You won’t get far in Elden Ring without upgrading your weapons and gear. Sure, you can run past opponents and summon other players for help, but eventually, you’ll have to take on enemies yourself. To maximize your performance, you’ll need to utilize Smithing Stones to upgrade your weapons, but unfortunately, these items can be tricky to come by. Thankfully, you can unlock the ability to purchase them, and some are even available in various areas throughout the game. Here’s what you need to know about using Smithing Stones, finding them, and buying them from NPCs in Elden Ring.

How to use Smithing Stones in Elden Ring

The key to upgrading weapons in Elden Ring is to ensure you have the right kind (and right amount) of Smithing Stones. There are several different kinds, each corresponding to a particular set of weapon levels, which we’ll break down below. For instance, you need to utilize the Smithing Stone [1] to upgrade a normal weapon from +1 to +5. After that, you have to use the Smithing Stone [2].

Once you’ve got the correct Smithing Stone, you can either utilize the smithing table at the Church of Elleh or speak to the blacksmith at the Roundtable Hold to upgrade weapons. Just keep in mind, the smithing table caps out at +3, so you’ll need to speak with the blacksmith to level up weapons past that.

Since Elden Ring is non-linear, you might find yourself with an overabundance of certain Smithing Stones, depending on the path you take. Since upgrade paths go in sequential order, you have to use Smithing Stone [1] before using Smithing Stone [2], and so on.

In addition, there are two weapon types: Normal Armaments and Special Armaments. Most weapons fall into the Normal Armament category, which utilizes the standard Smithing Stones. Special Armaments are rare weapons obtained by defeating bosses or from chests in dungeons.

Normal Armament

• Smithing Stone [1] — Reinforce weapons to +5
• Smithing Stone [2] — Reinforce weapons to +6
• Smithing Stone [3] — Reinforce weapons to +9
• Smithing Stone [4] — Reinforce weapons to +12
• Smithing Stone [5] — Reinforce weapons to +15
• Smithing Stone [6] — Reinforce weapons to +18
• Smithing Stone [7] — Reinforce weapons to +21
• Smithing Stone [8] — Reinforce weapons to +24
• Smithing Stone [9] — Reinforce weapons to +25

Special Armament

• Somber Smithing Stone [1] — Reinforce special weapons to +1
• Somber Smithing Stone [2] — Reinforce special weapons to +2
• Somber Smithing Stone [3] — Reinforce special weapons to +3
• Somber Smithing Stone [4] — Reinforce special weapons to +4
• Somber Smithing Stone [5] — Reinforce special weapons to +5
• Somber Smithing Stone [6] — Reinforce special weapons to +6
• Somber Smithing Stone [7] — Reinforce special weapons to +7
• Somber Smithing Stone [8] — Reinforce special weapons to +8
• Somber Smithing Stone [9] — Reinforce special weapons to +9
• Somber Smithing Stone [10] — Reinforce special weapons to +10

Where to find Smithing Stones in Elden Ring

As you play naturally, you’ll likely come across plenty of Smithing Stones to earn you a few levels on your starter weapon, but you’ll need many more if you plan on using a variety of armaments. The entire game is absolutely littered with these materials, but we’ll let you in on the best places to find early game Smithing Stones in Elden Ring.

• Smithing Stone [1] — Limgrave Tunnels, just northeast of the starting area.
• Smithing Stone [2] — Highroad Cave, directly north of the Murkwater Catacombs.
• Smithing Stone [3] — Raya Lucaria Crystal Cave, on the northeastern side of the Liurnia of the Lakes area.

The Somber Smithing Stones are harder to come by, but you can find a handful of them across the game’s various caves and from certain enemies.

• Somber Smithing Stone [1] — Limegrave Tunnels close to Golden Rune and to the west of the Deathtouched Catacombs after defeating the Teardrop Scarab.
• Somber Smithing Stone [2] — Found in a chest inside Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel and three in a chapel just west of the Rose Church in Liurnia of the Lakes.

Thankfully, you don’t need to rely on simply finding these items throughout the world since you can eventually purchase them from NPCs.

How to buy Smithing Stones in Elden Ring

The best way to acquire Smithing Stones is to buy them from NPCs, but sadly, it isn’t as easy as approaching them and scooping up all their inventory. Instead, you need to first acquire an item called the Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing and give it to the Twin Maiden Husks on the left side of the Roundtable Hold.

Each Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing corresponds to a particular set of Smithing Stones. For instance, the Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [1] gives you access to Smithing Stone [1] and Smithing Stone [2].

Much like the Smithing Stones themselves, there are multiple tiers of the Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing, and you need to find each of them to unlock them in the Twin Maiden Husks’ shop.

Below is a list of where to find some of the Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearings:

• Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [1] — Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel after defeating the Crystalian boss.
• Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [2] — Sealed Tunnel, through a secret wall (attack it to reveal the hidden path) inside a chest.
• Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [3] — Zamor Ruins inside the dungeon just east of the Site of Grace. It’s in a chest.
• Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [4] — Defeat the Godskin Duo boss in the Crumbling Farum Azula.

Likewise, the Somber Smithing Stones can be purchased but you need to acquire sets of Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearings first. Turn them into the Twin Maiden Husks or the Smithing Master Iji to gain access to their inventory.

• Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [1] — Defeat the Fallingstar Beast in the Sellia Crystal Tunnel.
• Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [2] — Defeat Crystalian (Spear) & Crystalian (Ringblade) in the Altus Tunnel.
• Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [3] — First Church of Marika in Mountaintop of the Giants on a dead body.
• Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [4] — On a corpse just next to the Tempest-Facing Balcony Site of Grace in Crumbling Beast Grave Depths.

Now that you know how to upgrade your weapons, you’ll have an easier time taking down enemies in Elden Ring.