Mortal Shell 2: Withered Shoals walkthrough (Part 21)
Overview & Key Takeaways
Mortal Shell 2's legacy dungeons are always quite a trek, usually with a fairly spectacular boss encounter at the end of them. The Withered Shoals are up next in your playthrough if you've been following along with our walkthrough, and they represent probably the greatest challenge so far thanks to the monstrous boss awaiting you at the end.
In the walkthrough below, I'll guide you through every step of the journey through the Withered Shoals beyond the Gate Of Mammon, pointing out every single Ventrium, Laterite, Dorsalite, enemy, boss, and handy tip you need to 100% this entire area, and send the Hexapod packing.
Mortal Shell 2's legacy dungeons are always quite a trek, usually with a fairly spectacular boss encounter at the end of them. The Withered Shoals are up next in your playthrough if you've been following along with our walkthrough, and they represent probably the greatest challenge so far thanks to the monstrous boss awaiting you at the end.
In the walkthrough below, I'll guide you through every step of the journey through the Withered Shoals beyond the Gate Of Mammon, pointing out every single Ventrium, Laterite, Dorsalite, enemy, boss, and handy tip you need to 100% this entire area, and send the Hexapod packing.
Want the walkthrough for a different area of the game? You'll find the full list of all our guides on our Mortal Shell 2 walkthrough hub page!
Withered Shoals walkthrough steps:
- Clear out the Burrowkin Dwelling.
- Defeat the Infested Miner.
- Enter the Withered Shoals.
- Defeat the Strange Grisha.
- Reach the Ossinite Falls Beacon.
- Cleanse the Broodshell Nest.
- Activate the Nameless Pass Beacon.
- Cleanse the Odious Crevice.
- Defeat the Hexapod.
- Cleanse the Hexapod's Burrow.
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1. Clear out the Burrowkin Dwelling.
If you're not there already, use the nearest Beacon to fast travel to the Gate Of Mammon. It's at long last time to enter this Beacon and cleanse it to open the corrupted gate beyond.
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Open the chest in the first room for 2000x Coin, then descend the elevator to enter the Burrowkin Dwelling.
Kill the Shield Brigand and two Wretches in the first corridor, and then take the right-hand path to the lower ledge, just to see that it's a dead end, waiting on you finding a lever for the elevator.
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So, take the left-hand path instead and kill the Tarblighted Miner there. Overlook the ledge below and shoot the Wretches and Miners to soften them up, before jumping down and finishing them off.
Around the corner, a Headsman will jump out at you. Kill it, then drop further down and kill the Wretches and Miners in the vicinity. Keep following the sloping spiral path down to the bottom, killing everything in your way.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
At the bottom there's a wooden hut-like structure. Destroy the crates to the left of the structure and loot the Bone Statue for a Laterite. Then head through the hut and out the other side, and kill all the Roaming Heads around you.
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Loot the Ventrium from the statue abutting the hut wall, and then loot the cart opposite to obtain the Central Shaft Lever. Then use the air current to hop back up into the hut.
You don't need to go all the way back up to affix the lever right now (nor can you). It's meant more as a shortcut while you're doing a runback to the boss you're about to face.
Mark step as completed.
2. Defeat the Infested Miner.
Take the only path forward opposite the hut. Follow the path, and kill the Armed Knave and the two Lithopods in your way. Squeeze through the gap, and drop down onto the lower platform, prompting a boss fight against the Infested Miner.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
The room is littered with Lithopods, so it's best to take them all out as soon as possible. Once that's done you can face the Infested Miner one-on-one.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
The main danger is that rocks continuously fall from the ceiling in a line from the Infested Miner towards you, so you need to stay light on your feet, dodging around the back of the Miner to avoid the boulders.
The Miner itself doesn't have much health, but you still need to be wary of his wild swinging combos. If you miss a single parry then it generally means you're hit multiple times, taking away most of your health. It just comes down to taking your time and not panicking.
Deal the killing blow, and you'll receive an onslaught of rewards: a Glimpse, a Ventrium, a Laterite, a Dorsalite, and the Wretchcaller's Stone, which is exclusive to the Hammer (but also pretty good).
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Mark step as completed.
3. Enter the Withered Shoals.
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With the Infested Miner defeated, cleanse the corruption at the back of the room and collect the 3x Ova and Glimpse on your way back out. Doing so will of course also open up the gateway, leading down into the legacy dungeon of this region.
Collect the 2x Glimpse on either side of the gate behind the Beacon, and then step through the gateway. Kill the Leechtongue in the corridor beyond, and descend the steps at the end.
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Collect the Burnt Effigy on your left at the bottom of the steps, and then the Common Moonshine around the other side of said steps. Past the Burnt Effigy, there are some crates in the corner. Destroy them to reveal a 650x Coin Pouch.
There's also a tiny room beside the Coin Pouch, with a note taped to the wall which gives you some ominous information about the boss awaiting you at the end of this legacy dungeon.
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Head down the next steps and loot another Common Moonshine on the right. Kill the Tarred Corpses that arise once you hit the ground level, and wrap around the back-right of the stairs to find a Coin Of Mammon in a statue.
Finally, head around the left of the steps and down the ramp - but then turn around and check beneath that same ramp for a hidden Ventrium. Now, at last, you can press forward into the Withered Shoals.
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Mark step as completed.
5. Reach the Ossinite Falls Beacon.
Check behind the massive Ruk-esque skull on the opposite side of the clearing, and loot another Dorsalite there. After that, follow the path ahead up the slope, killing the Roaming Head and the Infested Stalker in your way.
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You'll soon enter another larger area. First turn right, and kill the two Roaming Heads by the lake. Loot the Dorsalite behind them. Then return, and start to do a clockwise rotation around this whole area, starting with the Grisha Hunters on your left.
After the Grisha Hunters, you'll need to fight through another group of Roaming Heads and Infested Stalkers, but none of them should pose much of a threat to you at this stage. Kill them, and loot the Bone Statue on the left in the skeleton alcove for a Laterite.
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Keep going round in a clockwise fashion, killing the remaining Stalker and Roaming Head until you return to the beginning. Then head down the path on the opposite side of the area, and you'll find the Ossinite Falls Beacon in front of a waterfall.
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Mark step as completed.
6. Cleanse the Broodshell Nest.
Activate and rest at the Beacon, then enter it to find the Broodshell Nest within. It's not really a dungeon, more just a single room with a bunch of enemies. Three Broodshell Snails, two Leechtongues, and a Bell Snail, to be exact.
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They can still kill you if you just fight with wild abandon, so take your time and kill them safely one at a time. Once they're all dead, cleanse the corruption at the far end and return with Ovum and Glimpse in hand.
Mark step as completed.
7. Activate the Nameless Pass Beacon.
Head through the waterfall behind the Beacon, and kill the Sheep there for another Sheephead Totem. In the darkness at the far end of this little cave, there's also a chest containing the Torpor Stone.
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Now return out from behind the waterfall, and head up the rocky slope to the right of the Beacon (as you're facing it from the waterfall).
There's a T-junction at the top. Turn left first, and kill the Bell Snail beyond. Turn the corner, and loot the 3x Ventrium before returning.
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Now take the right-hand path. Kill the Leechtongues in the next "room", and press forward a bit further so you can kill the Stalker and the Roaming Head that attack you from the two different paths ahead.
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Take the left-hand path and squeeze through the gap in the cave wall. There's a path ahead around the corner, and also another slope leading to the right. Take the path ahead first. Kill the three Broodshell Snails and loot the Bone Statue for a Laterite.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Then turn around and take the slope upwards. Climb it all the way to the top, and step off to the right to find a clifftop guarded by a single Infested Stalker. Kill it, and loot the 2x Dorsalite at the end of the path.
Return partway down the slope, and you'll see a lower ledge on your right (one that's still higher up than the ground floor). Drop down onto it. Turn left, kill the two Roaming Heads here, and loot the statue by the tent for a Ventrium. There's also a note by that same tent that you can read if you like.
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Drop down to the ground floor just beyond, and kill the two Roaming Heads to your left. Then turn and kill the two Bell Snails in the larger clearing ahead of you. There are also some Rootbound Lurks in the pond in the clearing - as well as a Gloom Tentacle and a Laterite.
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Press on ahead, and kill the next two Stalkers in your way. At the junction, head left, kill one more Stalker, and loot the Dorsalite in the corner. Then head around the rock, past the bones, and take the first left to find another Dorsalite.
Go back and cross the clearing to kill the Bell Snail at the end. Turn the corner, and kill two more Bell Snails. Ahead of you is another Beacon, but look to your right (within the skeleton) before you reach it, and you'll find 3x Laterite to loot.
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Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Now approach the Nameless Pass Beacon and activate it.
Mark step as completed.
8. Cleanse the Odious Crevice.
Rest at the beacon, and cleanse it to enter the Odious Crevice. Conjures some images, that.
Loot the Dorsalite from the throne in the first room, and then head past it to enter the dungeon itself. Kill first one, and then another Infested Stalker. Behind them is a Gloom Seeker. Kill her too, carefully, and you'll see a small dark hole beyond her. The aforementioned crevice.
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As you approach the hole, a Mycellian Skulk will emerge from it and attack you. Kill it, and enter the hole. Follow the tunnel all the way, killing every Skulk you encounter.
Once you're out of the tunnel, turn right immediately and open the chest in the side passage for the Charged Stone. Not a terribly useful Tarstone in my opinion, but still it's good to have if you're a completionist!
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Then just head down the main path and you'll find the corruption at the end. Look behind the corruption for a sneakily hidden Laterite. Then cleanse the corruption, and return with an Ovum and Glimpse.
Mark step as completed.
9. Defeat the Hexapod.
Next to the Beacon, you'll find a blue spirit you can summon for the main boss fight ahead. This time you can summon Proxima, because this boss is of special significance to her.
You can choose whether to invoke her aid or go it alone. It's the toughest fight yet, this one, but it's hardly an insurmountable difficulty spike.
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Follow the main path ahead, onto the ledge poking out into the open. There you'll find Ruk, who tells you rather ominously that the creature below is not from this world.
When you're ready, drop down and you'll meet the main boss of the Withered Shoals: the Hexapod.
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The best advice I can give you when fighting the Hexapod is to begin just by prompting its attacks, and then reacting by dodging to the right. Don't try to attack into it as it's approaching you, because you may sacrifice the time you need to get out of the way of one of its devastating strikes. After your dodge - that's your time to attack.
The second best piece of advice I can give is to chain two dodges together when the Hexapod does its unblockable strike combo. This is one of its most powerful attacks, and if both (or even either) of those attacks hit, it can destroy your Shell instantly.
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The third best piece of advice, although it isn't necessary: I'd recommend you switch to a fast weapon like the Axe and Dagger if you're having trouble. Faster strikes and faster recoveries make your dodges and parries more consistent.
At low health, the Hexapod will switch to its second phase, where it has a new move: it can hurl itself backwards, and send bolts of darkness into the sky to home in on you. If you're comfortable, you can unlock your camera to the Hexapod and try to keep your eyes on both the boss and its projectiles, which makes dodging them a lot easier.
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In this second phase, the Hexapod can also submerge itself in the water, before emerging with a fast-acting three-stage attack. Again, bait it into this attack rather than trying to run from it, and then dodge to the side repeatedly. I've found this method to be the most consistent way of avoiding damage.
Eventually you'll fell this monstrous boss, and you'll receive the Hexapod Core Tarstone as a reward - along with a small fortune in Gloom. As usual after defeating a major boss, a Beacon will rise from the ground in the centre of its arena upon its death.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Mark step as completed.
That brings this section of Mammon to a close. Your next step is to delve further to the south, where a great many new treasures await. Join us in Part 22 for a full walkthrough of the Castigator's Keep.
