Every Ash of War you pick up is a single copy, so once it sits on your main weapon you cannot use it anywhere else. Lost Ashes of War fix that: hand one to Smithing Master Hewg at Roundtable Hold and he turns it into a second copy of an Ash of War you already own. They are limited, cannot be farmed, and a few of them hide in places most players run past. Here is where every one is, which merchants sell them and how to spend them well.
| Item type | Key item, used for duplication |
| Total per playthrough | 20 (15 base game, 5 in Shadow of the Erdtree) |
| Sold by merchants | 6 copies, all in the base game |
| Who uses it | Smithing Master Hewg, Roundtable Hold |
| What it does | Duplicates an Ash of War you currently hold |
| Farmable | No |
| Sell value | 500 runes (not worth it) |
How to duplicate an Ash of War (Ash of War duplication)
- Make sure you hold the Ash of War you want to copy. An ash you received through Player Trade will not show up in the menu.
- Travel to Roundtable Hold and talk to Smithing Master Hewg, who works at his anvil there.
- Pick Duplicate Ash of War, choose the ash, and one Lost Ashes of War is used up.
- Open the Ashes of War menu at any Site of Grace to put the new copy on a second weapon.
The copy is identical to the original, including which affinities it allows. Affinities still depend on the whetblades you own, so check Whetblade locations if Blood, Cold or Sacred are missing from the list.
| Ash of War duplication | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Who duplicates | Smithing Master Hewg at Roundtable Hold |
| Item used up | 1 Lost Ashes of War per copy |
| Copies per playthrough | Up to 20, one for each Lost Ashes of War |
| Cannot be copied | Ashes you received through Player Trade |
| After duplicating | Apply the copy at any Site of Grace |
Lost Ashes of War merchant locations
Six copies are for sale, and buying them is the easiest way to get your first few. Each merchant only stocks a fixed number.
| Merchant | Where | Stock | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated Merchant | Shack at the far west end of the Weeping Peninsula | 1 | 3,000 runes |
| Isolated Merchant | Liurnia, south of the Main Academy Gate grace, past the blue seal down the hill | 1 | Varies |
| Nomadic (Hermit) Merchant | Ainsel River, by the ruins underground | 1 | 3,000 runes |
| Isolated Merchant | Top of the hill in north-west Dragonbarrow | 2 | 5,000 runes each |
| Imprisoned Merchant | Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum | 1 | Varies |
Several of these merchants also stock other key items; the Stonesword Key locations guide lists which ones sell keys too.
Where to find Lost Ashes of War in the base game
| Region | Where exactly |
|---|---|
| Raya Lucaria Academy (Liurnia) | At the bottom of the water wheel lift, in front of a small building near the Schoolhouse Classroom grace |
| Sellia Hideaway (Caelid) | At the bottom of the big cavern with purple crystals, guarded by a Revenant |
| Ruin-Strewn Precipice (Liurnia) | On a ledge behind a wooden platform, where two singing Winged Dames wait; take the lift down from the Overlook grace |
| Sage’s Cave (Altus Plateau) | In a chest past the hidden walls behind the waterfall |
| Leyndell, Royal Capital | On a corpse by a locked gate on the outer side of the capital |
| Leyndell sewers | At the end of a long tunnel, watched by a Fingercreeper on the wall |
| Subterranean Shunning-Grounds | On a corpse outside Dung Eater’s cell; a Fingercreeper drops in when you grab it |
| Mountaintops of the Giants | On a corpse on the narrow stone ridge, past the whip-wielding enemy |
| Miquella’s Haligtree | On a corpse up in the canopy |
The Shunning-Grounds copy sits right next to a questline NPC; if you are there anyway, the Dung Eater questline explains how to open his cell.
Lost Ashes of War in Shadow of the Erdtree
The DLC adds five more, all pickups. No merchant in the Realm of Shadows sells them.
- Belurat Gaol: inside the maze of jars.
- Ellac Greatbridge: in the middle of the bridge; watch out for trebuchet fire.
- Ruins of Unte: on a corpse on top of the broken walls you can walk along.
- Bonny Gaol: drop through the hole, follow the path west, take the first left and drop into the bigger cave; it lies near a broken pillar in the back right corner.
- Cerulean Coast: on a corpse in shallow water south-east of the Cerulean Coast West grace, surrounded by lightning wisps.
Belurat Gaol and Bonny Gaol are also good stops for other upgrades, so combine the trip with Revered Spirit Ash locations. Both gaols hold Hefty Cracked Pots as well, listed in our Cracked Pot locations guide.
Which Ashes of War are worth duplicating?
- Your main skill on a backup weapon: a second copy lets you keep the same skill on a different affinity, for example Keen and Blood versions of the same katana.
- Utility skills you never want to swap off: parry and quickstep style ashes are useful on more than one weapon. Bloodhound’s Step, dropped by the Dragonbarrow rider in our Night’s Cavalry locations guide, is the classic example.
- Late-game ashes you only find once: duplicate them before experimenting, so you are never stuck moving one ash back and forth.
If runes are the bottleneck for the merchant copies, spend an hour on our rune farming spots first.
FAQ
How many Lost Ashes of War are there?
20 per playthrough: 15 in the base game (9 pickups and 6 from merchants) and 5 in Shadow of the Erdtree. They do not respawn within a playthrough.
Where do you duplicate Ashes of War in Elden Ring?
At Roundtable Hold. Smithing Master Hewg offers the Duplicate Ash of War option as soon as you carry at least one Lost Ashes of War; each duplication uses up one.
Can you duplicate an Ash of War in Shadow of the Erdtree?
The five DLC copies work exactly like the base game ones, but they are still spent with Hewg, so travel back to Roundtable Hold to use them.
Can you farm Lost Ashes of War?
No. No enemy drops them and merchant stock is fixed, so plan your duplicates.
Do Lost Ashes of War change a weapon’s affinity?
Not on their own. They are empty until Hewg turns them into a copy of an Ash of War, and the copy uses the affinities your whetblades unlock.
Source: locations and merchants checked against Fextralife’s Elden Ring wiki, the Elden Ring wiki.gg and GamerGuides. Prices confirmed by only one source are listed as Varies.
Further reading: Lost Ashes of War on the Fextralife Elden Ring wiki.