Farming runes is a crucial part of the gameplay loop in this game, but some locations are better than others. By having at least one Stonesword Key, you can access Evergaol — some of the best spots for obtaining runes (and better equipment). One Stonesword Key can make a difference and lead your team to victory when facing the final boss of an expedition.
In our Elden Ring Nightreign guide, you can learn how to get Stonesword Keys and how to unlock Evergaol with it.
How to get Stonesword Keys in Elden Ring Nightreign
Like many other items in Elden Ring Nightreign, you can only get Stonesword Keys by looting boxes, and chests, or buying them from merchants. They are rare-tier items, and as far as our testing has shown, there aren’t specific places that have a higher chance of dropping Stonesword Keys.
When it comes to buying Stonesword Keys from merchants, you will also need a little bit of luck. Not every merchant will have one in stock for you. But if they do, the merchant will only have one and you’ll need 6,000 runes to buy it.
Because Stonesword Keys are considered consumables in Elden Ring Nightreign, they occupy one slot of your pouch. And they don’t transfer between matches, so you’re wasting runes — and a chance of earning powerful weapons — if you don’t use it.
How to use Stonesword Keys to unlock Evergaol
If you have a Stonesword Key, you’re able to unlock an Evergaol, one of the key locations Limveld.
To find an Evergaol, open your map and look for an icon of a filled gray circle. Since there are usually many on the map, pick the closest one to the route you’ve established.
Next to an Evergaol arena, there is always an Imp Statue. Interact with it when you have a Stonesword Key in your inventory to summon a boss. You can’t know for sure which boss you’re invoking, but they aren’t typically as challenging as the final bosses of each day.
Using the Stonesword Key in an Evergaol is a great way to farm runes – you can get around 20,000 runes from defeating the boss – and they may also drop Rare weapons or passive abilities. But this process can only be done once per Evergaol. If your team has more Stonesword Keys, you should look for arenas you haven’t visited yet.
