A New Beginning: The Complete Guide to Rebirth in Elden Ring

Michael Alexander -

Sometimes, who we are tomorrow - or even a week from now - is not the same person we are right now.

I know, kind of heavy life advice for a video game guide, but this fact is also true for many games, especially Elden Ring. Say you’ve dumped tens or even hundreds of hours into The Lands Between, and you’re feeling boxed in by decisions you made all the way at the beginning without the information or preferences you have now.

It’s ok, we’ve all been there.

Thankfully, you aren’t locked into your uninformed decisions. If you’re willing to put the time and effort into changing your character’s strengths, it’s actually possible to respec your Tarnished through a process called Rebirth. It’s not a journey you should take lightly, but with this Complete Guide to Rebirth, at least you don’t have to go on it alone.

Rise, Tarnished. It’s time to be reborn.

What is Rebirth in Elden Ring?
As previously stated, Rebirth is Elden Ring’s process of respeccing your character.

It’s a multi-step process that requires you to play through a large chunk of the game, tackle a tough boss fight, and collect the appropriate items that are required to proceed with the ritual.

It probably sounds a little daunting (and it probably is), but we’re going to cover each step of the process in detail. This includes specific details and strategies regarding how to come out victorious in that boss fight.

We have your back, so there’s no need to worry one pretty little hair on your Tarnished head!

Why Would I Want to Use Rebirth?


Well, there are plenty of reasons. Perhaps you found an awesome new weapon that you can’t use because of how your stat points have been allocated, or maybe you’ve decided fifty hours into the game that you’d rather do more spellcasting than melee, and respeccing seems more efficient than starting the game all over again.

If that second example sounds a little specific and personal, that’s because it is.

*Note about classes in Elden Ring: it’s not actually possible to change your class at any point in a playthrough, but thankfully that doesn’t mean much. The class you choose at the beginning of the game really just determines your starting gear and gives your stats a boost in the direction of a specific playstyle. When you respec, your stats will go back to their base class states. You can then allocate stat points in stats that better fit your desired playstyle.*

Your First Steps to Rebirth: Getting to the Academy

Ok, the first step you’re going to have to take if you want to respec in Elden Ring is to make your way down to the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

Due to the open world, go-anywhere, do-anything nature of the game, there’s not really any hard and fast rules or progression limiters to stop you from going there right away. However, most people recommend that you only attempt to brave that location once you’re level 50 or so unless you’re just an Elden Ring badass. Then you can walk right up to the front gate like a cool kid!

The Academy of Raya Lucaria is located basically in the dead center of Liurnia of the Lakes, on an island in the middle of the titular lake. There’s only one way into the academy itself, which is going to require you to do some fighting or sneaking around the Glintstone Dragon Smarag to get the key to the main gate.

I won’t dictate how you explore the entire area since it’s very large and full of great loot and surprises, but just be aware that the goal (at least as it applies to Rebirth) is going to be the Grand Library.

This is where you’ll face Rennala, Queen of the Moon.

How to Defeat Rennala
Ok tough guy, you’re up.

You might have been able to weasel your way out of fights up to this point, but there’s no getting around Rennala. She’s here to fight and she plays to win, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to fight fair.

Her fight has two phases, and she summons powerful spirits to fight alongside her and her children, all of which you’re going to have to deal with simultaneously. Even better, she’s completely immune to magic and highly resistant to basically everything other than physical attacks, so you’re going to have to get up close and personal to put her down.

Phase 1

I used my Lone Wolf Ashes to get some backup, and those canine companions do a pretty good job of keeping the pesky kids off of your back while you assess the situation. While they do their thing, you’ll probably notice that Rennala is surrounded by a protective barrier. This barrier is being produced by one of the children, which should be easy to spot since it’ll be surrounded by golden light. Punch it in the face until it stops, and move on to the next one that starts up the chant. After you pulverize three children, Rennala’s barrier will collapse and she’ll fall to the ground, ready to take some damage.

Keep an eye on her movements and avoid taking too much damage as this is only the first half of the fight. When that gold energy starts to collect around her, get out of there because it explodes in your face for big damage.

You’ll also have to keep kicking kids during this process as well, so keep summoning those Wolf Ashes for help. There’s a point towards the end of phase 1 where Rennala will fling her dead children’s corpses at you, and there’s not really much I can say here to prepare you for how funny that will be in the moment. Just be ready to dodge them.

Phase 2

For phase 2, you will be transported to an ethereal plane where Rannala will cast magic at you. These projectiles are fairly easy to dodge since they move so slowly, but white glyphs will also appear on the ground to attack you from underneath if you step on them.

She’ll continue to summon more powerful spirits, but they only attack a few times before dissipating. She’s still weak to physical attacks in this stage, so be patient and careful with your attacks, and she’ll be defeated in no time.

Save Your (Larval) Tears

So you beat Rennala. Great! The most difficult part of gaining access to Rebirth is done…

Except it isn't, because now you have to find Larval Tears to actually use it.

If you’ve been playing the game for a while already, you’ve probably come across a few Larval Tears in your travels. That’s good, because hunting these suckers down made me wish for another brutal boss fight instead.

Larval Tears are rare and limited, so you can only respec as many times as the number of them you have in your possession. Each Tear equals one Rebirth, and there are 18 of them in the entire game.

I’ll save you some of the trouble of looking for Larval Tears, but it’ll be up to you to actually earn them. Trust me, some of them can’t be obtained without a fight.

When she goes down, you’ll get a boatload of runes and a Great Rune of the Unborn, which is what you need to respec.

Where to find all 18 Larval Tears

Limgrave

  • Defeat the Wandering Noble standing east of the Site of Grace at Agheel Lake South (it has a surprise for you)

Liurnia of the Lakes

  • One can be found in the Village of Albinaurics graveyard
  • Defeat the patrolling Giant Crayfish between the Rose Church and Boilprawn Shack (another surprise)
  • Touch the ghost in the graveyard to the east of Caria Manor after beating Royal Knight Loretta
  • Buy one from Pidia for 3,000 runes

Caelid

  • Defeat the Wandering Noble hanging around the coffins by the Caelid Highway South Site of Grace

Atlus Plateau

  • Defeat the Wandering Noble hiding in the ruins southeast of Windmill Village

Mt. Gelmir

  • Defeat the charred corpse enemy in the ruined camp east of the Road of Iniquity Site of Grace.

Consecrated Snowfield

  • Defeat the pilgrims southeast of the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace

Siofra River

  • Buy one from the Nomadic Merchant for 3,000 runes

Nokron, Eternal City

  • One can be picked up from a corpse in a stone building southeast of the Nokron, Eternal City Site of Grace
  • Another found on a corpse in the middle of the gazebo
  • One is dropped by an inanimate ball in Night’s Sacred Ground
  • Two are dropped by the Mimic Tear when it’s defeated

Nokstella, Eternal City

Nokstella has three tears, each of which is hidden by a large inanimate ball.

  • The first is on the bridge
  • The second is in the northeast building after the bridge
  • The third is up the stairs in the first building after the bridge

Like I said, getting some of these will be rough, but thankfully you only need as many as the number of times you plan to respec. Most people are fine with one or two, but all of them will be hunted down by true completionists. Or, you know, crazy people.

How to Respec in Elden Ring
Now that you’ve defeated Rannala and collected at least one Larval Tear, you’re finally ready to experience Rebirth and respec your character.

In order to respec, you’re going to have to head back to the Academy of Raya Lucaria, and then to the Grand Library.

Yes, this is the very same place you just stomped out all the crawling weirdos and Rennala.

In fact, you’re going to talk to Rennala to do the respeccing! Now that you’ve beaten her up, Rennala is an NPC who offers you two options when you speak to her: Rebirth, and Cosmetics. Cosmetics is fun if you want to redo how your Tarnished looks, but Rebirth is really what we’re here for.

So choose the Rebirth option, agree to spend a Larval Tear, and then your stats will go back to their state at the beginning of the game, and all of the levels you’ve earned throughout your gameplay will be free to allocate however you like. However, it’s important to know that there are diminishing returns for each stat after a certain point.

What Are the Level Soft-Caps for Each Stat?

Just to make sure your stat points are being utilized as efficiently as possible, here are the stat soft-caps (or, the point of diminishing returns) for each stat. All stats have a max level of 99.

Vigor: Level 40/60
Mind: Level 50/60
Endurance: Level 15/30/50 for Stamina, Level 25/60 for Equip Load

For the other stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane), soft-caps for levels and their effects are much more varied and nuanced. In general, the levels at which these drop off will depend on the weapons or incantations you intend to use.

And that’s all you need to know about how to reset your stats in Elden Ring. Rebirth is definitely a powerful tool in the right hands, but it doesn’t become available easily as you can tell if you had to hunt down Larval Tears. How about those disguised enemies? Pretty good jumpscare, huh? They definitely got me more than once.

I personally apologize for any spilled drinks or soiled underwear from those encounters, but you have to know what you’re getting into when you boot up a FromSoftware game.

Stay tuned for more awesome gaming content right here on GeekyInc.com!