How To Find Elden Ring’s Best Summon Spirit, The Mimic Tear

Summoned spirits in Elden Ring can be handy tools to help take on challenging bosses and swarms of foes. Over the course of the game, you unlock all kinds of companions that you can upgrade, selecting various creatures and characters for the right situation. While there is a vast array of both standard critters and named allies that you can call upon for help, one summon stands high above the rest, though it has a steep cost of health to call into battle. We’re going to tell you how to unlock the Mimic Tear summon ahead but be warned, there are plenty of spoilers along the way. If you’re okay with that, let’s go!

One of the biggest advantages of the best summon, The Mimic Tear, is that it costs health to summon instead of FP – meaning you can run it even with the heaviest strength or dex build that eschews all magic. The other advantage? This summon is you. The Mimic Tear can use your weapons, your ashes, even your equipped items! Make sure you slot in some powerful perfume in your item slots to really take advantage of this, there’s nothing like getting a free damage shield and attack buff mid-fight! 

Having the Mimic Tear unleash all of your strongest attacks – and getting in there with your own moves on top – is enough to obliterate even the most powerful foes found in Elden Ring. This leads us to the most important question: Where is the Mimic Tear summon located and how do you get it?

In order to find the Mimic Tear, you’ll first have to complete the General Radahn encounter located in Redmane Castle in Caelid. While we’re still figuring out what the exact trigger to make the festival occur is, my research leads me to believe that Radahn’s battle will be activated after you take your first steps onto the Atlus Plateau. Note that if you do so via the Magma Drake cavern, you could potentially do this without doing any other major demigod fights. After Radahn is defeated, a star falls from the sky. Head back to Limgrave, specifically the Fort Haight checkpoint, and take a look around. The world has changed! Head into the depths of the crater, taking you to Nokron, The Eternal City. Proceed through the stage and take on the Mimic Tear boss, which is exactly as it sounds, you will do battle with yourself. While it makes sense that this fight would yield the summon, it does not.

Continue to move on past this checkpoint and into the Ancestral Woods, where a site of grace is located on a cliffside facing some ledges and roofing. It’s time to take the Elden Ring platforming challenge and make your way across the precarious rooftops and ledges, eventually leading to a large room that has an adjacent alcove that’s sealed away. You will need a Stonesward Key to advance past the seal, but at this point in the game, you probably have a huge collection of them. If you don’t, they can be purchased at numerous NPCs around the world at a relatively low price. Open the gate here, take out the guard, and boom, the Mimic Tear summon is yours!

Mimic Tear is treated as a named summon for upgrading purposes, and you should aim to +10 it as soon as you can via catacomb and underground runs for plants. Watching your Mimic shred bosses is satisfying, so have a great time experimenting with double the fun as you witness it unleash your best ashes, attacks, items, and spells!