Conan Exiles Steel and Hardened Steel (2026): Recipes, Amounts and Farming Routes

You make Conan Exiles steel by combining 3 Iron Bars with 1 Steelfire (1 Tar + 1 Brimstone) in a furnace. Hardened Steel comes from smelting 1 Steel Bar with 1 Black Ice. This guide walks through the whole chain with every recipe, every station and a materials calculator.

⚒️ Why steel matters so much

Steel is the turning point in Conan Exiles from scraping by early on to a real mid game. Almost every good weapon, every solid armor piece and many important workbenches need Steel Bars, and for high-end gear there's no way around Hardened Steel. The problem: production runs through several intermediate products and stations. If you don't know the chain, you'll stand at the furnace without a clue.

This guide takes care of that, with every verified recipe and a calculator so you never run out of material halfway through production.

🔗 The steel chain at a glance

Steel isn't made in one step but through several stages:

• Tar: a byproduct of tanning hides (Tannery)
• Steelfire: Tar + Brimstone in the Firebowl Cauldron
• Iron Bar: Ironstone in the furnace
• Steel Bar: Iron Bars + Steelfire in the furnace
• Hardened Steel Bar: Steel Bar + Black Ice in the furnace

Sounds like a lot, but it's routine once the three stations are in place: Furnace, Firebowl Cauldron and Tannery, plus a steady supply of raw materials.

🛢️ Step 1: make Tar

You can't mine Tar, you have to produce it. The Enhanced database conanexiles.gaming.tools lists these routes:

• Tannery: when you turn hides into leather, Tar drops out as a byproduct. Handy, because you need leather all the time anyway.
• Alchemist's Bench: 10 Resin + 10 Raw Ash give 2 Tar, or 20 Oil + 5 Raw Ash.

Tip: if you tan a lot of leather for your armor anyway, Tar piles up almost by itself. For leather, see our Hardened Leather guide.

🔥 Step 2: make Steelfire

Steelfire is the key additive without which iron never turns into steel. It's made in the Firebowl Cauldron, and the recipe comes with the Firebowl Cauldron knowledge:

Recipe: 1× Tar + 1× Brimstone + fuel → 1× Steelfire (about 10 seconds)

You'll find Brimstone in sulfur-rich areas. The notorious gas clouds at Shattered Springs are productive but cost you health if you're not wearing protection. All locations and routes are in our Brimstone guide.

⛏️ Step 3: smelt Iron Bars

In parallel, you need Iron Bars. They're simple:

Recipe: 2× Ironstone + fuel → 1× Iron Bar (in the furnace)

There's plenty of Ironstone in the mountainous regions north of the river. Since steel eats huge amounts of iron, a second furnace that smelts iron nonstop while the first one already makes steel is worth it.

🗡️ Step 4: make Steel Bars

Now iron and Steelfire come together:

Recipe: 3× Iron Bar + 1× Steelfire + fuel → 1× Steel Bar (in the furnace, about 10 seconds)

Older databases such as Gamer Guides still list 5 Iron Bars and 2 Tar per Steelfire. The Enhanced database lists 3 Iron Bars and 1 Tar. Even so, the 3 to 1 ratio is why iron runs out so fast. Always plan for a lot more Ironstone than you think.

❄️ Step 5: Hardened Steel

Hardened Steel is the easiest stage of the whole chain, once you have steel and Black Ice:

Recipe: 1× Steel Bar + 1× Black Ice + fuel → 1× Hardened Steel Bar (in the furnace, about 15 seconds)

Black Ice is found in the snowy north, around the Temple of Frost for example. Bring cold protection.

🧮 Materials calculator: how much raw material do you really need?

Here's the part most guides skip: the full breakdown down to raw materials. That way you know exactly what to farm before you head out (fuel not included, since it depends on the furnace):

How to read the table: 1 Hardened Steel Bar = 1 Steel Bar + 1 Black Ice. That 1 Steel Bar = 3 Iron Bars (= 6 Ironstone) + 1 Steelfire (= 1 Tar + 1 Brimstone). So every single Hardened Steel Bar hides a surprisingly big pile of iron.

⚡ Produce faster: 4 practical tips

• Several furnaces in parallel: one for iron, one for steel, one for Hardened Steel, so no station ever sits idle.
• Improved Furnace: faster smelting and longer-lasting fuel pay off once you move into bulk production.
• Stock up on Black Ice: the trip north is long. Bring back a big stack in one go instead of traveling several times.
• Tar on the side: tan your leather and collect the Tar byproduct instead of making a separate Tar run.

🏆 What do you need steel and Hardened Steel for?

Steel Bars go into almost every steel weapon and tool, several armor sets and important workbenches such as the Improved Armorer's Bench. Hardened Steel is your ticket to mid and endgame gear: high-quality weapons, strong armor and many advanced building materials need it. If you want to raid or build a defensible base, you need it in large amounts.

Steel Bars also feed two endgame chains on our site: Composite Obsidian needs a Steel Bar per craft, and the Steelfire from step 2 is the expensive part of Dragonpowder.

❓ FAQ: Conan Exiles steel

How do I make steel in Conan Exiles?
3× Iron Bar + 1× Steelfire in the furnace give you 1× Steel Bar. The Steelfire is made from 1× Tar + 1× Brimstone in the Firebowl Cauldron.

How do I make Hardened Steel?
1× Steel Bar + 1× Black Ice in the furnace give you 1× Hardened Steel Bar. You'll find Black Ice in the snowy north.

Why do I keep running out of iron?
Because one Steel Bar swallows 3 Iron Bars (= 6 Ironstone). Always plan for a lot more iron and keep a second furnace smelting iron at all times.

Where do I get the Steelfire recipe?
It comes with the Firebowl Cauldron knowledge. After that, you craft it in the Firebowl Cauldron.

📚 Further reading

• Brimstone: locations and recipes
• Star Metal: find it and make bars
• Hardened Leather
• Craft straight from chests (Enhanced)
• All Conan Exiles guides

As of October 2026, Conan Exiles Enhanced with Hotfix 3.0.1. Recipes for Tar, Steelfire, Iron Bar, Steel Bar and Hardened Steel Bar, plus the Steelfire unlock through the Firebowl Cauldron knowledge, were checked against the Enhanced database conanexiles.gaming.tools (game version 3.0.0). Locations and practical tips come from community guides.