How to get Ash of War: Swift Slash in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree introduced several new ways to fight your enemies. Many new weapons have unique weapon skills that can turn the tide of battle in your favor.

One of these weapon skills comes in the form of the Ash of War: Swift Slash, a powerful thrusting ability. This is how you can acquire it.

Where to find the Ash of War: Swift Slash in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Swift Slash is a new Ash of War introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree. This skill unleashes a chargeable thrust attack followed by a deadly vacuum blast that shreds affected enemies. Acquiring this specific Ash of War can be quite complicated, taking you halfway through a side questline involving Needle Knight Leda and the Hornsent in Elden Ring.

The quest itself is long and begins at the very start of the Realm of Shadow, in the Gravesite Plain area. Make your way to the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace where you will meet Needle Knight Leda and the Hornsent. Speak to Leda and she will direct you to talk to the Hornsent, which eventually grants you the first map of Miquella’s Crosses.

The next step of this questline will take you past the Ellac Greatbridge and into Castle Ensis. Make your way through the legacy dungeon until you defeat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight. Doing so will take you to Scadu Altus, and proceeding further down the road will lead you to the Highroad Cross Site of Grace.

Talk to the Hornsent here again and make your way to the last checkpoint, the Shadow Keep. As you approach this legacy dungeon, a message will eventually pop up on your screen that states “Somewhere, a great rune has broken…”. This message is the trigger for the final step you have to take to find the Ash of War you’re looking for.

Traverse through the Shadow Keep until you reach the Main Gate Plaza Site of Grace. From here, clear the path to the main walkway above. If you take the nearby set of stairs back down from the other side, you will unlock a shortcut to this area. At the top of the stairs, you will notice a red summon sign and a gold summon sign.

Touch the gold sign to support the Hornsent in battle against Needle Knight Leda. The battle will be quite challenging, but you should be able to win with the Hornsent’s help. Defeating Leda here will drop Leda’s Rune and her Ash of War: Swift Slash.