Summary
OneElden Ringplayer has recently discovered a new use for the Spinning Strikes Ash of War after accidentally deflecting Margit’s daggers with it. While the game makes no attempt to keep this feature a secret, a decent chunk of theElden Ringcommunity was seemingly unaware of it up until recently.
Ash of War: Spinning Strikesis a self-explanatory Ash of War that can be obtained early on in the game, shortly after reaching Castle Morne in the south of the Weeping Peninsula. However, players who don’t have a habit of killing non-hostile NPCs won’t obtain it before reachingElden Ring’s Liurnia of the Lakes region. The Ash of War itself allows Tarnished to spin in place with a compatible weapon (polearm) for a relatively low FP cost, making for a resource-efficient source of melee AoE damage.
As it turns out, hitting multiple enemies at once isn’t the only thing that Spinning Strikes are good for. Reddit user Fail1ure recently discovered that this Ash of War can also counter Margit’s dagger throws. The moment unfolded completely by accident, as the player was already mid-animation when Margit began his attack. Much to their surprise, Spinning Strikes nullified every single dagger. The player then successfully replicated thishiddenElden Ringinteractionon video, sharing the resulting demonstration on the game’s largest subreddit.
Spinning Strikes Can Nullify More Than Just Margit’s Daggers
Fail1ure’s video amassed over 7,000 upvotes within 24 hours of going live in late April 2025, suggesting a decent chunk of theElden Ringplayer basewas unaware of this trick up until now. Granted, Margit’s dagger throws hardly needed any more counters, as they are already one of his least threatening attacks, dealing modest damage while being super easy to avoid by just strafing in any direction. Be that as it may, this demonstration serves as a reminder that Spinning Strikes are worth trying against other thrown attacks from more difficult bosses. They are also confirmed to work for deflecting thrown items in PvP.
While someElden Ringplayers have clearly been unaware of Spinning Strikes' ability to deflect flying objects up until recently, the game doesn’t keep this feature a secret. The Ash of War’s description clearly notes this trait, stating that the skill “nullifies projectiles such as arrows while spinning.”
A few otherElden RingAshes of Warand spells can also nullify projectiles. E.g., theZamor Ice StormSorcery does it, as does the eponymous weapon skill.
