Mortal Shell 2 Walkthrough - Part 1: Forlorn Village (How to Start)

The knight, the cocoon, and the Undermether

The game opens on a knight hauling an elongated cocoon on his back. Sit through the initial setup, then the second scene. Long ago the Undermether, an enormous creature, fell out of the sky onto the land. People carved temples out of her bones, but a sickness hid inside them, and it tainted nearly every ovum kept in those halls. One ovum survived, and the knight carried that one away. Remember him. You will meet him again at the far end of a village.

The village where everyone is a plant

You play a robed humanoid with nothing to their name. On waking you meet a skeletal crow, who sends you off to look for a place far from here. Before you follow it: from the starting bonfire head left, and in the dead end behind the fence lies a Trollweed. It counts as a permanent item, so take it. Then go right, through the gate with the torches.

Forlorn Village is full of robed villagers, and all of them will talk to you. Their names all come from plants and flowers, and they have one for you too: Lavender. Partway down the path stands Marigold, who sets a Flower Crown on your head, unasked. At the far end waits Harros, the knight from the intro, the one who carried your cocoon to this place. Walk up to him and interact. The world shifts, and you receive the Harros shell.

The Harros shell and your starting kit

You come to inside the knight. The game hands over the full starting set:

• The Iconoclast sword
• the Naylshotte
• the Untarnished Seal, which Guards with your weapon

Every shell carries a unique Shell Ability that runs on Resolve, the yellow gauge, and Harros's ability is Stone Stun, which petrifies nearby enemies so they take no health damage, only Break Damage. Everyone else in the village is now a statue. Consider it a demo.

Down to the battlefield

From the petrified crowd, go right and smash the crates with your sword; the main route runs behind them. The crow Ruk is perched on the wall close by. Past the crates, drop down into the battlefield. To the side, strike the pale tree for your first Gloom. Ahead, weak soldiers come at you; cut them down and search the bodies for Coin. Before the stone arch, check the side dead-ends for more Coin.

The blue-lit body, the water, and your first shooting lesson

Past the arch, inspect the body glowing blue for a Ventrium, a stone spent on weapon upgrades. Below it, in the water, strike the two blue growths for more Gloom. Climb the stairs along the right wall to the next arch. At the altar the game explains ranged combat: Aim, then fire. Shots spend Resolve, the shot count sits at the bottom right of the screen, and ordinary melee hits refill the gauge.

The strong soldiers

At the top of the stairs, past the arch, stronger soldiers jump you. They swing four-hit series and they can block your attacks.

The first beacon

By the right wall here lies another Ventrium. At the left wall, climb onto the wooden platform for Coin. A note lies by the tent ahead. Break the crates past it and drop into the stream; at the bottom, activate the beacon. It restores your health, your Resolve and all three healing charges, and it saves your progress. It also returns every ordinary enemy in the area to the spot where you found them. That is the trade every beacon offers, and it never changes.