Finding the elden ring best summons can completely change how you approach the Lands Between, especially in the Tarnished Edition where boss encounters demand smarter positioning and resource management. The right spirit ash acts as a second health bar, an aggro sponge, or a status-effect engine that lets you punish openings you would otherwise never survive. Because spirit ashes scale with your upgrade investment, choosing the right one early saves you precious Glovewort and Rune arcs, so this ranking focuses on raw power, survivability, and synergy across the most punishing fights in the game.
The Strongest Summons for Tough Encounters
The elden ring best summons debate usually settles on a handful of legendary ashes that outperform everything else in raw boss DPS and survivability. According to the official Bandai Namco page for the Tarnished Edition, the Mimic Tear copies your entire build and is widely considered the strongest summon, while Black Knife Tiche applies destined death and dodges aggressively. These two sit at the top of nearly every community tier list, but the Dung Eater Puppet and Greatshield Soldiers also carve out specific niches that matter for certain loadouts.
| Spirit Ash | Best For | Key Strength | Upgrade Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mimic Tear | Any build | Copies your full loadout | Highest |
| Black Knife Tiche | Bleed and dodge-heavy fights | Destined Death + high evasion | Highest |
| Dung Eater Puppet | Tanking and rot pressure | High HP + Scarlet Rot application | High |
| Greatshield Soldiers | Ranged and caster builds | Shield wall blocks projectiles | Medium |
| Lhutel the Headless | Aggro management | Teleporting + ranged throws | Medium |
When you compare these options, the Mimic Tear wins because it duplicates your equipped weapons, talismans, and consumables, which means its damage output scales with everything you have invested in your character. Black Knife Tiche, on the other hand, brings a fixed kit that includes the Black Knife skill, which reduces the target's maximum HP over time, making her exceptional against bosses with massive health pools. The Dung Eater Puppet trades raw damage for incredible durability, and community reports suggest he can hold aggro for extended periods while applying rot that chips away at even the tankiest enemies.
Why the Mimic Tear Outshines Other Summons
The elden ring mimic tear location is one of the most searched pieces of information in the community, and for good reason, because this ash single-handedly carries players through the late game. You find it in Nokron, Eternal City, inside a chest guarded by a Silver Tear enemy, which means you need to defeat Starscourge Radahn first to access the area. Once acquired, the Mimic Tear costs 660 HP to summon rather than FP, which makes it usable even for pure strength builds that dump everything into Vigor and Endurance.
What makes the Mimic Tear so powerful is that it copies your current equipment at the moment of summoning, so if you switch to a greatshield and a bleed weapon before calling it, you get a tanky damage dealer that applies status effects independently. Players report that giving the Mimic Tear a Fingerprint Stone Shield and a Rivers of Blood katana creates a summon that blocks incoming attacks while building up hemorrhage on bosses, which is a strategy that trivializes many otherwise brutal encounters. The ash also uses your flasks, so equipping the Cerulean Hidden Tear in your Physick before summoning can give it infinite FP for a short window, which is a trick that veteran players use to maximize its skill spam.
How to Get Black Knife Tiche and Maximize Her Potential
The elden ring how to get black knife tiche question comes up constantly in community threads, because she is arguably the best single-target summon for aggressive players who want to maintain pressure without relying on their own positioning. You obtain this ash by defeating Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader, in the Ringleader's Evergaol located on the Moonlight Altar plateau in western Liurnia. This is a challenging fight because Alecto moves fast and hits hard, but you can cheese it with a Greatshield and a spear by blocking her attacks and poking from behind the shield.
Black Knife Tiche excels because her moveset includes the Blade of Death skill, which reduces the target's maximum HP by a percentage and deals damage over time, making her invaluable against bosses with enormous health bars. She also dodges frequently, which means she survives longer than most summons because enemy AI struggles to land consecutive hits on her evasive pattern. For players who want to see her in action before committing the upgrade materials, the official ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition trailer on YouTube showcases some of the new content, though you will need to test her in your own game to appreciate her full potential.
| Upgrade Level | Glovewort Cost | Notable Gains |
|---|---|---|
| +1 to +5 | Ghost Glovewort 1-5 | Moderate HP and damage increase |
| +6 to +9 | Ghost Glovewort 6-9 | Significant survivability boost |
| +10 | Great Ghost Glovewort | Max HP, damage, and skill frequency |
Best Spirit Ash for Bosses: Situational Picks
While the Mimic Tear and Black Knife Tiche dominate general rankings, the elden ring best spirit ash for bosses depends heavily on the specific fight and your build. For magic users who need space to cast, the Greatshield Soldiers create a wall that blocks projectiles and melee attacks, giving you time to charge powerful sorceries without interruption. For melee builds that struggle with aggressive bosses, Lhutel the Headless teleports around the arena, drawing aggro and throwing spectral spears that keep the boss occupied while you heal or reposition.
The Dung Eater Puppet deserves special mention because he applies Scarlet Rot, which is a status effect that deals percentage-based damage over time and works on almost every boss in the game. Community testing suggests that pairing the Dung Eater Puppet with a rot-inflicting weapon like the Antspur Rapier can stack the status effect faster, melting bosses that would otherwise take minutes to whittle down. However, his slow movement speed means he struggles against highly mobile bosses like Malenia, where Black Knife Tiche's evasive pattern proves far more reliable.
According to the official Elden Ring site by Bandai Namco, the game’s summoning mechanics are balanced around Spirit Ashes scaling with your upgrade level, which is why the best summons like Mimic Tear and Black Knife Tiche remain viable only if you invest in Glovewort upgrades.
Spirit Ash Upgrade Priority and Resource Management
Understanding how to upgrade spirit ashes efficiently saves you from wasting limited Glovewort, because the elden ring best summons only reach their full potential at higher upgrade levels. The key resource is Ghost Glovewort, which you find in dungeons, catacombs, and from specific merchants, while the final upgrade requires a Great Ghost Glovewort that appears in limited quantities per playthrough. Because these resources are finite, you should commit to one or two ashes rather than spreading your upgrades across multiple options.
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Mimic Tear: Upgrade first if you run a well-rounded build with strong weapons and talismans, since it copies your full loadout.
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Black Knife Tiche: Upgrade first if you prefer a summon that handles itself independently and applies percentage-based damage.
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Dung Eater Puppet: Upgrade second if you need a tank that applies rot, but only after your primary damage summon is maxed.
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Greatshield Soldiers: Upgrade only if you play a pure caster and need defensive cover during spell casts.
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Lhutel the Headless: Skip unless you want a versatile summon that works in most fights without specific build synergy.
The Spirit Calling Bell, which you receive from Renna at the Church of Elleh early in the game, is required to summon any spirit ash, and you must be near a Rebirth Monument to activate them. If you find that your summons are not appearing when you use the bell, the issue is usually that you are too far from a monument or you are in an area where spirit summoning is disabled, which is a common frustration covered in the spirit summons troubleshooting guide. Additionally, you cannot summon spirits during co-op play, so if you are helping a friend, you will need to rely on your own combat skills instead.
Where to Find the Mimic Tear and Other Key Ashes
The elden ring mimic tear location is tied to the main story progression, because you must defeat Starscourge Radahn in Caelid to open the path to Nokron, Eternal City. After the festival at Redmane Castle, a meteor strikes the Mistwood area, creating a crater that leads down to Nokron, where you navigate the ancestral woods and find the Mimic Tear in a chest near a large arena. This chest is guarded by a Silver Tear enemy that can copy your appearance, so approach carefully and use a strike weapon to break its poise quickly.
For Black Knife Tiche, you need to reach the Moonlight Altar plateau, which requires completing Ranni's questline to unlock the way through the Carian Study Hall and the Divine Tower of Liurnia. The Ringleader's Evergaol is on the western edge of the plateau, and the fight against Alecto is one of the toughest evergaol encounters in the game, so bring a shield with high stability and a weapon with good reach. If you are struggling with the fight, consider using a summon of your own before entering the evergaol, though note that the fight itself does not allow spirit summons once it begins.
Synergy Strategies for Different Playstyles
The elden ring best summons change depending on whether you play a melee bruiser, a ranged caster, or a hybrid build, because each ash brings different strengths that complement or clash with your approach. For melee players who rely on aggressive trading, the Mimic Tear is the obvious choice because it doubles your damage output and creates a two-on-one scenario that overwhelms most bosses. For casters, the Greatshield Soldiers provide a defensive barrier that lets you channel spells safely, while Black Knife Tiche offers a more aggressive option that keeps the boss distracted.
| Playstyle | Recommended Ash | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| Strength Melee | Mimic Tear | Copies your heavy weapon and high poise |
| Dexterity Bleed | Black Knife Tiche | Bleed + Destined Death stack efficiently |
| Pure Sorcery | Greatshield Soldiers | Shield wall blocks projectiles and melee |
| Faith Incantations | Dung Eater Puppet | Rot pressure while you cast from range |
| Hybrid Quality | Lhutel the Headless | Teleporting aggro management for any build |
When you pair the right ash with the right talismans, the synergy becomes even stronger, because talismans like the Shard of Alexander boost skill damage for both you and your Mimic Tear copy. The Mimic Tear also benefits from your equipped Physick effects, so using the Crimsonwhorl Bubbletear before summoning gives it a healing bubble that triggers when its HP drops, which is a trick that keeps it alive much longer in extended fights. For Black Knife Tiche, equipping the Flock's Canvas Talisman does not affect her directly, but it boosts your own incantations, which lets you support her with healing or buffs from a safe distance.
Armor and Talisman Considerations for Summon-Heavy Builds
Your armor choice affects how well you can support your summon, because heavier armor means you can tank hits while your ash deals damage, but it also means slower rolls and higher stamina consumption. The Malenia armor guide covers one of the best armor sets for aggressive playstyles, though you need to defeat Malenia to obtain it, which is a significant challenge even with a maxed summon. For most players, a medium-weight armor set with good poise and damage negation is the sweet spot, because it lets you trade hits while your summon draws aggro.
Talismans that boost your summon's effectiveness are rare, but the Mimic Tear inherits your talisman effects, so equipping the Green Turtle Talisman for stamina recovery and the Erdtree's Favor for HP and equip load directly benefits your copy. The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman increases physical damage negation, which makes your Mimic Tear significantly tankier when it copies your loadout, and this is a strategy that community players report as one of the most effective for surviving late-game boss gauntlets. If you want to explore more about how spirit ashes work in the Tarnished Edition specifically, the Tarnished Edition spirit ashes guide covers the full list and summoning mechanics in detail.
Advanced Tactics for Specific Boss Encounters
Certain bosses demand specific summon choices, because the elden ring best summons for one fight may be useless in another, and understanding these matchups saves you from frustrating repeated attempts. For Malenia, Blade of Miquella, Black Knife Tiche is the top pick because her evasive pattern avoids Waterfowl Dance, while the Destined Death effect reduces Malenia's healing from her attacks, which is critical since she regains HP on every hit she lands. The Mimic Tear can also work if you equip a shield with Barricade Shield and a bleed weapon, because the copy will block and bleed simultaneously, though you need to manage your own positioning carefully to avoid feeding her HP.
For Commander Niall in Castle Sol, the Dung Eater Puppet shines because his high HP and rot application let him tank the two spectral knights while you focus on the commander himself, and the rot damage chips away at Niall's health even while you are dodging his lightning attacks. The Commander Niall boss guide breaks down the fight mechanics in detail, including how to handle his summons and when to punish his openings, which pairs well with a tanky spirit ash that draws aggro. For Radagon and the Elden Beast, the Mimic Tear is the safest choice because it copies your full build and provides consistent damage while you focus on dodging the holy attacks.
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Malenia: Black Knife Tiche for evasion and HP reduction, or Mimic Tear with bleed and shield setup.
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Commander Niall: Dung Eater Puppet for tanking and rot, or Greatshield Soldiers for defensive cover.
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Radagon and Elden Beast: Mimic Tear for consistent damage, since the boss resists most status effects.
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Godskin Duo: Black Knife Tiche for fast single-target damage, or Mimic Tear to split aggro between both bosses.
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Fire Giant: Mimic Tear with a bleed weapon, since the boss is vulnerable to hemorrhage and has a massive HP pool.
Glovewort Allocation Mistakes to Avoid
One of the most common mistakes players make is spreading Glovewort upgrades across too many ashes, which leaves them with several mediocre summons instead of one or two excellent ones. Because the elden ring best summons require significant investment to reach their full potential, you should pick a primary ash early and commit to upgrading it fully before considering a second option. Another frequent error is summoning the Mimic Tear with a suboptimal loadout, since it copies whatever you are holding at that moment, so switch to your best weapons and talismans before using the ash.
Players also overlook the importance of being near a Rebirth Monument, because spirit ashes only work within a certain radius of these statues, and trying to summon in the wrong spot wastes your FP or HP for nothing. If you are using a caster build, the Greatshield Soldiers are often undervalued because players assume they lack damage, but their real value is the defensive wall they create, which lets you cast high-damage sorceries without interruption. Finally, remember that some bosses disable spirit summoning entirely, so check for the monument icon on your screen before relying on your ash as part of your strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best summon in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition?
The Mimic Tear is widely considered the strongest summon because it copies your entire build, including weapons, talismans, and consumables, which makes its damage scale with your character's power. Black Knife Tiche is a close second for players who want an independent summon that applies Destined Death and dodges aggressively.
How do I get the Mimic Tear in ELDEN RING?
The elden ring mimic tear location is in Nokron, Eternal City, which you access after defeating Starscourge Radahn. A meteor creates a crater in Mistwood, and you descend into Nokron to find the Mimic Tear in a chest guarded by a Silver Tear enemy. It costs 660 HP to summon.
Where do I find Black Knife Tiche?
You obtain Black Knife Tiche by defeating Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader, in the Ringleader's Evergaol on the Moonlight Altar plateau in western Liurnia. This requires completing Ranni's questline to reach the area, and the fight is challenging because Alecto moves fast and hits hard.
What is the best spirit ash for bosses?
The elden ring best spirit ash for bosses depends on the fight, but Black Knife Tiche excels against aggressive bosses like Malenia because her evasive pattern avoids big attacks. The Dung Eater Puppet works well for tanking and applying Scarlet Rot, while the Mimic Tear is the safest general-purpose choice.
How do I upgrade spirit ashes?
Upgrade spirit ashes with Ghost Glovewort found in catacombs and dungeons, saving the rare Great Ghost Glovewort for the final tier. Since these resources are finite, fully upgrade one or two top-tier summons like Mimic Tear or Black Knife Tiche rather than spreading investment thin across lesser options.