Mortal Shell II Tarstones Guide: Types, Slots & How to Upgrade

Quick answer

Image source: PlayStation Store — Equipment interface visual. Pending final media review.

Tarstones are equippable build modifiers in Mortal Shell II.

The open beta showed four categories:

• Support
• Combat
• Infusions
• Abilities

GamesRadar documented 14 Tarstones during the beta, but the same guide explicitly said more were expected for the full launch. That means 14 should never be written as the retail game's total.

The full-game upgrade process is much more useful for a launch guide. The Outerhaven's Advance Access coverage says:

1. Find the Etching Needles.
2. Return to Marrow Keep.
3. Give the Etching Needles to Franz at the Tarforge.
4. Use a Tarstone until it maxes its current level's XP.
5. Spend Gold at the Tarforge to upgrade it.
6. Equip it again and continue earning XP toward the next level.

What are Tarstones?

Image source: Playstack — Build/combat illustration. Pending final media review.

Tarstones are collectibles that change how a build behaves.

Beta coverage showed Tarstones affecting areas such as:

• survivability,
• posture or Break pressure,
• weapon behavior,
• infusions,
• and active abilities.

That makes them closer to a build layer than a simple collectible checklist.

A player searching for Tarstones may be trying to answer one of four different questions:

1. What do Tarstones do?
2. Where do I find a specific Tarstone?
3. Which Tarstones are good for my build?
4. How do I upgrade them?

This page should answer the system questions, while individual location pages can handle high-intent item searches later.

The four beta Tarstone categories

Image source: Steam / Cold Symmetry — Beta-era gameplay visual; category screenshot candidate listed separately. Pending final media review.

GamesRadar split the beta Tarstones into four groups.

Support

Beta examples included:

• Deadman's Stone
• Shattering Stone
• Siegebreaker's Stone
• Marksman's Stone

These generally represented supportive or broadly useful build effects in the beta.

Combat

Beta examples included:

• Parasitic Stone
• Volatile Fragment

Infusions

Beta examples included:

• Arbiter's Prize
• Emberseed Stone

Abilities

Beta examples included:

• Shrike Stone
• Tarblighted Trophy

These names are useful as research anchors, but the final retail database should use the launch inventory screen as the source of truth.

How many Tarstones are in the full game?

The safest answer today is:

More than the 14 shown in the open beta; the full retail total should be counted from the launch build.

GamesRadar was explicit that the 14-item list was a beta list.

This is one of the most important corrections to make because search pages often turn a beta number into a permanent full-game fact.

Do not write:

Mortal Shell II has 14 Tarstones.

Write:

The open beta included 14 Tarstones.

Then replace that sentence once the retail collection is fully counted.

How did Tarstone slots work in the beta?

GamesRadar reported a beta layout of:

• four Support Tarstones,
• two Combat-related slots,
• two Infusion slots,
• and two Ability slots,

for up to ten equipped Tarstones in the beta setup.

It also described main-weapon and sidearm distinctions for some categories.

Because slot rules can change during balance passes, treat this as beta system context, not a permanent launch rule until the retail UI is checked.

For the final article, include one full inventory screenshot that shows every slot at once.

How Tarstone XP works

Image source: AltChar — Gameplay illustration hosted by AltChar. Pending final media review.

GamesRadar reported that equipped Tarstones gained experience during the beta as enemies were defeated.

The beta did not allow the player to complete the full upgrade loop, but the launch build does.

The Outerhaven's Advance Access guide explains that a Tarstone must first max out its current level's XP before you can spend Gold to improve it.

So the basic loop is:

equip → use → earn XP → reach current cap → spend Gold → level up

That is a much better evergreen explanation than copying the beta's Level 1 state.

How to unlock Tarstone upgrades

Image source: Maxi-Geek — Progression-route illustration hosted by Maxi-Geek. Pending final media review.

Tarstone upgrading is not available automatically at the start.

You need the Etching Needles.

Step 1: Find the Etching Needles

Image source: Yahoo / CG Magazine — Dungeon-route illustration; exact chest/Needles images listed in scrape-candidates.yaml. Pending final media review.

The Outerhaven places the Etching Needles inside a Cleansed Gate route.

Its Advance Access route references the Mushroom Village Gate / Glutted Mire area and a chest reached after progressing through the gate.

This route is specific enough that the published article should not simply paraphrase it.

Replay it in the launch build and capture:

• the starting Beacon,
• the Cleansed Gate entrance,
• the route split,
• the relevant mini-boss or landmark,
• the bridge/chest area,
• and the Etching Needles pickup.

Step 2: Return to Franz

Image source: Video Games Plus — Launch-world illustration; exact Franz image listed in scrape-candidates.yaml. Pending final media review.

After obtaining the Etching Needles, return to:

Marrow Keep → Tarforge → Franz

Give the item to Franz.

That unlocks the Tarstone upgrade option.

Step 3: Max the Tarstone's current XP

A Tarstone cannot simply be upgraded repeatedly with Gold from zero use.

The Outerhaven says the Tarstone must first max out its current level XP.

Keep the stone equipped and continue using the build until it reaches the cap.

Step 4: Spend Gold at the Tarforge

Once the XP condition is met, interact with the Tarforge and spend Gold to improve the Tarstone.

Then continue using it to build XP toward the next level.

Do not confuse Tarstone upgrades with weapon upgrades

This is an important distinction.

The Outerhaven's separate Tarforge guide says weapon upgrading requires a different key item:

Muradean Actuator

Tarstone upgrading uses:

Etching Needles

Both systems involve Franz and the Tarforge, but they are not the same unlock.

A concise comparison:

Upgrade system	Key unlock item	Location used
Weapons	Muradean Actuator	Franz / Tarforge
Tarstones	Etching Needles	Franz / Tarforge

That comparison is useful because a player may repair the Tarforge for weapons and still wonder why the Tarstone option is unavailable.

Beta Tarstone examples

The beta guide listed a number of specific Tarstones, including:

• Parasitic Stone
• Arbiter's Prize
• Emberseed Stone
• Deadman's Stone
• Shattering Stone
• Marksman's Stone
• Volatile Fragment
• Siegebreaker's Stone
• Corroded Stone
• Shrike Stone
• Tarblighted Trophy
• Magdalena's Momento

Do not treat that as the full retail list.

Instead, use it as a seed list for a launch database.

Best database structure for Tarstones

Tarstones are an excellent candidate for structured content instead of one enormous article.

Track:

Field	Purpose
Name	Exact retail name
Category	Support / Combat / Infusion / Ability if unchanged
Effect	Exact in-game wording
Level	Current tested level
XP requirement	Record from UI
Gold cost	Record by level
Location	Region / dungeon / Beacon
Requirement	Boss / key / gate / quest
Best Shells	Add only after testing
Best weapons	Add only after testing
Verified at	Build/date
Inventory image	Tooltip evidence
Location image	World-route evidence

That database can later power:

• All Tarstones
• Tarstone Locations
• Best Tarstones
• Tarstones by Category
• individual item pages
• Shell + Tarstone build pages

Which Tarstones are best?

Do not turn a beta list into a launch tier list.

The best Tarstone depends on:

• your Shell,
• your weapon,
• your sidearm,
• your preferred combat loop,
• the Tarstone's current level,
• and the encounter.

A reliable launch strategy is to test a Tarstone's effect before ranking it.

Launch-build verification checklist

Before publication, capture:

• Full Tarstone inventory and slot layout.
• Category names.
• A Level 1 Tarstone with XP progress.
• Etching Needles pickup.
• Cleansed Gate route landmarks.
• Franz at the Tarforge.
• Tarstone upgrade menu.
• Gold cost.
• XP cap before upgrade.
• The same Tarstone after upgrade.
• Retail total once the collection is complete.

FAQ

How many Tarstones are in Mortal Shell II?

The open beta contained 14, and GamesRadar explicitly expected more for the full launch. The retail total should be counted separately.

What are the Tarstone categories?

The beta used Support, Combat, Infusions, and Abilities. Confirm the category names and slot layout in the retail UI before final publication.

How do you upgrade Tarstones?

Find the Etching Needles, give them to Franz at the Marrow Keep Tarforge, max a Tarstone's current XP, then spend Gold to upgrade it.

Why can I upgrade weapons but not Tarstones?

The systems use different unlock items. Weapon upgrades use the Muradean Actuator, while Tarstone upgrades use the Etching Needles.

Sources

• Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones explained - GamesRadar
• How to Upgrade Tarstones - The Outerhaven
• How to Repair the Tarforge - The Outerhaven
• Mortal Shell II on Steam