Elden Ring Smithing Stones – how to upgrade weapons

Last Updated: February 24, 2022

Sure yu can stick with a weapon’s default stats in Elden Ring, but where is the fun in that. What you want to be doing is upgrading the bejesus out of your armory and wielding mighty swords above you’re head and cleaving your enemies asunder.

That sounded quite good, didn’t it? If George R.R needs any help with his future scripts, he knows where to find me. Right, business time. Let’s get smithing.

How to upgrade weapons in Elden Ring

To add any extra delights to your weaponry you will need to access the Roundtable Hold hub where you will find a Blacksmith. Even then you will still need to furnish him with Smithing Stones that’s you will find out and about on your travels. Couple that with runes and he will take on the job, no problem.

What are Ashes of War in Elden Ring?

Ashes of War are the items that, when combined, create the skill and damage a weapon will cause. You can apply new Ashes of War to a weapon to modify its stats.

Ashes of War are applied by the Smithing Master Hewg in Roundtable Hold, which you will gain access to soon after starting your game. These Ashes add affinities to weapons (there are about 12 different types of affinity) but you will need the help of the Blacksmith.

Ashes of War can also be dropped or found as loot, either way, you will want to look after them and not waste them frivolously.

A Smithing Master Blacksmith can also apply Elemental buffs which you will need to defeat the undead. Here you will need a holy weapon skill or spell to see them off.

Finally, you can also dupe Ashes of War. These are called Lost Ashes of War.

How to find Smithing Stones

The first Smithing Stone you can collect is in the Limgrove Tunnels. You will have to fight some trolls, defeat them and you will find the glowing eye stone there and head to the Roundtable Hold and upgrade your weapon.

Smithing stones can generally be found in other tunnels too although if you are lucky you can find them generally on your tarvels or in chests. They also occasionally drop when you kill something so always be on the lookout.

Elden Ring Smithing Stone levels

Every time you upgrade a weapon in Elden Ring, it increases the number of Smithing Stones you need to upgrade it the next time. Kind of obvious, but worth pointing out. Once you have reached the next tier of upgrades you will be back down to needing one Smithing Stone once more.

Somber Smithing Stones

Required for special weapons, Sombre Smithing Stones are a little rarer than their less-somber counterparts. Fortunately, you need less of them to max out your weapon’s stats.