Choosing the right Spirit Ash can completely change how you approach Elden Ring's toughest encounters, and this ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition spirit ashes tier list breaks down exactly which summons deserve your precious upgrade materials. Community testing across the official Bandai Namco channels and player-verified wikis consistently places Mimic Tear, Black Knife Tiche, and Dung Eater Puppet at the top, while early-game options like the Wandering Noble and Jellyfish serve as stepping stones rather than endgame crutches. Because the Tarnished Edition bundles the base game with all content updates, the meta for spirit summons has settled into a clear hierarchy that rewards smart resource allocation over hoarding every ash you find.
How the ELDEN RING Spirit Ashes Tier List Was Built
This tier list synthesizes data from the official ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition page on Bandai Namco's site, community wiki testing, and aggregated player reports from the Elden Ring subreddit to rank every major Spirit Ash by raw combat effectiveness. Rather than relying on a single playthrough opinion, the rankings weigh survivability, damage output, aggro management, and FP efficiency across multiple boss encounters, including the notoriously difficult endgame gauntlets. The result is a practical hierarchy that tells you which summons carry their weight from Limgrave to the final boss arena.
What separates an S-tier summon from a D-tier one comes down to how consistently it performs when the pressure is on. A great Spirit Ash needs to hold aggro long enough for you to heal or reposition, deal meaningful damage without requiring constant babysitting, and survive more than a few hits from late-game attacks that one-shot lesser summons. The Greatshield Soldier ashes exemplify this balance perfectly, which is why they rank so highly despite being available relatively early in the game.
Tier Ranking Criteria Explained
| Tier | Definition | Example Summons | Upgrade Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | Carries entire boss fights with minimal player input | Mimic Tear, Black Knife Tiche, Dung Eater Puppet | Max out first |
| A | Excellent survivability and damage, reliable in most fights | Greatshield Soldiers, Lhutel the Headless, Banished Knight Oleg | High priority |
| B | Situationally strong, but requires player support | Skeletal Militia, Crystalian | Moderate priority |
| C | Early-game crutches that fall off hard later | Jellyfish, Wandering Noble, Wolves | Low priority |
| D | Niche or outclassed by alternatives | Demi-Human Ashes, Godrick Soldiers | Skip unless thematic |
The S-tier summons share a common thread: they either scale off your own stats like the Mimic Tear or possess unique mechanics that let them survive encounters where other ashes get shredded. Black Knife Tiche's destined death debuff shreds boss HP bars while her evasive AI keeps her alive far longer than her health pool suggests, and the Dung Eater Puppet's relentless aggression plus high poise damage makes him a wall that most bosses struggle to break through.
Greatshield Soldier Ashes: The A-Tier Anchor
The Elden Ring Greatshield Soldier ashes deserve special attention because they represent the best early-to-mid game investment you can make with your grave glovewort. This summon deploys five soldiers in a shield wall formation that excels at drawing aggro and absorbing hits that would flatten single summons, making them invaluable for learning boss patterns without eating every attack yourself. Their collective guard boost means they can tank multiple hits before breaking, and their spear thrusts provide respectable chip damage while you circle around for critical hits.
What makes the Greatshield Soldiers particularly strong in the Tarnished Edition meta is their formation AI, which keeps them spread out rather than clumping into an easy AoE target. Bosses with sweeping attacks will often hit only one or two soldiers instead of wiping the entire squad, giving you extended windows to apply status effects or charge heavy attacks. According to community reports, players who upgraded these ashes to +10 found them viable even against late-game bosses like Maliketh and Godfrey, though they require more active support than the S-tier options.
Upgrade Materials and Where to Find Them
| Upgrade Material | Primary Locations | Best Farming Spot |
|---|---|---|
| Grave Glovewort | Catacombs, underground areas | Minor Erdtree Catacombs |
| Ghost Glovewort | Nokron, Nokstella, late-game areas | Nokron, Eternal City |
| Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearing | Various merchant locations | Roundtable Hold after progression |
The distinction between Elden Ring grave glovewort and Elden Ring ghost glovewort matters more than most players realize, because they upgrade different tiers of summons. Regular Spirit Ashes use grave glovewort, while the special named summons like Black Knife Tiche and Dung Eater Puppet require ghost glovewort, which only appears in the Eternal Cities and other late-game zones. Understanding the Elden Ring glovewort locations for both types ensures you never waste a bell bearing purchase on the wrong material, and the Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearings you find throughout the game let you buy unlimited supplies from the Twin Maiden Husks at Roundtable Hold.
S-Tier Summons Worth Maxing First
The Mimic Tear remains the undisputed king of the ELDEN RING spirit ashes tier list because it copies your entire loadout, including weapons, spells, and consumables, effectively giving you a second player with the same build. When you equip it with a high-poise weapon like a Greatsword or a bleed-infused katana, the Mimic Tear becomes a damage machine that applies status effects while tanking aggro, and its ability to use your Flask of Wondrous Physick and healing items makes it nearly unkillable in extended fights. Community testing shows that a fully upgraded Mimic Tear with the right equipment can solo many bosses while you watch from a safe distance.
Black Knife Tiche offers a different flavor of S-tier dominance through her destined death skill, which reduces the target's maximum HP over time and deals percentage-based damage that scales with the boss's total health pool. Her evasive AI makes her frustratingly difficult for bosses to hit, and she applies black flame effects that continue damaging enemies even after she disengages. For players who prefer a more hands-off approach, Tiche's combination of mobility and sustained damage output makes her the safest S-tier pick, though she requires ghost glovewort to upgrade fully.
S-Tier vs A-Tier: When to Choose What
| Scenario | Best Pick | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| Solo boss fights, melee build | Mimic Tear | Copies your weapon and applies status effects |
| Caster or hybrid builds | Black Knife Tiche | Destined death stacks with your spell damage |
| Aggro-heavy encounters | Dung Eater Puppet | High poise damage keeps bosses locked down |
| Early-to-mid game progression | Greatshield Soldiers | Cheap to upgrade, excellent survivability |
| Co-op or summon-heavy play | Lhutel the Headless | Teleporting AI confuses bosses |
The Dung Eater Puppet rounds out the S-tier because his oath of vengeance skill boosts his attack power while his heavy armor and high poise let him trade blows with bosses that would stagger lesser summons. He applies death blight buildup on some attacks, which can proc on certain enemies and instantly kill them, though most bosses are immune to this status effect. His main weakness is his FP cost, which is among the highest in the game, so you need a substantial mind stat or Cerulean Flask investment to summon him consistently.
How to Summon in Boss Fights Effectively
Knowing how to summon in boss fight scenarios separates players who breeze through Elden Ring from those who struggle for dozens of attempts. The Spirit Calling Bell must be obtained from Renna at the Church of Elleh early in the game, and you can only summon spirits in areas where the tombstone icon appears on the left side of your screen. You also need enough FP to cover the summon's cost, which varies wildly from the Wandering Noble's cheap 20 FP to the Dung Eater Puppet's expensive 108 FP requirement.
Timing your summon matters just as much as having the right ash equipped. The best strategy is to summon immediately after entering the boss fog wall, because most bosses have a brief opening animation that gives your spirit time to spawn and draw aggro before the real fight begins. If you summon too early in the overworld, your spirit might despawn or waste its health on regular enemies, and if you wait too long, the boss might already be mid-combo when your ash finally appears. For the full breakdown of summoning mechanics and the Spirit Calling Bell acquisition, check our comprehensive guide on how to summon spirits.
FP Management and Summon Timing Errors
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Summoning with low FP: Always keep enough FP reserved for your summon, because running out mid-fight leaves you with no backup and a boss that's already aggroed on you.
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Using the wrong ash for the boss: Some bosses have AoE attacks that shred grouped summons, so single-target ashes like Tiche often outperform squad-based ones in those fights.
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Ignoring upgrade levels: A +3 Mimic Tear performs dramatically worse than a +10 version, so prioritize upgrading your main summon before spreading materials thin across multiple ashes.
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Summoning in co-op: Spirit Ashes cannot be used when you have cooperators summoned, so adjust your strategy based on whether you're playing solo or with friends.
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Forgetting about the environment: Some boss arenas have obstacles that block your spirit's pathing, so position yourself to give your summon a clear route to the boss.
The Elden Ring spirit ash upgrade materials you collect throughout the game should go primarily into one or two summons rather than being spread across your entire collection. According to player reports, a single maxed-out S-tier summon outperforms three or four partially upgraded A-tier options, because the stat scaling at higher upgrade levels provides exponential returns rather than linear growth. This is especially true for the ghost glovewort upgrades, which are rarer and should be reserved exclusively for your S-tier picks.
Boss-Specific Spirit Ash Recommendations
Different bosses demand different summon strategies, and the ELDEN RING spirit ashes tier list shifts depending on which encounter you're facing. For Radagon and the Elden Beast, the Mimic Tear with a black flame tornado weapon art shreds through both phases because the percentage-based damage bypasses their high resistances. Against Malenia, Black Knife Tiche's destined death helps counteract her lifesteal by reducing her max HP, while the Greatshield Soldiers provide a wall that absorbs her Waterfowl Dance if you position them correctly.
The Dung Eater Puppet shines against bosses that rely on poise breaks and stagger mechanics, because his constant aggression keeps them locked in attack animations rather than allowing them to recover and counter. For Mohg, Lord of Blood, the Shabriri Woe talisman combined with a tanky summon like the Greatshield Soldiers lets you control aggro while applying bleed or frost status effects from a safe distance. Players who want to understand which bosses are worth preparing for should review our ranked list of the hardest bosses in Elden Ring, because the top-tier encounters are exactly where your summon choice matters most.
Late-Game and DLC Considerations
| Boss Encounter | Recommended Summon | Key Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Malenia, Blade of Miquella | Black Knife Tiche | Destined death counters lifesteal |
| Radagon / Elden Beast | Mimic Tear | Copies your damage-dealing loadout |
| Mohg, Lord of Blood | Greatshield Soldiers | Tanky wall for aggro management |
| Godfrey / Hoarah Loux | Dung Eater Puppet | High poise damage staggers him |
| Maliketh, the Black Blade | Lhutel the Headless | Teleporting AI dodges his attacks |
The Switch 2 version of the game has introduced some subtle differences in how Spirit Ashes perform, particularly around frame rate and AI responsiveness, though the overall tier list remains largely unchanged. Players on the Switch 2 have reported that the Greatshield Soldiers feel slightly more responsive due to the improved hardware, while the Mimic Tear occasionally behaves differently because of the altered load times affecting its initial spawn animation. For a deeper look at how the Switch 2 port handles summons, our Switch 2 spirit summons breakdown covers the platform-specific quirks in detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Spirit Ash in Elden Ring?
The Mimic Tear is widely considered the best Spirit Ash because it copies your entire build, including weapons, spells, and consumables, making it effectively a second player with the same strengths as you. Its performance scales with your equipment, so it remains viable throughout the entire game when properly upgraded with grave glovewort.
How do I upgrade Spirit Ashes?
Spirit Ashes are upgraded at Roderika in Roundtable Hold using grave glovewort for regular summons and ghost glovewort for special named summons. You need to progress her questline by giving her the Chrysalids' Memento found in Stormveil Castle, after which she can upgrade your ashes using the materials you collect from catacombs and underground areas.
Can I use Spirit Ashes during boss fights?
Yes, you can use Spirit Ashes during boss fights as long as the tombstone icon appears on the left side of your screen, indicating that spirit summoning is allowed in that area. You need sufficient FP to cover the summon's cost, and you cannot use Spirit Ashes when you have cooperators summoned in your world.
Where do I find ghost glovewort?
Ghost glovewort is found primarily in the Eternal Cities of Nokron and Nokstella, as well as in late-game areas like the Consecrated Snowfield and Miquella's Haligtree. You can also purchase unlimited ghost glovewort from the Twin Maiden Husks after obtaining the Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearing (3) from the Consecrated Snowfield.
Which Spirit Ash should I upgrade first?
Start with Mimic Tear or Black Knife Tiche—both S-tier summons—since ghost glovewort is scarce and they carry boss fights hardest. Early on, Greatshield Soldiers (A-tier) anchor your mid-game for minimal investment. Save your final upgrade materials for your S-tier pick; Dung Eater Puppet also rewards maxing if you prefer a tankier option.