One of Elden Ring’s most interesting Ashes of War is named Spinning Strikes. Spinning Strikes allows its user to spin their weapon around them endlessly, so long as they have enough mana for it. Spinning Strikes is usable on all polearm weapon types, which includes Spears, Halberds, and Reapers. It’s especially useful with the Reapers category of weapons, which include the basic Scythe and the Grave, Halo, and Winged Scythe variants, due to their Blood Loss buildup.
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Reddit user Les_Waste decided to perform an experiment using the Grave Scythe with the Spinning Strikes Ash of War. Their Reddit Post, shared on the Elden Ring subreddit, is titled “Important research: What happens if you spin while using spinning strikes.” Their video, less than two minutes long, provides exactly what the title explains. They use Spinning Strikes while moving their character in quick, tight circles. The result is, unsurprisingly, quite hilarious.
Les_Waste makes sure to cover their bases. They do a Spinning Strikes while standing still, and they show a Spinning Strikes while rotating counter-clockwise, which looks like it accelerates the rate of attacks. They then perform a Spinning Strikes while rotating clockwise, which makes their character look like they’re stumbling or not moving at all. All of it looks ridiculous.
The one thing that the video is lacking is a test of how much damage spinning while already spinning with the Grave Scythe does. It’s possible that spinning counter-clockwise, accelerating the rotation of the attacks, could actually lead to more damage. Used in a PvP duel or certain combat situations, spinning while spinning could be a smart tactic - or players might just look foolish.
Not every “experiment” with Elden Ring’s gameplay will result in something fun or useful. There are so many weapons in the game, each with their own basic and heavy attacks, and Ash of War ability combinations on top of that. As this Spinning Strikes video shows, even silly experiments can have some value.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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