TL;DR<\/p>
- Standard weapons cap at +25, special weapons cap at +10 \u2014 they use different upgrade tracks entirely<\/li>
- The last few levels of each track need Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone or Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, not runes<\/li>
- Runes and standard Smithing-Stone Bell Bearings never sell these \u2014 they come from bosses, chests, and NPC questlines only<\/li>
- Confirmed sources cluster in Crumbling Farum Azula, Consecrated Snowfield, Mohgwyn Palace, and Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, plus a handful of questline rewards<\/li>
- Shadow of the Erdtree runs on a separate Scadutree Blessing system for player power \u2014 it does not replace this logic, it sits next to it<\/li><\/ul><\/div>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Weapon Type"},{"header_text":"Max Level"},{"header_text":"Final-Tier Material"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Standard weapons (most swords, axes, spears)"},{"cell_text":"+25"},{"cell_text":"Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Special\/Somber weapons (unique weapon arts, most boss weapons)"},{"cell_text":"+10"},{"cell_text":"Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Where to Get Ancient Smithing Stones in Elden Ring","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"\n
Neither stone is sold on an open shelf the way regular Smithing Stones are once you unlock a bell bearing. Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones cannot be bought infinitely from the Twin Maiden Husks, even after collecting all the Smithing-stone Bell Bearings in the game, and the Somber side works the same way: Somberstone Bell Bearings only supply Somber Smithing Stones 1-9, so for the +10 upgrade material you have to complete NPC quests and loot special chests across the Lands Between. In practice that means three overlapping sources: boss and enemy drops in specific late-game zones, chests and corpse loot tucked into those same zones, and rewards for finishing certain NPC questlines. A small number are also purchasable, but only once, and only after meeting a quest condition.<\/p>\n\n
On the confirmed-location side: the stone is described as a scale of the Ancient Dragonlord and hidden treasure of Farum Azula, which lines up with multiple pickups in that zone \u2014 a dead body near the lift at the Dragon Temple Altar site of grace and one in a small gazebo behind a large dragon south of the Dragon Temple Rooftop site of grace. Consecrated Snowfield holds several more: one is a reward for defeating the Night's Cavalry duo, another comes from defeating Great Wyrm Theodorix, both flagged as missable. On the Somber side, Anastasia, Tarnished-Eater drops one when defeated near the frozen river southwest of Ordina, Liturgical Town, and a chest past the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint site of grace in Mohgwyn Palace holds another. Fandom's tracker adds that three are in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, one is in Mohgwyn Palace, one is in Leyndell, Ashen Capital, and one is in Crumbling Farum Azula. Some community trackers place the Leyndell one slightly differently, so treat that single stone's exact spot as the one point of disagreement rather than a hard confirmation.<\/p>\n
Warning<\/p>
Several of these pickups are listed as missable, including the Consecrated Snowfield boss rewards and at least one Farum Azula corpse. If you fast-track toward Elden Ring boss order, check a stone's location before you clear the area it sits in.<\/p><\/div>\n\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Source"},{"header_text":"What You Get"},{"header_text":"Requirement"},{"header_text":"Who It Suits"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"NPC questline rewards"},{"cell_text":"Ancient Dragon or Somber Ancient Dragon Stone"},{"cell_text":"Finish Sorceress Sellen's, Nepheli Loux's, or Latenna's questline"},{"cell_text":"Anyone doing a normal story playthrough"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Field pickups and chests"},{"cell_text":"Ancient Dragon Stone (mostly)"},{"cell_text":"Explore Crumbling Farum Azula, Yelough Anix Tunnel, Mohgwyn Palace"},{"cell_text":"Players comfortable with late-game exploration"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Boss\/invader drops"},{"cell_text":"Either stone, zone-dependent"},{"cell_text":"Defeat specific bosses in Consecrated Snowfield or Elphael"},{"cell_text":"Players who want the stone attached to a fight anyway"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Merchant purchase"},{"cell_text":"One Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone"},{"cell_text":"Gatekeeper Gostoc alive as a merchant after Nepheli's questline, 20,000 runes"},{"cell_text":"Anyone who already has the runes banked"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"How to Get Ancient Smithing Stones Fast: Step-by-Step","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"steps","intro":"Follow this sequence to get it done fast.","steps":[{"title":"Lock in a Smithing-Stone Bell Bearing route first","description":"get your weapon to the mid-tier caps using regular bell bearings before you worry about the Ancient-tier stones at all.","image":null},{"title":"Resolve Sorceress Sellen's questline","description":"siding with Witch-Hunter Jerren at the end of her questline gives you an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone as a reward.","image":null},{"title":"Finish Nepheli Loux's questline","description":"this both hands you a stone directly and opens up the one-time Gostoc purchase for a second.","image":null},{"title":"Push into Crumbling Farum Azula","description":"grab the corpse loot near the Dragon Temple Altar site of grace and the gazebo pickup behind the dragon on the rooftop.","image":null},{"title":"Clear Consecrated Snowfield's night bosses","description":"the Night's Cavalry duo, Great Wyrm Theodorix, and Anastasia, Tarnished-Eater each drop a stone.","image":null},{"title":"Finish Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree","description":"this single legacy dungeon holds the largest cluster of Somber Ancient Dragon Stones in the base game.","image":null}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"
![\"Elden](\"https:\/\/shared.akamai.steamstatic.com\/store_item_assets\/steam\/apps\/1245620\/ss_3c41384a24d86dddd58a8f61db77f9dc0bfda8b5.1920x1080.jpg?t=1784684281\")
<\/figure>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Why Max Weapon Upgrades Beat Leveling Up Before Boss Fights","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"\nRunes still matter, but they stop scaling the way they did early on. Our rune farming guide<\/a> breaks down how stat soft caps work stage by stage, and the short version is that once your main damage stat clears its soft cap, each additional level buys less attack rating than it used to. A weapon sitting at +25 (or +10 for a special weapon) is not subject to that curve \u2014 it is a flat, permanent damage jump that does not decay the higher your character level climbs. That is why pushing a weapon to its cap before a hard fight is frequently the better time investment than grinding another ten or fifteen character levels, especially heading into the fights covered in our boss order guide<\/a>. Rune farming buys you levels; Ancient Smithing Stones buy you a ceiling that levels can't touch.<\/p>\n\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Shadow of the Erdtree Uses a Different System: Scadutree Blessings","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"\n
This is the part that trips people up the most. Shadow of the Erdtree does not extend the +25\/+10 weapon ladder \u2014 it runs a separate power curve built around Scadutree Blessings, collected from Scadutree Fragments scattered across the expansion's map. Your character's effective damage and defense inside the DLC scale with how many Blessings you've picked up, not with rune level or weapon upgrade tier alone. The regular smithing-stone logic from the base game still exists underneath it \u2014 slaying a Ghostflame Dragon in the DLC will also provide a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, and defeating the DLC boss Ancient Dragon Senessax gives one of the Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones plus a regular Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone \u2014 but treating Scadutree Blessing progress as optional<\/a> the way you might treat a few extra character levels in the base game is a mistake. Our boss order guide covers how that Blessing scaling actually plays out fight by fight.<\/p>\n\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Best Ancient Smithing Stone Farming Methods","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Method"},{"header_text":"Speed"},{"header_text":"Effort"},{"header_text":"Best For"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Follow the natural quest\/exploration order"},{"cell_text":"Steady, no wasted trips"},{"cell_text":"Medium"},{"cell_text":"A full first playthrough"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Rush late-game zones with a strong build"},{"cell_text":"Fast per stone, risky"},{"cell_text":"High"},{"cell_text":"Experienced players skipping content"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"NPC questlines only, skip optional bosses"},{"cell_text":"Slower, fewer stones total"},{"cell_text":"Low"},{"cell_text":"Players avoiding extra boss fights"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"New Game Plus"},{"cell_text":"Resets the full pool"},{"cell_text":"High (full replay)"},{"cell_text":"Players who want duplicate maxed weapons"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Ancient Smithing Stone Rewards and What You Unlock","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"\n\n
Standard Weapons Need More Stones Overall<\/h3>\n
Regular weapons run through the full +1 to +25 ladder, and the final stretch of that ladder is where Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones come in \u2014 you'll typically want more than one to finish a single weapon, so pick the weapon you're committing to before you spend any.<\/p>\n
Special Weapons Are Rarer But Cheaper to Finish<\/h3>\n
Somber weapons only run to +10, so the jump from \"almost maxed\" to \"fully maxed\" needs fewer stones in absolute terms. The catch is that Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones are scarcer than the regular version, so this shorter ladder isn't necessarily faster to complete.<\/p>\n\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"table","headers":[{"header_text":"Reward"},{"header_text":"How You Get It"},{"header_text":"Why It Matters"}],"rows":[{"cells":[{"cell_text":"+25 standard weapon"},{"cell_text":"Spend Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones at a Smithing Table"},{"cell_text":"Highest possible attack rating for that weapon class"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"+10 special weapon"},{"cell_text":"Spend a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone"},{"cell_text":"Unlocks the weapon's full unique skill and scaling ceiling"}]},{"cells":[{"cell_text":"Reliable late-fight damage"},{"cell_text":"Maxed weapon before a boss run"},{"cell_text":"More consistent than adding character levels past soft caps"}]}],"size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"title","heading":"Common Misconceptions About Ancient Smithing Stones","tag":"h2"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"\n
Myth: Farming Runes Eventually Gets You the Stones<\/h3>\n
No amount of rune grinding produces these materials. Runes buy regular Smithing Stones through bell bearings and pay the one-time Gostoc price, but the bulk of the pool is locked behind bosses, chests, and questlines that have nothing to do with your rune count.<\/p>\n
Myth: Bell Bearings Eventually Sell the Ancient Tier<\/h3>\n