You’re staring at a +9 Bloodhound’s Fang, aren't you? Or maybe it's the Rivers of Blood. Either way, you’ve hit that wall where you have the weapon, you have the skill, but you don't have the stones. Elden Ring is funny like that. It gives you these incredible legendary armaments and then makes you beg for a single Somber Smithing Stone 7. It’s a bottleneck. A total pain. Honestly, the worst way to play this game is by wandering around every dark corner of a cave hoping a random corpse has the specific upgrade material you need.
There is a better way.
The Somber Miner's Bell Bearing system is basically the "get out of jail free" card for weapon progression. If you find these items and give them to the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold, you can just buy the stones with Runes. No more farming. No more crying over lost Smithing Stones. But, FromSoftware didn't make it easy. These things are tucked away in some of the most hostile environments in the Lands Between.
Why You Actually Need the Somber Miner's Bell Bearing
Let's be real for a second. Standard Smithing Stones require 12 pieces per tier to max out a normal weapon. That’s 97 stones total. It's a grind. Somber weapons? They only need one stone per level. That sounds easy until you realize those stones are rarer than a friendly face in Caelid. If you’re trying to experiment with different builds—maybe you want to swap from a Faith-based Blasphemous Blade to a Dexterity-focused Moonveil—you cannot rely on world pickups alone. There simply aren't enough of them in a single playthrough to max out more than a handful of weapons.
That’s where the Somber Miner's Bell Bearing comes in.
Once you hand these over, the shop inventory at the Roundtable Hold expands permanently. Even when you go to New Game Plus, the shop stays updated (as of the 1.05 patch, thank Marika). This changed the meta. It meant that instead of hoarding stones like a dragon, you could spend your excess Runes from boss fights to instantly boost a new find to +9.
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The First Hurdles: Bell Bearings [1] and [2]
You’ll find the Somber Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [1] in Liurnia of the Lakes. Specifically, you need to head to the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel. It's on the northeastern shore. You’ll have to fight a Crystalian boss. Don't use a sword. Seriously. Bring a hammer or anything that deals strike damage. Once you crack their poise, they fold like a lawn chair. This bearing lets you buy Somber Smithing Stones 1 and 2.
It’s the early game essential.
The Somber Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [2] is a bit more of a trek. It’s in the Altus Plateau, inside the Altus Tunnel. Again, it’s a duo Crystalian fight. This one is annoying because one has a spear and the other has a ring blade. It’s a dance of frustration. But the reward is the ability to buy Somber Smithing Stones 3 and 4. By this point, your special weapon should be hitting +4, which is enough to carry you through most of the mid-game content like Radahn or the capital outskirts.
Crossing the Difficulty Spike for Bearing [3]
This is where things get spicy. To get the Somber Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [3], you have to reach the Mountaintops of the Giants. This isn't just a walk in the park; it’s a sprint through a frozen hellscape. You’re looking for the First Church of Marika. It’s located in the southeast of the freezing lake.
Look for a corpse sitting outside the church.
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No boss fight this time. Just a lootable body. It feels like a gift, but the "price" was actually the journey to get there. This bearing unlocks Somber Smithing Stones 5 and 6. At this stage, your damage output should be skyrocketing. If you’re still using a +4 weapon in the Mountaintops, you’re basically playing on hard mode for no reason. Grab this, head to the Maiden Husks, and get yourself to +6 immediately.
The Endgame Loot: Bearings [4] and [5]
The last two are located in Crumbling Farum Azula. This is a "point of no return" area for many questlines, so keep that in mind.
The Fourth Bearing
The Somber Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [4] is found right near the Tempest-Facing Balcony Site of Grace. You’ll see a corpse slumped over the edge of a cliff looking out at the chaos. Pick it up. That’s it. This one allows you to buy Somber Smithing Stones 7 and 8. Stone 7 is historically the hardest one to find in the wild, so this is a massive relief for most players.
The Final Piece
The Somber Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [5] is much deeper in. You have to get past the Godskin Duo (the worst fight in the game, let's be honest) and reach the area near the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace. There’s a small chapel area with a lift. In a room filled with beastmen, you’ll find the final bearing on a corpse in front of an altar.
This unlocks Somber Smithing Stone 9.
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Wait. What about the +10?
The Missing Link: Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones
Here is the catch. There is no Somber Miner's Bell Bearing for the final upgrade. You cannot buy Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones. Not for all the Runes in the world. These are limited items—there are only about 8 per playthrough in the base game.
You find them in places like:
- A chest at the foot of the massive statue in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree.
- Completing Latenna’s questline.
- Killing Anastasia, Tarnished-Eater for the third time in the Consecrated Snowfield.
- Mohgwyn Palace, in a chest near the elevator leading to Mohg.
Since you can't buy these, you have to be selective. Use your bearings to get ten different weapons to +9, but think long and hard before you commit that Ancient Stone to hit +10. It’s a marriage, not a casual date.
Making the Most of Your Purchase
Once you have all five bearings, the economy of your playthrough changes. You aren't exploring for loot anymore; you're exploring for Runes.
Pro tip: don't just sell your spare gear. Go to the Mohgwyn Palace approach (the famous bird-farming spot) and spend 20 minutes there. With the Gold Scarab talisman equipped, you can earn enough Runes to buy dozens of stones. This allows you to "level up" your entire inventory. Maybe that weird Greataxe you found in a chest ten hours ago is actually incredible? Now you have the resources to find out without "wasting" precious materials.
Actionable Next Steps for the Tarnished
- Check your current weapon level. If you are stuck at +6, don't bang your head against the wall. Check if you missed the Altus Tunnel.
- Clear the Crystalians. If you haven't beaten the bosses in Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel and Altus Tunnel, do it now. Use a flail or mace. Even if you aren't a Strength build, the stagger value is worth it.
- Save your Ancient Stones. Never use a +10 stone on a weapon you haven't tested at +9 first. The difference in damage between +9 and +10 is often marginal compared to the utility of having multiple +9 weapons for different situations.
- Visit the Twin Maiden Husks. Hand over your bearings immediately. If you die with them in your inventory, you risk losing your "memory" of where you were going. Get them in the shop, and they stay there forever.
Buying your way to power isn't "cheating" the Elden Ring experience. It’s using the systems Miyazaki put there to ensure you don't spend 40 hours farming ore when you could be fighting demigods. Find the bearings. Buy the stones. Burn the Erdtree.