How to Use Ashes of War in Elden Ring

Want to know how you can use Ashes of War in Elden Ring? 

Elden Ring is finally out, and this new fantasy RPG features a unique stat-dependent combat system from the famous developer FromSoftware. Even long-time Soulsbrone fans might have a hard time grasping Elden Ring’s confusing mechanics. 

Elden Ring is published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and is available for the Playstation, Xbox, and Windows PC. 

Ashes of War are a type of weapon enhancement that is new to Soulsborne titles and give unique skills, abilities, and damage scaling options to weapons. The system is quite complex, but once you understand how Ashes work, it can be advantageous in the game. 

When equipping Ashes of War in Elden Ring, the main thing to consider is how it would affect your stats and build. 

To help you out, we’ve decided to make a guide on how to use Ashes of War in Elden Ring. 

Let’s get started!

Ashes of War Overview

Ashes of War in Elden Ring are unique skills that can be found as items and applied to most armaments. Some offer passive abilities that can raise your stats like defense and strength, while others perform actions like inflicting Holy damage and creating whirlwinds. 

Each ability provided by Ashes of War uses a certain number of Focus Points. This means that they can’t be used if your blue meter is drained. 

Ashes of War are also interchangeable between weapons at no additional cost. 

Affinities can also be swapped without penalties, which gives room for trial and error. However, there are certain weapons that have their custom skill attached that can’t be changed or applied to other armaments. 

Compared to Spirit Ashes, Ashes of War are not upgradable.  The only way to boost their damage or effectiveness is to raise your character’s stats by leveling up. 

While Ashes of War can’t be upgraded, they can be duplicated, allowing you to use the same Ashes of War on multiple weapons. 

Locating A Whetstone Knife 

Before you can use Ashes of War on your weapons, you must first locate a Whetstone Knife. This unlocks the ability to apply skills to your weapon and change their affinities. 

If you’ve gathered a few Ashes of War in your journey, you can now finally use them. 

The Whetstone Knife in Elden Ring is located at the Gatefront Ruins in Limgrave, north of the Church of Elleh Site of Grace. Head to the middle of the southern ruins, where you’ll see a stone pathway leading to the underground. 

Navigate the path to the end and open the door to locate a chest that should contain the Whetstone Kinfe and Storm Stomp Ash of War. 

Use Ashes of War in Elden Ring

To equip Ashes of War on your weapons, you must go to any Site of Grace after obtaining the Whetstone Knife. Once you access a Site of Grace, the Ashes of War option should now be available. 

Access the option and choose the skill and affinity you would like to apply to your weapon. 

Now, keep in mind that there are Ashes of War that can only be applied to certain weapon types. 

For example, thurst skills can only be used with spears and ceratin types of swords. If an Ashes of War effect states that it uses a more effective follow-up attack, try using a heavy attack right after using the skill to cause more damage. 

Using Ashes of War in Elden Ring costs FP. Due to this, you should always keep an eye on the blue meter on the top left corner of your HUD. If it’s low or empty, use an FP flask to replenish it and continue using your Ashes of War skills in battle. 

In addition, there are also some Ashes of War that drain health instead of FP, so be careful which abilities you use. 

That sums up our guide on how to use Ashes of War in Elden Ring. If you have questions, please leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to help.