Where to find Spirit Calling Bell in Elden Ring and how to Summon Spirits from Ashes (2024)

This guide explains how to unlock the ability to Summon Spirits using Ashes in Elden Ring and how and when you can do it!

Elden Ring inherits the hardcore style of FromStoftware’s Souls games. It is a tough game. But also a lot more welcoming to newer players thanks to a new feature called Summoning Spirits.

What are Ashes in Elden Ring

Ashes are items you can find as drop loot, in chests, or as gifts from certain NPCs in Elden Ring. You can use them to call spirits to help you in combat. These spirits serve the role of a temporary companion.

It’s important to note that Ashes are different from Ash of War items. You can learn more about these in our guide on how to change Skills with Ashes of War in Elden Ring.

You can only summon Ashes in specific places in Elden Ring. They are only available in tough areas, predetermined by FromStoftware. You cannot have them anywhere and all the time.

Ashes also consume FP (Focus Points) to call them. Once spawned, they will fight on your side until they are defeated.

Typically summoned spirits from ashes would only be available once per instance. There is (at least) one known exception, however. There’s a certain item that allows you to summon a type of spirit that will get resurrected when they are defeated.

When you find your first ashes of spirits, you will get this message:

How to get the Spirit Calling Bell in Elden Ring

To be able to summon spirits from ashes in Elden Ring, you need a special item called “Calling Bell”. There is only one known way to get it – from Renna the witch.

You will find Renna most likely at the Church of Elleh Grace checkpoint. She is sitting on the eastern ruined wall of the church. This is the same place where you meet the first vendor in Elden Ring – Kale.

The Church of Elleh is most likely the second Grace checkpoint you will discover once you reach the first area Limgrave after the tutorial.

It is directly to the north from where you start the game. Past the Tree Sentinel, which you should most likely skip when you first encounter it.

You may have already been here before if you followed my guide on how to get your mount Torrent.

If you don’t yet know how to reveal and use the map in Elden Ring, I have a great guide to help you take full advantage of it!

Renna is a spirit. She is dressed in a furry cloak and wears a wizard’s pointy hat. You can’t miss her if she has spawned. And she’s always in the same place – on the ruined east stone wall.

It is very likely that you will not see Renna the first time you visit this place. If that is the case, explore a bit more of the Lands Between and return later to check again.

I found her after I went on to explore the Stormfoot Catacombs, where you will find some Ashes by the way – the Wandering Noble Ashes. The item is loot from a corpse at the end of one of the tunnels, past the corridors with the fire pylons.

This item allows you to summon five spirits of noblemen to fight for you. They provide an excellent distraction in crowded places, but can’t take much beating.

After you talk to Renna, she will give you the item you need to be able to summon spirits. It’s called “Spirit Calling Bell”. All you have to do is talk to this NPC. The item is granted to you for free.

In the conversation, Renna asks if you can summon your Torrent yet. I had my mount, so I answered yes. I don’t know what would happen if you answer negatively. At least this is a sign that you can meet Renna before you get to the third lost grace location to get your mount.

Renna will give you the Lone Wolf Ashes for free. This is an item you can use to summon three wolves. They are very ferocious and fast. They don’t have a large health pool (unless upgraded, but that’s a topic for another guide).

How to summon spirits in Elden Ring

After you have obtained the Spirit Summoning Bell, you need to find an area where summoning spirits is allowed. These are usually boss areas or places with tough and challenging crowds of enemies. There are a few special encounters where you will not be allowed to summon spirits at all.

Look for this icon on the left-hand side of your screen:

To summon spirits, you need to place the Ashes item in your Items slot of Pouch slot.

To place an item in the Quick Items slots, open the in-game menu screen and navigate to the Equipment tab. Go down to the Quick Items section and click on an empty slot. Next, pick up the spirits you’d like to be able to call when possible.

To place an item in the Pouch slots, open the in-game menu screen and navigate to the right-hand side where your pouch slots are. Click on an empty one and from the inventory screen that will open, choose an ashes item to place there.

If you need help with navigation around the menus, check out my Guide to PC and Console Controls for Elden Ring. It’s a bit of a hustle to learn how to play with a PlayStation controller and especially with a keyboard and mouse as the game only ever shows you hints for Xbox controls.

Why and when to use Spirits in Elden Ring

Elden Ring is a tough game. FromSoftware made it deliberately a bit more forgiving than the previous games from the Souls series, but there are some fights where you may struggle a lot.

There are different types of ashes that summon different types of spirits to help you in combat. Some are great for distractions, others can be perfect tanks for a tough boss like Margit the Fell Omen – the first major boss in Elden Ring. Ashes of Spirits are a fantastic new addition to Elden Ring and are mostly designed to welcome new players to this genre. Any Souls veteran can just ignore this feature and never summon spirits, for a true challenge everywhere, all the time.

Summoning Spirits is a feature many new to these types od games players will appreciate. Elden Ring gives you a lot more freedom to choose how, when and even if you want to approach a certain boss. If you struggle to beat an encounter, look around. Maybe you haven’t found the perfect Spirits to summon just yet and they would be ideal for the fight you have troubles with.

Check out some of the other helpful Elden Ring Guides we have. Here at VULKK.com we are building a great collection of helpful content to aid those who need a bit of advice or hint on where to go, what to do next and how to beat a tough boss.

How to Upgrade your Summoned Spirit Ashes

It is possible to upgrade the Spirits you summon from Ashes in Elden Ring. To do so, you need to complete a quest chain that includes two NPCs.

First, go to Stormhill Shack grace point. It’s north from the starting point in Limgrave.

Nearby the grace point you will find Rederika, sitting inside the shack. Talk to her until she gives you the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes. Then, head to the Roundtable Hold.

If you have not been invited to that place yet, it is unlocked after you beat Margit and talk to Melina at a grace point. You can also get invited to go there if you just explore further north going around Stormveil Castle. Follow this path:

When you get there, rest at the grace point and Melina should invite you to the Roundtable Hold. Roderika will be in the middle of that area now. Willing to talk to you. See what she would like to tell you.

Find and talk to the blacksmith. Ask him about Roderika.

After you do the dance of talking to both of them until they have nothing new to say, reload the game by “traveling” to the Roundtable Hold grace point. “Traveling” – because you are already here.

Now, Roderika should be settled in the same room near the blacksmith and she will have opened her shop. She can not upgrade your Spirit Ashes! The process is called “Spirit Tuning”.

To increase the tier of your spirit ashes, you have to spend runes and Grave Gloveworts. To strengthen named spirits, you need Ghost Glovewords.

If you are reading this, you are likely going to benefit from the other Elden Ring Beginner’s Guides we have available. Our Ultimate Beginners Guide to Elden Ring is a must-read if you are new to this type of game. Take a look if you have a moment!