Mortal Shell 2: How to Unlock Weapon and Sidearm Upgrades

Weapon and sidearm upgrades in Mortal Shell 2 are gated behind two key items rather than being available from the start. You have to find each item, carry it back to the Tarforge in Marrow Keep, and hand it to Franz. Only then can you spend coins and crafting materials to strengthen the armaments in your inventory.

Quick answer: Grab the Muradean Actuator from a chest inside the Village Outskirts Beacon during the prologue, get the Obsidian Lathe from a chest in the Martyr’s Tomb dungeon southeast of the Widow’s Overlook Beacon, then give both to Franz at the Tarforge in Marrow Keep to unlock main weapon and sidearm enhancements.

The two items that unlock upgrades

Each upgrade type is tied to its own item. The Muradean Actuator switches on main weapon enhancements, and the Obsidian Lathe adds sidearm enhancements. You need both before Franz can service your full loadout.

Item	Unlocks	Where to find it
Muradean Actuator	Main weapon enhancements	Chest inside the Village Outskirts Beacon (prologue)
Obsidian Lathe	Sidearm enhancements	Chest in the Martyr’s Tomb dungeon, southeast of the Widow’s Overlook Beacon

Get the Muradean Actuator for main weapon upgrades

The Muradean Actuator comes early and is almost impossible to skip, since the prologue routes you straight through the area that holds it.

Reach the Village Outskirts Beacon during the prologue. This is where the game teaches you Beacon cleansing, which sends you into a short mini-dungeon that ends at a corrupted Ova.

Village Outskirts Beacon menu with the Cleanse Beacon option selected — Image: Cold Symmetry

As soon as you enter the Beacon, look ahead before you reach the elevator that drops you deeper. A chest sits right there in your path.

Open the chest to pick up the Muradean Actuator. If you already cleared the prologue and want to double-check, you can fast travel back to this Beacon and confirm the item is in your inventory.

Inventory screen showing the Muradean Actuator and its objective to bring it to Franz — Image: Cold Symmetry

Get the Obsidian Lathe for sidearm upgrades

Sidearm enhancements need the Obsidian Lathe, which you can only reach after the prologue once the world opens up. The chest also contains the Parasitic Stone, a Tarstone, so the trip is worth making even before you plan to upgrade.

Travel to the Widow’s Overlook Beacon and head southeast. Pass the Arbiter boss arena and keep moving toward the ruins on your right.

Continue straight into the small camp ahead if you want to grab your first Shell along the way. The ruins hold the Martyr’s Tomb dungeon, which is where the Lathe is kept.

The Martyr's Tomb area title appears as the character enters the dim cavern — Image: Cold Symmetry

Inside the Martyr’s Tomb, deal with the enemies that rush you at the entrance, then turn left. Wooden boxes block a Gloom plant here. Break the boxes to expose a small switch on the wall.

Interact with the switch to raise the nearby gate, then step into the room it opens. Open the chest inside to claim the Obsidian Lathe along with the Parasitic Stone.

The exit seals behind you the moment you enter this small room. To get out, aim your sidearm at the mechanism above the door and shoot it, which opens the gate again.

Hand both items to Franz at the Tarforge

The Tarforge is the machine in Marrow Keep that handles all gear upgrades, and Franz is the smith who tends to it. Delivering the two items to him is what flips on the enhancement options.

Return to Marrow Keep with the Muradean Actuator and Obsidian Lathe in hand. From the Beacon, move toward the Gloom Siphon room and take the left path that climbs upward to the Tarforge, where Franz is working.

Give Franz the Muradean Actuator to unlock main weapon enhancements.

Hand over the Obsidian Lathe next to add sidearm enhancements to the Tarforge’s menu.

Franz's interaction menu with the Obsidian Lathe option highlighted — Image: Cold Symmetry

Operate the Tarforge from the other side and open the upgrade menu. You will now see Enhance Weapons and the sidearm option available, confirming both features are unlocked.

Tarforge Upgrade Equipment menu with Enhance Weapons highlighted — Image: Cold Symmetry

Note: There is a second way to unlock these features. Franz can be killed without stopping the Tarforge from accepting the two items, and doing so drops extra crafting resources you would not get otherwise. Killing NPCs is generally best avoided, but this one does not lock you out of upgrades.

Spend coins and crafting materials to upgrade

With both features active, every compatible weapon and sidearm in your inventory can be improved at the Tarforge. Each upgrade draws from your stock of coins and smithing materials, so keep gathering resources as you explore. Ventrium is one of the materials tied to these enhancements, and coins are required alongside it.

Once you have unlocked both item slots and confirmed the Enhance options appear in the Tarforge menu, you are set for the rest of the game. From that point on, upgrading is simply a matter of returning to Franz whenever you have enough materials to push your favorite weapon or sidearm to the next level.