Mortal Shell 2 Walkthrough - Part 16: Gloomshade Grove (Great Martyr's Blade & Citadel Gate Lever)

Into Gloomshade Grove

From the Blackridge Pass beacon, take the descent Part 12 used: back along the little bridges, down to the northwest. Part 12 crossed the grove on its way to the Sanguine Caverns and left most of it unswept; this part sweeps what remains. Where the grove splits, keep left. The route drops into a dark cave with tents pitched inside; collect a Laterite and 250 Coin there.

Down and to the left, the forest opens into a clearing where hunters are already busy with a beast. Let them work: near the tents sits a Common Moonshine, and a chest holds a Tooth of Nochte (750). Kill the beast yourself and it drops a Grisha Remnant. From the clearing, walk out to the bluff in the southwest to find the beacon; this is the Gloomshade Grove save point, and everything below starts from it.

Back through the cave to the well

From the beacon, head back into the cave. On the clearing by the central tree grow three Weltcap; pick them on the way through. Climb up to the tents and continue north. At the well, kill the diggers and take the moonshine beside them.

Past the well, outside, the path runs down into a dungeon. Grab the bag of Coin inside, and the place teleports you into a special prison: Martyr's Prison.

Martyr's Prison

You arrive locked in a cell. Smash the door out. The corridor beyond holds a monster with tentacles for arms; the side cells hold weaker enemies and two Laterite. By the white pedestal, press the button on the wall and the main gate opens.

The main hall is the actual attraction. The doors seal behind you, and the room holds three tentacle monsters plus one big roller.

The opened room beyond holds the Great Martyr's Blade. Take it and head straight back to the surface.

The Second Descent

The well hides a second descent into Holding Cells, a dungeon the coin-bag visit never walked. You land in a narrow corridor where an axe warrior jumps you. Past him, a balcony looks out over the prison's main hall; straight ahead, the corridor dead-ends. On the left, one stretch of wall sits suspiciously flat: break it, there is a secret behind it.

Behind the wall wait saber zombies, pressure plates on the floor worth walking around, and the Revered Gland. Farther on, a locked grate blocks the way. Shoot the eye above it and the grate opens. Walk out through the main prison, or climb back up the well; either exit works.

The gate of the Citadel of Penance

From the Gloomshade Grove beacon, walk north. In the hollow of a short cave, a seated body keeps a Ventrium. Climb out and the gate of the Citadel of Penance stands ahead, watched over by an axe warrior. A note beside it explains the problem: the gate lever was stolen, and without it there is no getting in. The stolen lever is down by the waterfall, and the road there sweeps the rest of the grove.

Right and left of the gate

Right of the gate, the path loops back to the well you used earlier; three Weltcap grow along the way. Left of the gate, the cliff edge gives up two Ventrium, and squads of swordsmen and spearmen contest the road down. At the fork below, the right-hand path ducks under the bridge; leave it for now and bear left toward the waterfall.

Down to the waterfall

The trail drops through a tree-monster and a set of flying monsters, and a Ventrium waits past them. Lower, the path opens onto a bluff with three Weltcap behind a tree. From there, two short bridges lead down, with a Laterite on the rock between them. Right around the corner, wooden bridges descend along the cliff face, and poison creatures hold every landing.

Bloodcursed Lithopod

At the waterfall itself, serpents and more poison creatures need clearing first. A little past them, a big cube of a monster comes for you.

The kill pays 2,900 Gloom and the Citadel Gate Lever.

Ravaged Hideout

From the waterfall, cross to the far bluff; behind a rock, a descent drops into the Ravaged Hideout. Smash the crate inside and crawl through the breach behind it. Saber zombies come next, and then a pit: go around it on the right side, where a chest holds another Tooth of Nochte (750); on the far side of the pit lies a Laterite.

At the dead end ahead, find the gap in the rock and squeeze through. Dead soldiers lie around the Salvaged Trebuchaxe. Picking it up wakes three strong phantoms; fight them off and walk out.

The upper east path

Back at the waterfall, take the east path up to loop around everything. The lower branch is a descent to the edge and a set of empty gates into another region; leave them be. On the upper east path, an axe warrior stands in the way and a Laterite waits on its stand. Higher, use the gate as a step to hop up near the broken bridge, clear the soldier camp beyond, and at the far edge, behind a rock, pick up two more Ventrium. Higher still sits a trial, with several cube monsters in attendance.

The trial east of the waterfall

Opening the gate

With the lever in hand, walk back to the gate of the Citadel of Penance, slot the Citadel Gate Lever in, and step through into the citadel.