Mortal Shell 2: How to Complete the Hall of Illusions

The Hall of Illusions is an optional dungeon you can tackle early in Mortal Shell 2, tucked into the Mushroom Village region. It leans on a couple of portal tricks and a hidden wall before ending with a short, manageable boss. Finishing it hands you the Volatile Fragment Tarstone and opens the road toward the Glutted Mire.

Quick answer: Revive the Beacon by the corrupted gate east of Mushroom Village to enter the dungeon, step through both illusion doorways, break the far wall in the sealed room, then look up to trigger Vrannic. Kill his walking clone to end the fight and collect the Volatile Fragment Tarstone.

How to enter the Hall of Illusions

The entrance sits at a Beacon near the corrupted gate to the east of Mushroom Village. Revive the Beacon, rest at it, and choose to enter to drop into the dungeon. This is the same Mushroom Village Gate Beacon you cleanse later to reach the Glutted Mire, so it is worth activating regardless.

Note: The Axe & Dagger weapon can appear here, but it is a coin toss with the Shrine of Trials. Don’t count on the Hall of Illusions for it. The guaranteed reward is the Tarstone at the end.

Solve the portal doorways

Fight through the enemies filling the opening hall. Keep pushing until the corridor ends at a dead-end that holds nothing but a lone doorway standing in the middle of the passage.

Harbinger approaching a hostile enemy in the dark opening hall of the dungeon — Cut through the enemies in the entrance hall before reaching the first doorway. Image via Cold Symmetry.

Move to the far side of that doorway so your back is against the wall, then look through the frame. Step through it. A pylon now appears on the opposite side of the room.

Walk to the pylon to find a second doorway. Pass through this one as well, and the path forward opens up.

The second doorway leads into a closed room with no obvious exit. Clear out the enemies inside, then head to the wall directly opposite the entrance and hit it. The illusory wall breaks and reveals the next room.

Hooded character approaching a glowing, smoke-emitting vessel in a stone dungeon room — Strike the wall opposite the entrance to dispel the illusion and continue. Image via Cold Symmetry.

Trigger the Vrannic boss fight

The next room looks empty apart from a breakable Gloom root. If you turn around, you’ll see the entrance has vanished too. The only way out is to look up. Vrannic, the Grand Illusionist, is standing on a wooden platform overhead. The moment you spot him, the floor drops away and you land in his arena.

Player character climbing stone steps toward a hooded figure on a raised platform — Look up in the sealed room to reveal Vrannic and start the fight. Image via Cold Symmetry.

How to beat Vrannic, the Grand Illusionist

Vrannic only has two attacks for the first half of the fight, which makes the opening simple. Close the distance so he can’t pepper you with projectiles, then dodge or parry his slow, heavily telegraphed staff swing. His melee strike is unblockable in some forms, so watch the wind-up and roll through it.

Red lock-on reticle on Vrannic the Grand Illusionist during the boss battle — Stay close during phase one to avoid Vrannic’s projectile spam. Image via Cold Symmetry.

At half health, Vrannic disappears and fills the arena with clones of himself. They flood the screen with projectiles, but each copy dies to a single hit, so cut through them quickly and preferably with melee to keep the screen clear.

Keep dispelling the fakes and the real Vrannic reappears. You can spot him easily because he’s the only version that walks around and uses a melee attack. The clones stay rooted and only throw projectiles. Finish off the moving one to end the fight. If you cleared the clones with melee, you’ll likely have enough Resolve to blast him apart with your sidearm.

Rewards and how to confirm completion

Killing Vrannic drops the Volatile Fragment Tarstone. Any enemy you kill with a ranged attack while it’s equipped explodes, dealing damage to and staggering nearby foes, which makes it strong against packs of weak enemies. You’ll see a “New Tarstone Acquired” prompt confirming the pickup.

New Tarstone Acquired notification showing the Volatile Fragment reward — The Volatile Fragment Tarstone confirms you’ve cleared the dungeon. Image via Cold Symmetry.

Clearing the Hall of Illusions also unlocks the gateway to the Glutted Mire. On top of that, the two items previously blocked by corrupted roots in front of the Glutted Mire gate become reachable. Grab both for 2x Glimpses, which you can spend to learn more about the game’s Shells.