Mortal Shell 2: How to Get the Axatana Dual Swords

The Axatana is a dual-wielded weapon in Mortal Shell 2 that fights as a pair of twin blades and morphs into a heavy axe during its Morph Attack. It sits inside a locked room in the Forgotten Tower, a hidden pocket in the southeastern corner of the map. There is no quest or story gate on it, so you can grab it as soon as you can reach Marrow Keep.

Quick answer: Teleport to the Outskirts of Mammon, chain the Bone Gates through Castigator’s Keep to the Forgotten Tower, pull the lever on the side of the final building to open the gate, then walk into the room and pick up the Axatana behind the guarding enemy.

Requirements before you set out

You do not need to level up or upgrade anything first. The only cost for dying on the run is losing Gloom, so you can retry the route as many times as you need. Most of the enemies along the way are slow, which means you can sprint past them instead of fighting.

If you would rather have the location pinned on your overworld map, Merrick sells the Axatana map at Marrow Keep for 1100 Coins. Buying it is optional. The path below reaches the weapon without it.

Route to the Forgotten Tower

From Marrow Keep, take the elevator and head south. The way forward is blocked by corruption. Interact with it to cleanse it, then use the warp terminal to travel to the Outskirts of Mammon.

Leave the Outskirts of Mammon beacon and follow the path toward the Road of Absolution. Sprint past the hostile enemies on the bridge and keep moving until you reach the first Bone Gate.

Use the first Bone Gate to teleport to Castigator’s Keep. A Mammon Knight guards the way ahead. Bait its rolling attack by moving one direction, then cut back the opposite way as it starts to roll, and slip past.

Head right and up the stairs if you want to light the Castigator’s Keep beacon as a checkpoint. Otherwise, go left and follow the wooden path, ignoring the Foul Knights and Babkas, until you reach the second Bone Gate.

Take the second Bone Gate. As soon as you arrive, turn left and step onto the geyser to launch up to the higher ledge.

Character triggers a water ability on a ruined stone platform surrounded by trees near the upper ledge — The upper platform reached from the second Bone Gate, before dropping down toward the third gate. Image credit: Cold Symmetry / via @PazarGamingGuides

Keep going left and drop down the ledge where the Babkas and Faceless Clerics are waiting. Sprint straight past them to the third Bone Gate, which drops you at the Forgotten Tower.

TRAVERSE prompt on screen as the armored character approaches a marked ledge to cross into the tower area — A traversal prompt marks the crossing on the way into the Forgotten Tower. Image credit: Cold Symmetry / via @PazarGamingGuides

Inside the Forgotten Tower, head left immediately and run up the stone stairs. At the top, look to your right and go through the opening flanked by two torches.

Continue up the stairs and use the ledge on the right to drop down to the fourth and final Bone Gate. Take it to reach the last area, where the weapon room sits.

Open the gate and collect the Axatana

Move to the side of the building and pull the lever. This lifts the gate blocking the room where the Axatana rests. You will see the on-screen line “A gate has lifted” when it works.

Step inside. A dual-sword enemy guards the room, sometimes referred to as the Dual Blade Assassin. You can shoot it with your sidearm to soften it up, but defeating it is not required to claim the weapon.

Player aims the Fire sidearm at the guarding enemy whose red health bar is shown in the chamber — Aiming the sidearm at the enemy guarding the Axatana room; killing it is optional. Image credit: Cold Symmetry / via @PazarGamingGuides

Walk to the alcove behind the enemy and pick up the Axatana from the ground. You can leave the area the moment it is in your inventory.

Player character holds the Axatana twin blades in a combat stance inside a dim stone chamber — The Axatana equipped in the stone chamber, ready to switch between twin blades and its heavy axe form. Image credit: Cold Symmetry / via @PazarGamingGuides

You will know the pickup registered when the Axatana appears in your weapon list with its description, “A pair of twin blades, crafted to transform into an axe.” Equip it and the Morph Attack lets its light-attack twin katanas shift into a heavy axe swing. If you try to equip it while it is already your active weapon, the game shows “Weapon Already Equipped.”

Note: If the gate does not open, you have not pulled the lever on the correct side of the building. The lever is the only trigger for that gate. Backtrack to the last Bone Gate landing and follow the wall around until you find it.

Axatana upgrade materials

Upgrade the Axatana at the Tarforge in Marrow Keep once you have the materials and Coins. Each level raises its damage multiplier, moving from Ventrium at the low end to Laterite and then Dorsalite at the top ranks.

Level	Materials	Damage
+1	Ventrium x2, Coin x100	105%
+2	Ventrium x2, Coin x100	110%
+3	Ventrium x4, Coin x300	115%
+4	Ventrium x9, Coin x500	120%
+5	Ventrium x13, Coin x1000	125%
+6	Ventrium x18, Coin x1250	130%
+7	Laterite x2, Coin x2750	135%
+8	Laterite x4, Coin x2750	140%
+9	Laterite x9, Coin x3500	145%
+10	Laterite x13, Coin x4250	150%
+11	Laterite x18, Coin x5000	155%
+12	Dorsalite x2, Coin x5750	160%
+13	Dorsalite x4, Coin x6500	165%
+14	Dorsalite x9, Coin x7250	170%
+15	Dorsalite x13, Coin x8000	175%
+16	Dorsalite x18, Coin x8750	180%

Recommended Tarstones for the Axatana

The Axatana slots well with a spread of Tarstones across Ability, Combat, and Infusion types. These four cover its strongest setups.

Tarstone	Type	Why it fits
Hexapod Core	Ability	Spends Resolve on a rapid string of dual-blade strikes.
Duality Stone	Combat	Makes light-attack combos strike twice.
Voltaic Crown	Infusion	Infuses the weapon with Lightning damage.
Torpor Stone	Infusion	Optional Stasis infusion for crowd control.

With the twin blades in hand you have one of the more flexible weapons in the game early, able to switch between fast single-target pressure and the heavier axe swing on demand. Because the run carries no progression lock, it is worth making the trip well before you would normally reach the southeastern map, then upgrading it later as your Ventrium and Laterite stocks grow.