During your journey across the Lands Between, you’ll need to farm lots of Elden Ring smithing stones. Although you have quite a degree of freedom with which to explore and take on bosses, there are more difficult areas that present greater challenges. This guide quickly walks you through where to get smithing stones in Elden Ring.
You can easily progress your character in other ways such as leveling up at a Site of Grace or using Ashes of War to improve weapon scaling. However, smithing stones in Elden Ring are required to strengthen your weapon’s attack and allow you to continue with its playstyle the entire way through the game.
What are Smithing Stones?
Smithing Stones in Elden Ring are bundled in several varieties, can be categorized by rarity, and accommodate separate upgrade levels.
- Smithing Stones (Regular)
- Somber Smithing Stones (Rare)
- Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones (Rarest)
A single Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone can fully upgrade your weapon, no matter its current level. Keep reading to find all the best farming spots as well as certain vendors who appear later on and allow you to directly purchase the rarer variants.
Farming Locations for Elden Ring Smithing Stones
Regular Smithing Stones can be utilized to upgrade normal-quality equipment to +25 stats. Each of the Smithing Stones has specific levels denoted by a number. It’s important to use the type of Smithing Stone that matches your current equipment in addition to the desired level you plan to raise it to.
Here are all the different types of Smithing Stones:
- Smithing Stone (1): Strengthen weapon up to +3
- Smithing Stone (2): Strengthen weapon up to +6
- Smithing Stone (3): Strengthen weapon up to +9
- Smithing Stone (4): Strengthen weapon up to +12
- Smithing Stone (5): Strengthen weapon up to +15
- Smithing Stone (6): Strengthen weapon up to +18
- Smithing Stone (7): Strengthen weapon up to +21
- Smithing Stone (8): Strengthen weapon up to +24
- Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone: Strengthen weapon up to +25
There are costs related to progressing smithing stone levels, and it increments by 2 every time. To fully upgrade a specific weapon, you must acquire 12 of each of the types between the ranges of 1 to 7. However, the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone only requires 1 to max out.
The best farming spot for smithing stones early in your Elden Ring playthrough is found in West Limgrave, inside the Limgrave Tunnel dungeon. Inside, you will encounter miners who have a chance to drop them, as they are collected as materials.
In addition, there are Bell Bearings in Elden Ring that can be acquired from killing and looting specific merchants scattered around the world. You can turn these in to a vendor located in Roundtable Hold.
Farming Locations for Elden Ring Somber Smithing Stones
Somber Smithing Stones are a higher quality version of regular stones and are able to upgrade unique equipment to +10 stats. Although that number pales in comparison to the max +25 that normal gear can be boosted to, unique weapons are usually superior from the beginning.
In a similar way to regular Smithing Stones, the Somber Smithing Stones also have numerous levels and you’ll need the right type to upgrade your weapon to the next level. Every Somber Smithing Stone upgrades your equipment by a single level. Unlike regular Smithing Stones, the Somber Smithing Stones only require 1 of each type.
Here are all the different types of Somber Smithing Stones:
- Somber Smithing Stone (1): Strengthen special weapons up to +1
- Somber Smithing Stone (2): Strengthen special weapons up to +2
- Somber Smithing Stone (3): Strengthen special weapons up to +3
- Somber Smithing Stone (4): Strengthen special weapons up to +4
- Somber Smithing Stone (5): Strengthen special weapons up to +5
- Somber Smithing Stone (6): Strengthen special weapons up to +6
- Somber Smithing Stone (7): Strengthen special weapons up to +7
- Somber Smithing Stone (8): Strengthen special weapons up to +8
- Somber Smithing Stone (9): Strengthen special weapons up to +9
- Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone (10): Strengthen special weapons up to +10
The easiest way to acquire Somber Smithing Stones at the beginning of the game is to purchase them directly from Iji, an NPC on the road leading up towards Caria Manor.
There are also Somber Stone Bell Bearings that allow you to directly purchase Somber Smithing Stones in Roundtable Hold from the Twin Maiden Husk.
Farming Locations for Elden Ring Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones
Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones allow you to fully upgrade normal quality weapons. They extend the weapon to the maximum level of +25.
Typically, you will find these rare items as quest rewards in the endgame parts of the Lands Between. Here are some specific locations you have a guarantee to get them:
- Bestial Sanctum, Caelid: Give Gurranq some Deathroot (x9).
- Consecrated Snowfield: Defeat the Night Calvary Duo protecting the caravan and receive this as a reward.
- Crumbling Farum Azula: Close to the Dragon Temple Lift, find this on the lower level on top of a floating platform.
- Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree: Defeat Loretta, go down the ladder, and ascend to the top of the nearby tower to receive the stone in a chest.
- Liurnia: Pick Jerren’s side during the Sellen questline.
- Mountaintops of the Giants:
- Find the stone east from the Cave of the Forlorn, right at the waterfall.
- Go southeast of the Site of Grace located at the Church of Repose.
- Stormveil Castle:
- Complete the questline for Nepheli and receive a stone as a reward inside of the throne room.
- After finishing Nepheli’s questline, go and complete Kenneth Haight’s questline to be able to purchase a stone off of Gatekeeper Gostoc.
Farming Locations for Elden Ring Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones
Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones allow you to fully upgrade unique quality weapons. They extend the weapon to the maximum level of +10.
Typically, you will find these extremely rare items as quest rewards in the endgame parts of the Lands Between. Here are some specific locations you have a guarantee to get them.
- Consecrated Snowfield:
- Escort Latenna to the Apostate Derelict to receive this as a reward.
- Fight and beat Anatasia, Tarnished Eater when she invades near the pillar to receive this as a reward.
- Ephael, Brace of the Haligtree: Complete the Millicent quest to receive the needle item. Use this on Malenia’s flower to get the stone.
- Mohgwyn Palace: The stone is inside a chest protected by the Sanguine Noble just before the boss.