Mortal Shell 2 Duality Stone: Location, Effects, and Upgrades
Where to grab the best dual-wield Tarstone in the Ruins of Nochte, and how its double-strike effect works.
Where to grab the best dual-wield Tarstone in the Ruins of Nochte, and how its double-strike effect works.
by Pallav Pathak
The Duality Stone is the standout Tarstone for anyone running the Axe & Dagger or the Axatana in Mortal Shell 2. It is a Combat Tarstone that slots into your primary weapon and makes your standing light attack combo hit twice, which is exactly what those fast dual-wield weapons want. You can pick it up fairly early, tucked away in the Ravaged Tomb dungeon in the Ruins of Nochte.
Quick answer: The Duality Stone is in a chest at the end of the Ravaged Tomb dungeon in the Ruins of Nochte, in the southwestern part of Fainweald. From the Nochtean Gate Beacon, ride the elevator southeast down to the dungeon entrance, solve the sliding-slab puzzle, then open the chest beneath the hanging corpse.
Image credit: Playstack
What the Duality Stone does
The Duality Stone makes the light attacks of the Axe & Dagger and Axatana strike twice instead of once. That roughly doubles your light-attack damage, and it also doubles your chances to land a critical hit on the same swing. The extra hits stagger enemies faster and trigger status effects more often, which is why it is the go-to Tarstone for dual-wield builds.
Which attacks double depends on how far you have upgraded the stone. It starts with just the opening hit and expands across the full combo as you temper it.
Upgrade tier
Light attacks that strike twice
Base
First attack in the combo
Upgraded
First and second attacks
Fully upgraded
Every attack in the light combo
Note: the double-strike only applies to the standing light attack combo. Heavy attacks and running light attacks are not affected. Even so, the extra damage stacks up quickly during long boss fights where you need sustained pressure.
Image credit: Playstack / GosuNoob
Open the Citadel of Penance first
Before you can reach the Ravaged Tomb, you need access past the Citadel of Penance, and that means grabbing the Citadel Gate Lever. The lever drops from the Bloodcursed Lithopod, a miniboss found just south of the Gloomshade Grove Beacon.
Drop into the pond below the Gloomshade Grove Beacon and make your way toward the entrance of the Ravaged Hideout dungeon. Beat the Bloodcursed Lithopod there to claim the Citadel Gate Lever.
Clearing the miniboss guarding the route toward the Citadel of Penance. Image credit: Playstack
Use the lever to open the gate to the Citadel of Penance, then follow the path to your left. You will reach a bridge guarded by pairs of stone throwers and halberd-wielding knights.
Jump off the ledge to your right. At the bottom, a bone gate leads to Baghead’s camp, and past that, a second bone gate opens onto the outskirts of Nochte. Take the right-hand bone gate exit to reach the Ruins of Nochte faster.
Route to the Ravaged Tomb
The Ruins of Nochte enemies hit hard, but they are easy enough to sidestep if you do not want a fight. Keep moving along the main path, and you will loop toward the dungeon entrance.
Entering the Ruins of Nochte, the flooded region that holds the Ravaged Tomb. Image credit: Playstack
Push through the water and stone paths, working around the bridge mechanism, then climb toward the castle camp. Clear or slip past the spear-wielding enemies stationed along the way.
Pushing past the camp enemies on the climb toward the Nochtean Gate Beacon. Image credit: Playstack
Follow the main path until you hit a closed gate. Pull the lever beside it, and the entrance to the Ravaged Tomb sits to your right. If you prefer a beacon, use the nearby elevator to reach the Nochtean Gate Beacon.
The map area around the Nochtean Gate Beacon, with the Ravaged Tomb sitting just southeast. Image credit: Playstack
If you fast travel to the Nochtean Gate Beacon later, head southeast and ride the elevator down. The Ravaged Tomb entrance is in the room at the bottom.
Dropping into the flooded lower area that leads into the Ravaged Tomb dungeon. Image credit: Playstack
Solve the Ravaged Tomb puzzle and open the chest
The dungeon itself is short. The only real obstacle is a quick puzzle that opens the gate blocking the main path to the Duality Stone.
Go through the newly opened gate and strike the stone slab so it slides across the room. It comes to rest on the pressure pad that controls the locked gate on the main path. You will see the “A gate has lifted” prompt confirming it worked.
Moving through the corridor that opens after the slab lands on the pressure pad. Image credit: Playstack
Follow the corridors to the end of the dungeon. The Duality Stone waits in a chest directly beneath a large hanging monster’s corpse. Loot it to add the Tarstone to your inventory.
How to upgrade the Duality Stone
To push the Duality Stone past its base effect, you need the Etching Needle, a quest item that expands the Tarforge upgrade options at the Marrow Keep. Hand it to Franz to unlock the higher tiers.
Grab the Etching Needle from a chest just before the Magdalena, the Lady of the Woods boss fight. When you spot Ruk past the bridge, drop through the opening and turn right before the tunnel to find a small area with a bone chest.
Equip the Duality Stone and kill enemies to fill its experience bar. A good routine is to clear a dense group of enemies near a beacon, return, and repeat until the XP bar is full.
Return to Franz in the Marrow Keep and spend Coin to temper the stone to the next level. Each upgrade widens how much of your light combo strikes twice, ending with the full combo doubling every hit.
Image credit: Playstack
Tip: tempering Tarstones also feeds the Tarforge’s crafting resources, so keep a few stones in rotation rather than funneling everything into one. That keeps your resources flowing while the Duality Stone works its way toward its maximum effect for your Axe & Dagger or Axatana build.
