Elden Ring: Upgrading weapons Elden Ring guide, walkthrough
Elden Ring is a huge game containing many different weapons of different types. On this page you will learn how to upgrade them, and what the upgrades affect.
Last update: 20 November 2023
Elden Ring features a diverse array of weapons. Any weapon you find can be upgraded at the blacksmith, Hewg, in the Roundtable Hold in exchange for runes and specific smithing stones. On this page of the guide you'll learn how to upgrade weapons and what effects the upgrades have.
How to upgrade a weapon?
Weapons can only be upgraded in the Roundtable Hold, the game's hub, by smithing master Hewg. He is always present in the Hold - you'll find him next to Fia's chamber. You'll be invited to the Hold by Melina when you rest at the site of grace after encountering Margit, the Fell Omen boss.
To upgrade a weapon, you must spend a certain amount of smithing stones and runes. There are two types of smithing stones in the game - regular and somber. Regular stones are used to upgrade regular weapons, while somber stones are used to upgrade special weapons. Regular weapons can be improved up to level 25, while special weapons can be improved up to level 10. Despite the significant level difference, fully upgraded regular and special weapons are fairly similar in terms of the damage they inflict. The main advantage of regular weapons is the ability to assign ashes of war to them, which alters the weapon scaling and provides special abilities. However, special weapons have unique and often more powerful abilities.
Smithing stones have levels - the higher the weapon level, the higher the stone level required. The required stone level increases every third upgrade of a regular weapon and after each upgrade of a special weapon. Stones can be found by exploring the world or purchased at the Roundtable Hold by finding specific bells and offering them to Twin Maiden Husks. You can learn more about smithing stones on a separate page of the guide.
What do the upgrades do?
Upgrading weapons increases two parameters - attack power and trait scaling. Both of these parameters affect the damage dealt. The attack power represents the basic damage of the weapon, while scaling determines the amount of damage added based on the trait values.
The weapon can scale from five traits; Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane. The weapon can also scale from several traits at once, or only from one. The scaling level is described by the letters in ascending order: E, D, C, B, A, and S. The higher the letter of the trait, the more additional damage the weapon deals for each point invested in that trait.
The picture above shows one of the weapons, the Blasphemous Blade. The weapon has a Faith scaling of B and a Strength and Dexterity scaling of C. So, when using the Blasphemous Blade, the player receives a significant bonus to damage dealt for each point of Faith and a moderate bonus for each point of Strength and Dexterity. The Blasphemous Blade doesn't have Intelligence or Arcane scaling, so these traits don't increase the weapon's damage output.