Mortal Shell 2 Walkthrough - Part 5: Widow's Overlook (where to go first, all pickups)

The open world, and where to stand in it

Every region of the game is walkable now. The first save point sits in the north, up the map, wedged between two shells: Widow's Overlook. Before setting out, know that the map screen accepts a custom blue marker, and that marker shows in the world as a beam of light in the sky, which is this game's polite way of saying you decided something matters.

First walk east. On the clifftop, near a tent, 250 Coin sit unattended; a note waits under a large tree. From the save point, drop down to the clearing below. A trap stands in front of the pale tree there, and the darker clearing on the right belongs to someone.

Mini-boss: Great Arbiter of Flesh

His reward is the Arbiter's Prize tarstone: spend Resolve to lace your weapon with Bloodcurse.

Loot the arena before you leave

With the hunter down or ignored, walk his arena and take, without a fight:

• the Gloombound Flame; carry it onto the fortress roof to raise the difficulty
• the Revered Gland, worth one extra healing charge

By the cliff, a descent leads to a green slope. Skip it for now.

Martyr's Tomb

From the dark clearing push forward and to the right, past three weak enemies, into the ruined structure. A Burnt Effigy waits inside, next to the way down.

• First room: one monk with a staff and a tentacle, plus one torch carrier. To the right sit two weak warriors and another monk.
• Knock the Laterite off the tall white pedestal.
• The gates ahead are locked; the button that opens them hides in the left wall, near the white tree.

Past the gates, kill one monk and open the chest: the Obsidian Lathe (it unlocks Sidearm upgrades at the Tarforge) and the Parasitic Stone, which gains Leech stacks for every kill. A note lies on a body. To leave the room, shoot the steel eye above the gates.

A breather at the save point

Climb out, return to the save point, and buy up your healing reserve in the Mether's Pulse row. The keep from Part 4, the Shellkeeper's Vault, is a worthwhile detour if you are carrying parts. Franz works the forge there, your sword takes improvements, and the Obsidian Lathe you just found unlocks Sidearms.

East road: the village gate and Ruk's map

From the Widow's Overlook save point, walk dead east without turning. The lowland along the way holds three torch carriers and nothing else. On the right, by the cliff, a Burnt Effigy; at the village entrance, a notice board and a note. Stay out of the gates for now; the village belongs to a later part of this series.

The crow and the fourth map

Right of the road, by a tree, two flying monsters attack; kill them. Further right, stand in the bright puddle and it will throw you up to the rock above. The top belongs to Ruk the crow, and on the statue beside him lies a Map of Fainweald, numbered four. It paints its share of the region onto your world map, and every spot hiding another map carries a crow icon. The numbers are identities, not a running order. The series ahead picks up three, then five, then two, then one.

Descend on the far side. Behind the rock, one cube monster guards a Ventrium. At the cliff edge lie traps, two soldiers, a Common Moonshine, and a note.

The grave with a shell in it

Return to the rock and continue straight, east, into the separate walled courtyard. The dug-open grave inside holds the shell Tiel, the first of the game's eight shells.

Touch the body and you step into a thief's memory instead of a fight. The door ahead is locked, so go left around the corner, break open the locked window, and climb in. This is an apothecary's house, and you are hunting a cure for a rash. The Apothecary himself walks in on the search; threaten him, and the vial of medicine surfaces. The memory ends there.

What Tiel brings

• Lingering Shadow, his ability: a few seconds of Shadow, from which you can land a heavy Shadow Strike.
• Dodge an attack on time and Tiel gains Shadow for a moment as well, and inflicts Stagger Damage; that is his Shadow Dash passive at work.
• Shells level separately from the hero. Glimpse buys Shell Bond at the Shellkeeper; SP from shell levels buys abilities.

The courtyard and the cages

Sweep the graveyard around you before moving on. By the house ahead lies a Common Moonshine. At the house with the cages, collect the Wounding Stone and 150 Coin. Under the cliff ahead, a passage drops into the next dungeon.

Ritual Grounds

Two shield carriers hold the entrance, and one monk waits inside. From the table take the Ventrium, then climb the stair landing on the right. A pale serpent lurks by the big cages on the left. Those cages are locked, but their locks lose arguments with a sword. To the right, by the crates, another Burnt Effigy.

The walkway above the room dangles a Glimpse behind a stretch of rotten floor. The floor wins. You fall into the room below, and three fanatics with torches take that personally. Clear them, then kill the two cube monsters in the cages along the side wall and the one monk outside. In front of the cage lie a Burnt Effigy and a Tarspore mushroom.

The altar trial

Ride the lift up from the room. In the center, behind the smashed floor, one more Ventrium; past it, a chest with 500 Coin. Then descend and walk your way back to the surface.