Mortal Shell 2: Castigator's Keep walkthrough (Part 22)
Overview & Key Takeaways
Continuing straight on from the previous part of our walkthrough of Mortal Shell 2, the path ahead is quite clear: you must now journey southeast from the Lonesome Spire, dipping into the Vestige Of Infinity before descending into the expansive Castigator's Keep.
Castigator's Keep is home to a fair few dungeons, some of them quite large; and you'll also need to fight through several bosses and a great many lesser foes to explore it all. On the bright side, you'll also obtain a new Sidearm - the Triarch Repeater. Follow along with the steps below for our full 100% walkthrough of Castigator's Keep!
Continuing straight on from the previous part of our walkthrough of Mortal Shell 2, the path ahead is quite clear: you must now journey southeast from the Lonesome Spire, dipping into the Vestige Of Infinity before descending into the expansive Castigator's Keep.
Castigator's Keep is home to a fair few dungeons, some of them quite large; and you'll also need to fight through several bosses and a great many lesser foes to explore it all. On the bright side, you'll also obtain a new Sidearm - the Triarch Repeater. Follow along with the steps below for our full 100% walkthrough of Castigator's Keep!
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!
Castigator's Keep walkthrough steps:
- Reach the Ventrium deposit.
- Enter the Vestige Of Infinity.
- Defeat the Starved Harridan.
- Activate the Vestige Of Infinity Beacon.
- Reach the Castigator's Keep courtyard.
- Clear out the Hall Of Murmurs.
- Obtain the Map Of Mammon [3].
- Conquer the Alchemist's Workshop.
- Retrieve the Triarch Repeater from Blackwell Cavern.
- Enter the Keep from the east side.
- Activate the Castigator's Keep Beacon.
- Conquer the Viletongue's Domain.
- Meet Egon and offer him your Gloom.
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1. Reach the Ventrium deposit.
There are multiple passages into the next region of Mammon, including two conjoined paths on the east side of the Lonesome Spire. So, fast travel to the Lonesome Spire Beacon if you're not already there, and then head around the east side of the tower.
On the way, kill the trio of enemies by the tower wall: a Subjugated Sentry, and then a Headsman on the left and an Armed Knave on the right.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
You'll see a main path stretching out to the east, but don't take it yet. Instead, look for the slope down to the left, right next to where the Sentry was. Follow this lower path instead.
Cross the first bridge, kill the Tarblighted Miner there, and then cross the second bridge. Do a circuit around this small platform, killing all three Miners. Then drop down to the lower ledge on the far side, kill another Miner, and cross the bridge over to the grass.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Kill the Wretches in front of you and collect the 3x Weltcaps on the ground. Head round to the right, and kill every Wretch in your way. Here you'll find an air current surrounded by 9x Ventrium.
Collect all the Ventrium, but don't take the air current. Just head back the way you came until you reach the Lonesome Spire wall again.
Mark step as completed.
2. Enter the Vestige Of Infinity.
Now head along the main path extending to the east. Carefully kill the two Subjugated Sentries side-by-side ahead of you, then cross the bridge and fell the Knave beyond, and the next one on the bridge.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Cross the bridge and head through the doorway on your right. Kill the sitting Brigand, and collect the Ventrium he was sitting on. Incidentally, this is exactly where the air current from the other path would have brought you up to!
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Head up the ramp and read the notes on Mammon on the floor if you like. Then kill the Sentry around the corner. Turn left and drop down to the lower ledge so you can collect the Laterite on the wall.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Then ride the air current back up and use the Bone Gate ahead. Immediately turn left and head around the side to find a Coin Of Mammon in a statue. Then head through the archway and kill the Sheep on your left for another Sheephead Totem.
"Oops - That was a good one" explained... An extra tip from Ollie
Ah, noticed that pop-up in the bottom-right corner when you killed the Sheep? That's a fake achievement added in as a joke by the devs. Turns out this particular Sheep was unique, in that it was just a Sheep. Every other Sheep in the game, as you probably know, will (if harmed) turn into an aggressive Black Sheep that walks on its hind legs and attacks you.
But alas, even innocent Sheep receive no mercy from the Harbinger. Gotta collect all those Sheephead Totems, after all!
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
There are two bridges forward, one on either side of the giant rock at the far end of the platform. Take the right-hand bridge first, and collect 2x Laterite from the stone slabs. Then head back and take the left-hand bridge instead, into the Vestige Of Infinity sub-region.
Mark step as completed.
4. Activate the Vestige Of Infinity Beacon.
Now, head to the low section of wall up the ramp to the left of the entrance (as you're looking out to the centre of the arena from the entrance). Strike this wall to dispel it.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Behind the wall is the Vestige Of Infinity Beacon. Activate it and rest at it.
Mark step as completed.
5. Reach the Castigator's Keep courtyard.
There are a couple of ways out of the arena, but we're only using one for now. Head clockwise a very short way around the arena from the Beacon and you'll find an elevator shaft. Pull the lever to call the elevator, then ride it down to the bottom. This is the beginning of the Castigator's Keep.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
At the bottom, a Gloom Seeker will approach from the doorway beyond. Kill it, and head through into the room beyond.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Turn right immediately and take the exit out onto the balcony, but prepare yourself: an Infested Wretch is waiting to explode on you around the corner. Kill it (or let it die), then head behind it for a Laterite.
Then head back into the room and use the other exit in the far left corner. This will take you out down some steps into the courtyard of the Castigator's Keep.
Mark step as completed.
6. Clear out the Hall Of Murmurs.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Directly ahead of you is a dungeon entrance. First, kill the Grisha Hunter that charges at you from the right as you descend the stairs into the courtyard. Then enter the dungeon to find the Hall Of Murmurs.
Beyond the elevator, kill the Wretches and Shield Brigands. Before you slice through the wooden door ahead, look at the right-hand wall and you'll see a white symbol, marking the wall as illusory.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Attack the wall at the symbol to dispel it. Behind the fake wall is a Leechtongue. Kill it, and then loot all the Coin Pouches on the ground for a total of 700x Coin.
Now go through the wooden door. In this final room, there's a chest at the end (containing a Laterite and a Gloombound Stone), and a figure kneeling by a fireplace.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Loot the Ventrium by the fireplace, and the figure will turn into a Foul Knight. Kill it, and return the way you came. On the way back you'll need to fight your way through three more Foul Knights - after which, you can head back up into the overworld.
Mark step as completed.
8. Conquer the Alchemist's Workshop.
From the map statue, turn around and take the right-hand path down and across the bridge. Kill the two Roaming Heads here, and loot the Dorsalite in the corner by the tree roots. Then travel via Bone Gate across the gap.
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Cross the bridge ahead, and kill the three Tarblighted Miners ahead of you. Along the left wall, you'll find - in succession - a Dorsalite, a dungeon entrance, and 3x Weltcaps.
Look a bit closer at the dungeon entrance and you'll see that this is where the Makeshift Projectile you shot from the catapult landed. It's opened the way to this dungeon. If you hadn't shot the Projectile, you still could have entered the dungeon, but it would have been hidden behind an illusory wall and thus much easier to miss.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Head through the fog and descend into the Alchemist's Workshop. This is a decently long dungeon, so buckle up.
Clear the first room of its Miners and Headsman, and then kill the Tarred Corpses that rise from the ground. Head down the steps ahead and kill the Batushka in your way.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Step a bit further into the room, and an enchanted book from the bookshelf to your right will fly out and attack you. It's just a projectile, so dodge it (or attack it once to destroy it).
Head around the corner to the left, dodge another book, and loot the Bone Statue for a Dorsalite. You can also read the note on the desk and inspect the board more closely if you desire.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Exit this side room and head opposite, taking the first left to find a Common Moonshine in another tiny side room. Then keep progressing forward, down the steps, into a garden of sorts.
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Loot the Galvanic Shard on your right, and follow the path around to kill another Batushka. On the way you can loot a Bloodseed and also read another note from the alchemist.
At the end of the path there's another bookshelf. Pull the book from it to move the bookshelf aside, and strike the wall behind it to dispel it.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
There's another note to your left, but your main focus should be the Cannibal Knight approaching you. Kill it, and the Tarred Archer behind it. Head along the right-hand wall and you'll find a Sheep inside a cell. Strike the Sheep through the cell to kill it and obtain another Sheephead Totem.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
The only way to progress now is to drink the Alchemical Elixir on the desk in the corner of the room. Doing so will cause your camera to rotate uncomfortably for a time, but you can just wait out the effect by standing still.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
To complicate matters, upon drinking the Elixir a path will reveal itself next to the desk, and a few Mycellian Skulks will attack you from that path. I'd advise you don't step into that next room until the Elixir's effect has worn off, because the path is narrow and there are drops to the death on either side, making it hard to traverse while your camera is still all funky.
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When you're ready, proceed down the path to the end and you can loot 3x Glimpse and a Synaptic Vessel. After that, pull the lever on this platform and head back into the main room.
Now the doorway at the end of the room has opened. Head through and take the elevator down. Kill the Skulks at the bottom, and head into the final room, where you'll face a dangerous new enemy: a Slithering Corpseseeker.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
The Corpseseeker is quite tanky, and fond of nasty unblockable grab attacks. Aside from this, its attacks aren't too hard to parry, but don't expect it to be staggered by a single parry.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Once it's dead, destroy all the Gloom Tentacles in the room and open both chests to obtain the Clockwork Shardstone and... nothing. The second chest is empty. Strange! Oh well.
When you've finished scratching your chin in consternation, interact with the glowing orb in the room to teleport yourself back out of the Alchemist's Workshop.
Mark step as completed.
9. Retrieve the Triarch Repeater from Blackwell Cavern.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Once out of the dungeon, head around the right-hand side of the rock opposite. Kill the Miner and collect the Laterite there. Then cross the bridge, head past the next bridge, and collect another Laterite from the wall.
Now follow the path, which consists of bridges between various ring-shaped platforms around large rocks. Do a circuit around each platform, collecting everything and killing every Miner on the way. You'll find a Laterite and a Dorsalite on the final platform before you step onto the grass at the far end.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Turn right after the final bridge and collect the 2x Weltcaps on the clifftop edge. Then turn around and follow the path through two more Miners and an Armed Knave.
There's a slope up to the right, but ignore it for now. Keep going along the cliff edge, and kill the three Grisha Hunters ahead. Above them is a hanging corpse you can shoot down for some extra Coin. Another Grisha Hunter awaits you at the entrance to a dungeon.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Skip the dungeon for a second, and keep heading around to the campsite at the end. Kill the final three Grisha Hunters, and loot the camp for a Common Moonshine. Then go back and head through the fog into the dungeon.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
This is Blackwell Cavern - so named for the darkness. Squeeze through the gap and you'll find that after the first torch, you can barely see anything in front of you. This is the real danger; the dungeon itself is quite easy.
The first room is populated by four Wraiths, spread apart. Lock onto them ahead of time to track them more easily in the dark. Kill them all, and loot the Ventrium at the right-hand wall before continuing.
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Collect the Laterite ahead, and kill the final Wraith. Then loot the Triarch Repeater from the ground.
What's the Triarch Repeater like? An extra tip from Ollie
This heavy Sidearm is essentially a Minigun, so if you want to see its full potential, you need to equip Tarstones that benefit from a huge number of bullets being shot in a short space of time: the Enfeebling Stone and Marksman's Stone come to mind!
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Read the note on the floor beside the Triarch Repeater if you like; then head to the left to continue along the main path, and kill the half-dozen Mycellian Skulks in your way (we can infer that they're really just there for you to try out the Repeater on them).
Drop off the ledge behind them and you're back at the beginning. Head back up the elevator and out of the dungeon.
Mark step as completed.
11. Activate the Castigator's Keep Beacon.
First thing to do: kill the two Subjugated Sentries on the wooden platform to your right as you step off the elevator. Do it carefully - these Sentries can blast you clean off the top of the Keep if you're not careful.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Loot the stone slab next to them for another 300x Gloom and a Justiciar's Stone. Then hop off the platform and back onto the stone floor. A few steps further on, you'll find a Synaptic Vessel on your right.
Now head down the steps opposite. Loot the 3x Weltcaps at the bottom, and then turn and kill the Foul Knight ahead of you. Loot the Laterite in the rubble by the gate on your right.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Now head through the archway to your left, and kill the Knight Of Mammon ahead of you. This giant bridge leads to a Bone Gate which takes you all the way back to the Road To Absolution in the Outskirts Of Mammon. No need to go there, though.
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Turn around and head around the side of the gate, killing the Foul Knights in your way. There are a few paths ahead of you. The right-hand path takes you straight to the Castigator's Keep Beacon. Activate and rest at it, and also collect the Common Moonshine in the cubby hole to the left of the Beacon.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Then return the way you came, and cross the bridge to the left. This is actually the very edge of a later region - the Silent Steps. And on this platform you'll get a taster of that region's unique mechanic.
Ahead there is a trio of Cultists, and a Neophyte Sester. They're all around a white flaming torch which makes them invulnerable as long as they're near it. Two hits to the torch will dispel the invulnerability, allowing you to kill them as normal.
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Loot the Burnt Effigy and the Dorsalite from the camp. Don't bother with the Bone Gate ahead; just turn around and cross the bridge again.
Finally, head straight on past the bridge and turn the corner to find two more Foul Knights. Kill them both, and poke your head around the far corner to find that you're back in the courtyard next to the Hall Of Murmurs.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Head around the right again and through the doorway by the Grisha Hunters (killing them if they approach you). Beyond the doorway are two Infested Wretches, so dodge their kamikaze attacks, and loot the Burnt Effigy in the corner of the room.
Finally, head through the far exit of the room, and down the steps. Head around the left side of the tower to find 2x Weltcaps, a sitting spot, and a Devout's Chalice. Then turn around and rest once again at the Castigator's Keep Beacon in front of you.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Mark step as completed.
12. Conquer the Viletongue's Domain.
Enter the Beacon, and loot the chest in the first room for 1000x Coin. Then descend the elevator into Viletongue's Domain.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Kill the Wraith around the corner, and drop down to the lower ledge and kill the two Foul Knights down there so you can loot the Ventrium in peace.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Ride the air current around the corner, and kill the next Wraith. You can read an inscription on a stone slab ahead; after which, head through the door and drink the Strange Concoction in the corner of the room.
Drinking the Strange Concoction will reverse your movement, so moving left moves right, moving forward moves backward, and so on. It will also summon the Viletongue Batushka boss behind you.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
The boss is little more than a normal Batushka; the challenge is adapting to your confuddled movement. Fortunately, you barely need to move at all. Just lock on, let the Batushka come to you, and parry and strike your way to victory.
With the Viletongue Batushka dead, your movement will be normalised. You'll also receive a Glimpse, a Viletongue Hedron Tarstone, and the Sage's Gate Lever. Affix the lever to the far wall by the gate, collect the 500x Coin Pouch to the right, and then cleanse the corruption for another Glimpse and an Ovum.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Mark step as completed.
13. Meet Egon and offer him your Gloom.
Facing the Beacon, head to the right and you'll see you're on the other side of that gate from earlier. Pull the lever to open the gate up, giving you a shortcut.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Then head up the wooden ramp beside the gate, and follow it into the nearby tower. Head up the spiral ramp to find a new NPC: Egon.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Halfway up, you can speak with Egon to learn a little more about him. Only a little; he's not that talkative. At the top, you'll see an offering cup, which you can interact with to offer Egon your Gloom.
Once you pass the 10,000x Gloom threshold (whether in one installment or multiple installments), Egon will die (seemingly happily), and you can collect double what you invested from his corpse.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Here's the important bit: don't just pay 10,000x Gloom in one go. As long as you have the Gloom to spend, you should spend 9,999x Gloom in one installment (you can change the increment amount using the button prompts at the bottom of the screen). Then pay him 10,000x Gloom in your second installment.
By doing this, you'll offer up a total of 19,999x Gloom, and be paid back 39,998x Gloom. That's an extra 19,999x Gloom for free! If you just paid 10,000x Gloom in one go, you'd only be getting 10,000x Gloom for free.
That's all there is to the strange character of Egon, so return to the Beacon and rest there, ready to continue the next leg of your journey through southern Mammon.
Mark step as completed.
You've accomplished a lot already in your short time in the far south, but there's much more still to explore and cleanse in the UnderMether's name. Head on over to Part 23 for our full Mortal Shell 2 Silent Steps walkthrough.
