Keep compatible Tarstones equipped while defeating enemies to fill their XP bars, find the Etching Needles in the Glutted Mire route and give them to Franz, then use Temper Tarstones at the Marrow Keep Tarforge. The Week 1 Update increases Tarcore returns, makes Tarcores renewable and adds Fragile Tarstones that yield a Tarcore when they break, so older scarcity tables are no longer the current economy.
Live verification board
Checked 2026-09-01. Status labels separate confirmed rollout from workarounds and unresolved reports.
Give the key item to Franz at the Marrow Keep Tarforge to unlock the missing menu.
A Tarstone needs to be slotted in a compatible active slot while kills are earned.
The update adds more returns plus vendor and Fragile Tarstone sources.
Launch guides remain useful for the route, but Week 1 changes resource returns and compensation.
Do this first
- Slot unfinished Tarstones in every compatible active slot before a combat route.
- Reach the Glutted Mire path beyond the Sunken Bridge area and recover the Etching Needles near Ruk and the Magdalena route.
- Give the Etching Needles to Franz at the Marrow Keep Tarforge.
- Use Temper Tarstones only after the equipped stone reaches its current XP cap.
- Collect and verify any Tarcore return before spending it on the next upgrade.
- After Week 1, also check Merrick, the Collector and Fragile Tarstone breaks for renewable Tarcores.
How Tarstone XP works
Launch-system guides agree that Tarstone XP is earned through kills only while the stone is equipped in a compatible slot. XP is separate from Gloom and does not require activating the stone's ability. When a stone reaches its current cap, swap it or return to the Tarforge instead of wasting more kills on a full bar.
Find the Etching Needles
The Etching Needles unlock the Temper Tarstones service. Current route guides place the chest on the Glutted Mire progression path after the Sunken Bridge and Tarblighted Shepherd area, across the route toward Ruk and before the Magdalena boss arena. Bring the item back to Franz in Marrow Keep.
Temper at the Tarforge
Once the service is unlocked and a Tarstone shows it is ready, use the Tarforge menu rather than expecting Franz's dialogue to upgrade it. Check the live coin, XP and Tarcore requirements on the current platform build before confirming because the Week 1 update changes the economy around returns.
What Week 1 changes
Tarcores and Glimpses are no longer finite. Upgraded stones return more Tarcores, eligible existing saves receive compensatory Tarcores, Merrick and the Collector gain Tarcore stock under the stated progression conditions, and the new Fragile class yields a Tarcore when durability reaches zero.
Fragile Tarstones and Glimpse Stones
Fragile Tarstones wear down and break, so their on-break value belongs in the upgrade plan. The update converts Justicar's Stone and Gloombound Stone to fragile versions, adds repeatable fragile drops and dungeon rewards, and introduces a Glimpse Stone that wears down through combat before breaking into Glimpses. Do not use a pre-patch rarity assumption to plan the current build.
A low-waste upgrade loop
Fill compatible slots with stones that still need XP, run a repeatable beacon route, swap capped stones, then temper in a batch. Reserve the highest investment for stones you have actually tested with the intended Shell and weapon; a patch note saying a stone was buffed does not establish a universal tier rank.
Evidence log
Sources checked
External sources are linked for verification. Community reports describe symptoms and are not treated as universal fixes.
PlatformThe Week 1 UpdateOfficial renewable-resource, compensation, vendor, Fragile Tarstone and on-break Tarcore changes.
↗ReportingHow to level Tarstones and get TarcoresLaunch-system cross-check for equipped XP, Etching Needles, Franz and the Tarforge workflow.
↗SpecialistEtching Needles and Temper TarstonesIndependent route and service-unlock cross-check; exact returns are treated as pre-Week-1 context.
↗Found a build mismatch?
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