Mortal Shell II Weapons Guide — All 8 Weapons

Mortal Shell II weapons at a glance

Mortal Shell II has eight melee weapons, each with its own moveset, its own pool of tar stones (equipable stones that add active and passive effects), one or more weapon-specific infusions (permanent elemental/status effects), and a unique ability stone usually taken from a gate boss.

This guide is based on FightinCowboy's complete weapon guide ("Mortal Shell 2 - Complete Weapon Guide: Movesets, Infusions, & Locations", 116K+ views), which covers every weapon in depth. The short version of his core advice:

• Curse (via the Arbiter's Prize or Curse Blood Stone) is arguably the best status in the game — cursed enemies that try to hit you get staggered and damage themselves, like a reflective iron maiden.
• Duality Stone effectively doubles your DPS on the two dual-wield weapons.
• Stasis (on the Obsidian Hammer and Axe Tana) is so oppressive it will likely get nerfed — it slows enemies until they can't fight back.

The eight weapons

1. Aconclast (starter)

The default weapon you begin with. Don't sleep on it — it's one of only two weapons with access to Curse. Recommended setup from the guide: Zealot Stone for the light-combo finisher (a 150% resolve gain and a one-two combo finisher), Arbiter's Prize infusion for Blood Curse, and the Strike Stone ability for a flashy combo with good break and AoE damage. Light attacks chain into a one-two, heavies thrust into a heavy overhead, the running light is a jump, and the running heavy is a golf swing.

2. Axe & Dagger

Likely the first weapon you unlock. Its best-in-slot support is the Duality Stone, which turns every hit in the base combo into a strike-twice attack — one-two-one-two — effectively doubling DPS. It's one of only two dual-wield weapons that can use it. Pair with the Arbiter's Prize blood-curse infusion. To get it: from the mushroom village, cross the bridge, find the illusory archway, walk through the statue behind it to grab a key, then clear the Shrine of Trials.

3. Veteran's Battle Axe

An early, fantastic heavy weapon. The guide recommends the Thief Stone (warp stacks speed up your swings) over the combo finishers, which slow the moves down. It's the only weapon with access to a permanent burn infusion, which also looks great on it. To get it: head north through Black Ridge Pass to the King's Crypt — a trap-filled dungeon (floor spikes, wall arrows) that rewards you with the axe at the end. The running heavy attack is a standout: a decimating strike the guide calls "absurd" good for creating distance.

4. Great Martyr's Blade

The greatsword, and the only weapon with access to Frost — the infusion that makes it viable, since it's otherwise one of the slowest weapons in the game. Recommended: Captive's Scabstone ability (a 300% strike with massive stagger, from a gate boss), and after unlocking the Warden Stone, the weapon can freeze enemies outright. To get it: go west through Gloomshade Grove, kill the boss summoned by striking the stone (the blood-cursed lithopod), then take the key into the martyr's prison. The frost gate itself is in the far southeast of the world — a second-half-of-the-game trek.

5. Obsidian Hammer

Found mid-to-late game. Supports the Cleric Stone for lockdown plus big crits, and has access to both Trauma (stagger build-up over time) and Stasis — one of only two weapons that can use stasis, which per the guide is "just as broken as curse." The unique Colossus Stone ability adds shockwave AoE. To get it: from the outskirts of Mammon, go southwest into the Obsidianite mines, a hectic mining area full of pickaxe-wielders and rock-throwers.

6. Axe Tana

The guide's personal favorite — a fast axe with the best of both worlds: Duality Stone support (it's the other dual-wield weapon) and access to Stasis via the Hexopod Core ability despite its already-fast attack speed. Note the Hexopod Core needs leveling for stagger immunity before it's worth the risk. To get it: head south and use one of the teleportation gates to reach a small island tower — there's an enemy wielding it, and you can pick the weapon up right next to her. No boss gate, just get there.

7. Black Needle

A spear, and one of the latest weapons. Its unique infusion is Phantom, which builds up damage and then bursts out in a large stagger splash — strictly exclusive to the spear. The Conqueror's Reward ability adds big heavy damage. To get it: clear Cester's gate in the far south — the full spear package (weapon, a ranged option, and the Phantom stone) comes from that single area.

8. Clockwork Scythe

The fan favorite. Its signature is chainsaw mode: the Scholar's Wormstone ability consumes resolve over time to set the scythe's blade spinning, adding 35% weapon-damage multi-hits to every attack — the guide compares it to Monster Hunter's savage axe. The alternative Clockwork Shardstone is, per the guide, "quite literally just going to be chainsaw mode" in a more literal sense. Pair with the Arbiter's Prize blood curse for the thematically perfect bloody scythe. To get it: clear the Chamber of Becoming, reached from the outskirts of Mammon.

Systems every weapon shares

• Tar stones are your equipment slots: Zealot, Thief, Duality, Grudge, Parasitic, Cleric, Warden, Strike, and more. They gain tiers the more you use them (as covered in our gameplay overview).
• Infusions are permanent per-weapon effects: Curse, Burn, Frost, Stasis, Trauma, Phantom, Poison, and Voltaic.
• Ability stones like Magdalena's Momento, Captive's Scabstone, Conqueror's Reward, Lost Clot Stone, Colossus Stone, and Hexopod Core mostly come from gate bosses — the bosses at the end of each world section — so it's worth clearing gates even when you don't need the weapon behind them.

Which weapon should you pick first?

Per the guide's recommendations: keep the Aconclast for early Curse value, grab the Axe & Dagger as soon as you can handle the Shrine of Trials, and beeline the Veteran's Battle Axe in King's Crypt if you like heavies. Once Frost is available, the Great Martyr's Blade goes from slow to broken — and if you want the community's late-game monster, the Clockwork Scythe with chainsaw mode is waiting in the Chamber of Becoming.