Mortal Shell 2: Faded Citadel walkthrough (Part 24)
Overview & Key Takeaways
The Faded Citadel - also known by its first sub-region, the Ashen Sanctum - is the fifth legacy dungeon you'll face in Mortal Shell 2. It's probably the most challenging legacy dungeon so far, although its end-boss isn't quite as tough as others you may have faced.
Still, I wouldn't blame you for wanting some guidance through this punishing region. Welcome to Part 24 of our walkthrough, where I'll guide you carefully - step-by-step - through the entirety of the Faded Citadel, highlighting every collectible, every dangerous encounter, and every tip I can think of to help you 100% this legacy dungeon and defeat Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince at its finale.
The Faded Citadel - also known by its first sub-region, the Ashen Sanctum - is the fifth legacy dungeon you'll face in Mortal Shell 2. It's probably the most challenging legacy dungeon so far, although its end-boss isn't quite as tough as others you may have faced.
Still, I wouldn't blame you for wanting some guidance through this punishing region. Welcome to Part 24 of our walkthrough, where I'll guide you carefully - step-by-step - through the entirety of the Faded Citadel, highlighting every collectible, every dangerous encounter, and every tip I can think of to help you 100% this legacy dungeon and defeat Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince at its finale.
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!
Faded Citadel walkthrough steps:
- Cleanse the Forbidden Archives.
- Enter the Ashen Sanctum.
- Reach the Citadel Annex.
- Cleanse the Hushed Sanctum.
- Defeat Solnir, the Gloom Seeker.
- Activate the Citadel Atrium Beacon.
- Defeat the Servants of the Scholar-Prince.
- Defeat Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince.
- Cleanse the Scholar-Prince's Chamber.
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1. Cleanse the Forbidden Archives.
Fast travel back to the Gate Of Infinity Beacon that you discovered on the southern tip of the Vestige Of Infinity region. Rest there and enter inside. Collect 2000x Coin from the chest in the first room, then descend the elevator to enter the Forbidden Archives.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Kill the two Batushkas in the corridor ahead, and pull the book on the final bookshelf to open the path forward. In the (large) room beyond, follow the path around the corner. Expect plenty of enchanted books to fly off the shelves and attack you in this room. Plenty more Batushkas too.
Around the corner you'll find a pedestal where you can place the Grimorium Obscurum (which you don't yet have). So that's your goal.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Head to the end of the lane you're in, and then do a full sweep of the next lane along, and the one after that. At the end of the final lane, ride the air current to the top of the adjacent bookshelf.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Collect the 2x Ventrium around the corner to the left, then return and cross the ladder to the right to loot a Synaptic Vessel.
Return to where you started at the top of the bookshelves, and head all the way to the end of the path you're on to loot another Ventrium. Cross over to the bookshelf lane to your right and kill the Batushka here. Then turn around and loot the Grimorium Obscurum from the pile of books at the end.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Before you drop down to place the Grimorium, head back to just above the air current again, and drop off the opposite side of the bookshelf. This section of the room is cordoned off from the rest, so explore it fully.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Along with various enchanted books you'll also find a large group of Batushkas to kill, and another air current in the far corner. There's a broken wall beside the air current; head through it into a side room guarded by another Batushka. Kill it, and loot a Glimpse from the alchemical equipment in the room.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Now use the air current to reach the top again, and drop back down onto the other side. Head to the pedestal and place the Grimorium Obscurum there to open the path ahead into the final room.
As you enter the room, the door behind you will close and you'll be set upon by a miniboss: the Gloombound Wraith. This Wraith is certainly more dangerous than a regular Wraith, thanks to its distance-covering lunge attacks. It's still pretty easy though.
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At half-health, the Gloombound Wraith will surround itself in an impenetrable sphere of red papers, forcing you to destroy the two red books in the walls before the Wraith can be damaged again. You'll know these red books because they issue large red tendrils of magic, making them very obvious.
Once you kill the Gloombound Wraith it will drop 2x Glimpse and the Curseblood Stone, which allows you to infuse either the Iconoclast or the Veteran's Battle Axe with Curse.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Now you can cleanse the corruption in the room and return to the overworld with an extra 3x Ova and 1x Glimpse.
Mark step as completed.
2. Enter the Ashen Sanctum.
Loot the 2x Glimpse behind the Beacon, and then head through the blindingly bright gateway into Mortal Shell 2's fifth legacy dungeon. In my opinion, this one has the hardest trek to the boss of any legacy dungeon so far, so make sure you level yourself up first, if you can.
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Kill the Roaming Head, and follow the corridor to a small room containing four more Heads. It's easy to take silly damage against four at once, so pick them off carefully. Collect the 3x Weltcaps in the room before moving on.
Push ahead and you'll enter the Ashen Sanctum - the first sub-region of the Faded Citadel.
Mark step as completed.
3. Reach the Citadel Annex.
Head around the cliff edge, and you'll find another of those blue invulnerability torches, but no enemies nearby. There's an NPC "Madman" here, who speaks at your approach. Cut down the torch and he'll turn aggressive, but he's little more than a Wretch, so kill him and keep moving.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
On your left as you continue, there's a Dorsalite in a statue, as well as two Gloom Tentacles. Harvest them, and then enter the cave to the right. Kill the Infested Stalker across the bridge; let him come to you, as it's precarious to fight on the bridge itself, and below is a fall to the death.
Cross the bridge and loot the Ventrium on the right before going back and heading left. Drop to the lower platform and head all the way around until you find another invulnerability torch. This time it's guarded by a Gloom Seeker.
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Shoot the torches! An extra tip from Ollie
You can lock onto torches from afar and shoot them with your Sidearm to make handling them much easier. The Forgotten Crossbow is particularly good for this - just one more reason why it's my favourite Sidearm in the game.
Bait the Gloom Seeker away from the torch, and then either kill her once she's outside its influence, or destroy the torch before finishing her off. Loot the 2x Galvanic Shards on either side of the torch, then turn around and you'll see a new passage opened behind you when you struck the torch.
Head through the passage. Up the steps you'll find a Dorsalite, and round the corner from there you'll find another torch to destroy, opening yet another door ahead.
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Behind this final door is a chest containing the Summoning Stone and 1000x Coin. Loot it and then return the way you came.
Cross over to the other side of the Gloom Seeker's torch and into the room beyond. In this room you'll have to defeat two Infested Stalkers and an Anointed Confessor, all guarded by another invulnerability torch. Not easy, but take your time and bait them away from the torch and each other to make it easier.
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Loot the Dorsalite by the torch once you're done, and then head up the slope to the right, past the pillars. Up here you'll need to kill two Necropedes and another Gloom Seeker. Up the first set of steps, you'll also find a Roaming Head to the far left, guarding a Tooth Of Nochte.
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Head up the next set of steps and kill the Anointed Confessor up here. Then drop down to the right, kill another two Roaming Heads, and - following the path further on - another two Infested Stalkers by an invulnerability torch.
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There's a note on the wall by the torch you can read if you like. Afterwards, drop off the edge to the ledge below, and loot the Laterite from the Bone Statue before pressing on.
In this next room, just head around the left-hand side until you see the entrance to a circular chamber on your left. Inside this chamber you'll find the Citadel Annex Beacon. Activate it and rest at it to recover from that gruelling series of fights.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Mark step as completed.
4. Cleanse the Hushed Sanctum.
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Inside the Beacon, you'll find the Hushed Sanctum - a rather singular dungeon experience. Head through into the corridor, and kill the two Necropedes ahead of you.
Then interact with the strange growth-like sconce just in front of the archways to "Give Blood Offering". Doing so will expend a bit of your health, but will give you an invulnerability torch that will help you defeat the party of Lithopods and Faceless Cleriks ahead. Bait them towards the torch and finish them all off.
Head up the steps and kill the Necropedes and Infested Stalker here, then check behind you for a Laterite in a stone slab. Press forward and kill two more Stalkers, and loot the Dorsalite from the throne to your left.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Next up is another sconce where you can make yourself invulnerable to help defeat the Stalkers in your way. Once they're all dead, step ahead out into the open and take the Bone Gate on your left.
This will take you to a small side ledge where a lone Sheep is protected by an invulnerability torch. Destroy it and kill the Sheep for a Sheephead Totem before returning via the Bone Gate.
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Run to the end of the platform and stand on the stone plate in the centre of the circle. The platform will rise, and a gargantuan Stalker-like creature will step towards you. Once it's in range, interact to jump onto its back, and let yourself be carried over to the far end of the dungeon.
Once you jump off the giant creature, you'll be faced with another Slithering Corpseseeker. As you probably found out from your first encounter, this enemy is a strong contender for the single strongest non-boss foe in the game, so play it safe and focus on parries.
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With the Corpseseeker dead, loot the Laterite from the stone slab in the arena, and then open the chest at the start of the adjoining walkway to obtain the Stillblade's Stone.
Now you're free to head to the end of the walkway and cleanse the corruption. Return out into the Faded Citadel with an extra Ovum and Glimpse to your name.
Mark step as completed.
5. Defeat Solnir, the Gloom Seeker.
Outside, you'll see that a new pathway up the stairs has been unblocked by corruption behind the Beacon. Head up the stairs, and loot the 2x Ventrium by the tree on your right.
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Now turn and deal with the enemies in the room, of which there are: two Foul Knights, two Roaming Heads, and another Anointed Confessor, all around another invulnerability torch atop the bridge between the two sets of steps. The lesser enemies shouldn't be an issue as long as you don't let them gang up on you. Once they're dead, parry the Confessor into submission.
Loot the Dorsalite from the throne below the torch, and head up the stairs. Ahead of you is an engraving you can read to learn a bit more about the dungeon's major boss.
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Now turn right and head through the archways to face a miniboss: Solnir, the Gloom Seeker.
Solnir is - as you guessed - essentially just a Gloom Seeker (not that this makes her any easier), but with a couple of extra tricks. The first is that the arena has two invulnerability torches, so obviously focus those first.
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The second is that Solnir has a special move, where she enters a blocking stance with both her swords. She'll do this after being hit several times in a short span. If you hit her while she's blocking, she'll counter you and immediately perform a series of very fast and powerful attacks.
The best method of dealing with Solnir is simply to avoid pushing your luck. Only strike once or twice during each opening she gives, and then back away and let her block for no reason while you heal or reposition.
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Upon Solnir's death, you'll acquire another Glimpse, and the Solnir Shard Tarstone.
Mark step as completed.
7. Defeat the Servants of the Scholar-Prince.
Enter the Beacon, and you'll find the Servant's Hall. Loot the Dorsalite in the first room. Then head into the boss arena beyond, where you'll be forced to contend with the Servants of the Scholar-Prince.
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The Servants consist of:
- 2x Gloom Seekers
- 2x Knights Of Mammon
- 2x Foul Knights
These are formidable adversaries, and they're all coming at you at once, so you should play this carefully. Destroy the invulnerability torches with ranged attacks, first of all. Kill off the easy ones (Foul Knights), and then bait the fast ones (Knights Of Mammon, because they roll) away from the slow ones (Gloom Seekers) to slay them as safely as possible.
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Leave the Gloom Seekers until last, and give them a wide berth until then. Once all enemies are slain, head behind the corruption at the far end, and loot the chest on the edge of the arena for a Winterglass Gem.
Then cleanse the corruption and return with another Ovum and Glimpse.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Mark step as completed.
8. Defeat Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince.
One more trial left within the Faded Citadel: the main boss. Turn around from the Beacon and head to the far end, up the stairs around the corner. Use the Bone Gate to reach the higher platform in the distance.
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Head along this path and through another Bone Gate. On your left you'll see a blue spirit of Lazlo, whom you can summon for aid in the boss battle ahead (I wouldn't say it's necessary though). Just beyond Lazlo you can speak with Ruk, who'll have some words to say about the boss as usual.
When you're ready, step through the corridor and into the arena of Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince.
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This is actually a really fun fight, in my opinion. Sir Isaac is pretty tanky, so unless you have a busted build, there's time to learn his various attack patterns and counter them honourably.
Sir Isaac's attacks are generally quite well telegraphed, and easier to parry than several other bosses you've already faced. The exception to this is, annoyingly, the first swing in his usual combo, which comes out faster than you'd expect, and tripped me up a few times when I faced him.
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If you're not totally comfortable with parrying at any stage, then the other technique to remember is to dodge around to the Scholar-Prince's side. This is a great move against most enemies in the game, and it does help you to avoid most of this boss's attacks.
Sir Isaac's second phase is scarier (and more fun). After the scripted riposte, he'll lose his shield, but gain a third sword. As expected, his attacks become more aggressive and combo-heavy at this point.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
The two attacks most likely to trip you up in this second phase are both the airborne ones: one spinning, and one stabbing. If you're very confident you can try for a chain-parry through the entire combo in either case, but otherwise your best bet is simply to back off, dodging backwards to get out from under his strikes.
I managed to defeat Sir Isaac on my first attempt, but perhaps my playstyle was simply well-suited to this particular boss. In any case, I think you've faced tougher bosses than him so far. When you land the killing blow, you'll obtain the Scholar's Wormstone, and a pleasing 33,333x Gloom.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack
Mark step as completed.
9. Cleanse the Scholar-Prince's Chamber.
As usual for a legacy dungeon, the final step in the Faded Citadel is to cleanse the last Beacon which arises from the ground after defeating Sir Isaac. Activate the Scholar-Prince's Chamber Beacon, and step inside.
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Once you're inside, the only thing you need to do is cleanse the corruption, and return to the Marrow Keep with another 26x Ova - and a Glimpse as the cherry on top.
Mark step as completed.
With the entirety of the Faded Citadel now bowing to the Harbinger (metaphorically speaking), it's time to turn your head eastward, to conquer the last few remaining regions of Mammon. Head over to Part 25 for our full Mortal Shell 2 Forgotten Tower walkthrough.
