Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones: Database, Upgrades & Best Picks

This is a launch-window Tarstones database and build guide. It lists reported locations, explains the Tarforge progression loop, and gives conditional early picks while keeping conflicting collection records visible.

The collection total is currently disputed: GamesRadar+ reports 75 Tarstones, while AllThings.How reports 73 Tarstones, fragments, and mementos and says the menu has two empty slots. Their detailed records also differ in names and locations. The tables below are therefore a source-reported database, not proof of a final 73- or 75-entry in-game total.

For the wider upgrade station, see the Tarforge guide. For a Gloom-focused use case, see the Gloom farming guide. Weapon and Shell context belongs in the Weapons Guide and Shells Guide.

Tarstones are equipment items that add build effects to a Shell’s weapon, sidearm, or support loadout. They are separate from ordinary Gloom leveling, weapon upgrades, and the Gloombound Flame used to activate Night Mode.

The system has four categories:

GamesRadar reports up to ten equipped Tarstones: four Support stones plus two each from Combat, Infusion, and Ability. GameSpot also warns that many Combat, Infusion, and Ability stones only fit particular weapons or sidearms. Read the compatibility text before planning a build around one stone.

Tarstone upgrades are called Tempering at the Tarforge. The normal route is:

1. Reach the Glutted Mire in the southeast Fainweald route.
2. Progress through the area, activate the Sunken Village Beacon, and defeat the Tarblighted Shepherd.
3. Continue through the gap and wooden walkways until the chest near Ruk, before the Magdalena encounter.
4. Take the Etching Needles from the chest.
5. Return to Franz at the Tarforge in Marrow Keep and hand over the item.
6. Select Temper Tarstones at the Tarforge.

This is the normal component path. The Tarforge guide owns the full five-part station checklist, including weapon, sidearm, smelting, and Endless Core functions.

Current launch guides agree on the important part of the loop:

1. Slot a Tarstone into an equipped compatible weapon or sidearm.
2. Kill enemies while that stone is equipped so it gains XP.
3. At 10,000 XP, use the Tarforge and pay 100 coins for the next level; the reported reward is one Tarcore.
4. At the next 20,000-XP threshold, the reported higher/max step costs six Tarcores.

An inventory Tarstone does not earn XP merely because you own it. If you are testing a new stone, equip it before the route or fight that should level it. Because Tarcores are limited, a practical strategy is to raise several low-investment stones to the first threshold, then spend six Tarcores on the stones that actually fit your build.

These are launch-window reported values, not a promise that every future patch will preserve the same thresholds or costs.

The official Balance Patch 1 notes name five current Tarstone changes:

Balance Patch 1 does not provide exact numeric values for these Tarstone changes. The safe update is therefore to mark these five stones as patch-sensitive and revisit old recommendations, not to manufacture old-versus-new percentages. See the Balance Patch 1 guide for the complete patch context and Tarforge for the upgrade station route.

There is no verified universal best Tarstone. The right pick depends on your Shell, weapon, sidearm, Seal, and the activity you are repeating.

Use the Weapons Guide and Shells Guide to choose the core of the build first. Treat “best” as a goal-based recommendation, not a permanent tier ranking.

The following index combines the launch-window records checked for this page. It is grouped by how the item is reported to be acquired. A row’s presence means a guide reported it; it does not independently verify the item’s category, exact effect, or final location.

The normal location is still the Collapsed Mine chest at the left dead-end of the split path. If you reach that chest for the first time and it is already open while Shattering Stone is missing from your inventory, multiple player reports describe this as a currently known bug. Mortal Shell II developers have acknowledged the issue.

On August 24, developer XBIGY said the team has a potential fix planned for an upcoming patch. That does not mean the fix has already shipped. As of the available evidence, there is no verified, guaranteed player-side workaround. Reports are also inconsistent about whether a missing Shattering Stone affects the all-Tarstones achievement, so the achievement impact cannot be stated definitively either way.

AllThings.How reports that the Berserker’s Stone is in a Temple of Vatra offering chest and can become inaccessible after you take the Heart of Vatra and leave. Treat this as a third-party collection warning rather than a fully verified game rule: collect and confirm it before leaving the region if you are pursuing the collection trophy.

The same checklist reports that Weeping Stone, Infused Stone, Fulminant Stone, and Infested Stone are sold by The Collector during the Night cycle at Abandoned Outpost. If your final inventory is short, check this merchant before assuming a dungeon pickup was missed.

Some source-reported entries do not appear until a setup is completed:

• Clockwork Shardstone: launch the Makeshift Projectile with the Outskirts of Mammon trebuchet, then check the Alchemist’s Workshop.
• Curseblood Stone: use the Grimorium Obscurum in Forbidden Archives, then defeat the Gloombound Wraith and cleanse the route.
• Frostshard Stone: pray at the Conqueror’s Hoard statue to freeze the water, then cross to the sarcophagus.
• Inflamed Clawstone: obtain the Feeding Room Key in Gloomshade Grove, open the large door, and defeat the Rabid Grisha Pack.
• Auspicious, Siegebreaker’s, and Berserker’s Stones: source reports describe candle-offering chests; search the surrounding platforms and side paths for all three candles.

Launch sources conflict: GamesRadar reports 75, while AllThings.How reports 73 and says two inventory slots remain empty. This page uses a source-reported database until the in-game count and naming are independently reconciled.

Find the Etching Needles in Glutted Mire after the Tarblighted Shepherd and before Magdalena, then return them to Franz at the Marrow Keep Tarforge to unlock Temper Tarstones.

No. Current launch guides report that a Tarstone gains XP from enemy kills only while it is slotted in an equipped compatible weapon or sidearm.

Tarcore is part of the higher Tarstone tempering economy. The reported launch loop is one Tarcore after the 10,000-XP/100-coin step, then six Tarcores for the next 20,000-XP step.

Choose by goal: Gloombound Stone for Gloom farming, Unwieldy Stone for early sustain, Auspicious or Grudge for melee crits, Duality for compatible Axe & Dagger/Axatana light combos, and Enfeebling for a compatible sidearm Fragile setup. None is a verified universal best.

AllThings.How reports that the Temple of Vatra gates close after taking the Heart of Vatra and leaving. If you are collecting every entry, check the offering chest before progressing out of that area; keep the warning labeled as third-party until directly verified.

No. It is a launch-window, source-reconciled database of reported names and acquisition routes. Exact totals, category assignments for every row, some spellings, and some locations still need in-game verification.

• Balance Patch 1 — official Mortal Shell II Steam notes — patch-sensitive Tarstone changes.
• The best Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones and their locations — GamesRadar+ — categories, slot framing, best-pick examples, and a partial location list.
• How to Upgrade the Tarforge in Mortal Shell 2 — GameSpot — Etching Needles, XP, coin, and Tarcore mechanics.
• Every Tarstone Location for the Stoned trophy — AllThings.How — source-reported collection checklist and missable warning.
• Best Early Tarstones to Prioritize — AllThings.How — early-pick effects and locations.
• Etching Needles and Temper Tarstones — AllThings.How — corroborating upgrade route and costs.
• Gloombound Stone location — AllThings.How — Gloom farming effect cross-check.
• Tarforge guide — local five-part Tarforge context.
• Gloom farming guide — local Gloombound Stone and farming boundary.
• Balance Patch 1 — official Mortal Shell II patch notes — Parasitic, Grudge, Bulwark, Clerik’s, and Squall changes, posted 2026-08-20.