How to find a Somber Smithing Stone (3) in Elden Ring

One of the most important parts of the progression in Elden Ring is ensuring that your weapons are upgraded to their highest possible level. In order to do this, you need to find a plethora of either Smithing Stones or Somber Smithing Stones. The former is for regular weapons while the latter is for special weapons. Somber Smithing Stones have proven to be far more difficult to find, with the (3) variant the most annoying of the bunch.

A Somber Smithing Stone (3) is the last stone needed to upgrade a weapon at a regular smithing table. You can head to Master Hewg at the Roundtable Hold if you want to upgrade them past level 3, though.

Finding a Somber Smithing Stone (3) in Elden Ring

While you might be able to find a Somber Smithing Stone (3) earlier, the fastest way we were able to find one was at the Academy of Raya Lucaria. This is the next major area of Elden Ring after Stormveil Castle. To get there, you will have to defeat Godrick the Grafted or skip his boss fight and head straight to Liurnia, the region north of Limgrave and Stormhill.

The Academy is found in North Liurnia, which has a map off of the Eastern main road in the region. However, you won’t be able to head into the Academy once you find it. You will need to follow our guide to getting into the Academy to successfully breach its magical barrier.

Once inside the Academy, head inside the building; don’t open up the second, smaller blue barrier once you breach the large one. Inside the building, keep following the main path until you reach a staircase with two sorcerers at the top. They will both be using a Glintstone sorcery staff, so you need to dodge their spell attacks until you reach the top of the staircase. Here, defeat them both, heal if you need to and then head inside the room they were guarding.

There will be two Marionette soldiers and one sorcerer in this room. Defeat all three, you can lure them out to make it easier, and then go behind where the sorcerer was standing. Go until you reach the back wall and then turn to see a half wall. Here, you will see a dead body with an item on it. Pick up this item, which will be a Somber Smithing Stone (3). You can now go to a smithing table and upgrade your special weapon to another level.

That’s the easiest Somber Smithing Stone (3) we were able to find but there are also some further north of the Academy. For more helpful content, check out Upcomer’s comprehensive Elden Ring guide hub.