The Tar Golem is the first big wall in Mortal Shell 2, and it sits right in the prologue where most players expect a fight they can’t win. It looks scripted because the encounter ends on its own, with a cutscene where your Shell sacrifices itself no matter how the battle goes. That cutscene hides a reward: drop the boss low enough and you pick up the “No, You Still Can’t Win” bronze trophy.
Quick answer: Take the Tar Golem to its minimum health during the prologue fight. The trophy unlocks even though the same defeat cutscene plays and the story continues exactly as it would if you had lost.
What triggers the No, You Still Can’t Win trophy
The trophy fires the moment the Tar Golem reaches its minimum health. You do not get a normal victory screen. Instead the boss slams both weapons into the ground, your Shell is destroyed, and the same cutscene plays that you would see if the fight had ended against you.
Beyond the trophy, nothing changes. The story keeps moving, and the prologue continues as normal. So if you are not chasing completion, there is no penalty for letting your Shell break on the first attempt.
To reach the arena, head from the final Beacon you cleansed in the opening area straight to the boss. A cutscene starts the encounter automatically.
How to get another attempt without replaying the prologue
Because the fight feels like a one-shot event, missing the trophy can look like it means starting the prologue over. It doesn’t. Both PC and PS5 have a way to reset the encounter.
PC: Close the game before it saves
Alt + F4 to force-close the game during that cutscene. This stops the outcome from being written to your save.PS5: Use a PlayStation Plus backup save
How to beat the Tar Golem
The Tar Golem has a small moveset, but its hits are heavy and each attack demands a specific answer. The key is knowing which swings to deflect and which to dodge, because deflecting the wrong move gets you punished.
| Attack | Response |
|---|---|
| High jump into an unblockable slam | Do not deflect. Dodge out of the way. |
| Double weapon slams, one after another | Deflect both to build the Stagger meter and set up a Riposte. |
| Leap backward, then a dashing unblockable lunge | Dodge to the side, then punish with a few hits. |
Landing successful deflects on the slam combo is your main damage window. Each one feeds the boss’s Stagger meter, and a full meter opens it up for a Riposte that deals a big chunk of damage.
Once the Tar Golem drops to roughly half health, its attacks start dealing Fire damage. Getting clipped in this phase keeps draining your health after the initial hit, so play it safe and prioritize clean dodges over greedy swings.
Your sidearm is one of your strongest tools here. It chunks the boss for solid damage, and landing melee hits restores Resolve, so you can keep firing it throughout the fight. Cycle melee for Resolve, then spend it on sidearm shots.
How to confirm the trophy unlocked
You’ll know it worked when the “No, You Still Can’t Win” bronze trophy pops right as the boss falls and the defeat cutscene begins. If it doesn’t appear, the Tar Golem simply wasn’t taken to its minimum health, so use the PC or PS5 reset above and lower it further on the next run before the encounter ends.
