How to unlock the blacksmith and weapon upgrades in Lords Of The Fallen (2023)
Like other Souls-like games, 2023’s Lords Of The Fallen allows you to upgrade your weapon through a blacksmith named Gerlinde at Skyrest. Before anything can be upgraded, you’ll need to find and rescue Gerlinde and her NPC companion Sparky in Pilgrim’s Perch before she moves to Skyrest.
To save her, simply explore through Pilgrim’s Perch until you reach the Pilgrim’s Perch Bellroom at the Vestige Of Blind Agatha. From it, take the elevator down directly behind you (If you haven’t unlocked it yet, you’ll need to continue exploring!), and then defeat the three Pilgrims congregating on the walkway.
Beside the lift is a ladder leading to a small area with a large prison cell, where Gerlinde and Sparky are locked. Guarding the prison cell is a Sentinel and two Hounds. If you have any ranged items, use them on the Hounds to quickly defeat them, and then focus on taking down the Sentinel.
An easy way of dispatching the enemy is by dropping onto Gerlinde’s prison cell and then performing a plunge attack on the Sentinel. A few of these should kill him quickly, and he’ll drop a Deralium Fragment, a Bleed Cure, and a Prison Cell Key.
Approach the prison cell and exhaust Gerlinde’s dialogue. She’ll eventually ask for the Prison Cell Key. Give it to her, and she’ll move to Skyrest with Sparky, located up the stairs directly opposite Stomund, Captain Of The Fidelis.
If you return to the Prison Cell, you can grab some more Deralium Fragments, and don’t forget to Soulflay the Umbral Presence on the nearby door opposite the Prison Cell to grab the Defiance Ring in a chest.
Upgrading Weapons In Lords Of The Fallen
When you speak with Gerlinde at her shop at Skyrest, you’ll trigger a quest wherein she asks you to search for tablets hidden by Sparky, which she’s searching for. Once you’ve exhausted the pair’s dialogue, you’ll be free to purchase and sell items and upgrade your weapons.
In Lords Of The Fallen, you’ll need to use four types of resources to upgrade your weapon:
- Small Deralium Fragments for weapon upgrades to +3
- Regular Deralium Fragments for weapon upgrades to +5
- Large Deralium Fragments for weapon upgrades to +9
- Deralium Chunks for weapon upgrades to 10+
You’ll find the upgrade materials while exploring Mournstead, from selected vendors like Thehk-Ihir, and on drops from enemies. Weapon upgrades require Vigor as well as Deralium, so make sure to stay on top of it!
