Hello adventurers! By now, you’re either interested in the new Action RPG, Mortal Shells, or you’re playing it now and getting your butt handed to you. Thus you googled how to survive in the game and ended up here. Not to fret, as we’ve provided some words of wisdom on how to survive in this new harsh world of Mortal Shell. These tips will help keep you safe, alive, and, hopefully, see you to the end of the game.
Watch the Harden meter
The Harden mechanic is easily one of your best offensive and defensive tools in Mortal Shell. However, you can’t just spam it. The ability has a short 9-second cooldown, meaning that once you use it, you’re going to need to dodge or parry while it’s on cooldown. Learn to keep an eye on the meter, as the last thing you’ll want to do is activate it but forget it wasn’t available and suffer a massive blow that kills you off.
Stamina is key
I’d say that the stamina system in Mortal Shell is brutal. There’s no way to change how much you use or no gear to remove to lessen the strain. So you’ll need to pay attention to the stamina meter as well because if you don’t, then you’re likely to die. In most games, such as Dark Souls you’re low on stamina; you can manage to get one “give me” dodge, but not so much here.
Take your time
Even if you’re a veteran in other games similar to Mortal Shell, I implore you to take your time. The combat, while similar, has enough differences to catch you off guard if you aren’t paying attention. Take it slow, get a feel for the enemies as each one has a unique tell on when they’re going to attack you. If you figure those out, you’ll do better than just randomly hitting the attack button.
You only get a second chance, use it wisely
When you die in Mortal Shell, it isn’t always the end unless you fall off a cliff and plummet to your doom. Instead, you’re knocked out of your Shell and can reclaim it, thus giving you both full health and another chance to survive. However, you’ve knocked out and used up your second chance; that’s it. If you get knocked out again, it’s game over. What’s more, even if you reset the game, it still keeps track of your second chance usage. Dying completely is the only way to regain your second chance. Well, dying and a specific item, that is.
Master the Dodge Mechanic
Dodging in Mortal Shell is key to survival, at least I think so. There are two ways to escape a bad situation; Dodging and Backstepping. A dodge is just that, a quick step in either the left or right direction. A button tap will sidestep, but if you tap the button twice, you’ll extend that to a dodge roll and cover more distance. Backstepping, however, is a more useful tool as it has some invincibility to it. Much like the harden mechanic, when you do a backstep, you’ll be invincible for a split second which allows you to escape damage from both melee and ranged attacks. You’ll also see harden visual effects while backstepping. It does have a very short window but if you master it, it makes the game that much easier.
Master the Parry and Riposte mechanics
While parrying in Mortal Shell does impose some risks, such as you getting the timing wrong and getting smacked in the face, it also is very rewarding. While you’re able to gain more parry abilities as you progress through the game, the first one you acquire early on is regarding your health on a successful parry and riposte. So you’ll want to master this as I found this came in very handy during my time with Mortal Shell. It has saved my life countless times, and it will do the same for you.
Use healing items sparingly
If there’s one place where Mortal Shells sticks it to you, it’s with the healing items. Unlike other games, you don’t carry around a flask of Sunny D or any other instant heal items. Instead, you’ll have to depend on finding items on the ground such as Roasted Rat (YUM!) Mushrooms are called Welcap and others. But even then, these are heal-over-time items, not instant heal. They’re also hard to come by, as the Rat on the Stick is RNG, while the Welcaps can be found just about everywhere; they have a long reset time. I found it best to locate a Welcap and just sit and wait for it to spawn, and repeat as needed. It’s better to have healing items than none at all.
Learn the differences between each of the shell
There are four different shells in Mortal Shell, each with a vast number of differences. Some have more health, but less stamina, others have more useful offensive abilities, and others focus on survival. When you locate a shell, take some time to get familiar with what it can do instead of just equipping it and not liking it later.
Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade
Mortal Shell employs a simple upgrade system that lets you buff your weapon and gain abilities that are unique to the shell you’re using. When choosing your shell abilities, pay attention to what each offers, and go for the ones that focus on survival. Such abilities include the kick, which knocks almost all enemies to the ground for some easy damage, or those that make your harden cooldown shorter.
There are more things to learn and master within Mortal Shells, but hopefully, these starting tips will have you on your way to beating the game!
Mortal Shell releases on August 18th, 2020, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Why not check out our review of the game, while you’re here?
