You might have picked up a Tarstone or two early on while venturing out in Mortal Shell 2. At first, it might not be clear what to do with them. But after unleashing the power of the Tarstone, you will want more of that power. The only way to further enhance Tarstones is to visit the Tarforge. But this is where your quest might end, as the option to upgrade Tarstones will be locked without the right tool.
This guide will give you a quick overview of how to unlock the Tarstone upgrade from the Tarforge, find the Etching Needle, and the resources required to upgrade the Tarstone.
How to Reach the Etching Needles Location in Mortal Shell 2
The Etching Needles is available after progressing to Mushroom Village. From Mushroom Village, make your way to Mushroom Village Gate, then head up to the Sunken Village beacon, where you would have met up with the Wandering Shepherd miniboss at the Glutted Mire.
Defeating the Wandering Shepherd
If this is your first time here, from the beacon, go across the bridge to reach the Wandering Shepherd. This boss is easy to defeat as long as you keep your eye on the Wandering Shepherd at all times. The boss won’t attack, but will send out its sheep minions to attack you instead.
My choice of weapon for this fight is the Axe & Dagger, since it gives me enough time to evade the sheep and quickly step up to the boss. As far as possible, ignore the sheep and go straight for the boss. Dealing combo moves will effectively lower its health before the boss teleports to another section of the arena.
Continue to chase down the boss and keep dealing combos until you manage to chip away at its health. Occasionally, you might turn into a sheep. If that happens, just run around until the effect has worn off, then deal with the boss. Once defeated, look around the arena and break the large wooden crates near the fence to reveal a gap. Squeeze through the gap and break down the other set of crates ahead.
Make your way down the bridge to find Ruk and have a brief conversation with it. A bit further away, on your right, is the chest that contains the Etching Needles. For a better understanding of the location, it is close to the Magdalena, Lady of the Woods boss fight arena.
Using the Etching Needles
Head back to Marrow Keep and visit the Tarforge. Interact with Franz at the forge and hand over the Etching Needles. Then, interact with the Tarforge itself and select the Temper Tarstones option. This option won’t work until you have some Tarstones at hand, and you also need to earn XP with them before you can upgrade them.
Earning Tarstone XP and Upgrading Tarstones
To earn Tarstone XP, equip them on your character before heading out for exploration and battle. You don’t need to use the Tarstone ability, as killing enemies and bosses will fill up the XP meter as long as the Tarstone is on your character. Once the XP meter has been filled, you will get a message that says Tarstone Tempering Ready.
Visit the Tarforge and spend Coins to upgrade the chosen Tarstone. Each upgrade tier will require more Coins, which you can easily farm from enemies. It is better to unlock Night Mode, since enemies will offer more rewards for defeating them. After upgrading a Tarstone from level 1 to 2, you will get 1 Tarcore in return and a Tarstone that offers a slightly higher effect.
How to Use Tarcores
Tarcores will be a requirement along with Coins to further upgrade a Tarstone from level 2 to 3. Each time you upgrade a Tarstone from level 1 to 2, you will get 1 Tarcore. The most effective way to farm more Tarcores is to level up the XP of all your Tarstones and upgrade them to level 2.
Then, use the Tarcores on those Tarstones that will help your character build better. Each upgrade from level 2 to 3 will require 6 Tarcores, so pick your most valuable Tarstones for the upgrade. After that, you will own the most powerful version of your favorite Tarstone, and you can further enhance it at the Tarforge if you have the resources for it.
