Mortal Shell II Weapons

Eight melee, not a loot spreadsheet

Confirmed names on this roster: Iconoclast (start), Axe and Dagger, Axatana, Veteran’s Battle Axe, Great Martyr’s Blade, Obsidian Hammer, Black Needle, Clockwork Scythe, and Hallowed Sword. That is ~8 if Axe and Dagger / Axatana collapse to one pickup, and nine named rows while they stay split. Trophy lists also track collecting the melee set and Max out a Weapon at the Tarforge. None of that is a 400-row wiki dump.

Caged Hystrix shows up on some trophy lists (Spiked). Type is TBA — do not hunt it as a confirmed ninth blade on this page. If it is ranged, it belongs with sidearms.

Guns are not this list

Nail Shot, Forgotten Crossbow, Salvaged Trebuchaxe, Triarch Repeater, Cursed Child, Ballistazooka, and Troubadour’s Lute are sidearms. They spend Resolve on every shot. Merrick’s first map points at the Forgotten Crossbow — that is still not melee. Pair a sidearm with a blade on builds; do not park this page’s Franz spend on a panic gun.

Every playable Shell can equip every melee. Switching Tiel for Eredrim does not lock Iconoclast in a closet. The host changes Resolve feel and the active kit; the backpack’s blade travels. That is why the next question is where each melee actually sits, not which Shell “owns” it.

Start, then Shrine of Trials

Iconoclast is in your hands after the prologue. There is no hunt. Take it to Franz. Axe and Dagger is the Shrine of Trials pickup; Deep Cuts is the trophy that proves you found it. Dual-wield strings are the kit — community-observed, not a damage table. If you also care about a Duality tarstone pairing, that stone is a later slot decision, not a reason to skip the Shrine.

Axatana is listed as its own melee because community showcases treat the dual-katana kit as a second weapon, not a rename overlay. Exact room stays TBA. If your inventory only ever shows one of those two names, collapse them yourself — this page will not pretend they are proven identical.

Axe, tomb, mines

Veteran’s Battle Axe is confirmed by the Cut You Down to Size trophy and by community moveset footage. The pin itself is TBA until a recapture names the corpse or chest. The qualitative tell: a running heavy is how that axe pays — community-observed. Do not tap lights as if it were Iconoclast.

Great Martyr’s Blade sits in Martyr’s Tomb / the prison wing. Big Boi is the trophy. Treat it as the large two-hand of the set: slow recovery, space-taking swings — qualitative, community-observed, no invented AR. Obsidian Hammer is the Obsidianite Mines pickup; Stop – Hammer Time is the trophy. Hammer weight, not spear spacing.

Beacon boss, late chamber, missing sword

Black Needle is the spear after the Sester’s Gate Beacon boss. Just the Tip is the trophy. Reach is the job; walk it after that Beacon fight, not as a Marrow Keep secret. Clockwork Scythe is at the Chamber of Becoming end; Like Clockwork is the trophy. That is a late first-run pickup — do not hold Iconoclast materials hostage waiting for it.

Hallowed Sword is named in some melee lists. Location stays TBA on this page. Merrick in Marrow Keep sells maps toward some weapons; buy those when you have coin, and remember his first talk is the Forgotten Crossbow map — a sidearm, not a tenth blade. Region order after these pins lives on the walkthrough.

Why +3 / +4 is not a trap

Players skip Franz because they expect the next dungeon to hand them a “real” weapon at +0. Community-observed drops later in the route often start around +3. Iconoclast at +4 is still legal when Great Martyr’s Blade or Black Needle shows up. Materials you refused to spend in hour one do not refund the deaths you took on a +0 starter.

Merrick sits on the other side of the Keep. His maps are routing tools. Buy the ones that point at melee you have not found. Skip treating every map as a must-buy before Iconoclast is +3.

Infusions are Tarstones

Weapon “elements” and on-hit extras come from equipped tarstones — about 75 in the world, max ten equipped (4 Support + 2 Combat + 2 Infusion + 2 Ability). Franz etches those stones with an Etching Needle. This page will not dump the catalog. Slot an infusion on the melee you committed to; do not open a second smith fantasy.

If Iconoclast is +4 and the next room still kills you, the next check is Resolve and a Seal on combat, not another unspent Ventrium.

One meter, three sinks

Resolve fuels (1) the Shell kit on shells, (2) the melee weapon ability, (3) every sidearm shot. Hitting and breaking effigies refill it; panic fire empties it. If you dump the bar into Nail Shot, the Great Martyr’s Blade skill is not available when the boss finally opens. That is a tips death, not a missing upgrade.

Ability is not auto-attack

Lights and heavies are the moveset. The weapon ability is the spend on top. Qualitative community-observed tells belong to the weapon, not to a hidden stamina check: Veteran’s running heavy is a moveset habit; Black Needle’s job is reach; Axe and Dagger’s job is dual-wield strings. None of those replace the Resolve button. If the skill does nothing, you are empty or you pressed it on a recovery frame — recapture exact costs as TBA. This page will not invent a Resolve table.

Seals do not pay the skill

Infinite, Untarnished, and Vatra are the one-equipped Seal. They are the parry / guard / Harden layer. They do not refund a weapon ability. Rest at a beacon to refill and to swap Seal or Shell. Switching hosts does not unequip the melee. Switching Seals does not change which blade is in hand. The spend is still Resolve.

Once the meter rule is clear, the last decision is which early melee actually deserves Franz and your muscle memory.

One Franz target beats four +1s

Max out a Weapon is a trophy for finishing one melee, not for sprinkling +1 across the roster. Iconoclast to +3 / +4 is the opening target. After Shrine of Trials, keep either Axe and Dagger or Axatana if you like dual-wield — not both at equal smith rank while they still might be the same job. After Martyr’s Tomb, Great Martyr’s Blade is a keep only if the recovery is something you can live with. After Sester’s Gate, Black Needle is the reach swap. After Chamber of Becoming, Clockwork Scythe is the late sweep — it is not a reason to have left Iconoclast at +0.

Shells do not lock the blade

Possess whoever the next corpse is. The melee stays. A Tiel dash host and an Eredrim tank host can share Iconoclast; they will not share the same Resolve habit. Pair the host and the blade on builds, then walk the next Beacon. If the swap table still feels like a ranked list, you are overthinking it: swing the one whose timing you already hit.