Mortal Shell 2: Summoning Stone Location in the Ashen Sanctum

The Summoning Stone is one of the more entertaining Ability Tarstones in Mortal Shell 2. Slot it into a compatible sidearm and it turns whatever you just killed into a temporary ally, at the cost of a sizable chunk of Resolve. Getting it means a short run past the Gate of Infinity beacon and a small puzzle involving two flame pillars.

Quick answer: Take the Gate of Infinity portal to the Corrupted Gate, push through to the Ashen Sanctum, light both flame pillars in the large chamber, then loot the Summoning Stone from the altar behind the opened door.

What the Summoning Stone does

This is an Ability Tarstone, so it goes on a sidearm rather than your shell or primary weapon. Activating it costs 70 Resolve and calls back the last enemy you killed to fight on your side. The summon is not permanent. It swings a set number of times and then disappears, and the number of swings is tied to the stone’s level.

Level	Effect
1	Summoned foe attacks 2 times before vanishing
2	Summoned foe attacks 5 times before vanishing
3	Summons 2 foes instead of one

The Resolve cost stays at 70 across levels, so the practical upgrade is duration first, then quantity. Because the stone copies whatever died last, its value swings wildly with the area you are in. Heavier enemies give you a meaningful body to hide behind, while weaker trash mobs mostly buy you a second or two of aggro.

Player trades hits with a burning airborne enemy as its health bar fills the top of the screen — A summoned ally pulls attention while the fight continues. Image: Cold Symmetry

Before you go: what you need

A cleansed Gate of Infinity beacon, since the run starts from that fast travel point.
Access to the Faded Citadel gate, which is how you reach the Ashen Sanctum.
A sidearm you can shoot with, for lighting the two pillars from a distance.
Enough Resolve headroom to actually use the stone once you equip it.

The Summoning Stone only fits sidearms. The Cursed Child is a confirmed compatible option, so check your sidearm slot before assuming the stone will equip.

Summoning Stone location: the route through the Ashen Sanctum

Fast travel to the Gate of Infinity beacon and enter the portal there. It drops you at the Corrupted Gate, which is the start of the run proper.

Head straight forward through the stone corridors, clearing the handful of weak enemies that spawn along the way. Climb the stairs at the far end to move into the Ashen Sanctum.

Character moves down a stone staircase in the dim ruins of the Corrupted Gate — The stone corridors of the Corrupted Gate lead toward the Ashen Sanctum. Image: Cold Symmetry

Follow the narrow cliffside path once the area name appears. Drop down where the ledge ends and cross the stone bridge on the other side.

The Ashen Sanctum area title appears on screen as the player runs through the cavern — The Ashen Sanctum title card confirms you are in the right area. Image: Cold Symmetry

The bridge opens into a large chamber holding a blue-robed spellcaster and a few other hostiles. Clear them out before you start hunting for pillars, since the caster will interrupt you mid-shot.

Armored player approaches a blue-robed caster inside the large Ashen Sanctum chamber — The blue spellcaster guards the chamber holding the first flame pillar. Image: Cold Symmetry

Find the first pillar on the platform in that chamber and strike or shoot it until the blue flame catches. That is one of the two locks on the sealed door.

Take the stairs to the right up to the second pillar, which burns white. This one needs two hits, not one. The stone door at the top of the stairs grinds open the moment it lights.

A plus one Dorsalite pickup notification appears while the player explores the upper stairs — The upper stairs also hold loose pickups such as Dorsalite on the way to the second pillar. Image: Cold Symmetry

Walk into the newly opened room and take the Summoning Stone off the stone altar inside. A pickup notification reading SUMMONING STONE confirms it, and the Tarstone appears under the Abilities category in your Tarstones menu at Level 1 with an XP bar sitting at 0 / 10000.

Equipping and firing the summon

Open the Tarstones menu, pick the Summoning Stone, and choose Equip Tarstone to bind it to your sidearm. From there the ability fires the same way any other sidearm ability does, drawing 70 Resolve each time. Kill something first, then trigger it, otherwise there is nothing for the stone to copy.

Choose your last kill deliberately in mixed groups. Finishing off the biggest enemy in a pack before you trigger the summon gives you a far more useful ally than finishing off a straggler.

Upgrading the Summoning Stone at the Tarforge

Upgrades run through Franz at the Tarforge in Marrow Keep, but his higher upgrade tiers stay locked until you hand him the Etching Needle. That quest item sits in a bone 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 reach the small side area holding the chest.

After that, levelling is a matter of use. Keep the Summoning Stone equipped and kill enemies as you explore to fill its XP bar, then return to Franz and pay coin for the next level. Each upgrade is a separate cost, so the jump to two simultaneous summons takes a while.

How it fits into the Tarstone collection

Mortal Shell 2 has 75 obtainable Tarstones, and 73 of them are required for the Stoned trophy and achievement. The Summoning Stone is not missable, so you can pick it up in free roam after the final boss if you skipped past the Ashen Sanctum earlier. Only the Berserker’s Stone is currently at risk of being permanently lost, and the two spare Tarstones mean the trophy survives even that.

You can carry ten Tarstones at once, split between four shell-compatible slots and two each for Combat, Infusion, and Ability. Since the Summoning Stone occupies one of those two Ability slots, it competes directly with the rest of that category, and players have been swapping combinations around to find pairings that hold up in longer fights.

Don’t sleep on this weapon + tarstone combo
byu/xCANNIBAL-DESIREx inMortalShell

Treated as a panic button rather than a core damage source, the Summoning Stone earns its slot. A single extra body swinging at a boss buys you the window to heal or reposition, and once it reaches the level that spawns two, the distraction lasts long enough to matter.