Much like in previous Soulsborne games, you’ll drop your accumulated runes when you die in Elden Ring. While you can retrieve it, the problem now is whether you can get to your runes first or die trying, losing everything in the process.
Having played for a while, players may have noticed that the Lands Between does not come short of ways players can die. You could get sniped by lobsters, fall from platforms, run over by a chariot, or by a wide variety of creative ways to die courtesy of FromSoftware’s creative minds.
All of which might possibly lead to players dropping their hard-earned runes.
A massive fix and a must-get item for players who hate losing runes is the Twiggy Cracked Tear. When mixed inside the Flask of Wondrous Physick, this crystal tear acts like the Sacrificial Twig Talisman.
Upon using the Flask of Wondrous Physick, this item will prevent your runes from dropping upon death. It even works when your die while your dropped runes are unclaimed!
This crystal tear is a must-have for that extra safekeeping of your runes for any players. So look no further and keep reading to get the Twiggy Cracked Tear in Elden Ring.
Location of Twiggy Cracked Tear
To get the Twiggy Cracked Tear in Elden Ring, the tarnished have to venture to the base of a Minor Erdtree that can be found in Leyndell, Royal Capital. This Minor Erdtree lies between the Outer and Inner walls of Leyndell.
Players can reach this Minor Erdtree via two paths. The first of which pits you with at least 2 boss fights. This first path is obviously harder to undertake, but many valuable items can be picked up along the way.
Both of these paths require you to gain access to the Grand Lift of Dectus. The starting Site of Grace for both is at the Altus Highway Junction. Going left is the longer way, while the route to the right is straightforward but a bit harder.
Choosing to Go Right
The road going to the right leads to going up the sets of stairs leading directly to Leyndell, Royal Capital. For each set of stairs, there are three enemies stationed on top.
To make your adventures more manageable, you could move along the hills at the sides of the stairs. Unfortunately, the sides do come with a bit of danger too. The left path will make you face a Runebear, a terrifying overworld enemy that rarely stops attacking.
At the end of this path, you will encounter a Giant Miranda Flower that’s covering a dungeon. The right path can pit you with a boss fight against the Fallingstar Beast. This fight can be avoided if you don’t go near the mouth of the giant crater near the end of this path.
Going back to the stairs, you will be facing two Tree Sentinels. Both of them are dual-wielding items.
The right Tree Sentinel uses the usual halberd and carries a torch in the other hand. The left one has the same build and move set as the Tree Sentinel just outside the Stranded Graveyard – halberd and shield.
You can either go for beating them 1-by-1 or tackle both at the same time. If you attack either one, you can stay on the side they’re in to prevent the other from noticing you. Use as a bow to try and draw their aggression.
Behind the Tree Sentinels lies the door that opens to Leyndell, Royal Capital. Another Site of Grace is found just a bit further inside. Next to this Site of Grace are two Golden Seeds.
Another Golden Seed drops from an Ulcerated Tree Spirit at the camp to the right of this Site of Grace. You will have to climb another set of stairs to the left to find the Twiggy Cracked Tear.
Near the top of the set of stairs, another boss fight will trigger. The boss this time is a sword-wielding Gargoyle that can switch to a long axe (same as the first Gargoyle boss in Nokron).
If you don’t want to fight it, you can run through until you reach the edge of its limited area. Most field bosses will back off when you move far away enough.
On top of these stairs, you can loot another two Golden Seeds. To get the Twiggy Cracked Tear with this path, you will have to keep moving north from these last Golden Seeds.
After grabbing the Golden Seeds, follow the brick road.
After a while, you will hear Margit talk, which prompts a pseudo-boss fight. This version of Margit drops the Viridian Amber Medallion +1. As it is another optional boss fight, you can run past him.
You will be seeing the Outer Wall Battlegrounds Site of Grace from a distance. From this Site of Grace, look in the northeast direction and head for the stairs that can be seen.
Choosing to Go Left
Proceeding to the left, you will pass by the Altus Plateau map stele, where you can grab the area’s map fragment. Brother Corhyn is standing near this map stele. You can talk to him to progress his questline.
Moving further along the road, you will end up at the Forest-Spanning Greatbridge. There is a Site of Grace here that you can activate. Activate the waypoint near the Site of Grace, and it will teleport you to the other end of the bridge.
After being teleported, you can look behind you to see the NPC with a golden mask. This is the person that Brother Corhyn has been searching for.
The next thing to do is go towards the Windmill Village to the east. A Site of Grace can be activated near the entrance of this area.
Now, continue to move on the road heading southeast. There will be another set of diverging paths here – one leading up and the other going down. Go down to avoid the catapults aiming at you.
Somewhere along the way, you will encounter a destroyed catapult that is leaning on a ledge. You can go up here to circumvent the catapults and the enemies near the opening of the wall.
Don’t forget to activate the Outer Wall Battlegrounds Site of Grace and proceed to the stairs.
Finding the Twiggy Cracked Tear
Moving on, once you get to the top, you can head northwest to activate another Site of Grace near a shack. You can choose to do so to cut down on travel distance in case you die. A Nomad Merchant can be found within the shack.
Return to the stairs and follow the road headed east. This road takes you to a forest. When you reach the woods, head north until you are near the base of the Minor Erdtree.
Unlike most Minor Erdtrees, this one isn’t guarded by an Erdtree Avatar. Instead, it is guarded by an Ogre surrounded by five enslaved hollows.
In addition, there are also enslaved hollows that can cast a downgraded version of Rancorcall.
You could skip this fight, though, as you can get the Twiggy Cracked Tear without needing to defeat them. Instead, you could ride on Torrent and dash past the enemies to claim the prized Twiggy Cracked Tear behind them.
If you want to fight for runes, don’t worry too much. The fight will be very easy for most players as these enemies are ones you have already had a chance of fighting before. Pick off the enslaved Hollows first so you can focus on fighting the Ogre.
The Ogre has slow attacks and a few delayed attacks. The delayed ones are usually a finisher to its combos. It might also use a breath version of Rancorcall that’s slow and easy to dodge.
Once you have the Twiggy Cracked Tear, make sure to equip it via resting in any Site of Grace. You won’t regret that you went and picked this item up.
It will be valuable as you explore the entirety of Leyndell, Royal Capital, and the late-game regions. The drop-down to Leyndell’s sewers is especially notorious for the tricky and deadly platforming.
The Flask’s effects will last for 3 minutes. A hefty amount of time for you to move to less dangerous places.
Twiggy Cracked Tear’s true value shows itself for players who are in the game’s dangerous areas in its latter half. As we know, the rune requirement goes up for each level up players undergo.
As you progress through unfamiliar territory or have to make a precarious jump, don’t forget to chug down the Twiggy Cracked Tear and hope for the best.
