Close-up shot of Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon clutching the Amber Egg to her chest in the grand library.

How to Respec in Elden Ring


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In a lot of FromSoftware’s action RPGs, there is often a cost for re-specializing (respec for short) your character. In Elden Ring, you’ll need to defeat one of the demi-gods and gather a rare resource.

Defeat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon

The player is speaking to Rennala, who is wearing a ornate blue gown and a crescent-shaped hat. She is also holding a large amber egg to her chest and she sits.

In a novel mechanic, you’ll have to defeat one of the game’s major bosses in order to respec your character. Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon becomes a friendly NPC after you defeat her in battle. When you talk to her, she’ll have three options: Leave, Cosmetics, and Rebirth.

The “Leave” option is self-explanatory, but the other two are a bit more complex. The “Cosmetics” option lets you change your appearance, which, interestingly, has no cost whatsoever. As for the “Rebirth” option—this is what you’ll need to respec. However, if you select Rebirth, you’ll get a message that says “A Larval Tear is required for rebirth”.

Where to Find Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon

You can find Rennala at the very top of Raya Lucaria. This magical academy is the huge castle in the middle of Liurnia of the Lakes. You’ll need to ascend through the many sorcery-related obstacles to reach the full moon witch in the school’s grand library. However, when you do, you’ll need to defeat her in a unique two-phase boss fight.

Where to Find Larval Tears

The player picking up a Larval Tear in a dark area. The Larval Tear is a white blob.

You can find a few Larval Tears on the ground in item form as you explore the Lands Between. However, most are dropped by foes who are in disguise or in places with close ties to Silver Tear enemies. Here’s a breakdown of where each obtainable Larval Tear is located in Elden Ring:

Limgrave Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • East of the Agheel Lake South Site of Grace, you can find a Lesser Runebear that is disguised as an Undead Soldier that will drop 1 Larval Tear

Caelid Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • South of the Caelid Highway South Site of Grace, you can find a Troll disguised as an Undead Soldier that will drop 1 Larval Tear

Liurnia of the Lakes Larval Tears (4 Total)

  • As you climb the hill under the cliffs in the south of Liurnia, you’ll find a small graveyard on the way to the Village of Albinaurics Site of Grace that has 1 Larval Tear on the ground
  • Between the Rose Church and Boilprawn Shack, you can find a Grafted Scion disguised as a Giant Prawn that will drop 1 Larval Tear
  • East of Caria Manor (the Three Sisters area), you can find a ghost that will drop 1 Larval Tear and some other loot if you talk to them
  • East of Caria Manor, there is a dropdown area that leads to the merchant Pidia, Carian Servant, who will have 1 Larval Tear to sell for 3,000 Runes (among other items)

Altus Plateau Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • In the ruins north of the Rampartside Path Site of Grace, you can find a Lion Guardian disguised as an Undead Soldier that will drop 1 Larval Tear

Mount Gelmir Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • In the ruined camp east of the Road of Inequities Site of Grace, you can find a Colossal Wormface disguised as a burnt corpse that will drop 1 Larval Tear

Siofra River Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • There is a Nomadic Merchant in Siofra River who will have 1 Larval Tear to sell for 3,000 Runes (among other items)

Nokron, Eternal City Larval Tears (5 Total)

  • The Mimic Tear boss will drop 2 Larval Tears
  • Southeast of the Nokron, Eternal City Site of Grace, there is a corpse inside of a building that can be looted for 1 Larval Tear
  • Northwest of the Mimic Tear boss room, there is a corpse inside of a gazebo that can be looted for 1 Larval Tear
  • Northeast of the Night’s Sacred Grounds Site of Grace, you can find a Silver Tear disguised as a big, spherical object that will drop 1 Larval Tear

Nokstella, Eternal City Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • On the bridge north of the Dragonkin Solider boss, you can find a Silver Tear disguised as a big, spherical object that will drop 1 Larval Tear

Consecrated Snowfield Larval Tears (1 Total)

  • Southeast of the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace, you can find a Runebear disguised as a half-buried Pilgrim that will drop 1 Larval Tear

What Are Larval Tears?

A silver organ that looks a bit like a human lung.

Larval Tears are the cores of beings known as Silver Tears. These slime-like shiny beings are linked to acts of mimicry. Although, not all Silver Tears drop Larval Tears. You can find a number of these foes in Nokron, Eternal City, but only the ones in disguise drop Larval Tears. Furthermore, Larval Tears are most commonly found on disguised enemies. This indicates that the Larval Tears themselves are what cause transformations.

You need Larval Tears to “feed” the Amber Egg that Rennala is holding. If you find this to be unsettling, you’re completely justified in thinking so. Larval Tears, in their item description, are mentioned to be living organisms. Additionally, it is described as being a substance. From this, it can be theorized that Larval Tears are some sort of soul-organ-parasite hybrid.

Both Larval Tears and Silver Tears can be traced back to the Mimic Tear. This special Silver Tear seems to be particularly skilled in transformations. As such, in the fight against it, it will even copy your character. Although seeming like just a more powerful Silver Tear, this boss may be the origin of the species.

When You Should Respec Your Character

The player looking at a spell in a menu that they do not have enough intelligence to cast.

Whenever you pick up a cool weapon and see its stat requirements, you may be tempted to respec. However, Larval Tears are pretty hard to come by, so you should use them sparingly. The number of them in Elden Ring is thankfully somewhat high, but the foes that guard them are fierce. A good rule of thumb is to always keep at least one Larval Tear in your inventory at a time. Think of this as an ’emergency respec’ in case you get stuck with a weird and ineffective build.

With that said, experimenting with fun builds is one of the greatest parts of Elden Ring. Doing individual playthroughs for every build can be enjoyable, but don’t be afraid to change things up a bit once in a while. There are tons of awesome weapons and spells to try out, so go nuts if you have the Larval Tears to spend!