You're standing in front of a boss. It’s some multi-armed monstrosity or a knight that hits like a freight train. You look at your sword. It’s +3. You’re in Liurnia, or maybe Caelid, and you realize you’ve made a massive mistake. Hunting for glowing yellow rocks in dark tunnels is a nightmare. It’s tedious. Honestly, it’s the worst part of the game if you do it manually. That’s why smithing stone bell bearings exist. They take the scavenger hunt out of the equation and turn Elden Ring into a game where you actually get to use the cool weapons you find instead of just staring at them in your inventory because you don't have the materials to make them viable.
Most players think they can just scrape by on what they find in the environment. You can't. Not really. Eventually, the scaling catches up to you. If you aren't upgrading, you're dying. The bell bearings are the "get out of jail free" card for weapon progression. Once you hand these over to the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold, the shop updates. Forever.
The Absolute Chore of Scavenging vs. The Bell Bearing Solution
Let's be real. Exploring every inch of a Limgrave mine just to find two tiny shards of stone is soul-crushing. You spend twenty minutes dodging glintstone miners only to realize you’re still three stones short of a +6 upgrade. It’s a bottleneck. FromSoftware designed the game this way on purpose to force exploration, but they also gave us a backdoor.
The smithing stone bell bearings (specifically the Miner's Bell Bearings) allow you to buy infinite Smithing Stones [1] through [8]. This is the difference between having one "main" weapon and actually being able to experiment with that weird curved sword you just picked up from a corpse in a swamp.
Without these items, you are tethered to your starter gear. With them, the entire map becomes a playground. You stop worrying about "wasting" resources. You just buy what you need. It changes the psychology of the game from scarcity to abundance.
Where Everyone Gets Stuck: The First Major Hurdle
The first one is the kicker. You find the Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [1] in the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel. The boss is a Crystalian. If you’re using a slashing weapon, you’re going to have a bad time. Seriously, it’s like hitting a brick wall with a wet noodle. You have to use strike damage—hammers, maces, or even just two-handing your shield and bashing—to "crack" them. Once they crack, they fold.
Handing this in unlocks Smithing Stone [1] and [2]. Suddenly, any weapon can go to +6 instantly.
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- Location: Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel (Liurnia of the Lakes).
- Unlocks: Stones for +3 and +6 upgrades.
- Cost: 200 and 400 runes respectively.
People often overlook how cheap these are. A single run through a mid-game area gives you enough runes to max out the early levels of ten different weapons.
Finding the Rest: A Map of Frustration and Reward
Moving into the mid-game, the difficulty spikes. You hit Altus Plateau and suddenly the enemies have triple the health. If your weapon is still stuck at +6, you're playing on "Extra Hard" mode for no reason.
The second bearing is tucked away in the Sealed Tunnel, right outside the Leyndell capital walls. You don't even have to kill a boss for this one. It's in a chest. It's almost like the developers felt bad for how hard the rest of the game is. This unlocks Stones [3] and [4], pushing you to +12.
The Late Game Drought
By the time you reach the Mountaintops of the Giants, the game stops being nice. The Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [3] is in the Zamor Ruins. It’s in a basement. It’s easy to run past because the Zamor Knights there are terrifying and will absolutely shred you if you linger. But you need it. This gives you Stones [5] and [6].
Then there’s the fourth one. This is where things get controversial. To get the Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [4], you have to beat the Godskin Duo in Crumbling Farum Azula.
"The Godskin Duo is arguably the most hated boss fight in the community, but the reward is the ability to buy Smithing Stone [7] and [8]. It's the ultimate gatekeeper." — Every Elden Ring player ever.
It's a brutal fight. You're fighting two bosses with shared health pools in a room full of pillars. But once they’re dead, you have the keys to the kingdom. You can take any standard weapon to +24.
The Somber Catch: Why You Need Both
We can't talk about smithing stone bell bearings without mentioning their "Somber" cousins. Most "special" weapons—the ones you get from bosses or unique chests—require Somber Smithing Stones. These use a different set of bell bearings.
- Somberstone Miner's Bell Bearing [1]: Fallingstar Beast in Sellia Crystal Tunnel.
- Somberstone Miner's Bell Bearing [2]: Altus Tunnel (two Crystalians... fun).
- Somberstone Miner's Bell Bearing [3]: First Church of Marika (Mountaintops).
- Somberstone Miner's Bell Bearing [4]: Near the Tempest-Facing Balcony in Farum Azula.
- Somberstone Miner's Bell Bearing [5]: Also in Farum Azula, near the end.
The Somber stones are actually easier to manage because you only need one per level. Standard stones require 12 stones per tier (2/4/6). That's why the regular bearings are arguably more important—the raw volume of stones you need is staggering.
Expert Strategies for Efficient Upgrading
Don't just buy stones as you need them. That's a waste of travel time.
When you get a new bearing, spend some time "farming" a low-risk area like the Mohgwyn Palace approach (if you have the Sacred Relic Sword) or just clearing a few dungeons. Bulk buy. Keep a stack of 12 or 24 of each stone type in your chest. This allows you to experiment with new builds on the fly. See a cool whip? Upgrade it. Want to try a heavy thrusting sword? Upgrade it.
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The Final Step: Ancient Dragon Stones
Here is the caveat: No bell bearing allows you to buy the final upgrade material.
The Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones are limited per playthrough. There are only 13 regular ones and 8 somber ones in the base game.
You have to be selective. Use your smithing stone bell bearings to get everything to +24 or +9, then "marry" the weapons you actually love with that final Ancient stone.
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
If you are currently playing and feeling underpowered, stop progressing the story and do this:
- Check your current weapon level. If it’s below +12 and you’re in Altus, you are behind.
- Go to the Sealed Tunnel. Grab the second bell bearing from the chest behind the illusory wall. Hand it to the Twin Maidens.
- Buy stones in bulk. Don't just buy 3. Buy 12.
- Explore the mines marked on your map. Look for the little orange "burn holes" on the map—those are tunnels. Even without the bell bearing, these are the densest spots for upgrade materials.
- Prioritize the Godskin Duo. If you are in the late game, use sleep pots on the Duo to make the fight trivial and secure the final infinite shop unlock.
The game is much more fun when you aren't hitting enemies with a toothpick. Get the bearings, buy the stones, and actually enjoy the combat variety Elden Ring offers.