Searching for Elden Ring smithing stones? These pointed rocks are a key part of upgrading your gear in the latest FromSoftware game, so you’ll want to be collecting them wherever you can. In the early game especially, upgrading weapons is a great way to improve your damage output without levelling up.
But where do you find the best Elden Ring Smithing Stones? If you’re rocking one of the best Elden Ring weapons then you’ll need a Somber Smithing stone instead. To get far in the open-world game, you’ll also want to eventually find the higher-tier regular stones for normal weapons, as most weapons and shields can be upgraded to +25.
Fortunately, once you manage to defeat some of the main Elden Ring bosses, there are plenty of areas that have an abundance of these rare upgrade materials. By upgrading your armaments and combining them with specific Ashes of War, you can drastically alter your weapons’ stats to allow you to breeze through the game. Here’s everything you need to know about Elden Ring Smithing Stones, where to find them, and how to upgrade your weapons and Elden Ring armor.
Elden Ring Smithing Stones locations
Elden Ring Smithing Stones tier 1 – 4
The lower-tier smithing stones are easier to find than you think once you get a feel for things. As YouTuber Kibbles points out in his video on the subject, if you go to any site of grace that’s in a tunnel or catacomb, you will likely find some sad-looking mobs that are endlessly mining away at the side of walls. In front of them will be a Smithing Stone you can take, although once you do they’ll try to attack you.
This will serve you initially, but as you level up your weapons you will need larger quantities of the stones. It’s better to seek out specific Elden Ring Bell Bearings to purchase an unlimited amount of Smithing Stones. Bell Bearings are key items you trade into the Twin Maiden Husk NPC at the Roundtable Hold.
The Bell Bearings you need for the first five tiers of Smithing Stones are:
- Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [1] – unlocks tier 1 and 2 stones for purchase and is located in Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel. You will need to beat a boss to get it.
- Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [2] – unlocks tier 3 and 4 stones for purchase and is found within the Sealed Tunnel located outside the west gate of Leyndell, Royal Capital.
Elden Ring Smithing Stones tier 5 – 8
The best tier 5 Smithing Stone farming locations are the Gael Tunnel, Ravine-Veiled Village, Altus Tunnel, and the Sellia Crystal Tunnel, using the abovementioned principle. You’ll likely find higher-tier stones in similar locations in higher-level areas, but the risk is greater now as you’ll encounter more difficult foes.
You can also find Smithing Stones of all tiers as random loot in chests or on bodies found in the tunnels. Your best bet to get these stones in bulk is to go straight for the Bell Bearings:
- Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [3] – unlocks tier five and six Smithing Stones and is found in the Zamor Ruins in the Mountaintop of the Giants area.
- Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [4] – unlocks tier seven and eight Smithing Stones and is dropped by defeating the Godskin Duo in the Crumbling Farum Azula.
Elden Ring Somber Smithing Stones
As we’ve mentioned already, Somber Smithing Stones are used to upgrade unique weapons. The damage buff you get with each level of stone isn’t as high at the upper range, but these weapons are a lot better, to begin with, so it’s to be expected.
The above advice applies to finding stones out in the wild, but the best source of the first two tiers of Somber Smithing Stones is actually Smithing Master Iji. He can be found near the site of grace north of the Kingsrealm Ruins and sells an unlimited number of these stones and then tiers three and four in limited quantities.
Some players are having trouble finding Iji at this location – if this is the case for you, there’s a chance you may have accidentally harmed an NPC. Make your way to the Church of Vows and pay for absolution with a Celestial Dew to atone for your sins – this should bring back any NPCs you may have killed or damaged.
You can also get Somber Smithing Stones of all tiers by trading in the right Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husk. To get the higher-tier Somber stones, you’ll need the following Bell Bearings:
- Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [3] – unlocks tier five and six Somber Smithing Stones for purchase and can be found on a body outside the First Church of Marika in the Mountaintops of the Giants area.
- Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [4] – unlocks tier seven and eight Somber Smithing Stones for purchase and can be found in Crumbling Farum Azula.
- Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [5] – unlocks tier nine Somber Smithing Stones for purchase and can also be found in Crumbling Farum Azula.
Elden Ring Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones
There are two types of Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones – one for regular weapons and a Somber version for unique weapons. These both sit as the highest ‘tier’ of Smithing Stone you can collect for each category – so tier nine for regular stones (+25 damage) and tier ten for Somber ones (+10 damage). These top-tier stones are very rare, with only 13 Ancient Dragon Smithing stones in the game.
Ancient Dragon Smithing stones locations
- Reward for finishing Nepheli Loux Elden Ring quest.
- Sold by Gatekeeper Gostoc for 20,000 runes in Godrick’s Throneroom.
- Reward from Witch-Hunter Jerren if you side with him during the Sorceress Sellen quest.
- Either feed Gurranq, Beast Clergyman nine Deathroots, or kill him.
- Inside the large skull southeast of the Church of Repose Site of Grace in Mountaintops of the Giants.
- Drops from the two Night’s Cavalry mini-bosses in Consecrated Snowfield, guarding the caravan at night, southwest from Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace.
- On a corpse inside Yelough Anix Tunnel.
- On a corpse in the frozen waterfall close to Great Wyrm Theodorix. You can access it from the Cave of the Forlorn Site of Grace by heading outside, turning left, then keeping to the right as you jump up the ledges to reach the frozen body.
- A drop from the Farum Azula Dragon, who attacks you partway through the area.
- On a corpse that’s on a floating platform north of the Dragon Temple. It’s guarded by a Beastman.
- A drop from the Farum Azula Dragon that sits at the back of the plaza that’s southeast from the Dragon Temple Rooftop Site of Grace.
- On a corpse that’s below a statue in Miquella’s Haligtree. The statue is next to a Lesser Leonine Misbegotten.
- Inside a chest you can find on the path ahead after beating Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree.
Somber Ancient Dragon smithing stone locations
- Northwest of the Inner Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace, near where the river bends.
- In the ruins northwest of the Apostate Derelict Site of Grace. You need to complete Latenna’s quest to get it.
- In Mohgwyn’s Palace, close to the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint. Head upstairs to the courtyard with red Albinaurics and the Sanguine Noble, and you’ll find the stone nearby.
- Inside a chest in the Haligtree region. From the Prayer Room Site of Grace, follow the stairs out of the room and jump down when you see the platform overlooking the gazebo. Cross the courtyard and jump onto the branch that leads to a room with the chest.
- On a body in the Haligtree region. From the Prayer Room Site of Grace, make your way to the nearest tower, leaping across the platforms and hopping down onto the walkway. Sneak past the Putrid Avatar that stands guard on the bridge and goes to the end to find the body.
- Complete the Millicent quest line by beating Malenia: Blade of Miquella. Grab the Unalloyed Gold Needle, then return to Malenia’s boss area, where you’ll see a blooming flower. Interact with it to get the smithing stone and Miquella’s Needle.
- From the Dragon Temple Rooftop Site of Grace, kill the dragon and birds, then look for the stone near the gazebo to the left.
- From the Leyndell, Capital of Ash Site of Grace, follow the dragon west until you find a ladder near a building. Climb up and either slay or fight the gargoyle to loot the stone on a nearby corpse.
How to upgrade equipment in Elden Ring
You can perform low-level upgrades to your equipment by heading to the Church of Elleh where you will find a smithing table. These tables give you the option to strengthen your armaments, but you can’t take these upgrades beyond +3. Depending on the item you upgrade, weapons usually receive a buff to their physical attack power and attribute scaling.
In order to go beyond this limitation, you need to find a blacksmith. Once you unlock the Roundtable Hold, you can access Smithing Master Hewg, an NPC who can take your armaments to new heights. Hewg can strengthen your armaments and duplicate your Ashes of War, but remember to bring some runes with you to pay for his services.
That’s everything you need to know about Elden Ring Smithing Stones. For more Elden Ring tips, check out our guide to Elden Ring Great Runes, as well as Divine Tower locations. We also have a guide to the best Elden Ring builds, if you’re in the mood for some meme strategies.
Original contributions by Christian Vaz and Joe Robinson.