Mortal Shell 2 Weapons
The full arsenal of Mortal Shell II — ten melee weapons, eight sidearms, and the Tarstone system that makes each one yours.
Melee Weapons
Mortal Shell II ships with ten melee weapons, confirmed across first-day complete-weapon guides. Every weapon has its own moveset, reach and feel — and each one can be infused with a Tarstone, so the same blade can scale two entirely different ways depending on your build.
| Weapon | Image | Notes | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iconoclast | Opening weapon of the prologue; players can hold onto it for the whole game. | Early (prologue) | |
| Veteran's Battle Axe |  | Widely rated the best early weapon for reach, damage and posture breaking. | Early region |
| Axe & Dagger |  | Dual-wield pair; a faster, combo-friendly alternative to the battle axe. | Early region |
| Great Martyr's Blade |  | Heavy great blade; a deliberate, high-damage option for tankier Shells. | Mid-game |
| Obsidian Hammer |  | Slow, crushing moveset with massive posture damage. | Mid-game |
| Axatana |  | Transforming axe-to-katana weapon; the community's favorite for hybrid builds. | Mid/late-game |
| Black Needle |  | Fast thrusting weapon; pairs with agile Shells and critical-strike setups. | Late-game |
| Clockwork Scythe |  | Wide-swinging scythe with strong crowd control; last weapon in the base roster. | Late-game |
| Fists | Fists are one of the ten melee weapons in the roster. They do not count toward the Lord of War achievement; further combat details are not specified here. | Not specified | |
| Hallowed Sword | Hallowed Sword is one of the ten melee weapons in the roster. It does not count toward the Lord of War achievement; further combat details are not specified here. | Not specified |
Weapon names are confirmed from first-day complete-weapon guides. Exact stat tables, move-set timing data and precise locations are being verified against gameplay footage and will replace the availability labels above as they're confirmed.
Sidearms (Ranged)
New to Mortal Shell II, sidearms give every Shell a ranged option. The official site highlights "powerful sidearms" as one of the three pillars of the combat system, and launch-week complete lists confirm eight sidearms in the base game. All eight are documented by name:
| Sidearm | Notes |
|---|---|
| Triarch Repeater | Found inside the Blackwell Cavern dungeon, reached through the underground area north of Castigator's Keep. |
| Forgotten Crossbow | Head down and west from the Blackridge Pass Beacon. Find the stone doorway blocked by a wooden barricade and break through to claim it. |
| Caged Hystrix | After defeating Sariel, the Endless, enter the Chamber of Becoming dungeon and head upstairs to find it. |
| Ballistazooka | Reward for defeating the Subjugated Guardian inside the Sentry's Grave dungeon. |
| Salvaged Trebuchaxe | Found at the deepest point of the Ravaged Hideout dungeon. A Bloodcursed Lithopod can also be encountered in this area; defeating it drops the Citadel Gate Lever. |
| Cursed Child | From the Abbey Entrance Beacon, climb the stairs into the fortress and destroy the source of the light to obtain it in the Revered Beacon dungeon. |
| Naylshotte | Already equipped when the main story begins if you skipped the prologue after playing the Open Beta; otherwise obtained through game progression. |
| Troubadour's Lute | Unlocks on the left side of the stage after you collect and siphon 8 Ova. It cannot be upgraded, making it the only one of the eight sidearms without upgrades. |
The merchant Merrick can mark every sidearm location on your map in exchange for Gold. Buy the markers first if you would rather skip a blind sweep of each region.
Tarstones & Weapon Infusions
Tarstones are the weapon-upgrade currency of Mortal Shell II. There are 73 Tarstones to collect across the world — finding the full set unlocks the "Stoned" trophy (see the achievements page). The system, as verified across multiple early guides:
- Each Tarstone can be levelled up at a forge, and the level carries over no matter which weapon it's currently infused into.
- Infusing a Tarstone into a weapon changes how that weapon scales with your Shell's stats and adds properties.
- Because levelled Tarstones are shared, early guides universally recommend concentrating on one Tarstone rather than spreading upgrades — the multiplier compounds faster than any single weapon's base damage.
- Weapon-specific abilities unlock through familiarity with each weapon, and weapon respecs let you re-allocate what you've invested.
The Week 1 Update (August 29) introduced a new class of upgrade stone: Fragile Tarstones. A Fragile Tarstone breaks once its durability runs out, and the shatter pays you back with a Tarcore, so a spent stone feeds straight back into your upgrade economy. They aren't unique either — you can pick up multiple copies in a single playthrough from enemy drops, dungeon rewards, and Merrick's expanding stock. The Justicar's Stone and Gloombound Stone both now count as Fragile, with stronger passive effects and a bonus that triggers when they break.
Two more new stones are worth slotting into your loadout. Egon's Stone brings you back at a dungeon's entrance when you die inside it — the revive costs durability, and if the stone breaks on that death, you keep your Gloom. Glimpse Stones wear down as you defeat enemies and then shatter into Glimpses, a portable way to bank upgrade currency between forges.
Duality Stone — the Tarstone that makes light-attack combos strike twice — is found in a chest in the Ravaged Tomb, behind the second door. From the Widow's Overlook waypoint, head south into the Great Arbiter of Flesh area to reach the tomb; a Roaming Head slams a stone hammer onto a pressure plate nearby, unlocking the chest. It's an early favourite for Axe & Dagger and Axatana builds, both of which lean on doubled light attacks.
Forges & Upgrades
Upgrading happens at forges in the world. Two forge-related systems are confirmed by name in early guides: the Tarforge, the standard weapon-upgrade station, and the Obsidian Lathe, a later forge upgrade that further pushes weapon levels. The prologue's Marrowkeep contains the first forge most players reach. Reaching Tarforge level 4 also requires Etching Needles — part of the five-item forge set detailed on the builds page.
Best Early Weapons
If you only remember one thing: grab the Veteran's Battle Axe. First-day guides from multiple creators independently rate it the strongest early weapon — it has the reach of a great weapon, breaks posture quickly, and carries comfortably into the mid-game with a levelled Tarstone. The Axe & Dagger is the pick if you prefer speed over reach, and the Iconoclast you start with is genuinely fine to ride all the way to the Great Martyr's Blade.
Looking for the full ranking? See our Mortal Shell 2 Best Weapon tier list — every weapon rated, with the Axe & Dagger taking the overall crown.
For how these weapons pair with specific Shells — including the Proxima and Tiel loadouts — see the builds page.