11 Best Elden Ring Spirit Ashes ranked: From Lone Wolves to Mimic Tear
From SoftwareElden Ring offers players over 60 Spirit Ashes, so it can be very overwhelming to pick the most suitable ones. To help you out, here are the best ones you can summon to overcome the challenges you’ll face on your travels through The Lands Between.
Traversing the dangerous landscapes of The Lands Between alone can be intimidating, that’s why Elden Ring offers a range of companions to lend you a hand when combats get tough.
Spirit Summon Ashes helps differentiate Elden Ring from previous Souls games and adds more depth to the combat. It also means the game is easier to play solo, as you can rely on your AI allies if other players aren’t around.
Now that the Elden Ring DLC is out, let’s look at the best Spirit Summons you can call on for aid in The Lands Between.
Best Spirit Ashes to summon in Elden Ring
Here are the 11 best Spirit Summon Ashes in Elden Ring you can call upon, ranked in order of usefulness:
11. Lone Wolves
The Lone Wolves are the first Spirit Summons you’ll receive.FP Cost – 55
The Lone Wolves are given to you by ‘Renna’ towards the start of the game, but even though they’re your first Spirit Summon, they’ll continue to be useful for the duration. However, they’ll need to be upgraded to keep up with the game’s increasingly tough enemies.
Even when fully upgraded, powerful AOE attacks from bosses are likely to wipe them out, but before that, they can cause havoc and give you time to get your attacks in. As there are three wolves all moving quickly, it can be hard for a boss to know who to target. Their attacks are also fast as the wolves work as a pack to support you.
10. Skeletal Militiamen
Skeletal Militiamen can come back to life, causing a headache to bosses.FP Cost – 44
The Skeletal Militiamen Spirit Summons would be average at best, but their ability to resurrect makes them a thorn in the side of most Elden Ring bosses. Once killed, undead in Elden Ring tend to come back to life with full health. It’s annoying, but rather useful when they’re on your side.
After killing one of your skeletons, a boss will turn its attention back to you or the other two, this gives your summons the chance to come back from the dead and cause more trouble for the boss. Imagine this happening with 3 different skeletons. Of course, attacking the skeleton in the middle of its resurrection will kill them permanently, but this won’t happen every time.
This Spirit Summon Ash can be found early on after defeating the first Tibia Mariner boss at the Summonwater Village.
9. Rotten Stray
The Rotton Stray can inflict scarlet rot on enemies.FP Cost – 35
The Rotten Stray Ash can be extremely useful against tough bosses as it’s the only Spirit Summon that can inflict Scarlet Rot against powerful opponents. Your enemy will be on borrowed time after being bitten by this disgusting doggo – unless they get lucky, and the rot wears off. It means some bosses can be defeated by simply waiting for their health to run down.
However, this takes a while and some bosses will recover from the Scarlet Rot before this happens, while others are immune. The Rotten Stray isn’t much use in a fight after that, but they could be the difference between victory and defeat in the early hours of the game.
You can find the Rotten Stray Ash on a corpse near the Sellia Under-Stair Site of Grace in Caelid. It’s a good one to find after you escape the Sellia Tunnel trap.
8. Latenna the Albinauric
Latenna is an excellent ranged Spirit Summon.FP Cost – 74
You’ll be sent to find Latenna by Gideon Ofnir and by a survivor of the Albinauric village. You can find her by going through the Lakeside Crystal Cave dungeon located under the southern ridge of Liurnia. She’ll be sitting by her sleeping wolf and will initially be rude to you before learning your intentions.
She’ll then willingly become a Spirit Summon Ash if you agree to take her to the base of the Haligtree, however, she’ll stay with you even after you complete her quest.
Latenna is a powerful archer and can pelt enemies with rapid arrow attacks from a distance. She’s deadly at range but is vulnerable if attacked. She’s also a turret and cannot move, so place her somewhere safe but with a full view of the enemy for best results.
7. Nepheli Loux (puppet)
Nepheli is a useful ally in any boss battle.FP Cost – 90
Getting Nepheli Loux as a Spirit Summon requires you to walk a dark path. Rather than completing her quest, you’ll need to feed her the potion given to you by Seluvis. This will turn her into a puppet, and you’ll then be able to buy this from the nasty wizard. You can also give the potion to Gideon Ofnir who’ll dispose of it for you.
Nepheli is an effective fighter but doesn’t have much health. Her quick attacks will make short work of some bosses, but she can be killed just as quickly. She’s worth acquiring if you’re planning multiple playthroughs, but the question is, do you have the stomach to turn a valued ally into a mindless puppet?
6. Dung Eater (puppet)
Dung Eater is a mass-murdering monster, but could he serve a higher purpose?FP Cost – 118
If you decide not to give Seluvis’ potion to Nepheli Loux, you can turn Dung Eater into a puppet instead. This is providing Seluvis is still alive, and you’ve not yet completed Ranni’s quest.
Follow Dung Eater’s quest until he willingly returns to his cell and ties himself to a chair. He’ll then ask you to bring him 5 Seabed Curses and feed them to him. Instead, give him the potion from Seluvis. Later you can visit the secret lab and buy Dung Eater as a puppet Spirit Summon Ash.
This may be a better use of the violent serial killer’s talents than simply dying of his own curse, especially if you’ve opted for a different ending. Dung Eater is a powerful tank, and his sword inflicts bleed damage on enemies which is very useful against bosses like Fire Giant and Malenia.
5. Finger Maiden Therolina (puppet)
Therolina isn’t much help in a fight, but she can buff you.FP Cost – 82
You may decide you’d like to solo most bosses in Elden Ring and therefore don’t want a Spirit Summon to aid you in battle, but did you know that this Spirit Ash mostly buffs you instead of fighting the boss herself?
Therolina will mostly follow you around and heal you in battle, rather than engage the enemy herself. This could make her the perfect companion to those who want to do all the damage themselves.
The character first appears as an NPC summon during the Radahn boss fight, healing you and other warriors, but she soon falls victim to Seluvis sometime after this. You can purchase her as a Spirit Ash puppet from Seluvis in his secret lab – even after his demise.
4. Banished Knight Oleg
Banished Knight Oleg is a powerful Spirit Summon you can get early in Elden Ring.FP Cost – 100
Oleg is an incredibly powerful knight and can be found at the very start of the game in the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave. However, to unlock him you’ll need to use a Sword Stone Key on the gargoyle, dodge the blade traps, and then beat a powerful Tree Spirit boss.
The good news is Oleg is worth it and is one of the best tank Spirit Summons you can find in Elden Ring. His spinning gust attack can stagger enemies and leave them vulnerable to attacks by you. When fully upgraded, Oleg can hold his own against most bosses.
3. Black Knife Tiche
This summon is one of the best available due to how much damage it can deal.FP Cost – 132
Black Knife Tiche is a formidable choice among the Spirit Summons in Elden Ring, standing out for its unique assassination skills and the lore-rich background it brings to the game.
In battle, Black Knife Tiche is a force to be reckoned with. Her swift, deadly strikes are not only effective against regular foes but also make her an invaluable ally in boss fights. In addition, she’s immune against most status effects and launches devastating Death-Imbued Flame projectiles that deplete HP bars.
What truly sets her apart is her ability to unleash quick and lethal attacks, often catching enemies off guard. Her high FP cost is a small price for the significant advantage she offers in combat situations.
Obtained by defeating Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader at Ringleader’s Evergaol in southwestern Liurnia, Black Knife Tiche is not just another Spirit Summon; she is a tactical asset that can significantly alter the course of a battle.
2. Lhutel the Headless
Lhutel is one of the best Spirit Summons you can use.FP Cost – 104
Lhutel is more balanced than Oleg, providing a nice mix of ranged and melee attacks. She can also inflict Death Blight on enemies which can end some boss fights quickly. Her great shield means she can block attacks and tends to survive longer than most other Spirit Summons.
She can teleport across the battlefield too, helping her close the gap between herself and her enemies while avoiding their counterattacks. There’s definitely an argument for Lhutel being the best Spirit Summon in the game. You can unlock her by defeating the Cemetery Shade in the Tombsword Catacombs.
1. Mimic Tear
The Mimic Tear Spirit Ashes summon a clone version of your character.HP Cost – 660
Despite being nerfed by Elden Ring’s first major patch, the Mimic Tear remains the most powerful and useful Spirit Summon in our view. That’s because it’s an exact copy of the player, with access to any weapons, skills, and spells they have (providing these are equipped at the point of summoning).
By equipping certain items, you can essentially tailor the Mimic Tear Summon to be anything you want it to be, then switch back to your preferred loadout. While FromSoftware has made this Spirit Ash less OP, the principle remains the same, therefore the Mimic Tear is still an insanely powerful ally in any fight.
You can unlock this summon by first beating it as a boss in the Eternal City of Nokron, then traveling across the rooftops to the Night’s Sacred Grounds. The Ashes are in a chest behind a Spirit Sword gargoyle. Be warned though, summoning the Mimic Tear costs health rather than MP.
Those are the best Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring. Don’t forget to check our guides with all the character classes explained, as well as how stats work and how to level up to get ready for the challenges you’ll face in The Lands Between.