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Combat in Mortal Shell 2, the latest action RPG from Cold Symmetry, revolves around five interconnected systems: the Shells you inhabit, the Weapons and Sidearms you wield, the Seals that shape your defensive options, and the Tarstones that let you customise all of the above.
Your loadout has four Support Slots, which hold passive Tarstones offering straightforward buffs to things like critical chance, damage, or survivability. On top of that, both your weapon and your sidearm each carry three additional slots of their own, split between one Ability Tarstone, one Combat Tarstone, and one Infusion Tarstone per weapon/sidearm.
Ability Tarstones grant you powerful active abilities fuelled by resolve, Combat Tarstones alter your melee combos and projectile behaviour in combat, and Infusion Tarstones imbue your weapon or sidearm with elemental and status effects. Not every Tarstone is compatible with every weapon or sidearm, so keep an eye on what actually fits your build.
With so many available, it helps to know what you're working with. Below is a full breakdown of every Tarstone in the game, organised by category.
Support Tarstones
Support Stones are passive buffs that improve your general combat effectiveness without changing how your attacks fundamentally work. They are a reliable foundation for any build.
| Tarstone | Description |
|---|---|
| Auspicious Stone | Improves melee critical hit chance |
| Headman's Stone | Improves melee critical damage |
| Devout Stone | Killing an enemy with your sidearm generates resolve |
| Shattering Stone | On killing an enemy, the next melee attack deals additional stagger damage |
| Berserker's Stone | Improves melee damage the lower your health is |
| Marksman's Stone | Improves ranged critical chance |
| Deadeye Stone | Improve ranged critical damage |
| Siegebreaker's Stone | Sidearm deals more stagger damage |
| Spite Stone | Improves ranged damage the lower your health is |
| Bulwark Stone | On killing an enemy, reduce damage taken for a short period of time |
| Retribution Stone | Improves riposte damage |
| Gloombound Stone | Slain foes drop more gloom |
| Justiciar's Stone | Slain foes drop more coin |
Combat Tarstones
Combat Stones alter how your attacks behave, adding new effects, modifying combos, or changing how your projectiles interact with enemies.
| Tarstone | Description |
|---|---|
| Wounding Stone | Melee attacks inflict perforation |
| Grudge Stone | Weapon deals a guaranteed critical hit |
| Duality Stone | Weapon light attack combo strikes twice |
| Unyielding Stone | Weapon light attack combo has stagger immunity |
| Parasitic Stone | Slaying foes grants the stone leech stacks |
| Thief's Stone | Striking foes grants you warp |
| Stillblade Stone | Grants access to a special Light Combo Finisher and deals break damage |
| Zealot's Stone | Grants access to a special Light Combo Finisher and generates resolve |
| Clerik's Stone | Grants access to a special Heavy Combo Finisher with a higher critical chance |
| Tyrant's Stone | Grants access to a special Heavy Combo Finisher that inflicts weak stacks |
| Enfeebling Stone | Projectiles inflict fragile |
| Shuddering Stone | Projectiles generate a knockback shockwave on impact |
| Pulse Stone | Projectiles generate a shockwave on impact that pulls enemies in |
| Ironpiercer's Stone | Projectiles pierce through enemies |
| Myriad Stone | Sidearm fires multiple projectiles in an arc per shot without consuming additional resolve |
| Splitting Stone | Sidearm fires multiple projectiles without consuming additional resolve |
| Rupturing Stone | Projectiles that strike critically deal break damage |
| Blackblood Stone | Projectiles explode mid-air and deal splash damage |
| Corroded Stone | Projectiles start dealing damage over time after hitting their target |
| Squall Stone | Projectiles spin in place for a duration after hitting their target |
| Charged Stone | Sidearm charges up faster |
| Volatile Fragment | Enemies dying from a sidearm shot will explode dealing splash damage |
| Unstable Stone | Hitting the same enemy 5 times triggers an explosion that deals splash damage |
Infusion Tarstones
Infusion Stones add elemental or status effects to your weapon or sidearm attacks. They are the most straightforward route to building around a specific damage type.
| Tarstone | Description |
|---|---|
| Arbiter's Prize | Weapon inflicts Bloodcurse |
| Serpent Stone | Weapon inflicts Poison |
| Voltaic Crown | Weapon inflicts Lightning |
| Warden's Stone | Weapon inflicts Frost |
| Curseblood Stone | Weapon inflicts Curse |
| Nightgrasp Stone | Weapon inflicts Phantom |
| Torpor Stone | Weapon inflicts Stasis |
| Wretchcaller's Stone | Weapon inflicts Trauma |
| Inflamed Clawstone | Weapon inflicts Burn |
| Hag Stone | Weapon inflicts Trauma |
| Viletongue Hedron | Weapon inflicts Bleed |
| Emberseed Stone | Weapon inflicts Burn |
| Voltaic Amber | Weapon inflicts Lightning |
| Frostshard Stone | Weapon inflicts Frost |
| Accursed Stone | Weapon inflicts Curse |
| Monarch's Vestige | Weapon inflicts Phantom |
| Weeping Stone | Weapon inflicts Trauma |
Ability Tarstones
Ability Stones are the most impactful category in the game. Each one grants a new active ability that consumes resolve to use, effectively adding a special move to your arsenal. Choosing which ones to equip is one of the most meaningful build decisions in Mortal Shell 2.
| Tarstone | Description |
|---|---|
| Acolyte's Stone | Consume resolve to perform a charged light attack |
| Unwieldly Stone | Consume resolve to perform a charged heavy attack |
| Magdelena's Memento | Consume resolve to rise into the air and unleash a flurry of ruthless strikes |
| Captive's Scabstone | Consume resolve to swing your weapon in a violent arc, striking down all who stand close |
| Conquerer's Reward | Consume resolve to drive your weapon forward in a series of swift, piercing thrusts |
| Infused Stone | Consume resolve to throw your weapon to strike multiple targets before it circles back to you |
| Shrike Stone | Consume resolve to leap high and plunge your weapon into the ground |
| Colossus Stone | Consume resolve to thrust your weapon into the ground to send shockwaves rippling through nearby foes |
| Lost Clotstone | Consume resolve to spin in place and release your weapon with brutal force |
| Clockwork Chainsaw | Consume resolve over time to hold your weapon before you with its chainsaw spinning at full speed |
| Scholar's Wormstone | Consume resolve over time to set the chainsaw in motion, augmenting your every attack |
| Hexapod Core | Consume resolve to carve through enemies with a rapid succession of strikes |
| Solnir Shard | Consume resolve to launch a heavy round in a parabolic arc that bursts on impact to deal splash damage |
| Confessor's Keepsake | Consume resolve to charge your sidearm, firing a powerful devastating shot |
| Warden's Stone | Consume resolve to unleash a flurry of consecutive shots |
| Barrage Stone | Consume resolve to launch a heavy round that detonates above the target, scattering explosive projectiles below |
| Tarred Fragment | Consume resolve to fire multiple tethered projectiles, spinning at high speed |
| Fulminant Stone | Consume resolve to fire a heavy-caliber round that triggers multiple explosions around the target |
| Infested Stone | Consume resolve to fires a clinging projectile that triggers a massive explosion after a brief delay |
| Summoning Stone | Consume resolve to summon the last slain foe to fight on your side |
| Strange Remnant | Consume resolve to unleash a stream of projectiles that chain between multiple targets |
| Hand of Rock | Consume resolve to unleash a swarm of relentless homing projectiles |
Quick tip: Ability Stones that cost resolve are only as useful as your resolve generation. Before committing to high-cost Ability Stones like Hand of Rock or Summoning Stone, make sure your build includes enough resolve generation through Support Stones like Devout Stone or Zealot's Stone to use them reliably in combat.
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