Mortal Shell 2’s gameplay mechanics aren’t as straightforward as it seems. Besides dealing with the enemies around the area, you also need to deal with certain puzzle areas and cleanse corruption. The earliest encounter with a corrupted beacon that you would probably have is after reaching Mushroom Village.
This will introduce you to the Hall of Illusions, which gives you something that you would not have been expecting in a game like Mortal Shell 2 – a puzzle.
This guide will detail how to get to the Mushroom Village Gate beacon, navigate the Hall of Illusions, and face the final boss in the dungeon.
How to Find the Hall of Illusions in Mortal Shell 2
The Hall of Illusions is available after hitting up Mushroom Village. The path towards Mushroom Village is pretty straightforward, so you should have no trouble finding the Beacon in the area. Once you are past that, you will reach the next beacon in the area: Mushroom Village Gate. You will find both beacons within the first hour of the game.
Mushroom Village Gate is unlike a regular beacon. This is a corrupted beacon, and the only way to use it as a waypoint is to cleanse it first. Interact with it to get the Cleanse Beacon option. You will be teleported to a whole new area. The starting area is linear to follow; walk ahead and step on the raised wooden platform. This will activate the elevator to take you down.
Navigating the Hall of Illusions
Step down the stairs after reaching the bottom and defeat the first enemy you find. This shouldn’t be too hard, provided you own some of the early game weapons and sidearms.
The Great Martyr’s Blade is another great pick for heavy-duty work. You can get this weapon much earlier than the Axe and Dagger if you have explored the area around the Gloomshade Grove beacon thoroughly.
In case you don’t want to waste your time defeating enemies, you can just run through the dungeon and make it to the end. A few enemies that you need to look out for are the enemies holding torches hiding around corners, as they can set you alight if you go near them.
Hall of Illusion Puzzle Solution
The trick here is to observe the wall through an archway, which reveals a hidden path, and then make sure that you walk through the archway to approach that hidden path. If, after the hidden path is revealed, you go around the archway, you will once again run into the wall. There are two of these puzzles, so follow these steps to solve them and get your hands on the reward at the end of it:
- Make your way down the stairs from the spawn point and turn left to find an archway.
- Go around the archway, not through it, so that your back faces the wall and you are looking through the archway. This will then open up what was before that a wall in front of you.
- Make sure that you walk through the arch, so that the path remains open.
- Then, walk through it and go straight ahead to find another archway on your right, next to the pylon. Go around the archway, and view through it to reveal on your right, an opening and a flight of stairs.
- Walk through the arch, and take the flight of stairs going down.
- Go left and walk up to the dead end. On your right is a wooden archway over a wall.
- Hit the wall once to break the illusion. This will lead you to the boss arena, and to trigger the boss, you just need to look up once you enter.
Defeating Vrannic, the Grand Illusionist
Vrannic has three main moves during the fight. Its main weapon is the large staff, which it will use to stab you if you get too close. Besides this, if you get too far, Vrannic will send out several homing missiles to track you down. At half health, Vrannic will summon several doppelgangers to the area, making the fight all the more challenging.
During the first stage of the fight, I used the Great Martyr’s Blade and dodge-rolled behind the boss to hit it in the back. Don’t be afraid of the large staff, as it will rarely hit you if you time your rolls correctly. My tactic was to stay as close to the boss as possible to avoid getting hit by the homing missiles. Aim for the red circle on the boss’s chest to deal the most damage. Repeat this step several times to chip away at Vrannic’s health.
Once the boss has reached half health and summons all the doppelgangers, you just need to run around and hit each one once to have the fake Vrannics disappear. Then, get close to the boss and deal the final blows to get rid of Vrannic once and for all.
Defeating the boss will unlock the Volatile Fragment. Cleanse the Corruption nearby and collect the Ova to return to the Mushroom Village Gate beacon, which will permanently cleanse the beacon for good.
