Enshrouded 1.0: How to Get Moonstone in Cinder’s Cradle

Moonstone is a Level 45 crafting material that only turns up in Cinder’s Cradle, the lava-and-floating-islands region added to the north of Embervale in the 1.0 update. You cannot cut it from ordinary rock. It comes from the metal left behind by the Ancients, which means you harvest it from machine-built structures and the mechanical enemies that guard them.

Quick answer: Reach Cinder’s Cradle north of the Ancient Gate, then break the metallic urns with a pickaxe or kill the large automaton constructs. Each large automaton drops about 5 Moonstone.

Where Moonstone is found in Cinder’s Cradle

Moonstone sits in the volcanic region directly north of the water biome. On the map, head up past Starfish Shores, Cromville Hot Spring, and the Ancient Gate. Everything above the Ancient Gate is Cinder’s Cradle, the area that stayed locked behind closed gates through all of Early Access.

World Map Overview — The route runs north through Starfish Shores and Cromville Hot Spring, with the Ancient Gate as the last marker before Cinder's Cradle. Shown at 00:32 in HeRo Survival Guides’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

You need enough Flame progression to open and survive the region. Access opens around Flame level 10, with level 11 unlocking after you beat the final boss. If your Flame level is too low, you will not be able to step into the area safely, so upgrade your altar first.

Method 1: Mine the metallic urns with a pickaxe

The low-risk route is mining. Metallic urns and vat containers stand along the roadsides and around ruined structures throughout Cinder’s Cradle. Hit them with a pickaxe and they break open into mining loot.

Equip a pickaxe. A Gilded Pickaxe works well here since higher-tier picks deal more damage and clear each container faster.

Walk the roads and ruins and smash every standing metallic urn or vat you pass. Each one can yield Moonstone along with Archaic Shards, Gold Ore, and Iron Ore.

Mining Metallic Structures — Breaking the metallic urns drops a mix of ores plus Moonstone, so clear every container you find along the route. Shown at 01:08 in HeRo Survival Guides’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Keep moving between structures. The urns respawn over time, so a loop around the roadside clusters keeps producing material on repeat visits.

Method 2: Kill the large automaton constructs

For larger stacks at once, fight the big mechanical automatons that guard the lava areas. These are the constructs stationed at chokepoints such as bridges, and they hold more Moonstone than any single urn.

Bring a strong melee weapon and cross into the active lava zones where the machines patrol. A two-handed hammer like the Frost Smasher handles these heavies well.

Engage and defeat the large construct. Expect a real fight, since these enemies are tougher than the small spider-like minions nearby.

Defeating Large Automaton — The large automatons guard bridges and chokepoints in the lava zone, and these are the enemies that carry Moonstone. Shown at 01:25 in HeRo Survival Guides’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Loot the wreckage. A single large automaton drops around 5 Moonstone, alongside Gold Ore and Archaic Shards.

Looting Moonstone from Automaton — The loot from a fallen large automaton includes Moonstone, confirming it as the drop you are after. Shown at 01:30 in HeRo Survival Guides’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Do not waste time on the small mechanical spider-like minions for this material. They only drop Gold Ore and Archaic Shards, never Moonstone.

Moonstone material reference

Moonstone is a Common material despite being locked behind a late-game region. Here are the exact figures for Moonstone and the materials that drop alongside it, so you know what each stack is worth while you farm.

Material	Level	Rarity	Source
Moonstone	45	Common	Cinder’s Cradle
Archaic Shards	45	Common	Cinder’s Cradle, Ancient Constructs
Celestium Ore	45	Common	Cinder’s Cradle

Every stack of Moonstone holds up to 250. It carries no special drawbacks and shares the Level 45 bracket with the other Cinder’s Cradle materials, so one farming run usually fills several recipes at once.

What Moonstone is used for

Moonstone is mostly a crafting ingredient rather than a finished item. Its main refinement is Moonstone Dust, ground at the Mill. One Moonstone produces one Moonstone Dust, and the Mill recipe runs for 180.

Crafting menu with Flame Altar selected, showing a recipe that needs 5 Stone, of which 6 are held. — The Crafting menu shows the Level 1 Flame Altar recipe, which requires 5 Stone, with 6 in the player’s inventory.

Moonstone Dust then feeds into higher-tier recipes. The Infusion Altar, for example, takes 1 Moonstone Dust together with 30 Basalt, 10 Gold Dust, 5 Celestium Bars, and 1 Diamond Dust. Moonstone is also one of the three ingredients that go into Sparkling Dust at the Mill, combined with the materials ground from Diamond and Mother-Of-Pearl.

You cannot grind Moonstone until you have picked up at least one. The Moonstone Dust recipe is learned the first time Moonstone enters your inventory, so make your first trip to Cinder’s Cradle before expecting the Mill option to appear.

How to confirm you have it

Open your backpack and look for Moonstone listed as a Level 45 Common material. If it shows up there, the pickup worked, and the Mill will now offer Moonstone Dust under its available outputs. From that point, queue the grind at the Mill and the dust will start producing as long as you keep Moonstone in stock.