How to find Smithing Stones and Somber Smithing Stones in Elden Ring

After spending just a short time in Elden Ring, you’ll be given the chance to upgrade your weapons and shield at a smithing table. The first of these is located by Kale the Merchant, who’s directly north of the starting spawn point in the Church of Elleh. However, if you try and upgrade a weapon, you’ll see that it requires an item called the Smithing Stone.

The Smithing Stone’s sole purpose is to upgrade gear in Elden Ring. As such, they aren’t commonly found in the Lands Between. The developers don’t want players getting their weapons over-leveled before they reach the first boss, after all. There are some things to look out for, however, to increase your chances of finding Smithing Stones.

Finding Smithing Stones in Elden Ring

The easiest way to go about finding Smithing Stones is to explore the world and everything it has to offer. While this seems like the obvious answer, it reigns true in Elden Ring. The world is so vast and expansive that, just by exploring one region, you’ll likely find more than a few Smithing Stones.

Of course, if you’re looking to expedite this process, you’ll want to head into any mine. The first one you can find is called Limgrave Tunnels, which is located in the northern part of Agheel Lake in the starting region. There are several Smithing Stones here but the miner enemies are difficult to take down.

Out in the world, you want to look out for random dead bodies with white, clear items above them. At times, these enemies will have a Smithing Stone on them. For whatever reason, though, enemies who are hanging off an edge or a cliff usually have a Smithing Stone on their body, so look out for those when exploring.

If you find a Smithing Stone, it might have a number in parentheses next to it. This just correlates to the upgrade level it’s associated with. For example, if you have a Smithing Stone (2), then you can use that to upgrade your weapon to +2. The same goes for (3), (4) and so on. At Kale’s smithing table, you can only upgrade your weapons to +3, so you should be on the lookout for Smithing Stones at or below (3). You’ll need higher stones later on in Elden Ring.

Somber Smithing Stones in Elden Ring

Somber Smithing Stones are an even more advanced version of the Smithing Stone. These are even tougher to find but are found in the same way as regular Smithing Stones. Look for them on dead bodies and even rewards out of treasure chests sometimes.

With a Somber Smithing Stone, you can upgrade weapons of higher rarity. For example, if you beat a boss and acquire a weapon, that will need a Somber Smithing Stone to upgrade it. Just as with regular stones, the number in parentheses of the Somber Stones correlates to the upgrade level it can be used with.

As long as you explore the world in-depth and take on some bosses, you’ll be acquiring Smithing Stones and Somber Smithing Stones in Elden Ring with ease.