New Elden Ring Update Has Spirit Summon Changes That Are Long Overdue

Spirit Ash summons can be a huge help in challenging fights, but the concept has always had a major imbalance that makes it feel a bit weird in practice. True to the standards of developer FromSoftware, features some brutal bosses that keep intense amounts of pressure on any Tarnished brave enough to weather their attacks. Having a summon on hand can provide a useful distraction and a bit of extra damage to boot, with efficacy that can vary depending on which Spirit Ash is deployed.

The most infamous summon in is the Mimic Tear, a clone of the Tarnished that can be scaled up to be a powerful force in its own right. Despite receiving a significant nerf not long after the game's original release, the Mimic Tear is still the simplest way to significantly reduce the threat of virtually any boss. With the recent release of the punishing expansion , that help has become more valuable than ever, even if it means that other Spirit Ash summons are often left waiting in the wings.

From the legendary Maliketh to the infamous Malenia, Blade of Miquella, these are by far the most difficult bosses to fight in Elden Ring.

's 1.13 patch has just made some adjustments to summons in the game, and the patch notes available on the official Bandai Namco website show how significant those could be. The most overarching changes deal with how summoned spirits work in, boosting their attack power and damage negation "." Importantly, this change excludes the Mimic Tear Ashes, potentially helping to lessen the gap between its power and the utility of other Spirit Ashes.

The Revered Spirit Ash Blessing is a new progression mechanic exclusive to, scaling the power of summoned spirits and the spectral steed in The Land of Shadow only.

Even outside of, summoned spirits are getting a boost, with attack power and damage negation improving past the +8 upgrade, and a whole host of individual tweaks add onto that. The most common change is a reduction in how easily they stagger, but plenty are