Elden Ring Sleeping Dragon Guide – 100,000 Runes Early Game

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Emily Medlock

Emily is a keen RPG and survival gaming fan that has been writing about games for almost as long as she has been playing them. It's a tough question to answer, but if pushed, her top five games are Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, League of Legends, Final Fantasy XIV, Ark: Survival Evolved, and Fable.

Latest posts by Emily Medlock (see all)

• Elden Ring Smithing Stone Guide - March 30, 2022
• Elden Ring Sleeping Dragon Guide – 100,000 Runes Early Game - March 29, 2022
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The Sleeping Dragon in Elden Ring is one of the game’s most interesting secrets. While fighting difficult bosses and exploring hidden areas is what From Software games are all about, sometimes you need a boost to progress through the game efficiently. There is a way to get 100,000 runes five minutes after entering Limgrave. The source is a ginormous sleeping dragon called Elder Dragon Greyoll. This secret didn’t stay hidden for long, as players who found the gem share it like crazy. 

While there are many other “farms” in Elden Ring, this one is special because it is easy to reach early game and doesn’t require any combat. Meaning you won’t take any damage at all. Curious? Good. 

What Is The Sleeping Dragon In Elden Ring?

• Location – Caelid, Near Fort Faroth
• Health – 87,664
• Runes – 50,000 – 100,000
• Reward – 5x Dragon Hearts
• Difficulty – 1/5

Let me tell you something about my journey with the Sleeping Dragon. I am an anti-spoiler and anti-exploit. I don’t judge others for being pro-spoiler or pro-exploit, but I enjoy doing things independently. So when I ran onto Elder Dragon Greyoll, I was met with the biggest jumpscare in the entire game. I did not expect such a large and vicious-looking force of nature to appear right before my very eyes.

From afar, she looks like terrain. But when I neared her, she let out a roar, and the ground shook. I ran as fast as I could away from her. That’s when I realized she didn’t follow me. So, I slowly trotted back to her with Torrent and let out a whack (thankfully, I had just spent my runes, so I had nothing to lose). After a few minutes, she was taken down, and I received over 70,000 runes. I also received the five dragon hearts, but I had no idea what they were for at the time.

Where To Find The Sleeping Dragon In Elden Ring

Elden Ring‘s Sleeping Dragon can be found in Caelid, the red area on the map to the east. It can be helpful to get the map fragment for the area before you head that way, but I’ll go over that location later. There are also two methods to reaching the Sleeping Dragon. The traditional way is to follow the road to the dragon. But the other method is easier to handle early on when you don’t have any sites of grace in Caelid.

Through The Portal

This is the path I took as I found the portal while exploring. Despite popular belief, you don’t have to do anything to activate the portal. There is a quest that the portal is involved in, but you don’t have to do it to use the portal. Instead, head to the Third Church of Marika. You can find the church by following the road to the northeast of the lake in Limgrave. This will take you directly to the church. From there, follow the river, and you will find a portal behind some bushes. This will take you to the far northeast corner of Caelid. Grab the Site of Grace inside of the Sanctum and pause.

There is a boss outside of the door. Do not aggro him. Instead, jump over the railing with Torrent and run down the road. The road will take you to an Erdtree. Once you reach the tree, redirect to the southwest and find the dragon resting there. 

Up The Road

This is a longer route, but if you can survive, it pays off as you will be able to collect Graces – and treasure – along the way. You can reach this from the start by entering Caelid from Limgrave. You can follow any road, but if you opt for the route in the southern portion of Caelid, you can follow it nearly the entire way there. This is the large road in the south. If you opt for the northern path, the road is smaller and more challenging to see. You know you’ve gone too far when you reach the Erdtree or the large bridge that leads to the Bestial Sanctum. 

How To Defeat The Sleeping Dragon

There are two ways to kill the dragon. If you have the damage, one of them is faster than the other. But if you don’t, then there is only one efficient option. Let me go over both options to help you decide which is right for you.

Slay Her From Behind

This is by far the easiest way as you can avoid aggro from her babies. The dragon mother will never attack you. It can take fifteen minutes if you’re only level 1-10. I believe I was around level 30-40, and it took a few minutes anyway. Bleed can help, despite her resistance to it, as she isn’t immune. If you are going to upgrade any weapons, you can do it beforehand to slay her faster. But it doesn’t matter how long it takes because the runes will be well worth it. 

Kill Her Baby Dragons

Many players don’t realize that if you kill all of the dragon’s babies, she will die. Each of the babies deals 20% damage to her, but they will attack you. So you can kill all five, and she will die, granting you the rewards. However, you won’t be able to accomplish this the minute you reach Caelid unless you’ve leveled significantly. So, it will be worth the time to avoid the frustration unless you are confident you can take on all five baby dragons without dying. 

What To Do Before Finding The Sleeping Dragon

Although you can head directly for the sleeping dragon, there are a few things you can do to make your journey much more manageable. The first is the most important as it will be difficult to reach the dragon without it.

Unlock Torrent

Torrent is the mount you can unlock in the first five minutes of reaching Limgrave. All you have to do is rest at one of the Sites of Grace near Gatefront Ruins. You don’t have to fight any enemies; simply follow the waypoint arrows on the map’s Sites of Grace. From the area you start in Limgrace, head north. I highly recommend stopping by the Church of Ellah and speaking to the merchant there. Visit that Site of Grace (and the merchant) often in the early hours of your gameplay. After you rest, follow the road until you reach Gatefront Ruins. Rest at either of the Sites of Grace, and you will speak to Melina. She will ask you a question, and you should accept, which will grant you Torrent, your trusty horse-ram hybrid. With Torrent, you can travel much faster and avoid enemies much easier.

Grab A Weapon – No Combat Needed

A few early-game weapons you can find right off the bat will make slaying the Sleeping Dragon easier. While there are some great weapons you can get early on that require fights, I will focus on the ones you can quickly grab at level 1.

Flail

• Location – Caravan at Gatefront Ruins

The Flail is a good option because it doesn’t require combat and the weapon inflicts blood loss. With the blood loss, you can take chunks away from the dragon’s health every few hits, speeding up the process. You can grab it while you are getting Torrent. I recommend backstabbing the enemy guarding it. None of the others are alerted, and you can sneak the Flail without any actual combat.

Great Epee

• Location – Agheel Lake

The Great Epee is an excellent early game weapon that you can grab from a chest southeast of Agheel lake. All you have to do is head to a statue on a cliff that is hard to miss. It looks like a piece of a broken bowl. From there, you can spot a group of enemies with a chest in the middle. You can fight them if you want, but I made it way by sneaking as close as I could, then running in and out, hopping on Torrent right as I grabbed the Epee.

Twinblade

• Location – Dragon-Burnt Ruins

This one is a little more difficult to get, but in my opinion, it’s the best option. This thing got me through the first three bosses, and I have no regrets. You can find the Twinblade in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins, in a cellar. While clearing the area is optimal, you can run in with Torrent and run down into the basement. The enemies don’t follow far into the cellar, so you can grab and then hop back on Torrent and run away as you leave.

Greatsword

• Location – Caelid

I love this option because it is very near the Sleeping Dragon. If you’re going to the dragon from either side, you can stop by here and have a free weapon without any combat. You have to follow the road (the northern one) until you find a carriage/caravan. There is a chest in the back of it that has the Greatsword. It will take quite a bit of strength to one-hand, but you can two-hand it without the strength recommended.

Find The Map Fragment

• Dragonbarrow (North Caelid) – East of Dragonbarrow West Site of Grace
• Southern Caelid – East of Caelid Highway South Site of Grace

If you want to have a clear path to your location, I recommend collecting the map fragments for the Caelid region before heading towards the Sleeping Dragon. They are both on the road to the Sleeping Dragon, so you can find them on your way. You can see the monoliths on the map; those are the locations of the fragments. The first is in northwest Caelid, and the second is in southern Caelid.

Get A Rune Boost

• Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot – 30% increase
• Golden Scarab – 20% increase

There are two ways to boost rune acquisition in Elden Ring, and yes, they do stack. The first method is to get a Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot, which boosts acquisition by 30% for 3 minutes. There are half a dozen of these scattered about the map. However, you can also purchase them from Patches or make them after unlocking Missionary’s Cookbook [2]. If you are early on in the game, I recommend finding the one in West Limgrave.

Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot

The foot can be found on a hill north of Waypoint Ruins. If you have just unlocked Limgrave, the easiest way to get there is to head directly east until you reach a lake. Go around the lake on the south side until you reach a road. Follow the road north, and you will see a hill to the northeast of the lake. On the small mountain is a crucifix that has a Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot.

Golden Scarab Talisman

If you are under level 50, getting the Golden Scarab will be difficult. If you’re under level 30, I suggest skipping this one or waiting until you are leveled a bit before slaying the Sleeping Dragon. To get the Golden Scarab, you need to visit the Abandoned Cave in Caelid. You can find the cave entrance on the eastern wall of the Caelid canyon, which is northwest of Sellia Evergaol. The nearest Site of Grace is the Smoldering Wall. After you reach the grace, walk across the roots of the tree, and you will notice a convex area, take that path on the left side.

When you reach the dungeon, there will be a pool of scarlet rot to greet you. Take your first left and then right at the fork. There are a few great finds in the dungeon, but if you want to head straight for the scarab, you need to find the Servant of Rot and either slay him or run past him as this is the correct path. At the end of the path, there is a boss door with two Cleanrot Knights. The knights drop the Golden Scarab talisman and 7000 runes.

FAQs

Sleeping Dragon Conclusion – Level 1 to 34, Free of Charge

Killing the Sleeping Dragon is 100% up to the player. There haven’t been any quests linked to her yet, so you don’t need to kill her in order to progress in any questline. However, this also means that killing her is a no-risk choice. I happened upon it by chance but if someone had told me about it before I had slain it, I would have sprinted there and taken the free levels. If you’re level 1 when you slay the dragon, and you have the rune boosts equipped, you can get to level 34 from that one free kill! This is a fantastic advantage that is hard to pass up. 

For more interesting readings check out: 

• Elden Ring Summoning Guide
• Roundtable Hold Guide
• Elden Ring Getting Started Guide – Braving The Lands Between
• Elden Ring Margit Boss Guide