Elden Ring best Crystal Tears explained
Let's get physickal.
Finding Elden Ring Crystal Tears will help boost your odds of survival, and allows you to customise your builds and character further than before.
Alongside Flask of Crimson Tears and Flask of Cerulean Tears - which boost HP and FP respectively, and require Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears to upgrade - is the Flask of Wondrous Physick, which can be found relatively early on.
Whie it can only be used once (although it also replenishes after resting at a Site of Grace, as per other flasks) you're able to customise its properties by equipping different Crystal Tears.
At its most basic, you can consider it an extra healing flask or you can apply more interesting temporary buffs and effects. Better still, you're able to mix two different kind of effects at the same time.
This page explains our recommendations for the best Crystal Tears in Elden Ring so you'll want to concoct your ideal mix.
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Looking for some direction? Our what to do first in Elden Ring, Elden Ring walkthrough, Site of Grace locations and main bosses in order pages can help.
Opaline Bubbletear location
This provides significant damage negation once. This basically forms a bubble shield that allows you to withstand a single hit with tiny damage, even attacks that would typically be a one-shot.
Ideally use before entering a boss fight, although be warned that the effect also expires after a certain duration, and while it may save you on the first hit, you won't be so lucky if you're caught in an enemy's combo or one of those excruciating grabs where they deal multiple damage.
The Opaline Bubbletear can fortunately be found fairly early on at the Minor Erdtree in Weeping Peninsula south of Limgrave. When you first reach the area after Bridge of Sacrifice, keep going until there's a fork in the road where you can turn back northwest up to higher ground, which leads you to the South of the Lookout Tower Site of Grace.
From there, continue west and cross a bridge and you'll soon reach the Minor Erdtree, which is to the south.
Defeat the Erdtree Avatar in this area and it will drop the Opaline Bubbletear.
Crimsonburst Crystal Tear location
This gradually regenerates HP for three minutes, its lengthy duration making it quite ideal to have in a boss fight. While regeneration is slow, meaning you'll still be relying on your crimson tears to heal you properly when dangerously low on health, every little helps, and it's just about able to negate the effects of poison.
Also, if you have a buff that deals higher damage at full HP, but you're at around 90%, then it saves you having to waste a healing flask to get the benefits.
Fortunately, the Crimsonburst Crystal Tear is gained also by defeating the Erdtree Avatar at Weeping Peninsula's Minor Erdtree - meaning you get this and Opaline Bubbletear in a single battle.
Greenburst Crystal Tear location
This temporarily boosts stamina recovery speed. Given how important stamina is in Elden Ring, this is going to be an important buff to have, although this is also what the Green Turtle Talisman does already, which you can equip as a permanent buff. Nonetheless, the option is there in case you wanted to use your talisman slots for something else.
To get this crystal tear, you need to go to the Minor Erdtree in Caelid, though you don't have to venture too deep into the region to find it, as it's just a short ride from East Limgrave, in particular Smouldering Church which sits at the border of both.
You should be able to see the Minor Erdtree from here but approach it from the left hand side so that you're travelling down to the tree's base. You'll encounter a few enemies along the path but Torrent can ride past them no problem.
You'll have to fight a Putrid Avatar here - a tougher version of the Erdtree Avatar but who also has an AOE that can inflict Scarlet Rot. Defeat it and you'll get the Greenburst Crystal Tear.
Twiggy Cracked Tear location
This prevents you from losing your runes upon death. It's basically like equipping a Sacrificial Twig in your talisman slot, except while those are lost after one use, you can reuse this as many times as you like as long as it's mixed with the flask of wondrous physick.
It however only lasts for three minutes once you've used the flask, so if you fall into a surprise ambush after this time, bad luck.
From Leyndell's Outer Wall Battleground Site of Grace, head east to the Minor Erdtree to the east.
You fortunately don't have to fight an avatar here, just a small mob of enemies and their ringleader. Once they're taken care of, the Twiggy Cracked Tear is at the base of the Minor Erdtree in a stone bowl.
Crimson Bubbletear location
This grants you a burst of health when your HP is critically low. The heal isn't much but could be a lifesaver when an attack leaves you close to death.
A word of warning however that it won't save you if the enemy's attack is powerful enough to kill you. The effect also only lasts a short while after using the flask.
You won't find this one until much later in the game in the Mountaintops of the Giants. But once you reach this area, the Minor Erdtree you're looking for is in the east.
From the Snow Valley Ruins Overlook Site of Grace, there's a narrow bridge you can to the southeast and you'll the Minor Erdtree to your right. Defeat the Erdtree Avatar there to get the crystal tear.
Ruptured Crystal Tear location
A defective and volatile crystal tear that explodes after a couple seconds. It might not sound like a very good thing to mix, but it does have its mischievous uses.
Think of it as a suicide bomb inflicting massive holy damage and you may find it an underhanded tactic if you're engaging in PvP. Better still, you can actually find two of these ruptured tears, combining the two for more than double the damage.
The first ruptured tear can be found at the Minor Erdtree southwest of Liurnia, just northwest of the the Converted Tower Site of Grace. You'll have to fight an Erdtree Avatar to get it.
The second ruptured tear is in the Consecrated Snowfield, the secret area to the west of Mountaintops of the Giants that can only be accessed using the Haligtree Secret Medallion by following Latenna the Albinauric's questline.
As visibility isn't great in this area, it's worth getting hold of the map fragment for the area, which will show you the Minor Erdtree's location, northeast of the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace.
Head that way and you'll eventually find your way blocked by rocks. There is however an opening further to the north that will take you to the Minor Erdtree.
Beware of some spear-wielding enemies along the path and then get ready to fight a Putrid Avatar in order to get your crystal tear.
Enjoy experimenting with Crystal Tear combinations!