The 5 best spirit summons in Elden Ring and where to get them

Spirit Ash summons are a huge part of Elden Ring, but which are the best?

Not all Spirit Ashes are made equal. In fact, a significant number of them are generally awful while many more are only useful against specific enemies or for players committed to a specific build. Given the fact that Grave and Ghost Glovewort are relatively scarce until very late into Elden Ring, it’s important to know which ones are worth upgrading.

Here are the best Spirit Ash summons there are in Elden Ring, and the ones that you should look to utilize in your playthrough.

Top tips for new Dark Souls players after Elden Ring

Best Elden Ring Spirit Ash summons

The best Spirit Ash summon in Elden Ring is the Mimic Tear. The summon is a weaker version of the player character, boasting the same weapons and equipment including tools like throwing knives and Cracked Pot bombs.

The Mimic Tear is overwhelmingly powerful no matter what build the player is using, but ones that use status effects such as bleed or frostbite are utterly broken. The buildup is so quick with two characters dual-wielding weapons that many boss fights are made trivial. Even without specialized builds, the Mimic Tear offers high damage and has lots of health.

The cherry on top is that unlike most Spirit Ash summons in Elden Ring, Mimic Tear is the best option for low-FP builds. Instead of drawing on mana, the player summons it by sacrificing health.

That said, the Mimic Tear isn’t the only powerful Spirit Ash. Here’s how to get it, and other strong options.

1. Mimic Tear

The Mimic Tear Spirit Ash is found in the Night’s Sacred Ground area of Nokron, Eternal City behind a Swordstone Key gate. Nokron is a big part of Ranni’s questline, but players can access it without even meeting her. A path to the city is opened following the Starscourge Radahn boss fight in the southeastern corner of Limgrave near Fort Haight. 

2. Banished Knight Oleg

Banished Knight Oleg’s Spirit Ash can technically be found right at the start of the game. It’s the main prize for defeating the boss of the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave, located behind a Stonesword Key gate near the Stranded Graveyard Site of Grace. Oleg has a high FP cost but is bulky, aggressive, and deals rapid-fire attacks that will bash enemies more often than not.

3. Skeletal Militiamen

This one doesn’t hold up especially well once the player has more options, but this is by far the best early-game Spirit Ash the player can find in Elden Ring. The Skeletal Militiamen Ash is found alongside a Deathroot by defeating the Tibia Mariner boss in Summonwater Village, right down the road from the gate that leads to Stormveil Castle. The Skeletal Militiamen require some finesse. They have the benefit of endlessly respawning, so long as an enemy doesn’t hit their corpse  The player should draw aggro away from them to ensure they can respawn.

4. Black Knife Tiche

While the Skeletal Militiamen are great early-game ashes, Black Knife Tiche is great in the late game. The Black Knife Tiche Ash can be found by defeating the Ringleader’s Evergaol boss in Liurnia of the Lakes. The evergaol is located in the southwestern plateau, which is only accessible in the final stages of Ranni’s questline. Black Knife Tiche is incredibly helpful, dealing high damage with an aggressive style that draws aggro while staying alive through her elusiveness.

5. Greatshield Soldiers

The Greatshield Soldiers could be higher on this list, if not for the fact that they are weaker for any melee-focused player. This Spirit Ash summons five tanky units to soak up damage and draw aggro away from the player, which is ideal for any caster. Find it in a graveyard in the plaza right near the Nokron, Eternal City Site of Grace.