Conan Exiles Star Metal Guide: Locations, Mining & Smelting

Star metal is the endgame metal of the Exiled Lands: it's the material for the strongest weapons and armor in the base game, and it arrives in the most dramatic way in the game — as meteorites crashing down in the western Snow biome. The farming loop is unique: watch the sky, crack the meteorite's shell with explosives, mine the core with a tier-4 pick, then smelt the ore with brimstone and black ice. This guide covers the full process, from meteorite locations to the smelting recipe, with the exact tools and numbers.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Exactly where meteorites land (and how to spot them coming)
• Why you need explosives to open a meteorite — and which ones work
• The pick requirements (tier 4+ list) and how many hits you get
• The smelting recipe: ore + brimstone + black ice
• The efficient north-run farming route

Where Star Metal Meteorites Fall

Meteorites land in a specific region: the western area of the Snow biome, just north of the Mounds of the Dead. The Cimmerians in the area use star metal weapons, and you'll see the meteorites as a light trailing across the sky followed by an explosive boom as they crash into the mountain ridges.

Per the official Star Metal Ore wiki page, the ore "can be harvested from meteorites, which will fall in the western region of the Snow biome, just north of the Mounds of the Dead" — and you'll see them "trail across the sky and hear their explosive boom as they crash on the mountain ridges."

Practical spotting tips from experienced farmers:

• Listen first. The meteor crash has a distinctive distant boom. If you're in the north, you'll hear it before you see the glow.
• Use the Detect Resources word of power. Star metal meteorites glow purple under Detect Resources, which makes spotting landed meteorites from a distance much easier.
• Check after you hear a shower. Meteorites arrive in small showers; multiple crashes in quick succession usually mean several cores landed in the same ridge area.
• Clear weather helps. The sky trail is easier to spot in clear conditions; stormy weather in the Snow biome can hide it.

Cracking the Shell: Explosives Required

Here's the part that trips everyone up: a landed meteorite has an outer shell that cannot be mined. The shell has only 1 hit point, but it can only be cracked open with explosive damage:

• Explosive Jar
• Exploding Trap
• Explosive Arrow
• Demon-fire Orb

The one non-explosive exception is the Mass Cull word of power, which can break the shell directly. Everything else bounces off.

Mining the Core: You Need a Tier 4+ Pick

Once the shell is gone, you get the Star Metal core — but you only get 15–20 strikes before it collapses, and the ore requires a tier 4 or higher pick. The confirmed working picks (per the wiki's tool list):

Smelting: The Star Metal Bar Recipe

Star metal ore is not smelted like iron. The recipe requires the two exotic catalysts, which is exactly why the farming loop spans three biomes:

2 Star Metal Ore + 1 Brimstone + 1 Black Ice → 1 Star Metal Bar (20 seconds, in any furnace-family station: Charcoal Kiln, Furnace, Improved Furnace, Heat-Efficient Furnace, Fuel-Efficient Furnace).

The lore reason is in the item description — star metal is "not as easy to work with as earthly metals," and sages devised the brimstone-and-black-ice technique to smelt it. Practically, it means your star metal run is a three-part logistics chain:

1. North run for ore (meteorites, western Snow biome).
2. Brimstone stock — you'll burn through it; the brimstone locations guide lists the densest farming spots.
3. Black ice stock — from the Temple of Frost area; see the hardened steel and black ice guide for the farming route, since you'll want black ice anyway for hardened steel.

Once you have bars, star metal feeds the strongest base-game weapons and armor (star metal swords, the Star Metal Pick, star metal armor) and is a required ingredient for the best crafting benches. The Star Metal Bar wiki page documents the recipe and every use.

The Efficient Star Metal Farming Route

The community's standard loop, refined over years:

1. Teleport to the Temple of Frost or Mounds of the Dead obelisk (see our map guide for the obelisk network). Both put you inside the meteorite zone.
2. Sweep the ridges north of the Mounds of the Dead — the classic meteorite landing strips. Use Detect Resources to spot the purple glow from distance.
3. Crack and mine every core you find (explosive jar + highest pick, 15–20 hits each).
4. Grab black ice on the return leg — the black ice node field runs between the Frozen Slopes obelisk and the Temple of Frost, so a combined ore + black ice run is strictly more efficient than two trips.
5. Smelt at base with your brimstone stock. Repeat after each meteor shower.

Meteor showers don't run on a fixed public schedule — they're a world event that happens regularly in the zone, so the practical answer to "how often?" is: often enough to farm continuously if you camp the north, and every time you hear the boom while you're there. For the earlier metal tiers while you build toward this, see the iron and early resources guide.

FAQ

Where do star metal meteorites fall in Conan Exiles? In the western Snow biome, just north of the Mounds of the Dead. They trail across the sky and crash with an explosive boom on the mountain ridges. Use the Detect Resources word of power — meteorites glow purple under it.

What tool do I need to mine star metal? A tier-4-or-higher pick: Black Ice Pick, Hardened Steel Pick, Star Metal Pick, Eldarium Pick, Obsidian Pick, Black Blood Pick, Star Metal Pickaxe, Eldarium Pick-axe, or The Pecker. Stone and iron picks cannot mine the core.

How do I crack open a star metal meteorite? The outer shell has 1 HP but is immune to mining tools. Use explosive damage — Explosive Jar, Exploding Trap, Explosive Arrow, or Demon-fire Orb — or the Mass Cull word of power. One explosive hit opens the shell.

How do I smelt star metal ore? In any furnace-family station: 2 Star Metal Ore + 1 Brimstone + 1 Black Ice → 1 Star Metal Bar (20 seconds). Stock up on brimstone and black ice before you farm, since the recipe consumes both.

How often do meteor showers happen? There's no fixed public schedule — showers are a recurring world event in the western Snow biome. Farm continuously by camping the north, and always check the ridges after you hear a crash.

Related Guides

• Conan Exiles Hardened Steel & Black Ice Guide
• Conan Exiles Brimstone Locations Guide: Best Spots
• Conan Exiles Resource Locations Guide: Iron, Oil, Glass & More
• Conan Exiles Map 2026: Exiled Lands & Siptah Changes
• Conan Exiles Interactive Map Guide: Best Maps & Coordinates

Official resources: Steam store page · Official wiki — Star Metal Ore · Official wiki — Star Metal Bar · Official wiki — Black Ice · Official wiki — Brimstone

Last Updated: August 13, 2026