The vast and layered world of Elden Ring has dozens — hundreds, even — of different foes and bosses to defeat, many of which are uniquely threatening with various types of special moves, ranged magics, swarm tactics, and more. Though taking them down by yourself is far from an impossible challenge, doing so can often be quite difficult, especially if you're not an experienced Soulsborne player. Summoning co-op friends to play with is one way to lessen combat difficulty, but you can also even the odds with Spirit Ashes.
Spirit Ashes are ghostly doppelgangers of characters and enemies you meet throughout the game that you can summon in battle. These NPC allies are often a massive help in any area that allows you to call upon them — keep an eye out for the purple headstone symbol on your HUD — but are especially valuable in boss battles. As you progress through the Lands Between and the Land of Shadow in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, they can be made even more powerful with special items called Grave Gloveworts or Ghost Gloveworts that help them survive longer and deal more damage.
Acquiring Spirit Ashes can be a long and arduous process as they are hidden in the deepest depths of the Lands Between’s many locales, and there are plenty of new ones to get in Shadow of the Erdtree, too. To make finding the best ones to use easier, though, I've put together an in-depth guide below on the matter. In addition to ranking every Spirit Ash in the game, it also covers where to find each of the best ones and how they perform in combat.
Elden Ring Spirit Ashes: What to look for
When choosing the Best Elden Ring Spirit Ashes to use, there are several different factors you should consider. While it's reasonable to assume that the best Spirit Ashes are the ones that deal the most amount of damage, it's important to remember that high damage means nothing if the Spirit Ash you're using struggles to actually dish it out against a particular boss. For example, slow and heavy-hitting Spirit Ashes generally can't keep up with bosses that rapidly move around as they attack, and low-health Spirit Ashes with ranged attacks will die very quickly if you summon them in boss battles with small, claustrophobic arenas.
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For this reason, many of the Spirit Ashes I'm recommending in this list have a strong balance of damage output, movement speed, and dodging abilities. These spirits will be effective in a wide variety of Elden Ring's boss battles, and are great to have as your default go-to summons. These types of summons are also very effective in the Spirit Ash-enabled Colosseum PvP DLC arenas, as their high overall versatility doesn't leave any glaring weaknesses for your opponents or their own ghostly allies to exploit.
With that said, you definitely shouldn't count out more specialized Spirit Ashes in situations where you can take full advantage of their unique strengths. For example, Latenna the Albinauric is a phenomenal archer summon that has very low health and no mobility at all, but extremely long range and exceptional damage. This makes her perfect for battles in large arenas where you can keep the boss far away from her, allowing her to chip away at its health bar safely. Omenkiller Rollo is another example of a top-tier specialized summon, as his heavy-hitting Power Stanced machetes make him devastatingly effective at staggering bosses and blowing through the defenses of enemies that use shields.
Generally, the least useful Spirit Ashes are ones like the Jellyfish or Rotten Stray that do little more than apply a status effect. While afflicting a boss with Poison or Scarlet Rot is helpful, you can often do this easily yourself with magic spells or consumables you've made with the Elden Ring crafting system. If you don't have the means to do so, though, using one of these summons for a boss fight can definitely work.
Elden Ring: Spirit Ashes tier list
While the vast majority of Elden Ring's Spirit Ash Summons are helpful, many of them are far more effective than others. With that in mind, I've created a definitive tier list that should give you an idea of which ones are the best and which ones aren't worth upgrading or building your character around. This tier list has now also been updated to include all 20 of the Spirit Ashes from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, a good number of which are strong and viable options (the image of the tier list above will be updated to match the table that represents the new list below soon).
Note that just because a Spirit Ash Summon is in a low tier, it doesn't mean that they're useless. It simply means that they're generally less useful than the summons I put higher on the list. You should still consider using them if they can bring some valuable utility to a fight; for example, while the Finger Maiden Therolina Puppet is often considered a poor choice since she doesn't have much health and doesn't dodge incoming attacks well. However, when fighting slow bosses, you can easily get away from them, giving Therolina plenty of time to heal you up with her incantations before you jump back into the fray.
Your choice of Spirit Ash will also be limited by the number of Focus Points your character has, which is determined by your Mind attribute. Many highly ranked summons require a hefty amount of FP to conjure, meaning that in general, the best Elden Ring builds for Spirit Ash summons are Faith or Intelligence caster builds that need a good amount of FP anyway. That doesn't mean that there aren't great Spirit Ashes available to low FP melee-focused builds, though, such as the fan-favorite Mimic Tear that requires half of your HP instead of FP to call in.
Below, I've listed more information about several of the Spirit Ashes that topped our tier list. In each of their sections, you'll find detailed descriptions of how each summon works, how much FP it costs to conjure them, and where you can find them in the Lands Between and Land of Shadow.
Elden Ring: Best Spirit Ashes in the DLC
There are 20 new Spirit Ashes in the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and of these, there are six that stand out as top-tier summoning options (with several others that are also viable and strong options under the right circumstances). Of these, the best are the Horned Warrior and the Taylew the Golem Smith summons; the Horned Warrior is an incredibly well-rounded melee fighter with high durability, great damage, and an extreme resistance to being staggered and interrupted, while Taylew the Golem Smith is simply an absolute brick wall of a tank that can take an absurd amount of punishment before going down.
Black Knight Captain Huw and Black Knight Commander Andreas are also great picks; the former is more offensive and wields a Black Steel Twinblade, while the latter is a bit more defensive and fights with a Black Steel Greatshield and Black Steel Greathammer. In my experience, Banished Knight Oleg is still the superior option if you need a beefy knight-style summon that can hold enemy aggro, but the fact they partially deal Holy damage with their attacks makes them quite useful against bosses weak to it.
There's also the secret Jolan and Anna Spirit Ashes as well as the Bigmouth Imp. Jolan and Anna are perfect for complimenting Bleed builds since the twin Swordhand sisters rapidly build that status effect up with their attacks; this also makes them a fantastic choice if a boss you're fighting is weak to Bleed, but you don't have an effective way to inflict it yourself. The Bigmouth Imp, meanwhile, is a powerful ranged summon that will dish out consistent explosive damage from afar, and it's got enough HP that it can stay alive for a surprisingly long time if whatever you're fighting happens to get away from you and aggro onto it.
I'll go over where you can get all of these Spirit Ashes in the sections below, along with all the other S and A-tier picks.
Elden Ring: Best Spirit Ashes for early game
You can find quite a few Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring's early game areas like Limgrave and Liurnia of the Lakes, but honestly, I've found that the best one is the one Ranni gives you right at the start of the game: the Lone Wolf Ashes. Though they have low HP and mediocre damage individually, they're incredibly effective when used to swarm a target at the same time you're fighting them. Whatever you're battling is also likely to stagger if the wolves hit multiple bite attacks in quick succession, leaving them open to a critical hit. Additionally, with upgrades, they become surprisingly hard to take down.
Elden Ring: Best Spirit Ashes for mage
If you're using a magic-heavy Faith or Intelligence build, you'll want to use tanky and/or agile Spirit Ashes that can stay alive for long periods of time while simultaneously holding enemy aggro so you have the time and space you need to cast. The two best Spirit Ashes for this in the Lands Between are Lhutel the Headless and Black Knife Tiche, with Lhutel available early and Tiche coming later in your playthrough.
Lhutel wields a spear with a greatshield and frequently teleports around, making her both tanky and hard to hit, though her damage is pretty poor. Tiche, meanwhile, uses a deadly Black Knife and frequently dodges and leaps around the area, making her a more offensive — but less resilient — alternative.
Once you enter the Land of Shadow to play through the DLC, some other excellent Spirit Ashes to consider are Taylew the Golem Smith and Black Knight Commander Andreas. The former is essentially just a colossal HP pool that can soak up a ridiculous amount of damage while you're casting, and the latter does an exceptionally good job of holding aggro.
Elden Ring: Best Spirit Ashes for melee
Players using melee-centric playstyles should opt for a Spirit Ash that can either deal effective damage up close alongside them or spam ranged attacks from afar while they hold aggro. The Mimic Tear Spirit Ash is perfect if you want to opt for the former — it's literally an exact copy of your own character, and requires HP instead of FP to spawn — but another great option to consider is Latenna the Albinauric. She stays exactly where you summon her and peppers your foes with high-damage magic arrows, and as long as you stay relatively aggressive yourself, the enemies or boss you're fighting won't get drawn to go attack her.
The Jolan and Anna Spirit Ashes from Shadow of the Erdtree also excel as melee companions, as their rapid attacks will proc Bleed multiple times as they fight alongside you. Their low health and poise makes them less effective when used with ranged builds, but if you're a melee fighter, you'll be able to keep the aggro off them fairly easily.
Elden Ring: Best Spirit Ashes for Malenia
The boss fight against Malenia, Blade of Miquella is one of the hardest in Elden Ring, but there are a handful of amazing Spirit Ashes you can use to raise your chances of succeeding against her. Mimic Tear is always a very strong choice, especially if you have a build capable of Bleed since you'll effectively double the rate at which you cause that status effect to proc. However, Malenia can heal off of hitting your Mimic Tear, and whether or not it dodges effectively is a bit RNG.
There's also Black Knife Tiche, who's agile enough to avoid the majority of Malenia's attacks while contributing good damage output herself. In my experience, Tiche is able to last longer in the fight more consistently than the Mimic Tear is, but the Mimic Tear generally dishes out more damage before it falls.
Jolan and Anna, too, are very effective, as Malenia is weak to Bleed. They work especially well if you're running a Bleed setup of your own that synergizes with their buildup of that status effect.
Another surprisingly S-tier pick against Malenia is Redmane Knight Ogha, found in the War-Dead Catacombs located in the northern corner of Starscourge Radahn's arena after you defeat him. Ogha uses his greatbow to rain heavy staggering arrows down on Malenia if you drop him right at the door of the arena after entering, and as long as you hit Malenia consistently, she shouldn't aggro to him. Even if she does, though, Ogha is decently capable in melee and will draw a greatshield and greatsword when attacked.
Elden Ring: Mimic Tear Ashes location
- FP requirement: None (uses 50% of the player's HP)
In my view, the Mimic Tear Spirit Summon is the best one available in Elden Ring, even after the nerfs it's gotten over time. This unique Spirit Summon creates an exact copy of your character when you use it, including your stats, armor, weapons, spells, and equipped consumables. It will then fight alongside you, effectively acting like an NPC ally. When upgraded, the Mimic Tear is incredibly tanky and can dish out plenty of damage, making it an invaluable summon that I highly recommend using in Elden Ring's challenging boss fights. Note that using the Mimic Tear uses 50% of your HP instead of your mana, so make sure you drink a healing potion after summoning it.
You can find the Mimic Tear Ashes in the southwestern portion of the Night's Sacred Ground area in Nokron, Eternal City, located in a chest behind a fog wall you need a Stonesword Key to access. There's an enemy inside the room, but you should be able to get a free backstab on them as long as you don't sprint up to them.
Elden Ring: Horned Warrior Ashes location
- FP requirement: 101
If there are Spirit Ashes capable of matching the power of the Mimic Tear, it's the Horned Warrior ones. These brutal swordfighters have an absurd amount of poise, can effectively stagger with their high-damage melee attacks, and are quite resilient, too, making them a phenomenal all-around choice for any build.
You'll find the Horned Warrior Ashes in the Enir-Ilim Legacy Dungeon in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh. Specifically, they can be found after the Spiral Rise Site of Grace by jumping through the window to the rooftops, getting past the Gravebirds, and jumping over the right railing of the stairway that leads to a Divine Beast Warrior onto another staircase. The Horned Warrior Ashes are in the room it leads to.
Elden Ring: Taylew the Golem Smith Ashes location
- FP requirement: 138
This big guy doesn't put out great damage, but does that matter when he's so tanky that he's capable of laughing in the face of everything in the game (including the DLC's final boss)? If you want Spirit Ashes that simply refuse to die while you cast spells or use your strongest attacks, look no further than Taylew the Golem Smith. His only weakness is Gravity magic, but enemies and bosses that use it frequently are very few and far between.
Taylew's Spirit Ashes are in Taylew's Ruined Forge, a puzzle dungeon located in northern Scadu Altus and west of the Shadow Keep (you can get down to where it is by heading through the cave northeast of Moorth Ruins). The Spirit Ashes drop — along with an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone — from the furnace at the end of the dungeon.
Elden Ring: Latenna the Albinauric Ashes location
- FP requirement: 74
In situations where you're fighting bosses that have a large arena, the Latenna the Albinauric Spirit Summon will often be your best option. She stays exactly where you summon her and pelts enemies with a constant barrage of heavy-hitting magic arrows, and while she doesn't have much health, she does have a crazy long range. This means that you can summon her far away from the boss and then engage it with melee yourself, drawing its aggro while Latenna wears it down from afar.
Getting the Latenna the Albinauric Ashes is a little complicated. First, you have to locate and talk to Latenna at the Slumbering Wolf's Shack in Liurnia of the Lakes, located just after the exit of the Lakeside Crystal Cave. Then you have to travel to the Village of the Albinaurics found west of her position and get the left half of the Secret Haligtree Medallion there. She'll then give you her Spirit Ash Summon once you show the medallion to her. For more details on how to do this, refer to our guide on how to find the Malenia, Blade of Miquella secret boss.
Elden Ring: Lhutel the Headless Ashes location
- FP requirement: 104
Lhutel the Headless is Elden Ring's best tank Spirit Summon, as she's equipped with heavy armor and a greatshield. She can also throw her spear for decent ranged damage and will constantly teleport around enemies, making it difficult for them to hit her. There are better options if you want big damage from your summons, but Lhutel is the best when it comes to soaking up damage and distracting your opponents.
To get Lhutel, you'll need to complete the Tombsward Catacombs in the center of the Weeping Peninsula region. The dungeon isn't very challenging and only requires you to beat a fairly easy miniboss, so you shouldn't have any trouble.
Elden Ring: Banished Knight Oleg Ashes location
- FP requirement: 100
Banished Knight Oleg is one of the earliest Spirit Summons you can get in the game, and he also happens to be one of the best. With his thick, heavy armor and extremely high poise, he's an excellent brawler that commands the attention of enemies. His wind attacks do great damage, and while they usually don't stagger bosses, they'll often break the stance of regular enemies quite easily.
Banished Knight Oleg is awarded to you after you kill the final boss of the Fringefolk Hero's Grave dungeon located next to the Stranded Graveyard Site of Grace at the start of the game. Note that you'll need two Stonesword Keys to enter this dungeon.
Elden Ring: Black Knife Tiche Ashes location
- FP requirement: 132
Black Knife Tiche is a very powerful Spirit Summon that not only dishes out strong damage, but is also very good at avoiding incoming damage as well. This is because she dodges very frequently, making it difficult for enemies and bosses to hit her with any of their attacks. Several of her attacks also reduce enemy HP and deal damage over time since her knife is imbued with the power of the Rune of Death, similar to Maliketh, the Black Blade's greatsword.
To get Black Knife Tiche, you'll need to defeat the boss at the Ringleader's Evergaol on the northwestern tip of the Moonlight Altar area in Liurnia of the Lakes. Once the boss is dead, Black Knife Tiche's Ashes will be awarded to you.
Elden Ring: Black Knight Captain Huw Ashes location
- FP requirement: 106
Of the two Black Knight Spirit Ashes added in Shadow of the Erdtree, Black Knight Captain Huw is the best, and a great sidegrade to one of the Banished Knight summons if you're fighting a boss that's weak to Holy damage or you want one that's a bit more agile. He's well-armored and inflicts great damage with his Black Steel Twinblade, and similar to Crucible Knights, he can even sprout wings and fly across arenas to close the distance against his target.
You'll find Black Knight Captain Huw in the Scorpion River Catacombs, which are found at the end of the river that runs north and then west through the Rauh Base portion of Ancient Ruins of Rauh (accessible from the cave northeast of Moorth Ruins). Specifically, his Spirit Ashes are located past the first falling spikes trap to the right, on a coffin guarded by a Black Knight and two Messmer Soldiers.
Elden Ring: Black Knight Commander Andreas Ashes location
- FP requirement: 108
Black Knight Commander Andreas is, overall, less useful than Captain Huw, but he's arguably superior in scenarios where you need a dedicated tank. He's quite resilient with his Black Steel Greatshield, and he seems to have a special aggro-holding effect that makes bosses focus on him near-constantly. He's not as tanky as summons like Taylew or Lhutel, but he's the best aggro holder and deals decent damage to boot.
Black Knight Commander Andreas can be acquired within the Fog Rift Catacombs found west of Castle Ensis, and north of where soldiers from the Fog Rift Fort attack you with arrows and bombs. In the dungeon, progress until you reach a room guarded by a Black Knight and three Messmer Soldiers. Take them out, then carefully hop on the railing to the right, baiting the falling spike trap to activate. Once it does, jump on top of the trap, ride it up, and collect the Spirit Ashes from the hidden path this leads to.
Elden Ring: Jolan and Anna Ashes location
- FP requirement: 144
The Swordhand of Night Jolan Spirit Ashes alone aren't the greatest since Jolan has low poise and health, but did you know you can combine them with the doll of her sister Anna to get the secret Jolan and Anna Spirit Ashes? These are far better, as the two Swordhands fighting together with you will survive much longer than one ever could. They both also rapidly proc the Bleed status effect, making them an exceptional choice if you're looking to compliment your own Bleed build or add Bleed to your strategy against a boss weak to it. They do cost an expensive 144 FP, though, so keep that in mind.
I wrote up a full guide on how to get the Jolan and Anna Spirit Ashes, but the TL;DR is that you have to complete Count Ymir's questline, give Jolan an Iris of Grace so you get her Spirit Ashes, then platform from the southern edge of the Hinterlands down to a secret platform on the top of Rabbath's Rise. Anna's doll will be found in the room this platform connects to, and interacting with it with Jolan's Spirit Ashes in your inventory will give you the Jolan and Anna Spirit Ashes.
Elden Ring: Bigmouth Imp Ashes location
- FP requirement: 50
One of the most FP cost-efficient summons added in Shadow of the Erdtree is the Bigmouth Imp — AKA, one of those annoying enemies from the DLC's catacombs that shoots you with explosive cannonballs. Though staggered easily in close-range combat, it can pump out solid and consistent damage from afar, and is resilient enough to take a surprisingly high number of hits.
The Bigmouth Imp Ashes can be found in the Darklight Catacombs, which are at the end of a long hidden path down a stream that begins in the Shadow Keep (head down the elevator behind the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace and look for a ladder next to the burning boats on the left). Progress in the dungeon until you reach the room with a massive Bigmouth Imp on a platform, then cross the nearby bridge to find a room with a lever that turns the lights on and lowers that platform. Kill the large Bigmouth Imp and then roll down on the path its platform was next to; the Spirit Ashes will be in a treasure chest nearby.
Elden Ring: Bloodhound Knight Floh Ashes location
- FP requirement: 95
If you like Black Knife Tiche but want a summon that's more aggressive, Bloodhound Knight Floh will be your best bet. Like Tiche, Floh has the mobility to keep up with any enemy, though Floh will commit to more attacks in situations where Tiche would dodge. As a result, Floh generally dies faster than Tiche does, though he deals more damage overall.
To unlock the Bloodhound Knight Floh Ashes, you'll need to complete the Gelmir's Hero Grave on the eastern border of the Mt. Gelmir region. It can be found in a chest that players can open once the Red Wolf of the Champion boss at the end of the dungeon is defeated.
Elden Ring: Omenkiller Rollo Ashes location
- FP requirement: 113
If you're struggling to deal with enemies or a boss that blocks with shields a lot, look no further than the Omenkiller Rollo Spirit Summon. This summon is identical to the boss you fight at the Village of the Albinaurics, and uses two massive machetes that can easily break the guard of any enemy in the game. These weapons also do an amazing job of stance breaking bosses, giving you an opportunity to crit them with a riposte. Omenkiller Rollo will also occasionally breathe fire if he encounters several enemies at once, crowd controlling them.
You can obtain the Omenkiller Rollo Ashes by defeating the Fell Twin bosses that ambush you on the bridge leading up to the Divine Tower of East Altus. This location is directly next to the elevator that takes you to the Forbidden Lands region.
Elden Ring: Nightmaiden and Swordstress Puppets Ashes location
- FP requirement: 97
The Nightmaiden and Swordstress Puppets Ashes are an excellent choice if you need versatile summons capable of a variety of different types of offense, though they don't have much health and won't last long if you don't fight closely alongside them. Still, if you keep enemy and boss aggro off of them, they'll do a huge amount of damage over time together with their wide variety of melee and ranged attacks. Their attacks also do plenty of stance damage, ensuring that whatever you're fighting will get staggered.
You can obtain the Nightmaiden and Swordstress Puppets in the southern portion of Nokstella, Eternal City, in a chest located behind a barrier that requires a Swordstone Key to open. Note that there are two Nightmaiden enemies guarding the chest, so be ready for a fight.
Elden Ring: Kaiden Sellsword Ashes location
- FP requirement: 88
The Kaiden Sellsword is a powerful Spirit Summon that uses several heavy attacks that can stagger enemies and bosses similar to the way Omenkiller Rollo can. The Kaiden Sellsword attacks more frequently and dodges incoming attacks more than Omenkiller Rollo does, but is also less tanky and has less health overall.
You can get the Kaiden Sellsword Ashes by defeating the final boss of the Cliffbottom Catacombs dungeon, which is located in southeastern Liurnia of the Lakes.
Elden Ring: Mad Pumpkin Head Ashes location
- FP requirement: 110
The Mad Pumpkin Head is an excellent summon that can Bleed enemies with his massive flail, and he also has excellent damage protection thanks to the large metal helmet he wears that significantly reduces damage taken from anything that hits it. He's not as tanky as some other summons, but his ability to Bleed can contribute quite a large chunk of damage during boss fights.
You can get the Mad Pumpkin Head Ashes by defeating the final boss of the Minor Erdtree Catacombs dungeon found on the northwestern tip of the Caelid region. There's an Erdtree Guardian right next to the dungeon entrance, so be careful when you enter it.
Elden Ring: Ancestral Follower Ashes location
- FP requirement: 86
The Ancestral Followers of the Siofra River region are incredibly flexible in combat since they have plenty of health and fight with both bows and with axes. When summoned using the Ancestral Follower Ashes, this spirit will serve as an excellent "jack of all trades, master of none" ally. They're not as tanky or powerful as other more specialized spirits, but their well-rounded stats and ability to fight at any range makes them incredibly useful.
You can get the Ancestral Follower Ashes by defeating the Ancestor Spirit boss in the Siofra River region. To access this boss, you'll need to light eight fires in the area and then awaken the spirit in the Hallowhorn Grounds.
Elden Ring: Lone Wolf Ashes location
- FP requirement: 55
Believe it or not, the first Summon Spirits you get in Elden Ring are also some of the best ones in the entire game once you upgrade them. While the Lone Wolf summon starts off relatively weak due to the pitiful damage and low HP of the three wolves, they become surprisingly tanky when upgraded fully. This, coupled with their high agility and ability to stagger enemies and bosses by breaking their stance with rapid attacks, makes them an incredibly effective Spirit Summon in many instances.
All you have to do to get the Lone Wolf Ashes is go to the Church of Elleh in Limgrave after you get your mount, Torrent. Note that the Church of Elleh is located just north of The First Step Site of Grace.
Summon Spirit Ashes to turn the tide
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With that, you now know where to find Spirit Ashes and decide which ones you wish to take with you into battle. While defeating the enemies of Elden Ring is challenging, it's even harder to do alone. So, if you’re having trouble and can’t (or don't want to) access the game’s multiplayer features to summon player allies, Spirit Ashes can be a great boon to alleviate some of the game’s difficulty.
This consideration towards aiding less experienced get through the toughest challenges is one of the many reasons why Elden Ring is considered one of FromSoftware’s best Xbox games and best PC games. It's also one of the best games for ARPG fans in general, with stellar combat systems and an open world that's as wide and deep as an ocean.
The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is finally here, and it makes one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of all time even better. It's out now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Windows PC for $39.99.
