Elden Ring Smithing Stones locations

Elden Ring Smithing Stones are needed to upgrade weapons and help you conquer greater foes, found in hidden areas - especially mines and tunnels. By finding them, you can upgrade weapons to +1 and further, all the way to the unbeatable +25 ranking, though you'll need to find Smithing Stones of various tiers - tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 and so on. 

By using Smithing Stones to upgrade weapons can advance them from their usually initial +1 all the way though way to +25. Although you'll need Elden Ring Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones to reach highest levels eventually. While basic Smithing Stones upgrade basic weapons, there are also Elden Ring Somber Smithing Stones which are used to upgrade unique weapons (that usually have a specific name). So check our other guide there for more information on those. 

The general recommendation is that you need certain weapon levels for certain areas, and while there's nothing stopping you going anywhere at anytime, if you try your luck in a +10 area with a +3 weapon, you are going to feel it. The good news is that there are places brimming with each level of stone if you know where to look. You can also buy them, and unlock unlimited purchases eventually. Below we'll explain where to find all the Elden Ring Smithing Stones you'll need, including how to farm and buy them.

Elden Ring Smithing Stones farming locations

Once you're through Stormveil Castle and make your way into Liurnia, you can start getting Elden Ring Smithing Stones a lot easier. Take the following steps:

1. Head to the location marked above: the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel. It's a mine at the bottom of the cliff with the entrance partially concealed by shrubbery, but once you know where to look it should be fine.
2. The Tunnel is full of Stones (and enemies), but keep pushing downwards until you find the boss, a blue, spinning figure made of blue rock called the Crystalian.
3. Kill the Crystalian. He has a lot of health and tends to be very floaty, sending out discs that return to his hand. Play defensively and make use of the fact that he can be backstabbed like a regular person - use summons to keep his attention, then get behind him and go for the kill. 
4. Once killed, the Crystalian drops an item called the Smithing Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [1].
5. Take this back to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold and give it to them.
6. From that point on, you'll be able to buy Tier 1 and 2 Smithing Stones from them indefinitely, as long as you have the runes.

This marks a good starting point for Smithing Stone farming, but you can farm every tier of stone provided you find the corresponding Bell Bearing, including the Somber ones! To get the entire lot, check out the Elden Ring Bell Bearing locations guide we've put together. You'll be very glad you did.

Tier 1 Smithing Stones locations

Tier 1 Smithing Stones are quite abundant in the West Limgrave starting area of Elden Ring and nearby places, but only if you know where to look. We've detailed a few good spots already but here's a map with plenty of locations that should easily net you over 40 tier 1 Smithing Stones in total, which is enough to get three weapons reinforced to +3.

1. West of Agheel Lake - A Smithing Stone can be found on a dead body in this part of the lake near the Stranded Graveyard
2. Church of Elleh - You'll find a shard on the Smithing Table next to Kale in the church.
3. Stormhill - Three tier 1 stones can be found on a dead body lying with a bunch of knocked over chairs and other bodies. It's east-southeast of the Stormhill Shack near a large ruin.
4. Stormhill Graveyard - In the forest graveyard up towards Stormveil Castle, you'll find one tier 1 Smithing Stone on a corpse.
5. Glowing Statue - Lure a nearby Troll over to smash the glowing statue southeast of the Warmaster's Shack. You'll get five tier 1 Smithing Stones.
6. Saintsbridge - You can find two tier 1 Smithing Stones from a corpse on the bridge but watch out for the Pumpkin Head.
7. Summonwater Village - You can find one tier 1 Smithing Stone on a corpse in the graveyard on the north side of the village ruins.
8. Artist's Shack - There is one tier 1 Smithing Stone lying on the ground just outside the shack.
9. Bridge near Agheel Lake - You can find one tier 1 Smithing Stone on a corpse very near the edge of the bridge.
10. Fort Haight - There is a corpse on the battlements of the fortress with one tier 1 Smithing Stone on it.
11. Bridge of Sacrifice - There's a corpse hanging off the east side of the bridge that you can loot to get three tier 1 Smithing Stones
12. Castle Morne - Three stones can be found on a corpse near a tree at the far end of the main castle courtyard. There is a Pumpkin Head very close by!
13. Limgrave Tunnels - There are plenty of tier 1 Smithing Stones for you to collect in these mine tunnels. Search thoroughly to find as many as you can. Some are hidden behind obstacles or in small gaps that don't look accessible but are.
14. Highroad Cave - There are three tier 1 Smithing Stones inside this cave for you to loot. All three are found on a single corpse on a ledge high up in the main flooded chamber area.
15. Morne Tunnel - Like the Limgrave Tunnels, this is another mine area full of tier 1 Smithing Stones.

Tier 2 Smithing Stones locations

Elden Ring tier 2 Smithing Stones are functionally the same as the lesser tier 1 stones except they allow you to upgrade your weapon up to +6. However, you will need the help of a blacksmith to reinforce your weapons from now on. Clearly your Tarnished wasn't given much in the way of smithing lessons before their quest. 

Tier 2 Smithing Stones are significantly rarer in Limgrave compared to tier 1 stones, but you can still find a few early on to help you out. They are more common in Liurnia and you'll be able to find a few of them out in gazebos and other spots in the wetlands. We've got 11 areas covering Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula that provide a total of 15 tier 2 Smithing Stones - enough to bring one +3 weapon up to +6, which is more than adequate for early-game bosses.

1. Glowing Statue - Lure a nearby Troll over to smash this. You'll get one tier 2 Smithing Stone.
2. Highroad Cave - There is one tier 2 Smithing Stone inside this cave. You'll find it at the back of a cave that forms the mouth of a waterfall. Watch out for giant bats!
3. Ravine south of Summonwater village - There's a wet ravine south of the ruined village where you'll find lots of wolves fighting a Runebear. There's also a corpse with a tier 2 Smithing Stone on it.
4. Mistwood Ruins - There's a chest within the ruins that you'll be able to loot to get one tier 2 Smithing Stone.
5. Church of Dragon Communion - If you haven't been to this island already, you can only reach it through the Coastal Cave. Once there, head to the rocky shore on the south of the island to get one tier 2 stone.
6. Weeping Peninsula main path - after crossing the Bridge of Sacrifice into the Weeping Peninsula, you'll reach an area with a lots of broken wagons and a giant Troll. There is a  tier 2 Smithing Stone waiting for you on a corpse next to one of the wagons at the far end of the area.
7. Castle Morne - There are three tier 2 Smithing Stones in Castle Morne. The first is available by turning left as you reach the castle's main courtyard and going up some stairs to find a corpse. Look out for the ravenous dogs.
8. Castle Morne - Progress through the castle and climb up the ladders to reach the ramparts. You'll find one with a Misbegotten eating a corpse, and the next tier 2 stone is on that corpse.
9. Castle Morne - Once you've reached the back of the castle, you can drop down some rock ledges to reach the roof of the Rampart Gaol, which has a big, square hole on it. Jump in but land on the wooden beam to reach a corpse with a tier 2 stone on it.
10. Stormveil Castle outer wall - If you choose to find the secret back entrance via the outer wall, you'll be able to find a hidden Smithing Stone [2] on a corpse high up on a rocky ledge that you access by climbing along a broken wall section.
11. Stormveil Castle - Five more tier 2 Smithing Stones can be found within the castle's walls. Explore every rooftop, room, and rampart you can reach to get them.

Tier 3 Smithing Stones locations

Elden Ring tier 3 Smithing Stones can be used to reinforce your weapons up to +9 with the help of a blacksmith. You'll be able to tackle some really tough enemies with weapons rated this highly, but you've still got a way to go before they're maxed out.

Tier 3 Smithing Stones are non-existent in West Limgrave, so you will have to venture out to find a few. You can press on with the story path or explore aimlesssly beyond Limgrave, though these stones appear to be commonly found in and around the Raya Lucaria Academy north of Stormveil Castle. Here's where you can find some Tier 3 Smithing Stones:

1. Stormveil Castle - After clambering around the rocky path on the side of the castle, you'll eventually reach a cliff area covered in trees and shrubs. Some warhawks will also be in this area, with one of them picking at a body that holds one Smithing Stone [3]. Get rid of the hawks to safely grab the stone.
2. Laskyar Ruins - You can find one tier 3 Smithing Stone in these ruins in the forest just north of Stormveil Castle in Liurnia of the Lakes.
3. Raya Lucaria Academy - There is a tier 3 Smithing Stone on a corpse in the plaza between the Academy and the nearby ruins of the Academy Gate Town.
4. Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel - Roughly northeast of the academy, you can find the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnels which contain numerous tier 3 Smithing Stones.

Tier 4 Smithing Stones locations

At this point in the game you should've left Limgrave well behind, and wrapped your head around a lot of Caelid and Liurnia - which is good, because there's enough Tier 4 smithing stones to upgrade at least a couple of weapons to +12 between them. We've homed on on these hotspots if you want to find a Smithing Stone [4] - or more.

1. Gael Tunnel - There's seven Smithing Stones [4] inside this mini-dungeon, marked as the usual golden protuberances on the walls. They're not hidden particularly, though they are guarded by miners, soldiers and even a few octopi in there. There's also a boss Magma Wyrm, but you don't need to engage with it to get the stones.
2. Ruin-Strewn Precipice - There's even more Smithing Stones [4] inside the dungeon at the end of the river ravine that links Liurnia to the Altus Plateau. You'll find 9-13 of them as wall pickups, looted bodies, and enemy drops along the way.
3. Artist's Shack - The little abandoned shack Northeast of the Carian Study Hall has a body sitting nearby on a chair, with a Smithing Stone [4] on it.
4. Four Belfries - Down West below the Four Belfries is an enemy outpost with a chest inside it that holds another Smithing Stone [4].
5. South Aeonia Swamp - On the Swamp's Southern bank is another body in a chair - this one has three Smithing Stones [4] for you to grab!

Tier 5 Smithing Stones locations

Want to take your weapons to +15? You're into the second half of upgrades now and will be escalating towards creating some real superweapons that'll help you master the Altus Plateau and all the areas around it. That's why you need at least 10 Smithing Stones [5] to reach the next phase.

1. Sellia Crystal Tunnel - The mine to the Northeast of Sellia has about 8 Smithing Stones [5] inside, in a variety of locations (you must know how it works by now).
2. Altus Tunnel - There's another tunnel with another 6 Smithing Stones [5] South of the Minor Erdtree in the area.
3. The Shaded Castle - There's another 5 Smithing Stones [5] in this toxic castle to the North of Altus.
4. Old Altus Tunnel - About 8 more Smithing Stones [5] are inside this abandoned Tunnel on the route up to the Shaded Castle.
5. Sealed Tunnel - Inside the moat around Leyndell at the Southernmost point is another Tunnel with 5 more Smithing Stones [5] inside for you to get.

What are Smithing Stones in Elden Ring?

Tier 1 Smithing Stones in Elden Ring will allow you to reinforce your weapons up to +3 with just a Smithing Table, but you'll need the help of a blacksmith and higher tier stones to go beyond. Smithing Master Hewg in the Roundtable Hold, for example, offers such a service. Thankfully, using just a Smithing Table, such as the one next to Kale in the Church of Elleh, to upgrade a weapon to +3 should be enough to see you through a lot of the early game bosses.

But where do you find Elden Ring Smithing Stones, and is their location hard to pin down? And how do you get the rarer Somber Smithing Stones for special weapons? We'll show you how to find Elden Ring Smithing Stones and a way to farm the lower level ones below.

Early-game Smithing Stone locations

For those starting out looking for Elden Ring Smithing Stones, we recommend heading straight away to an area called Limgrave Tunnels. It's very close to the beginning of the game, Northwest of the optional boss fight dragon Agheel where the cliffs taper to a point. At the bottom you'll see the entrance to the tunnels itself.

Limgrave Tunnels is a mid-sized dungeon with a boss at the bottom - the Stonedigger Troll - but you don't have to fight him for your valuable Smithing Stones. Instead, the area is full of enemies mining the walls - look for the gold outcroppings and interact with them to get the Smithing Stones you're looking for! They're not unlimited, but you'll find of a decent number of tier 1 Smithing Stones, so you'll be able to upgrade your weapon to +3 at a Smithing Table if you get enough - we've got you covered if you need to know how to strengthen weapons in Elden Ring too.

The miner enemies in the tunnels also have a small chance of dropping level 1 Smithing Stones, so you can farm them to try and get a few more. Although there are plenty of other farming locations that are easily accessible out in Limgrave.

There's a toppled statue on the cliffs directly North of the Stormgate with a light-filled crack running down it. Aggro one of the giant trolls nearby and lure it over - if it hits the statue it'll break, giving you five tier one Elden Ring Smithing Stones and a single tier 2 stone to boot!

Once you're done with that, the best place to find tier 2 Smithing Stones to get your regular armaments up to is inside Stormveil Castle itself. They're lying around everywhere, though not especially common - we actually struggled to find tier 2 Smithing Stones more than any other kind - but once you get through Stormveil Castle you can start getting them a lot easier.