Elden Ring Spirit Jellyfish Ashes: Where to find them and how to use them

elden ring
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Elden Ring can be a lonely game if you insist on doing the whole thing solo. Luckily, you don’t have to. You can leave messages for other players; you can touch bloodstains to see how other adventurers died; you can invade other worlds and fight for supremacy; you can summon cooperators to take down tough bosses. 

However, even if you don’t want to interact with flesh-and-blood players, you can still summon help via Spirit Ashes. And if you’re still early in the game, consider trying the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes.

While the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes aren’t the strongest or flashiest summon in the game, they can make a big difference in boss battles if you know how to use them. Finding the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes is easy, and upgrading them is straightforward. As you play, you’ll eventually find better summons (such as the Mimic Tear), but the Jellyfish should take you through the first big chunk of Elden Ring.

Where to find Spirit Jellyfish Ashes

The good news is that the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes are incredibly easy to find in Elden Ring. The bad news is that if you don’t pick them up early, you may not get another chance.

One of the first big roadblocks in Elden Ring is the Gatefront Ruins. After you meet Melina and she tells you how to level up your attributes, you’ll have to fight your way up a steep, perilous slope, past a legion of undead soldiers and a gigantic Troll Warrior. Once you reach the top of the hill, though, you’ll find a Site of Lost Grace and a new location: the Stormhill Shack.

At the Stormhill Shack, you’ll find a blond woman in a red hood named Roderika. She’s actually one of the most important NPCs in the game, and has her own lengthy questline to pursue. For the moment, though, the important thing is to talk to her multiple times. Once you exhaust her dialogue options, she’ll give you the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes.

Here’s the rub: If you don’t speak to Roderika early on, you may not get a chance to pick up the Jellyfish Ashes later. After a while, Roderika will leave Stormhill Shack and relocate to Roundtable Hold, whether or not you’ve conversed with her. Some players insist that you can get the Jellyfish Ashes by speaking with her in Roundtable Hold and exhausting her dialogue options there. However, others weren’t able to do so, as it seems to depend on how far you’ve advanced in certain character questlines.

The bottom line is that you should get the Jellyfish Ashes from Roderika at your first available opportunity.

How to use the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes

elden ring

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

To use the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes, you simply equip them and summon them during boss fights, just like any other Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring. A spectral Jellyfish will fight at your side until a boss defeats it, or until you defeat the boss.

At first, it’s not entirely clear why you’d want to use the Jellyfish over other early-game summons, such as the Lone Wolf or the Fanged Imp. The Jellyfish takes a long time to wind up for attacks, and bosses can interrupt it easily. While the Jellyfish can poison enemies, a lot of bosses aren’t susceptible to this condition.

However, if you upgrade the Jellyfish with Grave Glovewort, you’ll soon see why it’s such a worthwhile companion. Relative to other summons, the Jellyfish has a great deal of health and defense. A boss that’s focused on the Jellyfish could conceivably attack it for quite a while. As such, a reliable strategy is to let a boss focus its attention on the Jellyfish, then run up and attack from behind. Likewise, let the boss target the Jellyfish if you need to hang back and heal.

Granted, the Jellyfish isn’t invincible, and if you play too defensively, bosses will slaughter it before you have a chance to do much damage. But if you’re willing to play aggressively and dish out damage as quickly as possible, the Jellyfish should give you ample opportunity to do so.

How to complete the Spirit Jellyfish quest

elden ring

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

There is one other good reason to make use of the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes. Late in the game, you’ll come across an area called the Stargazers’ Ruins in the Mountaintops of the Giants. As you explore, you’ll hear a voice. Follow the voice to its source, and you’ll discover that it belongs to a Jellyfish, desperately trying to find her sister.

It’s not immediately apparent, but the Jellyfish’s sister is the one you can summon. Just summon your Spirit Jellyfish Ashes, and the pair will reunite. As a reward, you’ll receive a gesture, as well as the valuable Primal Glintstone Blade talisman. It’s a worthwhile accessory for spellcasters, although it can wreak havoc with your HP, so use it wisely.

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Marshall Honorof

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.