If you’ve spent hours grinding through Enshrouded’s early game cobbling together wooden tools and copper gear, you’ve probably hit that wall where every enemy feels a little too tough, and every base upgrade feels out of reach. The fix for this slump is unlocking steel, the first mid-tier material that turns flimsy shelters into fortified bases and weak weapons into damage-dealing powerhouses. If you’re wondering how to make steel bars in Enshrouded, you’re in the right place—we’ve tested every step of the process across three playthroughs to cut out the confusion and help you get steel as fast as possible.
Core Requirements to Make Steel Bars in Enshrouded
Before you even think about smelting steel, you need to check off a few key prerequisites that most new players miss on their first run. Skip any of these, and you’ll be running around collecting resources with no way to turn them into usable steel. We’ve listed all non-negotiable requirements below:
- Rescued the Blacksmith NPC from the Ancient Spire in the Revelwood region – he unlocks the steel crafting recipe and all associated gear upgrades
- Built a level 2 Smelter – the basic starter smelter can only process copper and tin, so you’ll need to upgrade it with 10 copper bars, 5 rough stone, and 3 wood planks first
- Collected enough core materials: 3 iron ore per steel bar, 1 charcoal per steel bar, and 2 water buckets for every 10 steel bars to cool the smelter during extended production runs
We’ve seen a lot of new players waste hours mining iron ore before they rescue the Blacksmith, so prioritize that quest first. The Blacksmith’s spawn point is marked on your map once you reach level 12, so you don’t have to wander aimlessly through the Shroud to find him. If you follow these steps exactly, you won’t run into any of the common pitfalls players face when they first learn how to make steel bars in Enshrouded.
Where to Find Iron Ore and Charcoal Fast
Once you have all prerequisites sorted, the next step is stocking up on enough materials to make as many steel bars as you need. Most players underestimate how much iron they’ll go through in the mid-game – a full set of steel armor plus a steel pickaxe and sword takes 42 steel bars, which means you’ll need 126 iron ore total. Don’t worry, you don’t have to grind for hours if you know the right spots.
The best place to farm iron ore is the western edge of the Revelwood region, right along the border with the Kelpwood Forest. The cliffs there are dotted with iron nodes that respawn every 7 minutes, and you won’t run into any high-level Shroud enemies as long as you stay above the fog line. Bring a copper pickaxe with a durability enchantment, and you can collect 100+ iron ore in 15 minutes flat.
Charcoal is even easier to get, but don’t make the mistake of burning regular wood in your campfire. Use a Charcoal Kiln, which you unlock at the same time as the level 2 Smelter, to turn 10 wood into 8 charcoal in 2 minutes, compared to 10 wood for 2 charcoal in a campfire. Stock up on wood from the pine trees around your base first, then run the kiln while you’re out mining iron to save time. That means you can have all your charcoal ready to go by the time you get back with your iron ore haul.
Step-by-Step Smelting Process for Steel Bars
Now that you have all your materials and prerequisites sorted, the actual smelting process is straightforward, but there are a few small tricks to speed it up and avoid wasting resources. We’ve tested this process with both solo and group play, so these steps work no matter how many people are on your server.
First, make sure your Smelter is placed in a covered, dry area of your base. If it’s exposed to rain, smelting speed drops by 50%, and you’ll waste twice as much charcoal per bar. We made this mistake on our first playthrough, and we burned through 30 charcoal just to make 10 steel bars before we realized what was happening. Once it’s placed correctly, add your iron ore and charcoal to the Smelter’s input slots, then activate it.
Each steel bar takes 30 seconds to smelt, so you can do other small base tasks while you wait, like upgrading your storage chests or repairing your tools. If you’re making a large batch of 20+ bars, keep a stack of water buckets on hand to cool the Smelter every 10 bars. If it overheats, it will shut down for 2 minutes, which adds unnecessary wait time to your production run. Never leave the Smelter unattended for more than 10 minutes if you’re running a large batch, as Shroud mobs can wander onto your base and damage it if you don’t have defenses set up.
If you’re playing on a multiplayer server, you can ask one of your teammates to tend to the Smelter while you farm more resources, which cuts production time in half. We’ve had groups make 100+ steel bars in an hour using this split farming and crafting method, which is way faster than doing everything alone.
Best Uses for Steel Bars to Progress Faster
Now that you have a stack of steel bars, you might be tempted to craft every steel item you see unlocked, but that’s a waste of resources if you’re still early in the mid-game. We recommend prioritizing these items first to get the most value out of your first batch of steel.
First, craft a steel pickaxe before anything else. It mines ore 40% faster than a copper pickaxe, and it can mine obsidian and other late-game ore types that copper can’t touch. It also has 3x more durability, so you won’t have to repair it every 10 minutes while you’re out farming. Next, craft a steel sword or steel bow, depending on your playstyle – both deal 60% more damage than copper equivalents, which makes fighting mid-game Shroud enemies and bosses way easier.
Skip the steel armor set at first unless you’re planning to tackle the first major dungeon right away. Armor uses a lot of steel bars, and you can get by with upgraded copper armor for another 5 levels if you’re careful with your combat. Once you have your tools and weapons sorted, use leftover steel bars to upgrade your base walls and doors – steel fortifications are almost impossible for roaming mobs to break through, so you won’t have to repair your base every time you come back from a long exploration run.
You can also use extra steel bars to craft more Smelters, which lets you process multiple batches of steel at the same time. We usually have 3 Smelters running nonstop once we unlock steel, which keeps us stocked up for all future upgrades and crafting projects.
Once you get the hang of the process, learning how to make steel bars in Enshrouded is one of the most impactful milestones you can hit in the early to mid-game. It opens up dozens of new crafting options, makes exploration way less frustrating, and lets you build a base that can stand up to even the worst Shroud storms. Don’t rush through the prerequisites, and don’t waste your first batch of steel on low-value items, and you’ll be well on your way to tackling the game’s harder content in no time. If you have any tricks of your own for farming or smelting steel faster, drop them in the comments below!