What is the Best Spirit Ash Summon in Elden Ring? A Comprehensive Guide
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The Tarnished seeking guidance in the Lands Between often ask: What is the best Spirit Ash summon in Elden Ring? While the answer isn’t a simple one, a strong case can be made for the Mimic Tear as the most universally powerful and adaptable summon. The Mimic Tear is a clone of your character, wielding your equipped weapons, armor, and even casting your spells. This allows for incredible synergy and build replication, making it invaluable in a vast range of encounters. However, its dominance isn’t absolute, as other Spirit Ashes excel in specific situations. This guide will explore why the Mimic Tear remains a top choice, while also highlighting other contenders and addressing common questions about Elden Ring’s spirit summoning system.
Why the Mimic Tear Reigns Supreme (Most of the Time)
The Mimic Tear’s strength lies in its adaptability and ability to mirror the player’s build. Here’s a breakdown of its key advantages:
- Build Synergies: The Mimic Tear can perfectly complement your build. Whether you’re a melee powerhouse, a sorcerer, or a faith caster, the Mimic Tear will mirror your approach, effectively doubling your damage output and providing invaluable support.
- Tanking Power: The Mimic Tear possesses a substantial health pool, allowing it to draw enemy aggro and soak up damage, giving you breathing room to heal, cast spells, or reposition.
- Versatility: Unlike specialized summons, the Mimic Tear performs well in almost any scenario. It can handle crowds, challenge bosses, and even provide a distraction in PvP situations.
- Cost-Effective: The Mimic Tear costs HP instead of FP to summon, meaning builds that are tight on FP usage can still summon a powerful ally.
- Upgrading: The Mimic Tear can be upgraded with Ghost Gloveworts, further enhancing its health, damage, and overall effectiveness. A Great Ghost Glovewort to fully upgrade the Mimic Tear can be found in Night’s Sacred Ground.
Despite a minor nerf in an earlier patch, which reduced its initial aggression and slightly altered its AI, the Mimic Tear remains a top-tier choice because its core functionality is intact. The ability to duplicate your build and provide a powerful, adaptable ally outweighs any minor adjustments to its behavior.
Contenders for the Throne: Other Powerful Spirit Ashes
While the Mimic Tear holds the crown for versatility, other Spirit Ashes are invaluable in particular situations:
- Black Knife Tiche: This legendary summon is renowned for its agility, high damage output, and ability to inflict percentage-based health damage with its destined death ability. Tiche is particularly effective against bosses like Malenia due to its dodging prowess and powerful attacks. This is often considered Elden Ring’s best spirit summon by many players.
- Lhutel the Headless: A heavily armored knight with excellent survivability and the ability to teleport short distances. Lhutel is a fantastic tank that can draw enemy aggro and withstand significant damage.
- Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff: Another incredibly resilient tank, Kristoff boasts high defense and deals decent damage with lightning-infused attacks.
- Omenkiller Rollo: This aggressive summon dishes out high damage and inflicts blood loss buildup, making him effective against enemies vulnerable to bleed.
- Banished Knight Oleg: A solid all-around summon with good damage and survivability. Oleg is a reliable choice for general exploration and combat.
- Dung Eater Puppet: A controversial but powerful summon, the Dung Eater Puppet is known for its aggressive AI and ability to inflict status effects, especially against enemies weak to certain types of damage.
- Latenna the Albinauric: Best used at a distance. Place Latenna behind cover, and she will do wonders.
Finding the Mimic Tear
The Mimic Tear Ashes can be found in Nokron, Eternal City. After defeating the Mimic Tear boss (who takes on your form), continue onward until reaching Night’s Sacred Ground. The ashes are located in a chest behind an imp statue. Reaching this area requires progressing through the Siofra Aqueduct after Radahn.
Bleed Builds and Spirit Ashes
For players specializing in bleed builds, several Spirit Ashes can complement their playstyle. While Omenkiller Rollo is a direct option, the Mad Pumpkin Head can bleed enemies with his flail. Furthermore, The Mimic Tear is still the best choice, because it can utilize Rivers of Blood.
Bleed Weapons to Consider:
- Rivers of Blood: A katana known for its fast attacks and potent blood loss buildup.
- Uchigatana: A starting weapon for the Samurai class and a reliable choice for bleed builds, especially when dual-wielded. Dual wielding two Uchigatanas is very good.
- Nagakiba: A katana with a longer reach than the Uchigatana, making it useful in both PvE and PvP.
- Eleonora’s Poleblade: A twinblade that scales with Dexterity and Arcane, dealing both physical and fire damage while inflicting blood loss buildup.
When the Mimic Tear Isn’t the Best Choice
Despite its overall power, the Mimic Tear isn’t always the optimal choice. Consider these situations:
- Specific Boss Weaknesses: Some bosses are highly resistant to certain damage types or status effects. In these cases, a specialized summon that exploits their weaknesses might be more effective. For example, Black Knife Tiche is exceptional against bosses with high health pools.
- Limited Resources: Upgrading Spirit Ashes requires Ghost Gloveworts. If you haven’t invested in upgrading the Mimic Tear, other fully upgraded summons might be more powerful.
- Role-Playing Preferences: Some players prefer summons that align with their character’s lore or aesthetic, even if they aren’t the most powerful option.
Final Verdict
While other Spirit Ashes have their strengths, the Mimic Tear remains the most versatile and powerful summon in Elden Ring for most players. Its ability to replicate your build, soak up damage, and adapt to various situations makes it an invaluable asset in the challenging world of the Lands Between. However, don’t be afraid to experiment with other Spirit Ashes and find the ones that best complement your playstyle and the challenges you face.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is the Mimic Tear still the best summon after the nerf?
Yes, despite the nerf, the Mimic Tear remains one of the best summons. The core functionality of replicating your build and acting as a powerful tank remains intact.
2. Where can I find the Mimic Tear Ashes?
The Mimic Tear Ashes are located in Nokron, Eternal City, specifically in a chest behind an imp statue in the Night’s Sacred Ground area.
3. How do I upgrade the Mimic Tear?
You can upgrade the Mimic Tear using Ghost Gloveworts. You can find them in catacomb dungeons.
4. Does arcane affect blood loss buildup?
Yes, weapons that scale with Arcane often deal blood loss buildup.
5. What is the best katana to dual wield with Rivers of Blood?
The Uchigatana or Nagakiba are excellent choices to dual wield with Rivers of Blood. The Nagakiba requires more Strength.
6. What is the best summon against Malenia?
Black Knife Tiche is often considered the best summon against Malenia due to its agility, damage, and ability to avoid her attacks.
7. What is the best spirit ash to use on Godrick?
Early in the game, the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes can be effective against Godrick due to their poison abilities and high HP.
8. What bosses are immune to bleed?
Radagon is completely immune to bleed.
9. What are the worst Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring?
Summons like the Noble Sorcerer are often considered among the worst due to their low damage and survivability.
10. Is it better to summon Black Knife Tiche or the Mimic Tear?
It depends on the situation. Black Knife Tiche is excellent for single, powerful bosses like Malenia. The Mimic Tear is more versatile and adaptable to various situations.
11. How much does it cost to summon the Mimic Tear?
The Mimic Tear costs HP instead of FP to summon.
12. Is Mimic Tear or Black Knife Tiche better?
Many players feel that Black Knife Tiche is the best summon, but it really comes down to player preference. Mimic Tear can be made stronger depending on the player’s current build.
13. What is the scariest enemy in Elden Ring?
This is subjective, but enemies like Death Rite Bird and Abductor Virgins are often cited as some of the scariest.
14. What crystal tear is best for bleed build?
The Thorny Cracked Tear is a good choice for a bleed build, as it increases damage with successive attacks.
15. Can I use the Mimic Tear with any build?
Yes, the Mimic Tear‘s ability to replicate your build makes it effective with almost any playstyle, unlike other summons with very specific roles.