Mortal Shell 2 All Shells Guide: Which One Should You Choose?

Mortal Shell 2 features eight permanent playable Shells, each unlocking new abilities and offering a different playstyle. You can discover them on your own by clearing dungeons and finding burial sites, or follow clues from dialogue and notes to reveal their approximate locations on the map. In this guide, we'll explain where to find all eight Shells and what each one does best.

All Shells can be upgraded at Marrow Keep by speaking with Zhirelle. When you first meet her, she will mark the locations of two Shells. You can find the others on your own or pay Gloom to reveal their approximate locations on the map. We recommend using this guide instead so you can save your resources for upgrading your Shells.

One of the halls in Marrow Keep contains several chests. To open each one, you first need to unlock the corresponding Shell. The chests do not contain upgrades or consumables, but spending one Blackbind Key, which you can find later in the game, unlocks a new Shade for each Shell. You can change your Shell's appearance at a cleansed Beacon.

Harros is the first story-related Shell you obtain in Wretched Village. At the start of the game, turn right and continue straight ahead until you reach Harros. One of his active abilities briefly turns nearby enemies to stone. While petrified, enemies cannot take damage, but their Break meter continues to fill. Once the meter is full, the enemy becomes staggered, takes additional damage, and becomes vulnerable to a special attack. Harros becomes unavailable after the prologue.

Zhirelle will mark the general area where this Shell can be found for free. Travel to the Widow's Overlook Beacon and head right. Continue past the ruined building and Mushroom Village. Beyond the palisade is a small graveyard where you can find Tiel's Shell.

Tiel is a highly mobile Shell that can enter Shadow, perform additional dashes, and deal increased damage with surprise attacks. He excels at eliminating weaker enemies with attacks from behind. When played correctly, even powerful enemies can take fatal damage before they have time to enter a combat stance.

Depending on your playstyle, focus either on strengthening your first attack from Shadow or on permanent bonuses triggered by dodging. You should also reduce Resolve consumption so you can stay in Shadow longer and avoid unnecessary fights. Tiel is a well-rounded fighter with Poison immunity, making several toxic areas and Poison-based enemies significantly easier to deal with.

From the Widow's Overlook Beacon, head north and climb the mountain. Reach Blackridge Pass and turn right. On the plateau, you will see several monsters fighting each other. Head left and continue climbing. This leads to a small arena covered in black sludge with the Shattered Beacon in the center. Enter it to find and unlock Proxima's Shell.

To complete the Memory, simply interact with Merrick.

Proxima is a Shell that becomes stronger through combat. The longer you use her, the more damage she can deal to enemy types she has already encountered. Biosampler is her active ability. It samples enemies, deals heavy Lightning damage, and improves mobility. When fighting groups of medium-sized enemies, you can also use it to pull individual targets toward you, making crowded encounters much easier to manage.

Proxima's armor also passively reduces incoming damage, which is especially useful during boss fights and ambushes.

Speak with Zhirelle while using this Shell to unlock the second Memory tier. This gives you access to a passive talent that permanently increases damage against enemy types you have already encountered. You should also unlock Electrical Resistance.

Smert can be found roughly southwest of the Outskirts of Nochte Beacon. You can take the longer route by heading north past the Flooded Village dungeon, then turning west, reaching the sealed fortress, and passing through two portals to arrive at the correct location. Alternatively, take the shorter route by heading south from the Outskirts of Nochte Beacon, using the portal to reach the bridge, then turning west. Break the illusory wall and drop down toward the Beacon. Smert's Shell is directly behind it.

To unlock the new Shell, kill enemies until all three blood altars are filled. During the first Memory, stand to the right of your ally, then initiate the duel. You do not need to win.

Smert is a complex Shell better suited to experienced players. He can stop time, apply multiple debuffs, and deal massive bonus damage while at low health. Focus on counterattacks and equip Tarstones that restore health or apply additional negative effects.

Smert can remove negative effects, significantly reduce incoming damage, and has several ways to restore health. Combine this with additional Chaos stacks and you can turn him into an extremely difficult Shell to kill, capable of clearing an entire area in what feels like a single second of game time.

Travel to the northeastern part of the world, beyond Mushroom Village. Near the edge of the cliff, find the One-Legged Wolf Tavern. There are plenty of characters to speak with inside. One of them is Gragu, who sits with his back to the entrance. Talk to him several times to learn that he is searching for the Heart of Vatra. The item can be found east of the tavern in the Temple of Vatra and is not directly guarded. There are several acolyte statues along the route, however, and they will come to life after you take the item. You do not need to fight them and can simply return to the tavern.

After eating the Heart of Vatra, Gragu will die, allowing you to inhabit his Shell. Gragu is a massive fighter who performs particularly well when clearing dungeons. The more enemies you face, the more additional healing he can generate by harvesting their hearts.

There is nothing particularly complicated about his Memory. Speak with the girl, then attack your allies.

Gragu has a separate healing resource that is replenished through combat. In addition to the hearts you continuously collect, you can use Mother's Pulse after losing the Shell. His active ability is a charged punch that can stagger enemies, making elite encounters easier or quickly thinning out large groups.

Focus on heart generation by improving their efficiency, maximum capacity, and healing effectiveness. This will let you explore huge biomes without constantly returning to a Beacon. You should also collect Tarstones and skills that increase Break damage.

You need to reach the Citadel of Penance in the northwest. To get inside, you must find a hidden passage or activate the appropriate lever. We explain this location in detail in a separate guide. To unlock the Shell, head to the center of the Citadel and defeat the Warden. This is a difficult enemy that relies heavily on unblockable attacks, so focus on dodging.

Eredrim is designed for aggressive close-range combat, constantly building Break and following up with finishing attacks. His abilities are useful when you are outnumbered, but they become especially powerful against bosses. With the right upgrades, you can stagger enemies much more often, deal critical damage, and execute them instantly once their health falls below a certain threshold.

Eredrim performs best when built around Break and executions. Increase the execution threshold, improve Break damage, and equip Tarstones that help with parries and applying debuffs.

Travel to the southern lands and reach the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon. From there, head west toward the Royal Crypt of Mammon. To obtain the Shell, you need to defeat Vellen, High Lord of Mammon. His main weapon is a scythe with an extremely slow attack speed. Stay as aggressive as possible and fight at close range. Once the battle is over, a passage will open behind the arena, where you can find Lazlo's body.

Lazlo is a large warrior with high base health and additional armor that reduces all incoming damage. His active ability allows him to build Heat and unleash area-of-effect Fire damage. Because of this, Tarstones that add damage over time work especially well with him.

Lazlo is a versatile fighter who can be built either as a tank or as an aggressive damage dealer. Depending on your preferred style, focus on increasing health, surviving otherwise lethal damage, and adding more ways to build Burn stacks. Keep in mind that several of his key abilities are unlocked at Bond Level 4, so he only reaches his full potential late in the game and during Night.

Head southeast toward the white ruins and the Silent Steps Beacon. Sariel will attack you not far from this location. Afterward, enter the Chamber of Becoming dungeon. You will fight Sariel several more times inside before reaching the final encounter in an unusual arena. To defeat him permanently, first destroy the stones around the arena. Only then should you finish him off, otherwise he will keep reviving. Winning the battle unlocks Sariel's Shell.

Unlike most Shells, Sariel becomes stronger after taking damage. His active and passive abilities allow him to deal massive retaliatory damage and dodge more effectively while at low health. Put simply, Sariel plays like a berserker who is expected to keep attacking while taking damage. When played correctly, you may not need conventional healing at all, since you can finish fights back at full health.

Increase the amount of health converted into Pain when taking damage, as well as the percentage you can recover by attacking enemies. This effectively gives you a 30-second window to restore the health you lost. You can also equip an Amanita in a passive slot. At level 3, it will slowly restore health.

You will meet Sester Genessa in the arena at Marrow Keep. She helps you practice attacks and teaches you how to parry. Unlocking her Shell, however, requires completing a lengthy quest that begins during the second half of the game. First, explore the room and find a wall marked with a white symbol. Break it to reveal a secret area containing the Lifeless Fortress dungeon. Then speak with Genessa, who will mention that there are more places like this throughout the world.

Next, travel to the eastern part of Mammon and find the Abbey Entrance Beacon. Near this Beacon is an unusual area with an object that transports you to another dimension, where you will fight Sester Secundus. Defeating her rewards you with Sester's Censer, which you need to return to Genessa.

This unlocks Genessa's Shell. Unlike the others, you upgrade her by speaking with Genessa in the arena rather than Zhirelle.

Genessa can summon doubles that take damage in her place, deal additional damage to enemies, and repeat her attacks. This means you can land a single powerful hit with a heavy weapon and have the doubles repeat it, resulting in massive combined damage.

Focus on improving the doubles by increasing their damage, survivability, and the number you can summon. With the right upgrades, they can clear entire dungeons with very little direct involvement from you. Heavy weapons work particularly well because the doubles can repeat powerful, difficult-to-block attacks.

If you plan to fully explore every biome and dungeon, different Shells will be better suited to different situations. You can reset your skills and respec your Shells at any time, so if you get stuck, you can always experiment with another build. Each Shell has its own distinctive strengths:

If you want to choose just one Shell, we recommend Eredrim. He can be obtained relatively early, and he reaches a strong power level without requiring a high Bond level. His passive and active abilities also speed up progression by shortening combat encounters. If you already plan to complete the game 100%, Proxima is another excellent option. Complete the world during Day and upgrade Biosampler, and exploring the much more dangerous Night version of the world will become significantly easier.