The 12 Best Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring, Ranked for Maximum Impact
Few mechanics in Elden Ring reshape the flow of combat as dramatically as Spirit Ashes. On PC, PS5, and Xbox, they effectively turn boss encounters into co-op battles without another human involved, absorbing aggro, layering damage, and even reshaping how certain builds are played. This ranking focuses on what each Spirit Ash brings to the table: damage profile, AI behavior, survivability, FP efficiency, and how well it scales from early-game struggles to late-game gauntlets.
You’ll see familiar names like Mimic Tear and Black Knife Tiche near the top, but the middle of this list is where things get interesting. Tank knights, debuff-heavy puppets, and even humble early-game wolves all carve out specific niches that challenge the idea there’s only “one best” summon. Instead of step-by-step acquisition instructions, this breakdown zeroes in on impact: when a spirit can trivialize a fight, when it quietly carries the run, and when its hype outstrips its actual performance.
You might not be surprised by what lands at #1, but some of the lower-ranked picks are far more influential than their rarity suggests. Taken together, these 12 Ashes outline how FromSoftware uses AI companions as a flexible difficulty valve and a build-defining tool. The real value is understanding which spirit fits your approach: glass-cannon sorcerer, bruiser strength build, nimble bleed specialist, or cautious ranged player who just needs someone else to stand in front.
1. Mimic Tear
Mimic Tear earned its reputation as the defining Spirit Ash of Elden Ring because it does something no other summon can: it becomes you. Instead of a preset loadout, the Mimic copies your current weapons, armor, talismans, and spells at the moment of summoning, effectively doubling your build. That includes status setups, weapon arts, and even niche interactions like buff-stacking or hybrid melee-caster configurations, turning your strongest ideas into a two-person act.
What makes the Mimic so impactful is not just damage but flexibility. A bleed-focused build gets double the proc rate; frostbite and poison can stack from two independent sources; shield builds gain a second wall between the boss and your HP bar. Because it uses its own pool of flasks and resources, it offloads some of the sustain burden that normally sits entirely on the player. Even after balance adjustments that reduced its raw power, its ability to mirror top-tier setups keeps it competitively strong deep into New Game+.
There are downsides. The HP cost is steep compared to FP-based options, and the AI occasionally misuses complex weapon skills or spell rotations, making highly technical builds less efficient than in player hands. Still, when a build scales well and doesn’t rely on ultra-precise timing, Mimic Tear remains the most universally transformative Ash in the game. It’s best for players whose whole identity is tied to their build-and who simply want a second copy of themselves on the field.
2. Black Knife Tiche
Where Mimic Tear mirrors the player, Black Knife Tiche redefines what “pure offense” looks like in a Spirit Ash. Her signature trait is the Black Knife imbued with Destined Death, producing the Blade of Death projectile that shaves a portion of an enemy’s max HP and then applies lingering damage over time. Against bosses with enormous health pools, this percentage-based effect makes her output feel disproportionate to her relatively small physical presence.
Tiche gravitates toward a hit-and-run pattern: darting in for rapid slashes, then flipping or dashing away before counterattacks land. Her agility and frequent i-frames give her surprising survivability despite a lower HP pool than heavy knight spirits. She excels against humanoid bosses and aggressive enemies that can be kited, turning chaotic arenas into manageable duels where she constantly chips and bleeds away health. The trade-off is clear: she can struggle with very large foes whose sweeping or ground-covering attacks invalidate her evasive loops.
In terms of competitive positioning, Tiche is the premier choice for players who value damage over tankiness from their summon slot. She doesn’t babysit frail casters as effectively as a true wall, but she drastically shortens many boss fights simply by existing in the arena. High FP cost and late-game availability keep her out of early runs, yet once unlocked she’s arguably the most potent offensive Spirit Ash. She’s ideal for confident players who can still manage positioning and just want a relentless assassin pressuring the boss from the other side.
3. Lhutel the Headless
Lhutel the Headless occupies a rare middle ground: a spirit that tanks, pressures, and refuses to stay in one place. As a spectral knight wielding a death-infused lance and greatshield, she combines strong defenses with teleportation, letting her blink across the arena to re-engage or escape danger. This mobility is more than visual flair; it makes her unusually resistant to being cornered or deleted by multi-hit boss combos that shred more static summons.
Her attacks mix close-range thrusts with thrown spectral lances that can apply death blight buildup to lesser foes. While the death blight angle matters more in dungeons than in major boss arenas, the ranged component means she keeps contributing even when pathfinding or terrain hinder direct melee engagement. AI-wise, Lhutel is less hyper-aggressive than some knight spirits, but she’s persistent and very good at re-targeting when knocked away, often reclaiming aggro before the boss fully reorients onto the player.
Lhutel’s biggest selling point is reliability. She isn’t the top damage dealer or the highest HP tank, yet she combines “good enough” values in both with evasive behavior that preserves her presence across long battles. In early to mid-game, her durability relative to available options is enormous; even late-game she remains competitive simply because she doesn’t die as recklessly as more aggressive spirits. She’s best for players who prioritize consistency and survivability from their summon, especially cautious melee or hybrid builds that want time and space to work.
4. Dung Eater Puppet
The Dung Eater Puppet is one of the most polarizing Spirit Ashes in the game, both in lore and in function. Wielding the Sword of Milos, he brings a mix of physical pressure, innate bleed buildup, and a unique area debuff that reduces enemy defenses and ailment resistance. That debuff alone changes the math of many encounters, amplifying the value of any status-focused build-from bleed and frostbite to rot and poison-by softening targets for both player and puppet.
Unlike lithe assassins or pure casters, Dung Eater behaves like a corrupted frontline bruiser. He barrels toward enemies, soaking hits and keeping them occupied while continuously swinging. His sturdiness is notable: he can endure several full strings from mid-tier bosses, buying valuable windows for ranged characters or cautious melee users. The downside is his relative lack of finesse; his AI doesn’t sidestep danger as elegantly as Black Knife Tiche or Lhutel, and he can be overwhelmed in the heaviest late-game arenas.
From a ranking perspective, he earns his spot because he doesn’t just deal damage—he multiplies it. Any build that leans into status effects or burst windows benefits enormously from his debuffing presence. Accessing him requires commitment to a specific NPC questline and moral direction, which naturally limits his adoption across all playthroughs. For players willing to make that narrative and build investment, Dung Eater Puppet is a top-tier choice when you want your summon to function as both tank and debuff engine.
5. Omenkiller Rollo
Omenkiller Rollo brings raw brutality to the Spirit Ash roster. As the first Omenkiller, he wields dual cleavers, breathes fire, and inflicts bleed, creating a relentless pressure package that punishes anything willing to stand near him. His move set emphasizes wide swings, lunging combos, and flame attacks that linger on the ground, carving out space and forcing enemies to react.
What sets Rollo apart is how quickly he can swing a fight from stable to chaotic in the player’s favor. When his bleed procs line up with his high base damage and fire output, bosses can see large sections of their health vanish in bursts. His pathing is straightforward—he tends to charge the nearest threat—and he often holds aggro reliably, which is especially favorable for glass-cannon sorcerers and faith casters. However, his aggression comes at a cost. He doesn’t have the highest HP pool among knight-like spirits and lacks defensive tricks like Lhutel’s teleport or Tiche’s evasive leaps, so he can burn out quickly in ultra-hard-hitting late-game arenas.
Rollo sits in a competitive slot among high-damage melee summons, and whether he outperforms your alternatives depends largely on the fight. Against targets vulnerable to bleed and fire, he can feel exceptional; against heavily armored or fire-resistant bosses, his output normalizes. He’s best suited to players who want a reckless damage dealer to complement their more measured playstyle, and less appealing if you need a patient, stay-alive tank more than a berserker.
6. Battlemage Hugues
Battlemage Hugues stands out as one of the few Spirit Ashes that genuinely embodies the “battlemage” fantasy. Wielding Haima sorceries like Cannon of Haima and Gavel of Haima alongside a hefty club, he alternates between punishing ranged spellcasts and imposing melee presence. For players who enjoy watching big, flashy sorceries but don’t want to sacrifice their own build identity to become a caster, Hugues effectively lets you outsource that role.
In practical terms, Hugues offers flexible threat coverage. He can pressure distant targets, punish bosses during recovery frames with giant magic projectiles, and still hold his own in close quarters. His durability is solid rather than spectacular—he can survive several heavy hits but isn’t on the level of the tankiest knights. The main critique is that his AI sometimes misjudges spacing, casting large spells at awkward distances or whiffing Gavel swings, which can diminish his theoretical DPS.
Despite those quirks, Hugues fills a valuable niche: a hybrid spirit that naturally complements both melee and ranged builds. Melee characters gain a magical artillery partner who helps punish bosses during repositioning; casters gain a frontliner who shares their damage profile without competing for their exact range bands. He’s ideal when you want a summon that mirrors a spellblade fantasy—part wizard, part bruiser—without committing your own character entirely to that archetype.
7. Stormhawk Deenh
After a run of heavy hitters and tanks, Stormhawk Deenh takes a different approach: it’s a support-focused, evasive spirit with a surprisingly strong buff package. As a flying hawk wreathed in tempestuous winds, Deenh harasses enemies from above with wind slashes while periodically unleashing a war cry that boosts the player’s physical damage, stamina damage, and poise-breaking potential. That shout quietly elevates many melee builds, especially those built around stagger loops and guard breaks.
From a survivability standpoint, Deenh benefits enormously from its flight. Many ground-based attacks and even some boss patterns simply don’t connect reliably with a small, airborne target. That means it often remains alive longer than its modest raw HP might suggest, providing a persistent buff aura and low, but constant, chip damage. On the other hand, its individual hits are fairly weak compared to knight or assassin spirits, and its ability to hold aggro is limited—the boss will often ignore it in favor of the more threatening player.
Stormhawk Deenh so plays a specialist role. It shines in encounters where you want to maximize your own offensive throughput and just need a disruptive presence and passive buff, not a traditional tank. Aggressive melee and stance-break builds get the most out of Deenh, while frail ranged characters who rely on consistent aggro diversion may find more value in sturdier, ground-based summons. It’s an inspired pick when you trust your own ability to dodge and simply want a winged amplifier at your side.
8. Banished Knight Engvall
Banished Knight Engvall is one of the first truly elite Spirit Ashes many players can realistically access, and that early arrival amplifies his impact on the average playthrough. As one of the “Wings of the Storm,” he brings a halberd, greatshield, and storm-infused movement that allows him to close distance rapidly while maintaining a solid defensive posture. He’s the archetypal frontline knight: aggressive enough to seize aggro, tough enough to keep it.
Engvall’s strengths are straightforward but highly effective. His HP pool and poise are generous for his cost tier, so he can withstand repeated hits from early and mid-game bosses that would shred lighter spirits. His halberd offers a good balance of reach and damage, and storm-dash style movements help him keep pace in larger arenas where less mobile summons struggle. He’s less flashy than later options like Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff, but precisely because of that, he feels dependable rather than situational.
In the broader roster, Engvall competes mainly with other knight summons like Oleg and Kristoff. He’s not the absolute peak in any single metric—Oleg may feel more explosively aggressive, Kristoff more magically versatile—but his relatively early availability, modest FP cost, and all-round performance make him one of the most influential companions across a full run. He’s ideal for players wanting a classic “shield-and-spear wall” who can anchor fights from Limgrave all the way into the late game if needed.
9. Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff
Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff represents the high end of the “tank knight” spectrum. A famed knight of Leyndell and devout worshipper of the ancient dragons, he wields a lightning-imbued spear and calls down bolts from above, blending durable frontline presence with respectable ranged magical damage. His lore as a dragon-slaying hero is mirrored mechanically in his ability to punish distant foes and control space with lightning strikes.
Kristoff’s standout quality is sheer staying power. His HP and defenses are among the best in the Spirit Ash roster, allowing him to absorb punishing boss combos that would instantly remove lighter summons. While his AI is a touch more measured than Oleg’s, he still applies steady pressure with thrusts and spear sweeps, and his lightning casts add a layer of chip damage that keeps him relevant even when bosses move out of melee range. This mix of durability and range means he often survives long enough to see the end of marathon encounters.
The trade-off is cost and accessibility: Kristoff is a more FP-intensive, later-game option, and his conservative AI can sometimes feel less explosive than his stats imply. Yet for players who want a “set it and forget it” wall that also contributes elemental damage, he’s one of the best candidates. Strength, faith, and hybrid melee builds in particular benefit from his dragon-themed synergy and lightning coverage. He’s ideal when your primary concern is: “I need something that simply will not die while I do my work.”
10. Banished Knight Oleg
Banished Knight Oleg is the wild counterpart to Engvall’s disciplined wall. Armed with twin greatswords and very high poise for his tier, Oleg is built to dive straight into the thick of combat, swinging aggressively and often staggering lesser foes. His animations emphasize forward momentum and wide arcs, allowing him to control clusters of enemies and disrupt bosses that are susceptible to poise damage.
Oleg’s strengths are most evident in how quickly he can seize initiative in a fight. When he enters a frenzy of swings, he can lock certain enemies into near-constant flinch cycles, effectively pinning them away from the player. Compared to Engvall, his shieldless stance makes him feel more like a damage dealer than a classical tank, but his HP and posture are robust enough that he doesn’t explode the instant a boss looks at him. This combination of aggression and sturdiness makes him particularly effective against humanoid and mid-sized opponents.
The flipside is that his aggression can become a liability in the harshest late-game boss arenas, where ill-timed rushes into AoEs or multi-hit combos can shorten his lifespan. He also lacks the ranged or elemental utility of Kristoff. As a result, Oleg shines brightest in the mid-game or in fights that reward relentless melee pressure. He’s a strong fit for offensive-minded players who want their summon to mirror their own desire to get right in the boss’s face, rather than play a patient blocking game.
11. Skeletal Militiamen
Skeletal Militiamen are a classic example of a Spirit Ash that looks unimpressive on paper but overperforms because of one defining trait: revival. Summoning two spear-wielding skeletons that reassemble themselves after “death” unless enemies finish them off, this Ash effectively forces bosses to either waste time confirming kills or let the skeletons get back up repeatedly. That built-in attrition mechanic makes them extremely annoying for many AI patterns.
In practical combat, Militiamen aren’t about raw damage or poise; their spears deal modest chip, and they can’t tank sustained punishment. Their value comes from being persistent distractions. Bosses that don’t frequently hit downed bodies or that move rapidly between targets can end up letting the skeletons reform again and again, leading to a constant background of pokes and intermittent aggro pulls. In cramped dungeons or arenas with narrow sightlines, this effect becomes even more pronounced, as the skeletons often revive out of immediate reach.
Compared to named knights and elite assassins, Skeletal Militiamen clearly lack prestige, but their FP efficiency and revival gimmick give them a surprisingly high ceiling in specific matchups. They’re especially useful for patient or ranged-focused players who value long-term distraction and don’t rely heavily on their summon for damage. If you’re comfortable doing the heavy lifting yourself and just want two endlessly irritating spear carriers to split the boss’s attention, this Ash punches well above its weight.
12. Lone Wolf Ashes
Lone Wolf Ashes are often a player’s first real taste of what Spirit Ashes can do, and they remain relevant longer than their humble stats might suggest. Summoning three fast-moving wolves, this Ash focuses on mobility, flinching, and light pressure rather than tanking. The pack tends to circle enemies, nibbling at openings and occasionally staggering lighter foes—particularly effective early on when many enemies have low poise and simple move sets.
The key strength of Lone Wolves is target disruption. Three bodies mean three sources of stagger potential and three independent paths for drawing aggro, which can turn otherwise overwhelming early fights into manageable skirmishes. Their HP is limited and they fall off in raw survivability as bosses become larger and more AoE-focused, but their low FP cost and ability to swarm make them invaluable in the game’s opening stretch. Even later, they retain some niche value in encounters where quantity of distractions matters more than any single tanky ally.
Among the full roster of Spirit Ashes, Lone Wolves clearly aren’t endgame titans like Mimic Tear or Black Knife Tiche. Their place on this list reflects their overall impact on the Elden Ring experience rather than sheer numbers: they teach the rhythm of fighting with a companion and dramatically smooth the difficulty curve for new players. They’re best suited to early-game builds and cautious explorers who benefit most from any additional body between themselves and a boss’s weapon.
Reading the Spirit Meta: What These Ashes Say About Elden Ring
Looked at together, these 12 Spirit Ashes reveal how Elden Ring uses summons as more than simple damage multipliers. They fill distinct roles—self-cloning (Mimic Tear), percentage-based shredding (Black Knife Tiche), methodical tanking (Lhutel, Kristoff, Engvall), berserker offense (Oleg, Rollo), hybrid spellblade play (Hugues), supportive buffing (Stormhawk Deenh), and persistent harassment (Skeletal Militiamen, Lone Wolves). That diversity lets players fine-tune not only how hard encounters feel, but how they feel: fast and lethal, slow and controlled, or somewhere in between.
There’s also a clear progression curve. Early access spirits like Lone Wolves and Engvall dramatically shape first playthroughs by smoothing difficulty spikes, while late-game options such as Mimic Tear and Tiche redefine the ceiling for what a summon can contribute. Rather than a simple linear power climb, the roster encourages experimentation: a debuff engine like Dung Eater Puppet or a gimmick-heavy choice like Skeletal Militiamen can outperform “stronger” summons in the right matchup.
For the broader community, these Ashes function as levers for self-directed difficulty. Choosing a Mimic Tear stacked with optimized gear is a very different statement than bringing Lone Wolves into a late-game boss, even though both are “legal” options. Future balance patches and DLC content may tweak specific numbers, but the underlying design is unlikely to change: Spirit Ashes are core to how Elden Ring supports wildly different playstyles without imposing a single, fixed difficulty curve. Understanding what each summon really does—not just where to find it—remains the most powerful tool for shaping your journey through the Lands Between.
