Does the Fire Prelate Drop It? Debunking How to Get Prelate's Charge in Elden Ring
Tarnished venturing through the frozen reaches of the Mountaintops of the Giants frequently find themselves stuck in a frustrating loop outside the Guardians' Garrison. Armed with discovery-boosting items and silver fowl feet, countless players repeatedly ambush the towering Fire Prelate guarding the fortress walls, hoping to pry loose one of the most punishing gap-closers in the game. That grueling grind rests on an understandable mistake: while the hulking enemy drops his signature red armor and colossal hammer, the Ash of War itself never appears in his loot table.
According to comprehensive mapping from the IGN Report covering Elden Ring scarab distributions, standalone skill drops follow rigid, distinct placements separate from standard mob roll chances. The skill is tethered exclusively to an environmental target tucked away outside the stronghold walls.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- Drop Reality: The Fire Prelate inside Guardians' Garrison drops the Prelate's Inferno Crozier, not the Ash of War.
- Exact Source: The standalone Ash of War: Prelate's Charge drops solely from an invisible hanging Teardrop Scarab suspended from a tree south of the Garrison.
- Weapon Compatibility: Usable exclusively on large axes, warhammers, colossal axes, and colossal weapons, granting the Flame Art affinity.
The Enduring Myth of the Guardians' Garrison Farming Loop
The confusion surrounding Prelate's Charge stems from how FromSoftware handles unique signature skills. When players encounter the colossal hammer wielding mini-boss inside the Guardians' Garrison, the red-robed enemy repeatedly coats the ground in trails of flaming magma while bulldozing forward. Striking him down yields the colossal Prelate's Inferno Crozier, which comes with Prelate's Charge pre-installed.
Because weapon skills can be extracted or swapped across armaments, players wanting to mount the skill on great hammers, greataxes, or other colossal bases assume the mob possesses a low percentage Ash of War drop. Community threads dating from launch through 2026 show dozens of hours wasted across Reddit and gaming forums by players stacking Silver Scarab talismans against this lone enemy. The enemy drop table contains the weapon, the Fire Prelate Greaves, Gauntlets, and Chest piece, but zeroes out for the Ash itself.
Obtaining the skill as an unattached Ash of War requires looking up into the canopy rather than clearing barracks corridors.
Pinpointing the Suspended Teardrop Scarab Near Guardians' Garrison
The true source sits south of the garrison entrance, elevated above ground level. Players must approach the fortress from the Whiteridge Road Site of Grace, heading southeast toward the perimeter walls.
Before crossing into the inner gate where the chief prelate patrols, turn toward the rocky cliffs and sparse, snow-laden trees flanking the garrison's southern perimeter. Hanging directly from a branch of a bare tree is a crimson Teardrop Scarab. Because it rests roughly ten to fifteen feet overhead, standard melee sweeps swipe through empty air beneath it.
To claim the prize without complications:
- Equip any basic shortbow, longbow, or crossbow with standard ammunition.
- Lock on from the snowbank beneath the branch.
- Fire a single projectile to break the scarab's hold.
The beetle dies instantly upon falling or from the arrow impact, dropping Ash of War: Prelate's Charge straight into your inventory. Players without ranged weapons can knock it down using low-stat sorceries like Glintstone Pebble or incantations like Flame Sling. Throwing knives and fire pots also trigger the drop immediately.
Mechanics, FP Costs, and Weapon Affinity Breakdown
Prelate's Charge acts as a rolling zone of denial, turning heavy characters into sustained battering rams. Activating the skill triggers an initial overhead slam that embeds the weapon into the earth, bursting into flame. Holding down the skill button continues the forward sprint, carving a furrow of fire along the turf that stuns low-poise foes and deals rapid physical and fire damage ticks. Letting go of the trigger or exhausting stamina prompts an upward scoop that launches human-sized adversaries into the sky.
The skill provides the Flame Art affinity by default, shifting weapon scaling toward Faith while adding heavy baseline fire damage. It fits exclusively onto large and colossal classes: Large Axes, Greathammers, Colossal Weapons, and Colossal Swords.
| Attribute Metric | Baseline Value | Combat Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Activation Cost | 9 FP | Triggers the downward hammer slam and initial combustion radius. |
| Sustained Drain | 11 FP per second | Consumes stamina and magic rapidly; scales directly with Mind investments. |
| Affinity Bestowed | Flame Art (Optional: Fire) | Optimizes damage outputs for hybrid Faith/Strength character spreads. |
| Crowd Control Tier | High Stagger / Launch | Bypasses standard poise checks on NPC invaders and humanoid bosses. |
Combat Strategy: Turning Colossal Weapons Into Continuous Flame Rollers
The real strength of Prelate's Charge lies in weapon coating synergies. Because the running charge applies rapid weapon-hit registration alongside environmental fire boxes, weapons with passive status buildup create devastating combinations.
Affixing Prelate's Charge onto the Great Stars warhammer presents one of the most potent sustained survival setups in the game. Great Stars innately recovers 1% of the player's maximum HP on every single hit while applying 55 passive bleed buildup. When channeled through the multi-hit ticks of Prelate's Charge, a Tarnished can plow through entire packs of high-health enemies, recovering hundreds of hit points per second while triggering continuous blood loss explosions.
For pure Faith casters, combining this Ash of War with the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear and the Shard of Alexander pushes individual tick damage into lethal territory. Pairing these with the Godskin Swaddling Cloth talisman duplicates the rapid health-regen mechanic across weapons that lack native healing passives.
Common Pitfalls and Why the Scarab Gets Overlooked
Travelers often ride past this hanging scarab due to visual clutter and aggressive environmental hazards. The approach toward Guardians' Garrison features narrow mountain paths populated by Fire Monks and heavy balusters raining down high-explosive ordnance from fortress parapets.
Rushing through on Torrent prompts players to scan the terrain at ground level while dodging explosive shells. Furthermore, teardrop scarabs elevated in branches make no sound until the player stands directly underneath them. The usual chime gets drowned out by ambient blizzard winds howling across the Freezing Lake outskirts.
If you kill the scarab with an arrow and the item drop stays wedged among tree limbs, resting at the nearby Whiteridge Road Site of Grace will force the glowing loot orb to spawn directly on the snowy patch below the branches.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: Can I duplicate the Prelate's Charge Ash of War with Lost Ashes of War?
A1: Yes. Once you claim the skill from the scarab outside the Guardians' Garrison, visit Blacksmith Hewg at the Roundtable Hold. Using one Lost Ashes of War, you can create duplicates to apply the skill across multiple colossal weapons simultaneously.
Q2: Does Prelate's Charge activate weapon buff spells like Bloodflame Blade?
A2: Yes, provided the weapon uses standard physical affinities like Heavy, Keen, or Quality. If infused with Flame Art, the weapon cannot be buffed with external incantations, but it will scale naturally with your Faith stat.
Q3: Can the scarab respawn if it escapes or falls off the cliff?
A3: If the scarab slips away before dying, simply rest at the nearest Site of Grace to reset its spawn location back on the tree branch. Once killed and looted, it does not respawn.
Optimizing Fire Builds in the Lands Between
Tracking down Prelate's Charge transforms how heavy builds engage high-threat targets. Instead of burning consumables farming the armored prelate inside the fortress, securing the airborne scarab takes under two minutes from the Whiteridge Road marker.
Positioned on a heavy strike weapon, the skill simplifies challenging encounters with Malenia, Gideon Ofnir, and NPC invaders by trapping them in relentless stagger loops. With proper stamina management and FP allocation, Prelate's Charge remains one of the most reliable tools for breaking enemy formations across both the base game and endgame expansions. Stop swinging at the garrison guards, string a bow, and claim the true drop hanging right above your head.
