Materials and Ores

Enshrouded's materials come in tiers that follow its regions: copper in the Revelwood, tin and then iron around the Nomad Highlands and Kindlewastes, with rarer resources in the Shroud, the Hollow Halls and the later regions. Every material shows its item level and a hint where to find it, and 1.0 raised mining yields and made stone easier to mine.

1:53 Materials in Enshrouded come in tiers that follow the regions: each new region brings the ores and plants for the next set of weapons, armor and buildings, so where you are on the Map and Regions decides what you can make. You gather them with tools: a pickaxe for ore and terrain (mining also reshapes the ground), an axe for wood, and your hands for plants. Keen Games' beginner tips video (Feb 7, 2024) calls mining "relatively safe" experience early on, says better pickaxes mine more and faster, that skills make mining more efficient, that mines are often marked on your map with smaller ore veins found while exploring, and shares a trick: trees with brown leaves almost always drop resin, while green ones rarely do. Since Update 6 every material shows an item level to help you decide what to keep (Keen, May 13, 2025), and since 1.0 every resource's description says where to get more (Keen, Oct 14, 2026). Locations below come from early access guides, dated; 1.0 reworked the early regions, so check the in-game hint before you travel.

On a sunlit rock ledge, a figure in a dark helmet and dark leather armor with gold trim raises a pickaxe over a cluster of chunky blue and teal crystal blocks, chips flying. Below, a jungle valley with palms and pink mist stretches away between pale cliffs, and in the distance an enormous pale formation shaped like a tree rises into the sky. No game interface is shown. — An adventurer in dark armor swings a pickaxe into a deposit of blue crystal ore on a cliff above a misty jungle valley, with a huge tree-shaped rock formation in the haze in an official Steam store screenshot of Enshrouded. Keen Games GmbH

Quick facts

Gathering	Pickaxe (ore, stone, terrain), axe (wood), hands (plants), mining sieve
Copper	Revelwood, around its Ancient Spire (GamesRadar+, Jan 30, 2024)
Tin	Mining Rift west of the Nomad Highlands spire (TheGamer, Feb 25, 2024)
Iron	Caves of the Nomad Highlands and Kindlewastes, Ridgeback Mine (Game Rant, Feb 15, 2024)
Smelting	Bars at the Smelter; bronze from copper, tin and charcoal
Shroud-only	28 resources added in Update 6, plus Salt, Archaic Essence and more
Mining speed	A world setting; 1.0 raised high-tier pickaxe damage

Metals by tier

Copper is the first real metal. GamesRadar+ found it in the Revelwood, around the Revelwood Ancient Spire, as reddish ore with green flecks; the starting pickaxe can mine it, but a copper pickaxe is faster (GamesRadar+, Jan 30, 2024). Bronze comes next: copper bars, tin bars and charcoal smelted together at the Smelter, with tin from the Mining Rift west of the Nomad Highlands Ancient Spire; in early access bronze unlocked the Mercenary, Guardian and Sage sets, bronze tools, the Large Chest, the Spinning Wheel and the Athanor (TheGamer, Feb 25, 2024). Early access recipe quantities are left out here because 1.0 reworked the early crafting recipes (Keen, Oct 14, 2026).

Iron follows in the Nomad Highlands and the Kindlewastes. Game Rant's early access guide lists a "black-colored pile of iron ores" in a cave below the Nomad Highlands Ancient Spire past a Shroud Root, "an enormous pile of iron ore" in a Kindlewastes cave passage, a large deposit at Caravan Camp, and the Ridgeback Mine near the Kindlewastes spire, guarded by enemies around level 23 and a boss (Game Rant, Feb 15, 2024). The metals of the later regions, the Albaneve Summits, Veilwater Basin and Cinder's Cradle, have no reliable official or press list yet, as of Oct 21, 2026. Ore is smelted into bars at the Smelter and Blast Furnace; see Crafting Stations.

1:15 1.0 added a whole new tier. Keen's 1.0 highlights say the level cap rises to 50 with gear upgrades to 55, and that a new crafting tier "brings equipment and food for the journey" along with a survivor who specializes in Ancient knowledge. Higher-tier locks in Cinder's Cradle need new Archaic lockpicks (Keen, Oct 14, 2026).

Materials from the Shroud

0:30 Some materials exist only in the fog. Keen's Thralls of Twilight highlights (May 13, 2025) say the Shroud hides "28 new crafting resources" for armor tinting palettes, confusion grenades, two beam spells, repair kits and cures for curses, and that corrupted soil lets you grow Shroud tentacles at your base. The image on Crafting Stations shows two more: Salt, "mined in Springlands Shroud", and Toxic Slime, mined in the Hollow Halls. Weapon gems also need materials from the Shroud, such as Archaic Essence from Albaneve Summits Shroud Lairs (Weapons). How long you can stay down there is on The Shroud.

Ectoplasm is the Hollow Halls' currency: it opens the class chests in their end rooms. 1.0 made those chests 25% cheaper, cut the Ectoplasm in spell charge, arrow and Hollow Hall furniture recipes, and lets hounds and Hollow melee fighters drop it (Keen, Oct 14, 2026).

Runes

2:47 Runes are the material for upgrading gear, and you make them from gear you no longer need. Christoph says in Keen's Update 8 video that armor, shields and rings can be recycled by "salvaging them into runes", so there is no need for "a storage facility full of old stuff". Weapons were already salvaged the same way, and how many runes you get back from an upgraded item is a world setting (Keen support). Legendary runes drop from elite and boss enemies (Keen, May 13, 2025). Runes also pay for a skill reset at a Flame Altar (Skill Tree).

What 1.0 changed

Version 1.0 (Oct 15, 2026) cut a lot of gathering. Keen's changelog lists: more Archaic Essence from mining its terrain at every tier, larger aquamarine nodes, lower toughness for materials big settlements need such as stone, higher pickaxe damage in the higher tiers, more resources from Passion Flowers and Saffron, critter parts usable for chitin powder, fewer resources for armor sets, Flame levels 6 to 9 and the glider's Shroud Adhesive, and stone recipes that use the local region's stone instead of Springlands stone. Red marble columns and arches unlock when you discover marble, and gold coins now turn up in chests across Embervale as a currency some survivors take for vanity items (Keen, Oct 14, 2026).

Mining effectiveness can be set from half to double in the world settings (Keen support). Since Update 8 the pickaxe and wood axe have their own special abilities on a full focus bar, and pickaxes, wood axes and the mining sieve can be upgraded with runes (Keen, Apr 21, 2026). Steam lists a "Mole of" achievement for each region, for mining every valuable material there (Steam).

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find copper in Enshrouded? Copper in Enshrouded is in the Revelwood, around the Revelwood Ancient Spire, as reddish ore with green flecks (GamesRadar+, Jan 30, 2024); a copper pickaxe mines it faster than the starting one.

Where do I find iron in Enshrouded? Iron ore in Enshrouded is found in caves of the Nomad Highlands and Kindlewastes, including the Ridgeback Mine near the Kindlewastes Ancient Spire, according to Game Rant's early access guide (Feb 15, 2024).

How do I make bronze in Enshrouded? In Enshrouded you smelt bronze bars at the Smelter from copper bars, tin bars and charcoal; tin comes from the Mining Rift west of the Nomad Highlands spire. 1.0 changed early recipes, so check the amounts in game.

What is Archaic Essence in Enshrouded? Archaic Essence is an Enshrouded material mined from its own terrain, used among other things to insert weapon gems; one official screenshot names Albaneve Summits Shroud Lairs as a source, and 1.0 increased its mining yield at every tier.

How do I get runes in Enshrouded? You get runes in Enshrouded by salvaging weapons, armor, shields and rings you no longer need, and from loot; legendary runes drop from elite and boss enemies.

How do I know where a material comes from in Enshrouded? Since 1.0, every Enshrouded resource's details screen shows an acquisition hint saying where to get more.