The Real Path to Maximum Weapon Upgrades in Elden Ring

Let me start with something honest: I have spent more hours than I want to admit chasing the idea of maximum weapon upgrades in Elden Ring. Not just because I wanted to hit harder in PvE, but because the game has a particular way of making you feel like you are always one upgrade away from true power. The truth is a bit more complicated, and a lot more rewarding, than just collecting every bell bearing or somber stone you can find.

I remember my first playthrough vividly. I was running a strength build with the Greatsword, and I had convinced myself that if I could just get my weapon to +25 I would finally be able to stand against Malenia without panic rolling. That was naive. What I learned after dozens of hours and multiple characters is that maximum weapon upgrades are not a single destination. They are a series of informed choices about which weapons you invest in, when you invest in them, and how you use your limited resources across the game's sprawling world.

The first fork in the road comes early. You find a somber stone or a bell bearing, and you have to decide: do I upgrade my starting weapon, or do I wait for something better? In Elden Ring, the answer is rarely black and white. Your starting weapon might serve you well for the first third of the game, but there are weapons hidden in Liurnia and Caelid that can completely change your playstyle. I have seen players hoard every upgrade material they find, waiting for a perfect weapon that never comes, while struggling against basic enemies because their damage is too low. The smarter approach is to pick a weapon you enjoy using, upgrade it to +6 or +12, and then reassess once you have a better sense of the game's loot pool.

Understanding the Upgrade Paths

Elden Ring has two main upgrade tracks: normal weapons that go to +25 using somber stones and bell bearings, and special weapons that go to +10 using somber ancient dragons and ghost glovewort. The normal path is more flexible because you find a lot more somber stones and bell bearings throughout the game, but the special path offers more dramatic power spikes per upgrade level. Some of the most effective builds I have run used a mix of both, with a normal weapon for general combat and a special weapon for boss fights where status effects or unique moves mattered more.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in discussions about maximum weapon upgrades is the assumption that you need to max out every weapon you carry. That is simply not true. In my experience, having one weapon at +25 or +10 is enough for the entire game, including the final boss. The extra upgrade levels on a secondary weapon are nice, but they rarely change the outcome of a fight. What matters more is having the right damage type, the right scaling stat, and the right ash of war for the situation.

Resource Management and Prioritization

Your upgrade materials are finite in a single playthrough. You can farm some of them, but the rare ones like somber ancient dragons and ghost glovewort are limited per cycle. I have made the mistake of spreading my upgrades too thin across three or four weapons, only to realize I could not max out the one I actually wanted for the endgame. The better strategy is to pick two weapons at most, upgrade them consistently, and sell or discard the rest. This frees up weight and inventory space, and it also reduces the mental load of having to manage multiple upgrade paths.

There is also the question of when to upgrade. I have found that upgrading a weapon immediately after obtaining it is often a waste, because you might find a better version of the same weapon type within the next zone. The game is designed to trickle you new gear as you explore, so patience pays off. A good rule of thumb is to upgrade a weapon only after you have used it for at least two major boss fights and you are confident it fits your playstyle. That might sound conservative, but it has saved me from dumping resources into weapons that looked good on paper but felt clunky in practice.

The Role of Somber Stones and Bell Bearings

Somber stones are the most common upgrade material, found on almost every corpse and merchant. Bell bearings are rarer, and they gate your progress from +12 to +25. I have seen players panic when they run out of bell bearings, thinking they have ruined their build. In reality, the game provides enough bell bearings to max out at least two normal weapons per playthrough, and you can buy more from certain merchants after you give them the right bell bearing items. The trick is to know which weapons are worth that investment.

For special weapons, the situation is tighter. Somber ancient dragons and ghost glovewort are extremely limited, with only a handful available in the entire game. You can get a maximum of about 13 somber ancient dragons and 8 ghost glovewort per playthrough if you explore every dungeon and defeat every boss. That means you can only fully upgrade one special weapon, plus maybe a second to +8 or +9. This scarcity is intentional. The game wants you to commit to a special weapon, to feel the weight of that choice. I have seen players save their game before upgrading, try the weapon at +9, and then reload if they did not like it. That is a valid approach, but it breaks the immersion for me. I prefer to make the choice and live with it, even if it means my second special weapon stays at +7.

Practical Tips for Efficient Upgrading

Always check the stats of a weapon before upgrading. Look at the base damage, scaling, and weight. A weapon with high base damage but poor scaling might fall off in the late game.
Use the weapon in its base form against a few enemies. If the moveset feels awkward or the stamina cost is too high, do not upgrade it further.
Consider the weapon's ash of war. Some special weapons come with unique ashes that cannot be removed, which can be a blessing or a curse depending on your build.
Keep a backup weapon upgraded to at least +9 or +18 for situations where your main weapon's damage type is resisted.
Do not forget about the upgrade items that boost your weapons' damage against specific enemy types. Those are often more impactful than one extra upgrade level.

I have also learned the hard way that maximum weapon upgrades do not automatically make you a better player. I have seen people with fully upgraded Rivers of Blood builds still get wrecked by Margit because they could not dodge her delayed attacks. The upgrades help, but they are a multiplier on your own skill, not a substitute for it. The best players I know spend more time practicing their timings and learning boss patterns than they do farming upgrade materials.

The Endgame and Beyond

In the late game, after you have beaten the final boss and entered New Game Plus, the question of maximum weapon upgrades becomes more about variety than necessity. You start finding duplicate copies of somber ancient dragons and ghost glovewort, and you can finally experiment with all the weapons you ignored on your first run. That is where the real fun begins. I have a character dedicated to trying every special weapon at +10, just to see how they feel against the endgame bosses. Some of them, like the Sword of Night and Flame or the Dark Moon Greatsword, have hidden properties that only shine at maximum upgrade level. Others are perfectly fine at +9 and do not justify the extra resource cost.

If you are planning to do multiple playthroughs, I recommend using the first run to max out one weapon that carries you through the entire game, and then using subsequent runs to explore other options. The game's difficulty scales up in New Game Plus, so having a fully upgraded weapon from the start of NG+ makes the transition smoother. I have seen players struggle because they started NG+ with a +20 weapon when the enemies are tuned for +25. That gap matters more than you think.

One last piece of advice: do not let the pursuit of maximum weapon upgrades ruin your enjoyment of the game. I have seen friends burn out because they spent hours farming the same bell bearing location or resetting for a specific weapon drop. The game is meant to be explored, not farmed. If you miss a somber ancient dragon in a hidden cave, it is okay. You can grab it in NG+ or trade with another player. The joy of Elden Ring is in the combat, the exploration, and the stories you create along the way. The upgrades are just tools to help you tell those stories.

So when you see a guide promising the ultimate build or the fastest path to maximum weapon upgrades, take it with a grain of salt. The real path is the one you carve for yourself, with the weapons that feel right in your hands, and the upgrades you earn through your own persistence. That is what makes the journey worth taking.