Highlights

  • Aspects of the Crucible: Wings is one of the new Ashes of War in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
  • The AoW was showcased in action as part of the expansion's gameplay reveal trailer back in February 2024.
  • One player recently made a wildly unsuccessful attempt at mimicking the trailer strategy, which concluded with them being chewed up, spit out, and finished off.

One unfortunate Elden Ring player recently had to endure a painful lesson on how Aspects of the Crucible: Wings isn't as viable as one of the recent Shadow of the Erdtree trailers might have suggested. And while their unfortunate experience quickly made the rounds on social media, its online traction seemingly did little to dissuade other Elden Ring players from using the flashy skill.

Minor Shadow of the Erdtree gameplay spoilers revealing the first Shadow Keep boss ahead.

Aspects of the Crucible: Wings is one of the many new Ashes of War that debuted in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. It bestows a pair of gracious golden wings upon the Tarnished, allowing them to rise above the ground before dive-bombing into their target. As such, it essentially makes players capable of mimicking the signature flying attack of Crucible Knights. It can be equipped on a number of spears and swords from the base game, as well as many new DLC weapons introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree white logo in final boss arena blue background swap
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Hungry Hippo Beats Golden Wings In Funny Elden Ring Fail Video

And while the Shadow of the Erdtree gameplay reveal trailer showcased this Ash of War as an ability that's equal parts elegant and imposing, Reddit user Detective_Yoba has recently discovered that using it isn't as easy as the February 2024 promo suggested. They did so by initiating the Golden Hippopotamus boss fight in the Shadow Keep and immediately trying to open with their winged attack. But the Ash of War proved to be no match for the hungry hippo, who met the resulting thrust with an open mouth. The player consequently found themselves chewed up, spit out, and then finished off with a single bite.

"He one-shot my ego," wrote Detective_Yoba in reflection on this tragicomic turn of events. Their failed attempt at hitting the hippo with the new AoW demonstrates one of its key shortcomings, which is that Aspects of the Crucible: Wings has a fairly long windup animation. Even a fairly slow boss like Shadow of the Erdtree's Golden Hippopotamus has enough time to act before the thrust part of the Ash of War comes into play, which proved to be quite fatal in this instance. Many other bosses in the expansion are also significantly faster than the hippo, meaning the player needs to be even more careful about when exactly to attempt using this AoW.

Nevertheless, plenty of players have been experimenting with the skill ever since the DLC's release, arguing that it's simply too stunning to ignore. This episode seemingly did little to dissuade anyone from continuing to do so, especially since Detective_Yoba had some rather unfortunate timing that saw them dive right into the hippo's mouth, which ostensibly wouldn't have happened every single time when using this AoW as an opener in this fight.

He one-shot my ego.

Players wanting to see this skill in action first-hand can get Aspects of the Crucible: Wings from Shadow of the Erdtree's Scadu Altus region. The AoW is dropped by Black Knight Edredd, and can be equipped on almost any sword or spear with thrusting attacks.