You messed up your build. It happens to everyone. Maybe you thought a Strength-Intelligence hybrid sounded cool until you realized you were hitting like a wet noodle in Raya Lucaria. Now you're standing in front of Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, and she’s asking for a Larval Tear. The problem? You don't have one. These things are basically the "get out of jail free" cards of Elden Ring, and honestly, they're surprisingly annoying to find if you aren't looking in the weirdest corners of the Lands Between.
Most players think they can just stumble upon all larval tear locations by playing naturally. You won't. FromSoftware hid these things behind "trapped" enemies that transform when you hit them. If you see a random undead soldier standing in a corner looking depressed, kill him. He might turn into a Bear that has your ticket to a better build.
Limgrave and the Early Game Scavenge
Limgrave is where you'll get your first taste of how devious the developers actually are. There is a specific Larval Tear near the Agheel Lake South Site of Grace. You’ll see a weak-looking Noble standing on a cliffside. Hit him. He’ll transform into a Lesser Runebear. It’s a jump scare, sure, but killing that bear is the only way to get the tear. This is the game's way of teaching you that nothing is as it seems.
Liurnia of the Lakes is essentially the motherlode. Since this is where Rennala lives, it makes sense that the surrounding area is littered with the things. You can find one just sitting in the graveyard at Village of the Albinaurics. It’s right there. No boss fight, no transformation. Just pick it up. But then the game gets mean again.
The Carian Manor Trickery
Over by Carian Manor, specifically behind the manor in the graveyard area accessible after beating Loretta, there’s a ghost sitting in a chair. Touch it. The ghost disappears and leaves a Larval Tear behind. This is one of those spots people miss because they’re too busy running away from the giant hand-spiders.
Also, don't forget Pidia. He’s the Carian Servant hiding on a balcony you can only reach by dropping down from the cliffs above the Manor. He sells one for 3,000 Runes. It’s probably the easiest one to get if you have the patience for the platforming.
Caelid and the Terrors of the Dragonbarrow
Caelid is a nightmare for a lot of reasons, but it holds a few crucial tears. There’s a Noble wandering around the highway, south of the Caelid Highway South Grace. He looks like he’s just having a bad day. If you attack him, he turns into a Great Wyrm. Not a fun fight, but necessary if you need that respec.
Honestly, the placement of all larval tear locations feels like a social experiment. Why is there one in the middle of a literal hellscape? Because the game knows you’re desperate. There’s another one in the Cathedral of Dragon Communion. Check the area carefully; sometimes the transformations trigger from enemies you’d normally just ride past on Torrent.
The Underground Cities: Siofra and Nokron
If you haven't gone underground yet, you're missing out on about half the available supply. Nokron, Eternal City, is the jackpot. This area opens up after you beat Radahn, and it is arguably the most important zone for anyone looking to optimize their stats.
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- The Mimic Tear Boss: This is the most famous one. You literally fight yourself. When you win, you get two Larval Tears. It’s poetic, really. You kill your old, shitty build to get the items needed to fix it.
- Nokron’s Urban Sprawl: There are several just lying around on corpses in the gazebos and buildings of the city. One is near the Siofra River Well Depths, sold by an abandoned merchant who is a total pain to find (you have to climb some scaffolding and drop into a hidden room).
The Silver Spheres are the real threat here. You know those giant sentient metal balls that try to crush you? Yeah, those. In Nokron and Night's Sacred Ground, killing these spheres for the first time will net you a Larval Tear. They don't respawn the item, so it’s a one-and-done deal.
Altus Plateau and the Late Game Grinds
By the time you reach Altus, you’re likely hitting a wall with your damage output. You need a respec. Head to the Minor Erdtree in the woods. There’s a soldier there who transforms into a Lion Guardian. It’s a tough fight in a cramped space, but the tear is guaranteed.
Mt. Gelmir has one too. Near the Road of Iniquity Side Path, there’s a scorched corpse. Well, it looks like a corpse. It turns into a Wormface. If you’ve never fought a Wormface, they’re horrifying and cause Death Blight. Bring some Boluses. It’s a high-stakes trade for a single Larval Tear, but that’s Elden Ring for you.
The Consecrated Snowfield: The Final Hunt
The Snowfield is home to one of the most annoying tears in the entire game. There’s a group of three pilgrims wandering in the snow. One of them transforms into a Runebear. But this isn't a normal Runebear. It has significantly more health and hits like a freight train.
Most people skip this because the visibility in the Snowfield is garbage. You can barely see two feet in front of you, and suddenly you’re being mauled by a bear the size of a house. But if you want to find all larval tear locations, you have to brave the blizzard.
Why You Can't Find Them All in One Go
Here is the truth: you can't farm these. There are exactly 18 Larval Tears per playthrough in the base game. Once you use them, they’re gone until you start New Game Plus. This creates a weird kind of "respec anxiety" where players hold onto them forever, waiting for the "perfect" moment to change their build.
Don't do that.
18 is plenty. You can try out a bleed build, switch to a sorcerer, go full "unga bunga" with a giant club, and still have ten left over. The rarity is an illusion designed to make you commit to your choices, but the game actually provides enough for you to experiment quite a bit.
Misconceptions About Respawning
I see this on forums all the time: "Do the silver balls respawn tears?" No. They don't. You get the item the first time you "kill" the ball. After that, they just drop nothing or standard crafting materials. The same goes for the transformed enemies. If you kill the bear in Limgrave, he stays dead (or rather, the noble stays dead) and he won't give you another tear on your next visit.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Respec
If you’re staring at your stats and feeling regret, here is exactly what you should do right now:
First, teleport to the Village of the Albinaurics in Liurnia. It is the fastest, zero-combat tear in the game. It’s sitting right in the graveyard area.
Second, if you’ve beaten Radahn, go to Nokron. Clear out the Silver Spheres. They are slow and easy to cheese with ranged attacks or heavy stagger weapons. This will give you a bank of at least 3-4 tears in under twenty minutes.
Third, check your inventory for Celestial Dew. People often confuse the two. Larval Tears are for stats; Celestial Dew is for making NPCs stop trying to kill you if you accidentally hit them. Make sure you're actually looking for the silver embryo-looking thing.
Finally, before you commit to the respec at Rennala, use an online build calculator. Don't waste a rare resource guessing how much Endurance you need for a specific armor set. Map it out, then go find the tear. You’ve got the locations now—go fix that build.