In FromSoftware’s games, it is often better to dodge attacks than to try and tank them. But even the best players are going to get hit every once in a while, a fact that is more true in Elden Ring than in any of their previous games thanks to bosses like Malenia, whose attacks are difficult to dodge no matter how easy challenge runners make it look.
As a result, it’s worth investing in Vigor at least a little. But what if you want to do more than give yourself some extra leeway? What if your goal is increasing your HP to the point where even the strongest bosses will have trouble killing you? Well, Elden Ring presents you with a few options for both the early and late game. Here are the game’s best ways to boost your HP.
7 Crimson Hood
The first time you see the Crimson Hood, it’s being worn by Roderika at the Stormhill Shack. Once she gets set up for Spirit Tuning in the Roundtable Hold, she’ll leave the hood in Stormveil Castle, on the pile of corpses in the room next to the Grafted Scion.
Only giving one Vigor, the Crimson Hood provides the most minor HP boost on this list (and if you have 99 Vigor, it doesn’t do anything). However, since you can find it so early, even that small increase can make a relevant difference. Plus, the Hood looks nice; Roderika has good taste.
6 Radagon’s Scarseal/Soreseal
Radagon’s Scarseal and Soreseal have almost the same effect. The Scarseal increases your Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity by three, while the Soreseal gives you five levels in those same stats. This effect is extremely powerful, especially in the early game, but it comes with a significant drawback: both Talismans increase the damage you take by 15 percent. As a result, the HP you gain from your extra Vigor is less effective than true levels. Your HP bar will be visibly bigger, but you’re really using these Talismans for boosts in other areas.
Despite being weaker, the Scarseal is arguably harder to get; it drops from the Ancient Hero of Zamor, who is locked inside the Weeping Evergaol by an Imp Statue Seal. The Soreseal is further away, and in a more dangerous area — Dragonbarrow’s Fort Faroth — but you can get to it without fighting any enemies if you know where to go (although you’ll likely die in the process). If you need that early boost, you’re better off skipping the Scarseal and beelining for Dragonbarrow.
5 Erdtree’s Favor
Erdtree’s Favor might be the best all-around Talisman in the game. There are three versions of it, each increasing your HP, Stamina, and Equip Load by various amounts. However, while those other bonuses make it better than some of the other options on this list for most purposes, the HP boost is only three, 3.5, and four percent, respectively. Still, if you want an HP boosts with some additional effects as well, the Erdtree’s Favor Talismans are good options.
You can find the first version extremely early: it’s in the Fingefolk Hero’s Grave, which you can access pretty much immediately if you pick the Stonesword Keys as your Keepsake, though that place is a nightmare to delve through even at higher levels. The +1 version is in a chest after fighting Mohg, the Omen in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, while the +2 version is in Leyndell, Ashen Capital, where it is guarded by a pair of Lesser Ulcerated Tree Spirits.
4 Godrick’s Great Rune
There are quite a few Great Runes in Elden Ring, and Godrick’s is likely the first one you’ll get. And at that stage of the game, it is exceptionally powerful. Like Radagon's Soreseal, it boosts all your stats by five, but doesn't have the same damage-increasing drawback.
It is important to note that this Great Rune will fall off as you reach the various soft caps, where gaining levels gives you less and less benefit. In the late game, there will be better options, especially if you’re trying to increase your HP specifically. For the early game, though, killing Godrick and taking the Great Rune to the Divine Tower of Limgrave in Stormveil Castle will be extremely beneficial.
3 Crimson Amber Medallion
The Crimson Amber Medallion is one of the most basic Talismans Elden Ring has to offer. There are three versions, each of which boosts your HP by a small percentage; six, seven, or eight percent. The base variant can be taken as a keepsake, or bought from the Nomadic Merchant on the eastern portion of the Weeping Peninsula. That early in the game, the effect will be so minor that you might be tempted to write this Talisman off as useless.
However, percentage-based effects become substantially more impactful as your Vigor goes up. So, by the time your find the +1 version in Volcano Manor (locked behind an imp-statue seal near the Prison Town Church Site of Grace) or the +2 version in Leyndell, Ashen Capital (down a sewer grate near the Site of Grace of the same name) the effect will be far more noticeable. After all, eight percent of 2,000 is much more significant than eight percent of 500.
2 Radahn’s Great Rune
You would expect one of the mightiest demigods in the Lands Between to have an equally powerful Great Rune, and Radahn’s lives up to the hype. It increases your HP, FP, and Stamina by a staggering 15 percent. While Godrick’s Great Rune is the easy choice for low-level characters, Radahn’s is arguably the best Great Rune for high levels.
Almost every build needs at least some amount of the stats it provides, and, as we’ve already discussed, percentage-based boosts improve in the late game, while extra levels get worse. If you want this exceptional Great Rune, you’ll have to take down Starscourge Radahn, then restore it at the Divine Tower of Caelid, in Dragonbarrow.
1 Morgott’s Great Rune
Morgott’s Great Rune is Elden Ring’s ultimate HP booster. While active, it increases your maximum HP by 25 percent. As powerful as Radahn and Godrick’s Great Runes might be, in this one specific area, they can’t hold a candle to the power of the Lord of Leyndell.
Some of the other entries on this list come with added bonuses, and will be better in many scenarios. But if all you want is for your HP bar to stretch across the top of your screen, you can’t beat Morgott. You get this Great Rune by defeating Morgott, the Omen King, then bringing the Great Rune to the Divine Tower of East Altus to activate it.