What are Golden Runes in Elden Ring?

One of the first items that players are likely to find in Elden Ring, and could cause some confusion, are Golden Runes. These can often be found lying around on dead bodies, or even within glowing skulls that players can smash by rolling on them, riding over them with Torrent, or hitting them with a weapon.

Golden Runes are actually collections of Runes that players use to level up their character. Going into your Inventory will show all the items that you have picked up. If you scroll down you will come to a section for Golden Runes.

You can then select and use the Golden Runes which will cause your character to crush them, absorbing the energy into themselves. You can then spend the Runes on leveling up or items with a vendor. The Runes, just like Smithing Stones, come at different levels and reward you with different values of Runes.

How to use more than one Golden Rune at a time

When you click on the run, the first two options will be Use and Use Selected. If you pick the second option you can then pick how many of that type of Golden Rune you wish to use, allowing you to use all of them at once if you wish. This is a big timesaver and is very useful when playing the game.