Iron bars in Romestead are made by unlocking Blacksmith level 2, gathering iron ore, fueling the furnace, and throwing the ore into the blacksmith’s furnace to smelt it. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you going.
How to make iron bars in Romestead
Step 1: Finish the quest gate
Go to the main questline and complete Virgil’s poem by delivering a granite tooth to the altar.
The granite tooth drops from the Cyclops in the desert, so this boss fight is the first real checkpoint before iron production begins.
Step 2: Unlock Blacksmith level 2
After that, complete Proving your worth by gifting a bronze helmet, bronze chest plate, bronze greaves, and bronze cart.
Once that quest is done, your blacksmith can be upgraded to level 2, which is required for iron ore processing.
Step 3: Upgrade the blacksmith
Open Workshop, and click the blacksmith building directly.
And choose Upgrade.
You do not need to select anything from the bottom bar first; the building itself is the target. If the upgrade option is greyed out, you have not finished the quest requirements yet.
Step 4: Gather iron ore
Head to the volcano biome and mine iron ore nodes there. Iron can also show up in the desert, but that source is very rare, so the volcano is the reliable route for farming.
Step 5: Smelt the bars
Return to your settlement, put a fuel source into the furnace.
Then throw the iron ore into the blacksmith level 2 furnace.
After a short wait, the furnace outputs iron bars. The process works the same way you use the furnace for other ores, just with the level 2 upgrade unlocked.
Common blockers
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If you cannot upgrade the blacksmith, finish both quest steps first: Virgil’s poem and Proving your worth.
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If iron ore does not smelt, check that the blacksmith is really level 2 and that the furnace has fuel.
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If you are short on iron ore, prioritize the volcano biome instead of relying on the desert, because desert iron is described as rare.
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If you are stuck at the Cyclops gate, that boss is tied to the granite tooth needed to progress the questline.
Iron bars are not an early-game pickup in Romestead; they are locked behind quest progression, a blacksmith upgrade, and a biome-specific ore source. Once you know the path, the loop is straightforward: boss quest, bronze delivery, blacksmith level 2, volcano mining, furnace smelting.
