Mortal Shell 2 Ballistazooka Location & Subjugated Guardian Guide

The Ballistazooka is awarded after you defeat the Subjugated Guardian at the bottom of Sentry’s Grave. Start from the Gate of Mammon area, find the stairs / doorway / portal into Sentry’s Grave inside the Lonesome Spire route, descend through the dungeon, and collect the sidearm after the fight. The route sources use slightly different names for the entrance transition, so follow the named landmarks rather than a map coordinate.

Use this conservative route once the Mammon area is open:

1. Reach Gate of Mammon Beacon.
2. Follow the nearby stairs into the fort / Lonesome Spire interior. Depending on the route description, you may be looking for stairs, a doorway, or a portal leading to the dungeon.
3. Enter Sentry’s Grave and keep descending. The current guides describe the dungeon as largely linear.
4. Expect repeated Ballista Head / crossbowhead enemies. Their ranged fire can make the approach more dangerous than the pickup itself.
5. Continue to the lowest section and enter the Subjugated Guardian arena.

AllThingsHow describes the entrance as stairs down inside Lonesome Spire. Thumb Wars describes two stair flights, a heavy knight and archers, then a right-side doorway. Nerd’s Chalk calls the transition a portal from Lonesome Spire. These are conflicting descriptions of the local route, not evidence for a fixed coordinate or universal turn count.

You do not need the Ballistazooka for this fight—the Guardian is the encounter that awards it.

1. Bring a melee weapon and the Shell abilities you normally use for boss fights.
2. At the arena, watch for the two elevated ranged enemies reported on the side ledges. Use the stairs on either side to reach them, or reposition so their shots are less likely to cross your path.
3. Close distance on the Subjugated Guardian when it is safe. One current guide reports that this reduces its ranged pressure and leaves head-slam attacks that can be blocked or parried.
4. If bolts are active, use short attack strings and reset instead of committing to a long combo.
5. After the Guardian dies, collect or confirm the Ballistazooka reward before leaving.

The sources differ on whether the Guardian’s bolts should be described as explosive or simply heavy ranged attacks. The shared practical advice is to avoid standing in the firing lane, remove the surrounding ranged pressure, and fight at close range when you have an opening.

The Ballistazooka is a heavy ranged sidearm. It is best used to open an encounter, punish an enemy after it commits to an attack, or finish a weakened target from a safer distance. Treat it as a deliberate ranged complement to your primary melee weapon, not as a fast weapon to fire continuously while moving.

Current guides identify Tarstones as part of sidearm customization and describe sidearms as upgradeable through the Tarforge system. The local Tarforge guide identifies the Obsidian Lathe as the component that unlocks sidearm enhancement at Franz’s Tarforge in Marrow Keep.

No reliable cross-checked stat sheet establishes a universal damage value, reload time, ammunition capacity, range, cost, or best Shell pairing for this weapon. Use the weapon’s role—slow, deliberate ranged pressure—to decide whether it fits your build.

The official Steam achievement list includes:

• Speared — unlock the Ballistazooka.
• Guns. Lots of Guns — unlock all Sidearms.

The Ballistazooka’s individual achievement is tied to the unlock. The checked sources do not establish an extra kill count, Tarforge upgrade, or separate quest requirement. For the eight-sidearm checklist, use the Sidearms guide. For the wider completion route, see Trophies and Achievements.

Cold Symmetry’s August 20, 2026 Balance Patch 1 lists changes to other weapons, removes minimum Resolve requirements from Caged Hystrix and Triarch Repeater, and changes the economy and enemies. The checked official weapon section does not list a direct Ballistazooka damage, cost, or behavior change. That is a dated patch snapshot, not a guarantee about every later build or platform.

The patch also changes broader Mammon economy details, including increased gold drops. Do not turn that into a Ballistazooka-specific price claim. Check the current in-game weapon and Tarforge menus if your build differs from the launch window. See the local Balance Patch 1 guide for the wider note.

• Searching Sentry’s Grave’s upper approach for a loose weapon pickup. The Ballistazooka is tied to the bottom Guardian encounter.
• Treating one source’s stairs, doorway, or portal wording as a universal map instruction.
• Trying to use the Ballistazooka before defeating the Guardian.
• Ignoring the ranged enemies on the arena ledges while focusing only on the boss.
• Publishing or relying on an exact damage, reload, ammunition, or reward number that the checked sources do not consistently support.
• Assuming the reported Gloom / Glimpse reward is a fixed universal amount. The weapon reward is the stable fact; currency details differ between guides.

After the Guardian falls, verify the Ballistazooka in your sidearm inventory and check whether Speared has triggered. If you are collecting every sidearm, use the Sidearms guide to identify the remaining entries. For upgrade planning, visit the Tarforge guide; for nearby Mammon route context, see Beacon locations and fast travel.

• Steam Global Achievements — official Speared and Guns. Lots of Guns requirements.
• Cold Symmetry — Balance Patch 1 notes — official dated patch changes and platform caveat.
• Nerd’s Chalk — Ballistazooka Location and Subjugated Guardian — Sentry’s Grave route, reward, weapon role, and cautious treatment of stats.
• AllThingsHow — Every Sidearm Location — Gate of Mammon / Lonesome Spire route, ranged-enemy pressure, and Guardian tactics.
• Thumb Wars — How to Beat the Subjugated Guardian — alternate entrance landmarks and practical arena advice.
• Gamer Guides — Boss Locations — Sentry’s Grave placement and source-reported secondary rewards.