Elden Ring’s Runebear is a Mini-Boss that More than Deserves The Upgrade to Full Boss Encounter

Appearing as early as Mistwood, the Runebear is a beast of an enemy that stocks the player all across Elden Ring as a type of mini-boss that can often block progress toward powerful items and hidden areas. However, while the Lesser Runebear variant appears sporadically, there is strangely only one location where the massive creature gets the upgrade to a full-fledged boss.

This reversal from more commonly occurring lesser mini-boss is a rarity for Elden Ring, given that most bosses that can be found as weaker variants in the field are usually found as bosses first before getting the downgrade. With a wild moveset almost reminiscent of the Guardian Ape from Sekiro, the boss version of the Runebear is a well-deserved upgrade for such a challenging enemy.

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Lesser Beasts All Around the Shop

Runebear as a Warning of Size in Elden Ring

While players can take any route through The Lands Between, and therefore run into the Runebear anywhere in the world, the enemy will most likely be discovered in Mistwood. In fact, there are several in this location, and players can just as easily find the one sleeping in Mistwood Ruins as they might find the one scratching at a tree near the area map. Either way, finding any Runebears can be an early indication that things can grow to an immense size in Elden Ring, and pack a deadly punch if disturbed.

Other examples of massive enemies can appear throughout the game before the first Runebear, like Flying Dragon Agheel in the Dragon-Burned Ruins, but those are par for the course for fantasy dragons, especially in FromSoftware games. The Runebear is a slightly more unique spectacle, given that there are regular bears around where these first few lesser variants can be found, and they don’t even come close to the size of their larger cousins. This is what continues to help the Runebear stand out as a unique part of Elden Ring, separating this latest title from the developer’s other fantasy outings.

Runebear as a Solution to Puzzles in Elden Ring

There are plenty of puzzles in Elden Ring that can keep players racking their brains for answers for days, but other unique interactions like the Stone Statues throughout the Lands Between are simple enough to understand. While at first, they seem to be impossible to open for the player, the trick to getting the treasures inside is to lure a larger enemy to break the statue. On more than one occasion, the Lesser Runebears are exactly the enemies that are large enough to shatter these statues and unlock the smithing stones that are glowing within.

Finding this Challenging Enemy in Boss Form

A Runebear Hidden Away in a Far-Off Cave

The single Runebear to be found in the Lands Between as a boss resides in the Earthbore Cave, hidden away at the northern end of the Weeping Peninsula. This is a cave that can only be found by going off the beaten path within the Weeping Peninsula, which is already a location that players might not find until late into their adventures into Limgrave. It’s a strange choice for the boss variant of an enemy that otherwise receives a lot of attention in its lesser form across the rest of Elden Ring.

For those looking for a true challenge from a Runebear, this is also one of the more difficult versions of the enemy, given that it tends to catch players off guard from the start and has a slightly expanded moveset compared to the lesser forms. That is unless players use a cheat that is unique to the boss Runebear, where shaking out of the enemy’s grab attack can send it plummeting through the floor for an easy instant kill. So, if that particular Runebear is giving a player trouble, there are options to get around the fight, even if it robs them of a unique encounter.

Elden Ring

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Elden Ring is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set in a world co-created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of the influential Dark Souls video game series, and George R.R. Martin, the author of the best-selling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. This collaboration between two renowned creators has resulted in FromSoftware’s largest game to date, filled with danger and discovery at every turn. Hidetaka Miyazaki, president and game director of FromSoftware, has a history of directing highly acclaimed games in franchises such as Armored Core and Dark Souls.

Released

February 25, 2022

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

How Long To Beat

58 Hours

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary

Metascore

96

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

PS Plus Availability

N/A

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