How to Get the Mimic Tear Ashes in Elden Ring: Nokron Route, Stonesword Key and Upgrades

Of all the Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring, the Mimic Tear Ashes are the ones players talk about most. The summon creates a copy of your character, with your weapons, armor and spells, and it fights alongside you as a second Tarnished. Against a tough boss, that's like bringing a co-op partner who already knows your build.

The catch is that the ashes are hidden deep underground in Nokron, Eternal City, which stays sealed until you beat one of the game's toughest early bosses. This guide covers the unlock, the route through Nokron and how to upgrade the summon. It's correct for the current version of the game, patch 1.17.2 (October 2026), which made no changes to the Mimic Tear.

Quick answer

Step 1: Defeat Radahn and open Nokron

Nokron doesn't exist on your map until Starscourge Radahn is dead. Once you beat him at Redmane Castle in Caelid, a falling star leaves a large crater in Limgrave.

1. Fast travel to the Fort Haight West Site of Grace in eastern Limgrave.
2. Head to the crater to the northwest. You'll recognize it by the rocks floating above the hole.
3. Carefully drop down the cliffs and hop from one floating rock to the next until you reach the bottom.
4. Activate the Nokron, Eternal City Site of Grace.

Step 2: Get past the Mimic Tear boss

The main path through the city leads to a fog wall and a boss fight against a Mimic Tear – a copy of you, wearing your gear. The fight is on the way to the ashes, so expect to deal with it.

A popular trick: take off your weapons (and heavy armor) before you walk through the fog, then put them back on once you're inside. The boss copies what you're wearing as you enter, so it ends up much weaker than you.

Step 3: Reach Ancestral Woods

1. After the boss, cross the long bridge.
2. Turn left onto solid ground and follow the cliffs. Large beasts roam this area – you can ride past them on Torrent by hugging the left-hand cliffs.
3. Rest at the Ancestral Woods Site of Grace. This is your checkpoint for the rest of the route.

Step 4: The rooftop route to Night's Sacred Ground

This is where most players get lost, so take it slowly.

1. From the ledge next to the Ancestral Woods grace, jump down onto the rooftops of the ruined city below.
2. Work your way down roof by roof. Silver Tear enemies lurk on the rooftops – they can take odd shapes, so don't let them surprise you mid-jump.
3. At the end of the rooftops, cross the ruined wall and drop into the large cathedral through its windows. This is Night's Sacred Ground.
4. Stay on the upper level. Down below, an enemy rolls a huge silver ball at intruders, and there's nothing you need from that fight right now.

Step 5: Open the Imp Statue seal and loot the chest

1. Walk around the upper area of the cathedral toward the altar.
2. Go up the steps behind it and follow the narrow, high-ceilinged corridor to a white fog wall with an Imp Statue.
3. Use a Stonesword Key on the statue to break the seal.
4. Inside, a kneeling enemy guards the room. Sneak up and backstab it.
5. Open the ornate chest to claim the Mimic Tear Ashes.

How the Mimic Tear works

Ring the Spirit Calling Bell near a Rebirth Monument and the summon costs 660 HP instead of FP – so heal right after calling it, or summon from a safe spot at the start of a fight. The copy uses whatever you have equipped when you call it and acts on its own.

It's not quite as strong as it was at launch. Patch 1.03 in March 2022 lowered its damage and changed its behavior. In patch 1.13 (July 2024), FromSoftware buffed attack and damage negation for nearly every other spirit at +8 and above, but deliberately left the Mimic Tear out of that change. The same patch fixed a bug in how the copy uses spells and skills. Later updates, including 1.17 and its bug-fix follow-ups, haven't touched it.

Upgrading to +10

The Mimic Tear is a renowned spirit ash, so it uses Ghost Glovewort, not the regular Grave Glovewort. Bring it to Roderika at Roundtable Hold once she's moved there.

• +1 to +9: Ghost Glovewort [1] through [9]. The low grades turn up early in the underground areas, while the highest ones only appear late in the game.
• +10: one Great Ghost Glovewort.

Each upgrade raises the copy's HP and damage negation, which matters a lot – an un-upgraded Mimic dies fast in late-game boss fights.

Common mistakes

• Bringing only one Stonesword Key. One key opens this seal, but some guides list two. A spare costs little and saves a long walk back.
• Dropping into the ball room. Fighting on the cathedral's lower floor is a detour. Stay up high and head for the altar.
• Confusing the boss with the item. Beating the Mimic Tear boss doesn't give you the ashes – they're only in the chest.
• Using the wrong glovewort. Grave Glovewort won't upgrade it. Look for Ghost Glovewort.
• Summoning at low HP. The 660 HP cost can leave you one hit from death. Summon at full health and heal afterward.