Best Early Game Spirit Ash in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Spirit Ash is an invaluable tool in Elden Ring, and even more so in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. These summons can help you deal damage, tank bosses, and provide much needed assistance in some of the harder fights you’ll encounter in the game. We’ve created a list of some of the best early game Spirit Ash in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, all to help you find your way through the Land of Shadow .

Best types of early game Spirit Ash in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

There are some Spirit Ash that are better than others, with some of these already pretty exceptional in the base game. While these Spirit Ash will be able to assist you in the early game in Elden Ring, they can most certainly be useful well into the late game and even the final fight of Shadow of the Erdtree.

Mimic Tear

This is, without a doubt, the best Spirit Ash in Elden Ring, and also in Shadow of the Erdtree. While not as strong as it was upon the release of the original game, the Mimic Tear is capable of tanking heavy hits and, if you’re running a Bleed build, can be your best friend for boss encounters. What the Mimic Tear does is create a replica of you, down to the weapons you have equipped.

For example, if I have Rivers of Blood equipped in my main hand, my Mimic Tear will have it equipped as well. This will more or less decide what weapon your Mimic Tear will attack with, so you can gear it up with your same build and just go at it. I tended to use my Mimic Tear as a means to redirect aggro from the boss to give myself a bit of a room to breathe and heal. I used this Spirit Ash through the entire expansion, and it was especially helpful when fighting Messmer. The Mimic Tear will absorb a small percent of your health upon summoning it, so keep that in mind when using it during a boss fight.

You find the Mimic Tear later in the game at the Night’s Sacred Ground in Nokron, Eternal City. You can reach this part of the map if you teleport to the Ancestral Woods Site of Grace, and jump off of the cliff.

Black Knife Tiche

You can obtain Black Knife Tiche by defeating Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader at the Ringleader’s Evergaol in Liurnia of the Lakes. However, in order to obtain this Spirit Ash, much like the Mimic Tear, you will have needed to progress the base game significantly. What makes Tiche great, is that she is able to inflict enemies hit with one of her skills with “Destined Death.” This cuts down the total health of the boss, and also does damage over time.

However, she costs quite a bit of FP to summon and isn’t as sturdy as the Mimic Tear. If you don’t have the amount of FP required to summon Tiche, you can use your Flask of Wonderous Physick with the Cerulean Hidden Tear which eliminates all FP consumption for a short period of time. Make sure to drink your Flask of Wonderous Physick before entering a boss arena and then summoning Tiche as soon as you step inside for the best effect.

Elden Ring and the Shadows of the Erdtree DLC are available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.