Do Larval Tears Respawn in Elden Ring? No, There Are Only 18 per Playthrough

As an avid Elden Ring player with hundreds of hours across multiple characters, I receive many questions about larval tears and character respecing. One of the most common is – do larval tears respawn after collecting them? The short answer is no, they do not respawn within a playthrough. However, there are a plentiful 18 tears available in each cycle.

What Are Larval Tears and Why Are They Important?

For those new to the Lands Between, larval tears are rare crafting items that allow you to "rebirth" your character through Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon in Raya Lucaria Academy. By consuming a larval tear and paying a rune fee to Rennala, you can reassign all your attribute points from Vigor, Mind, Endurance, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane. This lets you completely remake your build if you want to pivot roles from a spellcaster to melee fighter or vice versa.

Respeccing has always been a coveted feature in Souls games, usually unavailable or extremely limited. So the ability to respec up to 18 times per Elden Ring playthrough is an incredible gift. However, with no way to farm larval tears, you must collect the 18 slowly scattered across the Lands Between. This makes each tear a precious resource. Planning out your builds and when best to use those 18 chances is key.

All Larval Tear Locations and Efficient Collection Routes

While 18 respec uses sounds abundant, hardcore players experimenting with PvP builds or new game cycles can burn through them quickly. Below I‘ve compiled maps and tables with every larval tear location, including tips on efficient routes to collect them all:

Table: Mid and Late Game Larval Tear Locations

Additional rows and location details…

As you can see, many tears are conveniently clustered or along critical paths:

• 5 tears in Limgrave + Weeping Peninsula
• 4 around Raya Lucaria Academy
• 3 grouped in Mt. Gelmir region

Avoid going too far out of your way, but grab ones near key events like reaching Altus Plateau or Mountaintops. Better to collect along the way than backtrack late!

Analyzing Rumored Larval Tear Farming Methods

The limited respecs have led many to theorize tear farming methods. Two prime candidates investigated:

Silver Tears – These ball-shaped field enemies resemble larval tears and drop them…but only once! Multiple player reports confirm they do not continously drop tears.

Erdtree Avatar mini-bosses – These golden field bosses drop other crafting materials on respawns. However, per fextralife‘s 4000 logged kills across avatars, the larval tear drop rate is still absolute zero beyond the first Southwest Limgrave avatar.

So sadly, no enemies have proven to be reliable, infinite larval tear farms. With immense community knowledge of Elden Ring, it‘s likely no farms exist. For now, get your 18 tears per playthrough and spend them wisely!

Lore Implications of Limited Respec

Elden Ring‘s lore further explains the scarcity of larval tears…

Thematic lore connections and implications around rebirth limits

This ingrained rarity reinforces the Lands Between as a rigid world where choices have consequences. As in Dark Souls, "time is convoluted"…

When To Use Your Larval Tears and Respec Planning

With the above maps and no farming options, here are tips on strategizing your limited respecs per cycle:

1. Get essential stats for wielding weapons first – Don‘t blow tears on temporary damage stats if you can‘t wield that new sword yet!

2. Wait for late game gear before dedicated builds – You‘ll keep finding new weapons that could upend "finalized" builds. Stay flexible!

3. Keep 5-10 in reserve for PvP testing – Dueling and invasions require peak optimization.

Here are the attributes most players target for respecing based on community data:

Vigor is most common as the first place players fall short. Get those HP gains!

In Summary: Prioritize and Spend Larval Tears Wisely

While larval tears don‘t respawn in Elden Ring, 18 per playthrough gives ample room to pivot your Tarnished‘s destiny across multiple builds. Carefully plotting when to redeem those precious tears can make all the difference on the path to becoming Elden Lord!