
However you get to Caelid, start at the Smoldering Wall. Then head due east. You’ll pass one of those horrible chicken-dog enemies before reaching a single Abductor Virgin. These are the metal coffins on wheels, with chained weapons for arms. They’re also a pain to battle at almost any level. You can fight it or move past it. If do you choose to fight it, note that Abductor Virgins take significantly less damage while their bodies are closed. You can use ranged attacks on their meaty insides when they open wide, but be careful not to let them… eat you.
Past this Abductor Virgin are piles and piles of the dead chicken-dogs. A handful in particular are strewn over a log to the east — just beside a cliff. Facing toward the cliff, look left of the log and its two corpses. There are more branches growing from this side of the cliff. You can walk across these to the other wall of a nearby canyon, using the dead tree as if it were a bridge. And, if you’re playing online, you will probably already see messages and bloodstains to guide you at this point. All you need to do is reach the end of the branch. Dead ahead of you, hewn into this side of the canyon, is a cave. That is to say the Abandoned Cave dungeon. Touch the grace inside and get ready for a fight.
The Abandoned Cave is pretty straightforward. That doesn’t make it any less of a pain in the ass. The red goop inside will slowly give you the Scarlet Rot status effect. Think of this as super-poison, or the “Toxic” status from Dark Souls. And the red gas? That will automatically damage you when you walk through it. Finally, the bubbling geysers on the ground are likely instant death if you stand on top of them as they erupt. All of this occurs while you’re forced to move slowly through the muck.
Besides the boss, though, this first stretch is the worst the dungeon has to offer. Use your anti-rot items and spells (e.g. Preserving Boluses and the Flame, Cleanse Me incantation) just after exiting the first swamp hallway. There’s much less Scarlet Rot deeper inside. Instead, you get to contend with mushroom wizards, giant rats, and Miranda Flowers. These basic enemies are trivial by comparison. Though the boss room has even more Scarlet Rot to avoid. Speaking of which, the boss of this area is two Cleanrot Knights who greet you with incantations and spears. These are technically just normal enemies, juiced up with boss-sized health bars, but you need to contend with two at once. Without Torrent. In an enclosed space…
Spirit Summoning or co-op can help a great deal here. The Cleanrot Knights aren’t too terrible when they’re not both barreling down on you at once. Drawing their aggression will give you time to stagger (using jumping and charged attacks) and land critical hits. Focus on just one at first, if you can, and the second will go down much easier alone.
Your reward for all this goopy hell is the lovable Gold Scarab! Simply equip the talisman like any other item in the game and you’ll receive 20 percent extra runes all throughout your time in Elden Ring. Just don’t forget to take it off and replace it with a more useful talisman when a boss gives you major trouble. It’s for farming, not for fighting.
Good luck out there, Tarnished!
