Spirit Ashes stop keeping up after the first few areas unless you upgrade them, and every upgrade costs a Grave Glovewort or a Ghost Glovewort. This guide explains which glovewort your ash needs, how to unlock spirit tuning with Roderika, where the six Picker’s Bell Bearings are that make gloveworts unlimited, and where to find the rare Great Gloveworts for the final +10 level.
| Grave Glovewort [1]-[9] | Upgrade normal Spirit Ashes from +0 to +9 |
| Ghost Glovewort [1]-[9] | Upgrade renowned Spirit Ashes (the ones with a golden icon) from +0 to +9 |
| Great Grave / Great Ghost Glovewort | The final step to +10; limited per playthrough, cannot be bought |
| Who upgrades ashes | Roderika at the Roundtable Hold, after her questline step with Hewg |
| Unlimited gloveworts | 6 Picker’s Bell Bearings, handed to the Twin Maiden Husks |
| Cost | One glovewort of the matching level plus runes per upgrade |
Grave Glovewort or Ghost Glovewort: which one do you need?
Check the Spirit Ash in Roderika’s menu. Normal ashes such as the Lone Wolf Ashes or Jellyfish use Grave Glovewort. Renowned ashes, shown with a golden frame, such as the Mimic Tear Ashes or Black Knife Tiche, use Ghost Glovewort. Each level needs the glovewort with the same number: going from +4 to +5 takes a Grave Glovewort [5] or Ghost Glovewort [5]. The last step, +9 to +10, always needs a Great Grave Glovewort or a Great Ghost Glovewort.
How to unlock Spirit Ash upgrades with Roderika
- Meet Roderika in the Stormhill Shack, on the road from the Stormhill Shack grace to Stormveil Castle. Talk to her until she gives you the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes.
- In Stormveil Castle, pick up the Chrysalids’ Memento from the pile of corpses in Rampart Tower and give it to her. She then moves to the Roundtable Hold. Resting at a Site of Grace in Liurnia also moves her.
- At the Roundtable Hold, talk to her by the fireplace, then talk to Smithing Master Hewg about her, tell her what he said, and talk to Hewg again.
- Leave and come back. Roderika now sits in Hewg’s room and offers spirit tuning.
- Upgrade any ash to +4 and talk to her again to finish this part of her quest.
All Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing locations
Give a bell bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold and they sell three glovewort levels without limit. These six bearings are the real goal of any glovewort route: once you have them, you only need runes.
| Bell Bearing | Unlocks | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing (1) | Grave Glovewort [1]-[3] | Boss drop from the Erdtree Burial Watchdog in Wyndham Catacombs, Altus Plateau |
| Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing (2) | Grave Glovewort [4]-[6] | Boss drop from the Ulcerated Tree Spirit in Giants’ Mountaintop Catacombs, Mountaintops of the Giants |
| Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing (3) | Grave Glovewort [7]-[9] | Under a gazebo by the lake in Crumbling Farum Azula, reached from the Crumbling Beast Grave Depths grace |
| Ghost-Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing (1) | Ghost Glovewort [1]-[3] | On a corpse at the base of a gazebo in Nokron, Eternal City |
| Ghost-Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing (2) | Ghost Glovewort [4]-[6] | In a chest in a small room in Nokstella, Eternal City, guarded by Silver Tears |
| Ghost-Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing (3) | Ghost Glovewort [7]-[9] | By a grave in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree: from the Haligtree Roots grace take the lift up, leave the church and head down the slope to the left |
Before you have the bearings, pick gloveworts by hand. They grow as glowing flowers in catacombs and in the underground rivers. Siofra River and Ainsel River are especially rich in Ghost Glovewort, and Nokron is on the same trip, so see our how to get to Nokron guide for the route.
Great Grave Glovewort locations (base game)
There are six in the base game, so you can take at most six normal ashes to +10 per playthrough before the DLC.
| Area | Count | Where exactly |
|---|---|---|
| Consecrated Snowfield Catacombs | 2 | Dropped by the Putrid Grave Warden Duelist, the dungeon’s boss |
| Giant-Conquering Hero’s Grave | 1 | Drop to the lower level from the big hall with the Troll; a Fire Prelate guards the back room |
| Crumbling Farum Azula | 2 | One in the building next to the Crumbling Beast Grave Depths grace, one hidden near the Dragon Temple grace |
| Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree | 1 | In the lake of rot, guarded by an Ulcerated Tree Spirit |
Great Ghost Glovewort locations (base game)
Four exist in the base game, and three of them are in the Eternal Cities, so a single Nokron and Nokstella trip covers most of them.
| Area | Where exactly |
|---|---|
| Night’s Sacred Ground (Nokron) | In the chest under the giant skeleton, together with the Fingerslayer Blade |
| Ainsel River | In a chest in the room beneath the giant skeleton and throne, near the Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella grace |
| Nokstella, Eternal City | In a chest at the back of a narrow room; a Silver Tear ambushes you there |
| Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum | In the lower cave area before the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint grace, among the walking corpses |
Shadow of the Erdtree adds more of both Great Gloveworts, mostly in the Cerulean Coast, Shadow Keep and the DLC catacombs. In the DLC, also collect Revered Spirit Ashes, which make every Spirit Ash stronger in the Land of Shadow on top of its upgrade level. For a single fight, the DLC’s Glovewort Crystal Tear boosts your spirit’s attacks as well; see our best Crystal Tear combos for what to pair it with.
Best order to upgrade your Spirit Ashes
- Early game: unlock Roderika as soon as you clear Stormveil. Spend hand-picked Grave Glovewort on one ash only, usually your main summon.
- Liurnia to Siofra: farm Ghost Glovewort in the Siofra River, then beat Radahn and go to Nokron for the first Ghost-Glovewort bell bearing, the Mimic Tear Ashes and a Great Ghost Glovewort.
- Altus Plateau: clear Wyndham Catacombs for the first Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearing.
- Mountaintops: Giants’ Mountaintop Catacombs gives bearing (2); the Giant-Conquering Hero’s Grave gives a Great Grave Glovewort.
- Late game: Farum Azula has bearing (3) and two Great Grave Gloveworts, and the Haligtree has the last Ghost-Glovewort bearing and another Great Grave Glovewort.
Related: our best Spirit Ashes ranking for which ash deserves your gloveworts, how to get to the Haligtree for Elphael, the Mimic Tear boss guide for the Nokron fight, and smithing stone bell bearing locations for the weapon side of upgrading.
FAQ
Where do I upgrade Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring?
At Roderika in the Roundtable Hold, once she has moved there and you have convinced Hewg to let her tune spirits. She sits on the floor in Hewg’s room.
Can you buy Great Grave Glovewort?
No. Great Grave Glovewort and Great Ghost Glovewort are only found in the world, so the number of ashes you can take to +10 is limited each playthrough. Pick the ashes you actually use.
Why can’t I upgrade my Mimic Tear Ashes with Grave Glovewort?
The Mimic Tear is a renowned ash, so it needs Ghost Glovewort. Grave Glovewort only works on normal ashes.
Do the bell bearings carry over to New Game+?
Yes. Bell bearings you gave to the Twin Maiden Husks stay given, so gloveworts [1] to [9] stay in their shop in every cycle.
Source: every location checked against Fextralife’s Elden Ring wiki plus at least one of PowerPyx, GameWith and TheGamer. Where guides disagreed, such as DLC Great Glovewort counts, we left the number out.
Further reading: Grave Glovewort on the Fextralife Elden Ring wiki.