Bell Bearing items are very important for players once they enter the middle and later stages of Elden Ring.
Bell Bearings serve the same role that Umbral Ashes did in Dark Souls 3. While previous FromSoftware games left a player in a very awkward spot if they ever angered or killed a merchant, Dark Souls 3 changed things up. After the death of a merchant, players could pick up their ashes and give them to the Shrine Handmaid in Firelink Shrine, who then absorbed their inventory. This still ended the NPC’s questline but allowed players to soften the blow of losing a merchant.
Bell Bearings function very similarly in Elden Ring. While there aren’t quite as many merchants that can be killed, there are some. Alongside this, there are others that can be found in the world to expand Roundtable Hold’s merchant stock.
Here’s how to utilize Bell Bearings and which ones to track down.
Bell Bearing items expand the inventory of the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold.
Each Bell Bearing will add at least two new items to their shop. For the most part, the expanded offering is various crafting materials and upgrade items. However, if the player brings the Bell Bearing of another merchant, the Twin Maiden Husks will add a copy of their inventory at an identical price.
Unfortunately, this does not allow players to work around limited stocks for certain items. For example, if a player depletes Patches’ inventory of Stonesword Keys, kills him, and gives his Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks, it will not add any more Stonesword Keys to their inventory.
Here are all the normal Bell Bearings that can be found in Elden Ring’s overworld:
| Bell Bearing | What it unlocks | Bell Bearing Location |
| Bone Peddler’s Bell Bearing | -Thick Animal Bones -Hefty Animal Bones |
Kill the Bell Bearing Hunter invader near the Warmaster’s Shack |
| Ghost Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing 1 | -Ghost Glovewort 1 -Ghost Glovewort 2 -Ghost Glovewort 3 |
In Nokron, Eternal City found on a corpse in a gazebo at the center of an Atrium. |
| Ghost Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing 2 | -Ghost Glovewort 4 -Ghost Glovewort 5 -Ghost Glovewort 6 |
After entering Nokstella, Eternal City, head up three flights of stairs then leave the stairwell to the left. This floor has a room with a treasure chest. |
| Ghost Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing 3 | -Ghost Glovewort 7 -Ghost Glovewort 8 -Ghost Glovewort 9 |
In a graveyard full of Prawn Miners in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. Found on the ground near a gravestone. |
| Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing 1 | -Grave Glovewort 1 -Grave Glovewort 2 -Grave Glovewort 3 |
Defeat the Erdtree Burial Watchdog in the Wyndham Catacombs. |
| Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing 2 | -Grave Glovewort 4 -Grave Glovewort 5 -Grave Glovewort 6 |
Defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit boss in the Giants’ Mountaintop Catacombs. |
| Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing 3 | -Grave Glovewort 7 -Grave Glovewort 8 -Grave Glovewort 9 |
In Crumbling Farum Azula on a corpse lying in a strangely intact Gazebo near a group of enemies that are sitting in a pond and headbutting the ground. |
| Meat Peddler’s Bell Bearing | -Sliver of Meat -Lump of Flesh -Turtle Neck Meat |
Kill the Bell Bearing Hunter invader in the Church of Vows. |
| Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing 1 | -Smithing Stone 1 -Smithing Stone 2 |
Defeat the Crystalian bosses in Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel. |
| Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing 2 | -Smithing Stone 3 -Smithing Stone 4 |
On the Atlus Plateau is the Sealed Tunnel, which contains a chest with this Bell Bearing. |
| Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing 3 | -Smithing Stone 5 -Smithing Stone 6 |
In a chest in the Zamor Ruins, located on the Mountaintop of Giants. |
| Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing 4 | -Smithing Stone 7 -Smithing Stone 8 |
In Crumbling Farum Azula, defeat the Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble. |
| Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing 1 | -Somber Smithing Stone 1 -Somber Smithing Stone 2 |
Defeat the Fallingstar Beast in Sellia Crystal Tunnel. |
| Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing 2 | -Somber Smithing Stone 3 -Somber Smithing Stone 4 |
Defeat the Crystalian bosses in the Sealed Tunnel on the Atlus Plateau. |
| Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing 3 | -Somber Smithing Stone 5 -Somber Smithing Stone 6 |
On a corpse near the First Church of Marika. |
| Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing 4 | -Somber Smithing Stone 7 -Somber Smithing Stone 8 |
Loot a corpse on a balcony in Crumbling Farum Azula near the Tempest-Facing Balcony Site of Grace. |
| Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing 5 | -Somber Smithing Stone 9 | On a corpse in front of an altar in Crumbling Farum Azula. |
Alongside these Bell Bearings are ones that can be taken from NPCs. Some of them are obtained at the end of a quest while others require the player to take them by force. Players are not encouraged to kill NPCs just for their Bell Bearings, as these items will not ultimately offer the player access to more or different items, and many of these NPCs have questlines that are more rewarding than killing them immediately. Some of them die as part of other quests, so these Bell Bearings keep their inventories available from Roundtable Hold.
Players can farm Smithing Stones in Elden Ring, but they can also buy them from the Twin Maiden Husks after finding the right Bell Bearings. This is pricier than just grinding enemies down, but it’s significantly faster and lets players experiment with more weapons.
Most of these Bell Bearings are attached to late-game areas. Crafty players can get Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing 1, which can be had as part of an early-game sprint to get the Meteorite Staff. Ultimately, it’s not recommended that Elden Ring players make a mad dash to pick up Bell Bearings early. Though Dark Souls 3 allowed players to get upgrade items very early through the Ashes of Ariandel DLC, this is more of a to-do in Elden Ring.
Is Elden Ring too hard for new players?
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