How To Use Lone Wolf Ashes

In true FromSoftware fashion, Elden Ring is one of the most difficult games of recent years. Still, perhaps this developer is softening a little with time, as, unlike the Dark Souls trilogy, in their latest title, they throw you a bone, well… ashes, anyway.

Ashes are key items that allow you to summon an ally or allies to help you in the next devastatingly tricky encounter (of which there are many), and one of the first sets of ashes you’ll get your mitts on are the Lone Wolf Ashes.

Although the name of these ashes suggests you’ll be joined by a single mean wolf, you’ll actually summon three — Woo!

But, as usual, FromSoftware doesn’t hold your hand and guide you through the process, meaning you might be left a little perplexed about how it’s done. So, I’m going to step in and introduce you to your ghostly wolf pals myself. Awoooo!

What Do I Need To Summon Ashes?

Regardless of the ashes you’re hoping to summon. You will need a key item — The Spirit Calling Bell. Thankfully, you’ll receive this mighty bell from the same NPC that gives you the Lone Wolf Ashes.

You’ll be given the bell and the ashes in the same interaction, which makes things much easier.

What Elden Ring Character Gives You The Lone Wolf Ashes?

The NPC you’re looking for is Renna, a blue witch with one human and one spectral face. She hangs out at the Church of Ellah in Limgrave, but she likely won’t be there the first time you visit these ruins.

You must venture north towards the gates of Stormveil Castle. To the right of the Gatefront, you’ll see a site of grace. Rest here to trigger a cutscene in which Melina introduces herself.

Melina essentially acts as your guide throughout the game. After you agree to accept her as your maiden, her first order of business is to bestow upon you the Spectral Steed Whistle that you’ll use to summon Torrent, your ghost horse.

This is the mechanic that beckons the blue witch to the Church of Ellah, so once you’re acquainted with Melina, fast travel back to the site of grace in the church, turn to your right, and you should see Renna sitting on one of the broken walls.

Interacting With Renna

Renna will ask if you can “summon the spectral steed,” to which you reply, “I can summon the spectral steed.”

She will then give you the Spirit Calling Bell, followed by the Lone Wolf Ashes, meaning you have everything you need to call forth these diaphanous beasts from the ghostly realm!

How To Summon Ashes In Elden Ring

There are no special tricks to summoning the Lone Wolf Ashes. You use them as you would any other ashes throughout the game. Here’s how it’s done!

Step 1 — Equipping The Ashes

The Spirit Calling Bell is a passive item, by which I mean that once you have it, it is, in effect, always equipped, so you don’t have to do this manually, but you will need to equip the Lone Wolf Ashes manually.

To do so, head to the start menu, select the Equipment submenu, then click on one of the empty boxes towards the bottom of the screen. This will open up your inventory so you can choose what item you’d like to allocate to the empty box.

On the first, “all items” page of your inventory, scroll down until you find the Lone Wolf Ashes, then select them.

Step 2 — Finding The Ashes In-Game

Exit the start menu and push down on the D-pad to cycle through the items you have equipped. After a couple of taps, you should see a small image of the Lone Wolf Ashes on the equipment toggle on the bottom left of the screen.

Step 3 — Summoning The Lone Wolves

With the Lone Wolf Ashes equipped, all you have to do is press the activation button on your console of choice, just as you would drink from one of your flasks. For Xbox, you’ll be pressing X, but for PlayStation, you’ll be pressing square.

Annnnd voilà… you should suddenly be accompanied by three large, ferocious spirit wolves who will follow through the gates of hell and back.

Side Note — You won’t always be permitted to summon spirits from ashes. If you can see a little white gravestone picture along the left-hand side of the screen, you’ve got the green light to call your wolfy pals to your side, but no gravestone means no calling spirits.

I Missed Renna. Can I Still Get The Spirit Calling Bell & Lone Wolf Spirit Ashes?

Elden Ring is a massive open-world game that, to a certain extent, allows you to chart your course through the story, so it’s easy to miss a few things here and there, but don’t worry if you never caught up with Renna at the Church of Ellah.

You can purchase the Spirit Calling Bell and the Lone Wolf Spirit Ashes from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold.

What Are The Lone Wolf Spirit Ashes Good For?

Lone Wolves are remarkably quick and fierce, and as their attack style is so dynamic, they smash up and clear out obstacles very quickly. It’ll cost you 55 FP to call them to your side.

They aren’t the most robust spirit partners in the game, but as they arrive as a pack of three, they can easily do some pretty serious damage to enemies.

Foes will mostly go after one of them at a time, giving the other two a grace period to sink their teeth. Having said that, I find it’s best to keep your enemies focused on you, giving the wolves free rein to tear them to shreds.

They’re not so helpful against enemies with powerful AoE attacks, as they’ll be able to clear them out in one fell swoop.

Final Thoughts

Although figuring out how to summon when you first start your Elden Ring adventure is confusing, FromSoftware ensures it’s a quick, easy action you can execute without overthinking, adding fluidity to the battles and general gameplay.

So, what are you waiting for… there’s a moon to be howled at out there!