Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones and Gloom: Upgrade Planning After Launch
How to plan Mortal Shell II Tarstone and Gloom upgrades around the 75% Tarforge discount, five named Tarstone buffs and the retail progression loop.
Last verified
Mortal Shell II makes Tarstones and Gloom part of the long-term upgrade decision. The most important post-launch fact is not an invented farming rate: Balance Patch 1 cut Tarforge smelting costs by 75% Gloom, making experimentation substantially cheaper than at launch.
What the patch confirms
The developer described the original Tarforge smelting cost as excessively high and reduced it by 75%. The same post-launch balance record names buffs to five Tarstones, but it does not provide a complete public table of every Tarstone effect, tier or location.
That means a “best Tarstone” list needs a test date. A Tarstone that feels weak before its buff or a cost change may be a different investment after the update.
A low-waste upgrade routine
- Keep enough Gloom for one controlled comparison instead of spending everything on the first attractive icon.
- Change one Tarstone at a time.
- Test ordinary hits, posture pressure, a parry and the return route.
- Record whether the result solves a survival, range or recovery problem.
- Re-check after Balance Patch 1 or the Week 1 Update changes a named weapon or combat rule.
This approach is more reliable than farming for an exact “Gloom per minute” number that changes with route, difficulty, deaths and patch version.
Tarstones and the achievement list
The Steam achievement list tracks finding all Tarstones with Stoned, while Over 9000 asks you to max out a weapon at the Tarforge. Those goals encourage exploration and one deliberate maxed weapon; they do not prove that every Tarstone must be maxed before the story.
Use the Gloom farming guide for safe route planning and the weapon upgrade guide for upgrade order.