Are you planning to upgrade the Tarforge in Mortal Shell 2? This machine found in Marrow Keep is your one-stop shop for anything and everything related to improving your gear. That said, you need to acquire key items just to unlock all the functions. Our guide has all the info to help you obtain the necessary materials. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.
In This Article
Tarforge upgrade items
Tarforge utilities map
Where to find the Muradean Actuator
Where to find the Obsidian Lathe
Where to find the Etching Needles
Where to find the Foundry Stone
Where to find the Endless Core
Weapons and sidearms: Enhancements and smelting
Tarstones: Level-ups and Tarcore drops
Tarforge upgrade items
You need five items to fully activate and upgrade the Tarforge in Mortal Shell 2. These are:
Muradean Actuator
Obsidian Lathe
Etching Needles
Foundry Stone
Endless Core
Four of these need to be brought to Franz, the NPC standing next to the Tarforge. The last one needs to be installed via an option in the Tarforge’s menu.
Tarforge utilities map
The map below shows the locations of all the items related to the Tarforge. Some of these are actually from near the beginning and the conclusion of the campaign.
A map of all the items needed for the Tarforge.
Where to find the Muradean Actuator
Location: The Muradean Actuator is the first Tarforge upgrade in Mortal Shell 2 and it’s almost unmissable. It comes from the prologue, specifically from the Village Outskirts beacon. Since you need to enter and cleanse the beacon, you’re guaranteed to stumble upon the chest that contains the item.
Function: Activates the Tarforge and allows you to enhance melee weapons.
The Muradean Actuator is obtained during the prologue, though you can always return to this beacon once you’ve unlocked fast travel.
Where to find the Obsidian Lathe
Location: You can get the Obsidian Lathe from a dungeon called Martyr’s Tomb. It’s due south of the Widow’s Overlook beacon in Fainweald, and it’s right next to the grave where you unlock the Tiel shell. Oh, and if you need to exit the room, just shoot the device above the gate.
Function: Allows you to enhance sidearms.
There’s also a Tarstone in the mine where you get the Obsidian Lathe.
Where to find the Etching Needles
Location: The Etching Needles is another Tarforge upgrade in Mortal Shell 2. It comes from the Glutted Mire, the Corrupted Gate dungeon in the southeast part of Fainweald:
Proceed through the level normally until you tag the Sunken Village beacon.
Cross the rope bridge and take out the Tarblighted Shepherd boss and his unruly demon-transforming sheep.
Squeeze through the gap in the wooden boards. In the next area, you should see Ruk, who warns you about an upcoming major boss battle.
The chest that contains the Etching Needles is just past where Ruk is perched.
Function: Allows you to level up your Tarstones and collect Tarcore.
You can pick up the Etching Needles just before the Magdalena boss fight.
Where to find the Foundry Stone
Location: To get the Foundry Stone, fast travel to the Outskirts of Mammon beacon. From there, look at the blasted area near the gateway. There’s a chest that you can open, but be ready to run from a dozen knights and soldiers.
Function: Allows you to smelt weapons.
Several hostiles are guarding the Foundry Stone chest, so watch out.
Where to find the Endless Core
Location: The Endless Core can only be obtained near the end of the campaign:
Upon unlocking the final major dungeon known as the Unfound Path, you need to progress through the level normally until you clear out all the corrupted tendrils.
This unlocks a beacon called the Hidden Nave, which is right in the middle of the zone just before the final boss fight.
Inside the Hidden Nave, you’ll see your first bonfire. Run to the other side of the tunnel until you see a second bonfire. Then, return to the first bonfire, which should have a torch that just magically spawned.
Pick up the torch and press through the fog, which should then reveal an entirely different area.
Keep following the sloping path all the way to the end. The chest that greets you at the bottom of this section contains the Endless Core.
There are also several chests that contain gloom. However, we recommend interacting with the doorway first, since you need to offer up all the gloom you have. Once you’ve done that, you should be able to loot all the resources without worry.
Function: Removes the level cap on all weapon and sidearm upgrades.
The Endless Core is a late-game item for the Tarforge.
Weapons and sidearms: Enhancements and smelting
To upgrade Mortal Shell 2 weapons and sidearms, you need enough coins and smithing stones. Examples include Ventrium, Laterite, Dorsalite, Thoracium, and Ossinite. As for the smelting function, it reverts an armament back to an unleveled state, but it also refunds the resources that you’ve used.
Upgrade the weapons that really make a huge difference in combat like the Axatana.
Tarstones: Level-ups and Tarcore drops
Upgrading Tarstones in Mortal Shell 2 is a completely different story. Here’s a quick summary:
Tarstones gain XP whenever you kill enemies, and they can only gain XP if you have them slotted in an equipped weapon/sidearm.
When a Tarstone reaches the first threshold–i.e. 10,000/10,000 XP–you can level it up via the Tarforge. This costs only 100 coins and it grants you a Tarcore.
However, once a Tarstone has reached the next threshold–i.e. 20,000/20,000 XP–you can only max it out by expending six Tarcore.
This means you have to keep boosting various Tarstones–even the ones that seem underwhelming–from level 1 to level 2 just to earn enough Tarcore. The extra Tarcore you have is then used to max out the Tarstones that you really like.
Level up your Tarstones to unlock their maxed out effects.
That does it for our guide on how to upgrade weapons and Tarstones in Mortal Shell 2. With all these Tarforge upgrades, you should have a lot of highly improved gear pieces. Since we’re already on the topic of armaments, you might want to know the locations of all weapons and sidearms.
