Ashes of War are critical combat items in Elden Ring. They grant weapons new skills and elemental affinities, opening up completely different playstyles for every armament you own. With the release of the Tarnished Edition and Patch 1.17, many existing Ashes of War have seen shifts in performance, and new unique skills have entered the game. This Elden Ring Ashes of War tier list ranks and covers which skills work best with the new Tarnished‑Edition weapons and DLC builds.
Elden Ring Best New Ashes of War Tier List (Tarnished Edition DLC)
This 2026 Elden Ring Ash of War ranking is based on raw damage, stance‑break potential, FP efficiency, versatility across builds, and real‑world performance in PvE.
1. Ash of War: Lion's Claw - S Tier
Firstly, Lion's Claw is one of the most reliable all‑purpose Ashes of War in Elden Ring. It delivers a leaping overhead strike with near‑total hyper armor; very few enemy attacks can interrupt this move. It outputs solid damage, hits hard for stance damage, and knocks many enemies flat. You can fit it on almost any melee weapon, from greatswords down to straight swords. Pair it on heavier weapons, and you can simplify many boss fights by spamming the art. Only a small number of high‑speed multi‑hit enemies can punish this skill.
2. Ash of War: Cragblade - S Tier
Cragblade is the top‑tier physical weapon buff. When activated, it boosts your physical attack damage by 15 % and raises stance damage output by 10 %. It works for light‑attack spam builds, jumping‑attack builds, and charged‑heavy‑attack builds alike. If your build focuses on physical damage and you are not spamming weapon arts non‑stop, Cragblade is almost always the optimal buff choice.
3. Ash of War: Wing Stance - S Tier
Wing Stance is a highly flexible stance‑type Ash of War with two distinct attack options. Its light‑input version unleashes rapid successive swipes that can stun‑lock groups of enemies and stack multi‑hit talisman effects. Its heavy input fires a piercing lunge comparable to Impaling Thrust. One huge advantage is synergy with Rellana's Cameo: you charge the talisman once, and the whole multi‑hit sequence keeps the damage bonus applied. It gives you crowd control, single‑target pressure, and high stance damage inside one skill.
4. Ash of War: Impaling Thrust (Default for Idus Sword) - S Tier
Impaling Thrust is a fast‑casting piercing lunge. It deals strong stance‑break damage, can go through enemy shields, and costs low FP. Its animation is short, so you can safely use it in small openings where slower lunges would get you hit. It matches the same stance damage values as Piercing Fang but executes faster. It works great on spears, light greatswords like the Idus Sword, and other thrust‑capable weapons.
5. Ash of War: Royal Knight’s Resolve - A Tier
Royal Knight’s Resolve gives your next single attack an 80 % damage boost. This can produce massive one‑hit damage on charged heavy attacks from big weapons. The downside is the setup time: you spend time buffing instead of attacking, which makes timing tricky against fast‑moving bosses. It shines for big‑hit set‑ups but loses value when you need to keep up constant pressure.
6. Ash of War: Endure - A Tier
When you activate Endure, you gain high damage negation and temporary immunity to being staggered. You can trade blows with enemies without getting interrupted. It does not require a shield and does not drain stamina from blocking. It performs best on fast‑swinging weapons such as fists or claws, letting you tank hits while dishing out damage. It is less ideal against foes that output extremely high burst damage.
7. Ash of War: Storm Blade - A Tier
Storm Blade fires a fast‑traveling wind‑based projectile with low FP cost. You can equip it on straight swords, curved swords, greatswords, and curved greatswords. At close range, your weapon itself also strikes the target alongside the projectile. It is handy for picking off enemies from moderate distance and adding ranged pressure to melee‑focused setups.
8. Ash of War: Spinning Slash - A Tier
Spinning Slash performs a full circular spin attack that hits surrounding enemies. It excels at crowd‑clearing groups, and it comes as the default skill on the new Hefty Scimitar. It fits curved swords and curved greatswords especially well. Damage against single targets is decent, but its main value comes from hitting multiple foes at once.
9. Ash of War: Piercing Fang - A Tier
Piercing Fang is another lunging piercing‑type attack. It features excellent tracking and a very long lunge distance, so you can strike enemies from safer distances. Stance damage matches Impaling Thrust, but its animation plays out slower. It is great for kiting human‑sized enemies and NPC invaders.
10. Ash of War: Quickstep - A Tier
Quickstep is a fast evasive art. It lets you dart sideways or backward to reposition without rolling, consuming less stamina than a full dodge roll. It is perfect for builds that want to stay close to enemies while avoiding attacks, though it offers no invincibility frames unlike Bloodhound’s Step.
11. Ash of War: Bloodhound’s Step - A Tier
Bloodhound’s Step gives you a long‑distance dodge with invincibility frames. You vanish and reappear across the battlefield, escaping dangerous boss combos. It costs more FP than Quickstep, so it is more of a panic‑escape tool rather than something you can endlessly spam.
12. Ash of War: Braggart’s Roar - A Tier
Braggart’s Roar is a buff‑type roar skill. It grants +10 % physical damage, +10 % damage negation, and 20 % faster stamina recovery. It also alters your heavy‑attack animations. For power‑stance builds, this Ash of War is extremely valuable; keep it on your off‑hand weapon and activate it before combat starts. The modified heavy‑attack animations are clunky on most weapon types but work nicely for great spears and halberds.
13. Ash of War: Savage Lion’s Claw - B Tier
A variant of Lion’s Claw. It follows the same leap‑attack idea but has different animation timings and damage output. Overall, it is less consistent than the base Lion’s Claw, and hyper‑armor windows are not as reliable. Still usable for heavy‑weapon setups.
14. Ash of War: Sword Dance - B Tier
Sword Dance triggers a series of rapid slashes. It can build stance damage and status effects quickly, but it locks you into a long animation. If enemies hit you mid‑combo, you take heavy risk. Best used when enemies are already staggered or distracted by spirit summons.
15. Ash of War: Double Slash - B Tier
Double Slash delivers two quick consecutive swings. It builds bleed and other status effects fast, and works well on katanas. Its damage per FP is moderate, and it lacks strong crowd‑control capability. It is mostly a niche pick for bleed‑focused Dexterity builds.
16. Ash of War: Repeating Thrust - B Tier
Repeating Thrust unleashes a rapid flurry of forward pokes. Good for stacking status buildup, yet each individual hit has low stance damage. You need a safe opening to land the full sequence.
17. Ash of War: Raptor of the Mists - B Tier
This Ash of War launches you into a high backward leap. You evade incoming attacks and can follow‑up with a falling strike. It is a mobility tool with situational defensive value, but the backward movement can mess up your positioning in tight spaces.
18. Ash of War: Stormcaller - B Tier
Stormcaller creates a swirling wind AoE around your character. It staggers clustered groups of enemies, but FP cost is fairly high and single‑target damage is unremarkable. Use it when you get swarmed by multiple weak foes.
19. Ash of War: Storm Stomp - B Tier
Storm Stomp creates a short‑range wind shockwave around your feet. Easy to activate, but damage and stance damage are low. It is more of an early‑game crowd‑clear option and gets replaced by stronger arts later.
20. Ash of War: Vacuum Slice - B Tier
Vacuum Slice sends out a compressed ranged wind slash. Projectile range is decent, yet damage numbers sit below Storm Blade. It works as a supplementary ranged option, without any huge advantages over competing skills.
21. Ash of War: Determination - B Tier
Determination buffs your next attack for extra damage. The damage multiplier is lower than Royal Knight’s Resolve. It serves the same single‑hit‑setup purpose, but Royal Knight’s Resolve is almost always the better choice.
22. Ash of War: Ground Slam - B Tier
Ground Slam makes you smash your weapon into the ground for a shockwave. It works best on heavy weapons. The animation is slow, leaving you exposed if your strike misses. Situational against groups of closely packed enemies.
23. Ash of War: Hoarah Loux's Earthshaker - B Tier
This is a powerful shockwave skill with a large radius, but it comes with an extremely long wind‑up animation. You mostly land clean hits only when enemies are distracted. High‑risk, high‑reward, not suited for regular general‑purpose use.
24. Ash of War: War Cry - B Tier
War Cry buffs your character and changes your heavy‑attack moveset. Compared to Braggart’s Roar, its stat bonuses are weaker. The altered heavy‑attack animations feel sluggish on most weapons.
25. Ash of War: Barbaric Roar - B Tier
Barbaric Roar is another roar‑style buff. Similar design to War Cry and Braggart’s Roar, but its overall buff values are inferior to Braggart’s Roar. It remains a niche experimental pick.
26. Ash of War: Beast’s Roar - B Tier
Beast’s Roar emits a forceful roar that knocks light enemies back. It can interrupt small‑foe actions, but it deals minimal damage. Use it for crowd disruption only.
27. Ash of War: Kick - B Tier
Kick is a simple close‑range kick attack that breaks enemy guard poise. Very low FP cost. It is handy for smashing shields, but it has no real damage potential. Only useful in very specific shield‑enemy encounters.
Best Ashes of War for Elden Ring Tarnished Edition New Weapons
Patch 1.17 / Tarnished Edition adds seven new weapons: Idus Sword, Hefty Scimitar, Leontiel’s Greatsword, Golden Order Flail, Reverse‑Bladed Sword, Reed Great Katana, and Ritual Thrusting Shield. Two of these are Somber‑upgrade unique weapons with locked exclusive skills, while the rest can have their Ashes of War swapped freely.
Best Ash of War for Idus Sword (Light Greatsword)
Default skill: Impaling Thrust (customizable). This light greatsword hits with straight‑sword‑like speed while keeping greatsword‑class range. It excels at thrust‑based attacks and stance breaking.
Recommended Ashes of War:
Impaling Thrust: Keep the default art. Fast shield‑piercing lunges perfectly match the weapon’s design, great for opening enemy guard.
Lion’s Claw: Add hyper‑armor leap strikes for boss fights, turning this fast greatsword into a trading‑damage monster.
Cragblade: Stack physical and stance‑damage buffs for jump‑attack and heavy‑attack playstyles.
Best Ash of War for Hefty Scimitar (Curved Greatsword)
Default skill: Spinning Slash (customizable). Strength‑Dexterity curved greatsword built for crowd clearing.
Recommended Ashes of War:
Spinning Slash: Retain for multi‑enemy encounters; its circular spin fits the curved‑sword moveset naturally.
Storm Blade: Add ranged projectile pressure to complement close‑range sweeps.
Braggart’s Roar: Perfect if you run power‑stance with a second curved greatsword.
Best Ash of War for Leontiel’s Greatsword (Unique Somber Greatsword)
Exclusive fixed skill: Muleta. You cannot change its Ash of War. Muleta gives i‑frame evasive side‑pivots, which you can chain into charged heavy strikes. It rewards counter‑play: dodge incoming attacks and punish immediately. Build around charge‑attack boosting talismans such as Godfrey Icon and Relana’s Cameo to maximize output.
Best Ash of War for Golden Order Flail (Unique Somber Flail)
Exclusive fixed skill: Causality’s Wrath. Not swappable. Creates a protective bubble; incoming hits strengthen the bubble, then trigger a large holy AoE explosion. Pair it with the Broken Gold Mask armor set for full synergy.
Best Ash of War for Reverse‑Bladed Sword (Backhand Blade)
Default skill: Blind Spot (customizable). Fast‑swinging backhand blade oriented toward Dexterity and bleed builds.
Recommended Ashes of War:
Wing Stance: Blend fast multi‑hit swipes and piercing lunges to suit its quick‑hit moveset.
Double Slash: Stack bleed buildup at high speed.
Quickstep: Boost mobility to stay in optimal attacking range.
Best Ash of War for Reed Great Katana (Great Katana)
Default skill: Overhead Stance (customizable). High‑Dexterity great katana compatible with keen, cold, and lightning affinities.
Recommended Ashes of War:
Wing Stance: Strong stance‑damage multi‑hit combos fit Dexterity builds very well.
Storm Blade: Add ranged attacks to close-range katana play.
Royal Knight’s Resolve: Set up huge single‑hit charged strikes.
Best Ash of War for Ritual Thrusting Shield (Thrusting Shield)
Default skill: Shield Strike (customizable). Hybrid weapon that blocks and performs thrust attacks.
Recommended Ashes of War:
Impaling Thrust: Enhance its built‑in thrust capability for shield‑poke play.
Endure: Tank damage while you counter‑attack with shield thrusts.
Piercing Fang: Extend your poke range for safer counterattacks.