Ore, Smithing Material

Moonstone Ore

A pale ore smelted into Refined Moonstone, the main metal for Elven gear and half of the recipe for Glass weapons and armor.

Moonstone Ore is the base of the elegant end of Skyrim smithing. Two chunks in a smelter give one Refined Moonstone, which you need for Elven Armor and weapons (Elven Smithing perk) and, together with Refined Malachite, for Glass Armor (Glass Smithing). At 30 gold a chunk it is a nice find, and with only 56 veins it is not something you will stumble over every day.

How to get it

The biggest cluster is outdoors near the Forgotten Vale with 9 veins, but that is deep in Dawnguard territory. A more practical choice is Soljund’s Sinkhole in the Reach, with 5 veins and 3 loose pieces, as long as you deal with its undead problem. The Dwemer ruin Mzulft has 6 veins between the main ruin and the Boilery. You can also find 2 veins in Darkfall Cave and in Stony Creek Cave, a single vein in Crystaldrift Cave, and a few near Southfringe Sanctum.

If mining is not your thing, blacksmiths and general goods merchants such as Asbjorn Fire-Tamer, Aquillius Aeresius and Bersi Honey-Hand stock it. A couple of loose chunks also sit in Fort Sungard‘s tower.

Smelting and tanning

2 Moonstone Ore → 1 Refined Moonstone at the smelter

Used to craft

Moonstone Ore appears in 1 recipe in the game files.

Weapons and other items

smelter: Refined Moonstone (2)

The number in brackets is how many Moonstone Ore each recipe needs. Bold labels are the Smithing perk the recipe requires.

Good to know

Two ores (60 gold) smelt into Refined Moonstone worth 75, a small profit plus less to carry.

Data from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): value, weight, ore veins, recipes and merchant lists. ID 0005ACE0 is the item’s form ID for the console.

Where to find it

Soljund’s Sinkhole: 5 veins and 3 loose pieces
Mzulft and the Mzulft Boilery: 3 veins each
Outdoor veins near the Forgotten Vale (9)
Sold by smiths such as Alvor and Beirand

Crafting materials

Lore notes

Dropped by

Quest reward from

Where it appears

Crystaldrift Cave

Crystaldrift Cave in Skyrim: one-room cave south of Riften with Gadnor’s Staff of Charming, a Shrine of Kynareth, moonstone ore and roaming beasts.

Darkfall Cave

Darkfall Cave in Skyrim (Dawnguard): spider and troll cave north of Markarth on the way to Gelebor in Touching the Sky. Collapsing bridge, river and loot.

Fort Sungard

Fort Sungard in Skyrim: Forsworn-held fort near Rorikstead – the five sections, Last Scabbard of Akrash, Guide to Better Thieving and the Civil War battle.

Mzulft

Mzulft in Skyrim: Dwemer ruin north of Riften with the Oculory for Revealing the Unseen, Falmer, chaurus, moonstone veins and tons of Dwemer scrap metal.

Soljund’s Sinkhole

Soljund’s Sinkhole in Skyrim: the moonstone mine near Old Hroldan overrun by draugr – ore veins, traps, the boss, Perth’s quest and a Light Armor book.

Southfringe Sanctum

Southfringe Sanctum in Skyrim: Bashnag’s snowy spellsword cave south of Helgen – rescue Selveni Nethri, loot The Art of War Magic and mine moonstone nearby.

Stony Creek Cave

Stony Creek Cave in Skyrim: bandits and moonstone north of Ansilvund – Finn’s Lute, Stone of Barenzia, flammable gas and the climb toward Kagrenzel.

Characters connected to it

Alvor

Alvor is Riverwood’s blacksmith and Hadvar’s uncle – the man who helps you after Helgen and teaches many players their first smithing.

Aquillius Aeresius

Aquillius Aeresius in Skyrim: Imperial citizen of Solitude who lives with Vittoria Vici and later minds her post at the East Empire Company Warehouse.