Best Ashes of War in Elden Ring

Looking for the best Ashes of War in Elden Ring? Not to be confused with Spirit Ashes (summonable spectres that can aid you in combat), Ashes of War are unique skills that can be applied to weapons and shields in Elden Ring.

Whether it's your first time playing Elden Ring or you're looking to try a different build before the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC releases, picking the right Ashes of War can be imperative for a successful playthrough.

Below, we've gathered the best Ashes of War for a range of weapons and stats so that there is something for everyone. This includes the best Ashes of War for Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, Arcane, Quality and PvP builds. We'll also go through how you can equip new Ashes of War and what affinities mean in the game.

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In this guide:

• Best Strength build Ashes of War
• Best Faith build Ashes of War
• Best Arcane build Ashes of War
• Best Intelligence build Ashes of War
• Best Dexterity build Ashes of War
• Best Quality build Ashes of War
• Best PvP Ashes of War
• Affinities explained
• How to equip Ashes of War

Best Strength build Ashes of War

Lion's Claw

• Applicable weapons: Swords, Axes and Hammers (includes Greatswords and Colossal weapons).
• FP Cost: 20.
• Recommended Affinity: Heavy.

The Lion's Claw Ashes of War is a skill in which players will crouch and then perform a somersault, which strikes a heavy blow to foes afterwards. This strike delivers stance damage and cannot be parried but cannot be charged. When preparing the move, you are granted some invulnerability.

The Lion's Claw Ashes of War works best with a Strength build, kitted out with a Greatsword or Colossal weapon. This is due to the stance damage output which scales with the size and type of weapon it is paired with. Straight Swords and Katanas will usually deal 30 stance damage, whilst Colossal weapons deal upwards of 45 stance damage.

This skill is relatively easy to perform, effective when dealing with shielded foes and holds up well into the later areas of the game.

How to get the Lion's Claw

The Lion's Claw Ashes of War comes already attached to the Claymore (located in a chest, within Castle Morne). Otherwise, you can pick it up from defeating the Lion Guardian in Fort Gael, Caelid (south of the Rotview balcony). The creature will be prowling within the outer courtyard.

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Best Faith build Ashes of War

Black Flame Tornado

• Applicable weapons: Polearms, Twinblades, Spears, Great Spears, Halberds and Reapers.
• FP Cost: 30.
• Recommended Affinity: Fire.

The Black Flame Tornado Skill is a series of weapon spins that emit black flames in a torrent around you, followed by a plunge attack which casts further flames. This Elden Ring Skill can be charged and cannot be parried, as long as you have a supply of FP to fund it.

This Skill also applies fire damage with every hit as well as 33 stance damage, enabling you to stagger susceptible foes. This skill particularly works well with Faith builds as it will apply Faith scaling to your weapon along with the added Fire damage.

How to get the Black Flame Tornado

The Black Flame Tornado Skill is dropped upon defeating the Godskin Duo inside the Dragon Temple within the Crumbling Farum Azula region. These pesky bosses can offer quite the challenge, so be sure to check out our Godskin Duo boss guide for tips and tricks, along with our step-by-step on how to get to the Crumbling Farum Azula region in Elden Ring.

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Best Arcane build Ashes of War

Bloody Slash

• Applicable weapons: Daggers, Straight Swords, Greatswords, Curved Swords, Curved Greatswords, Katanas, Twinblades, Thrusting Swords and Heavy Thrusting Swords.
• FP Cost: 6.
• Recommended Affinity: Blood.

The Bloody Slash Ashes of War sacrifices a portion of your HP pool (0.05 x your max HP + 50) in return for an upwards slash attack, in a wide arc that deals 12 stance damage and bleed build-up.

This Skill was further improved with the 1.07 Elden Ring patch which increased the bleed status buildup, attack power and decreased the delay between performing the skill and subsequent actions.

As a 'Blood' type Ashes of War, it's a solid choice for any bleed build or Arcane build (the stat of which will increase with this Ashes of War). Additionally, the skill cannot be parried as long as you have a viable portion of FP to perform it. Be wary though, as the skill will still take your HP even if you don't have the FP to successfully emit the attack.

How to get the Bloody Slash

The Bloody Slash Ashes of War can be retrieved upon defeating a Godrick Knight, located at the top of Fort Haight in Limgrave. You'll come by this region naturally if you're following the Kenneth Haight sidequest which can be picked up in the north-east of Limgrave, near the Third Church of Marika Site of Grace.

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Best Intelligence build Ashes of War

Waves of Darkness

• Applicable weapons: Great Hammers, Greataxes, Colossal Weapons and Great Spears.
• FP Cost: 16, then 5 when using the follow-up heavy attack.
• Recommended Affinity: Magic.

The Waves of Darkness is classified as a 'Magic' affinity Ashes of War, meaning it will increase the Intelligence stat scaling of the weapon it is grafted to, but will decrease physical attributes like Strength and Dexterity. As such, this Ashes of War is best suited for a predominately Intelligence-based build.

The Waves of Darkness Weapon Skill enables your Tarnished to plunge their weapon into the ground and emit three large waves of energy, followed by a strong attack and swinging attack. For this reason, it's a fantastic choice for crowd control when faced with multiple enemies at once.

The Skill can deal upwards of 34 stance damage, with more damage output the higher your Intelligence is.

How to get the Waves of Darkness

You can get the Waves of Darkness Ashes of War by trading the Remembrance of the Naturalborn with Enia at the Roundtable Hold. This means you must defeat one of the toughest bosses in the game, Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. Luckily, we have a guide full of tips for taking on the Astel boss fight, which will require you to journey through Ranni's questline towards Nokstella, Eternal City.

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Best Dexterity build Ashes of War

Bloodhound's Step

• Applicable weapons: All melee weapons.
• FP Cost: 5, plus 12 to stamina.
• Recommended Affinity: Keen.

The Bloodhound's Step Ashes of War is a firm favourite amongst players looking to optimise a Dexterity build - and for good reason. This Weapon Skill in Elden Ring can essentially turn players invisible for a short time whilst they dodge at an increased speed. As you can imagine, this is a particularly effective skill against singular enemies and bosses, as it will allow you to gain a better vantage point and avoid incoming attacks.

The Bloodhound's Step is extremely versatile across playstyles as it can be applied to virtually any weapon as long as they're melee-based. What's more, if you're out of FP it will simply take more of your stamina instead, to perform the move.

The distance you can dodge with the Bloodhound's Step is about twice the amount of a medium roll and in that time, you have access to vital invincibility frames.

How to get the Bloodhound's Step

The Bloodhound's Step Skill is dropped by a Night's Cavalry on a bridge, north of Lenne's Rise in Dragonbarrow, Caelid. Due to the limited space on the bridge, we recommend tackling this foe whilst on foot. When de-seated from horseback, this enemy is vulnerable to critical hits.

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Best Quality build Ashes of War

Storm Blade

• Applicable weapons: All 'slashing' type melee weapons. This includes Daggers, Straight Swords, Greatswords, Curved Swords, Curved Greatswords, Katanas, Thrusting Swords and Heavy Thrusting Swords.
• FP Cost: 10, with additional attacks costing 6 FP.
• Recommended Affinity: Quality.

As a 'Quality' type Ash of War, Elden Ring's Storm Blade Skill is perfect for players looking to divest equal points into both Strength and Dexterity.

The Storm Blade Skill essentially summons a small whirlwind which can be propelled towards enemies at a distance, providing a ranged attack for melee players. When struck, enemies will take 10 stance damage apiece, leaving them open to follow-up attacks.

This skill cannot be parried and cannot be charged. As per the 1.07 patch, the skill was further boosted with an increase in speed, range, and damage detection. Furthermore, the delay between performing the skill and subsequent actions was decreased.

How to get Storm Blade

You can buy the Storm Blade Ashes of War from Knight Bernahl at the Warmaster's Shack on Stormhill in Limgrave for 1,800 Runes.

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Best PvP Ashes of War

Spinning Slash

• Applicable weapons: Daggers, Straight Swords, Greatswords, Curved Swords, Curved Greatswords, Katanas, Twinblades, Axes, Greataxes, Spears, Great Spears, Halberds and Reapers.
• FP Cost: 6.
• Recommended Affinity: Keen.

When it comes to PvP, preferred Ashes of War will change depending on your build and playstyle. The Spinning Slash Ashes of War is fairly versatile and can be applied to most Swords, Axes and Polearms.

This Skill allows players to unleash a flurry of blows in a 360-degree turn, followed by a strong attack. The speed of the attacks will increase depending on the lightness of your weapon and the attacks can deal upwards of 33 stance damage.

As per the 1.07 Elden Ring patch, poise damage was increased further against enemies equipped with either a Greatsword, Curved Greatsword, Twinblade, Greataxe, Spear, Great Spear, Halberd, or Reaper.

Genreally, the best PvP Ashes of War is heavily contested within the Elden Ring community, but most agree that the Spinning Slash and Royal Knight's Resolve are top contenders. The Royal Knight's Resolve applies a buff that increases the bonus damage of your next attack. Unfortunately, as per the 1.09 patch, this damage buff went from 80% to 40% (for PvP only), hence why Spinning Slash takes the top spot on this list.

The Thunderbolt, Square Off, Endure and Carian Retaliation Ashes of War are also fantastic contenders for PvP.

How to get the Spinning Slash

The Spinning Slash Ashes of War can be bought from Knight Bernahl at the Warmaster's Shack on Stormhill in Limgrave for 1,200 Runes. It is also the default skill for many armaments in Elden Ring such as the Gargoyle's Halberd, Draghon Halberd and Nightrider Glaive.

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Ashes of War: Affinities explained

Each Ashes of War in Elden Ring can be applied with an Affinity, which dictates which stats they affect. This can either buff or nerf the stat scaling of the weapon it is attached to. This means, for example, if you are playing with a Dex build, you'll mostly likely want 'Keen' Ashes of War that increase Dexterity scaling.

We'll go through each Affinity below and which stats they affect so you can make an informed choice when selecting Ashes of War for your build.

Affinity	Increases	Decreases
Blood	Arcane scaling and Bleed build-up.	Other scaling stats.
Cold	Intelligence scaling and Frost build-up.	Other scaling stats.
Fire	Faith scaling and Fire damage.	Strength and Dexterity scaling stats.
Heavy	Strength scaling.	Other scaling stats.
Keen	Dexterity scaling.	Strength and base damage.
Lightning	Dexterity scaling and Lightning damage.	Strength and base damage.
Magic	Intelligence scaling and Magic damage.	Base damage, Strength and Dexterity scaling.
Occult	Arcane scaling.	Other scaling stats.
Quality	Strength and Dexterity scaling.	Base damage.
Sacred	Faith scaling and Holy damage.	Strength and Dexterity scaling.

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How to equip Ashes of War

To equip new Ashes of War in Elden Ring, you can visit any Site of Grace and select the 'Ashes of War' option. From here, you can apply Ashes of War to equipped armaments and weapons within your inventory.

When selecting a weapon and the Ash of War you wish to infuse it with, you'll be offered a list of Affinities to choose from which will increase and decrease speficic stats (see above for a rundown of all Affinity types).

You'll receive the option to apply Ashes of War once you have obtained the Whetstone Knife from inside a chest beneath the Gatefront Ruins in Limgrave. If you have missed this chest, you can also purchase a Whetstone Knife from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold for 500 Runes.

There is currently no way to upgrade Ashes of War, so their baseline damage and active effects will remain the same. Luckily, it doesn't cost anything to change Ashes of War, so you can try out new ones and swap them between weapons as much as you like, so long as the weapon supports it.

That rounds off our guide to the best Ashes of War in Elden Ring and where to get them. For more Elden Ring tips and tricks see our best weapons, best armor, Talismans, builds or boss locations guides.