u/Dinesh_Sairam

I'm close to 10 hours into the game. Ever since I unlocked Issen and then later Chain Issen, I have been obsessed with understanding their timings so I can execute them more often. At least 2 of these 10 hours was spent in the training grounds, trying to land Issen and Chain Issen against regular enemies and bosses.

I think I've finally figured out a fool-proof way of executing them. I mean, they're still difficult to execute, but I've discovered a few tips which make landing them easier.

• Issen: Enemy weapons (Including bosses' weapons) glow hot white before hitting you. The levels of brightness of this white seems to be depend upon how powerful the blow is. For instance, the regular sword bearing enemies do an overhead two-handed slice, where the sword glows the brightest for a split second. The Issen execution window is right after this glow. You need to click the attack button a fraction of a second after the glow disappears.
  • The counterpoint to that is, the white glow is less obvious on regular attacks (Like light thusts or slices). Plus, these come out way too fast anyway. I've figured that it's better to either parry or deflect these attacks because trying to execute an Issen on them will only mess you up.
• Chain Issen: When you land an Issen on an enemy, Mushashi's sword glows hot white for a brief second. It starts when the sword is hits the enemy's body and continues through a little bit once it's outside. Thankfully, there's also an audio cue when the sword slices through the enemy's body. The timing for the Chain Issen is to hit the attack button as soon as you see the sword glowing and you simultaneously hear the audio cue.
  • If done correctly, the camera will pan out and highlight a random enemy with a red dot. You need to press the attack button again to execute the Chain Issen. You can extend the chains to more enemies via the skill tree, but the pattern remains the same every time the Issen / sword strike lands.

That being said, I'm still not landing them perfectly. I can land an Issen close to 75% on the heavy attacks and then Chain Issen on about 40-50% attempts. They're tough to land for sure, but feel amazing when you do land them.

EDIT: I forgot to add that there's at least one early game boss whose weapon does not glow. I mostly relied on parries on that one, though landing an Issen is definitely possible there.

"What we wanted to do is have a separate set of achievements for the Slayer Seal than the normal playthrough, and they would be sort of mutually exclusive. And our original vision for Slayer Seal wasn't just an easy mode, but also like, an alternate game mode, to experience the game in a whole different way. And so even if you're a hardcore player, to go back and play again with the Slayer Seal, earn those additional achievements."

"We didn't know that since we have a disc version of the game that was simultaneously shipping with the [digital] version, all those achievements were defined like months, months and months ago. And we came to find out that, oh you can't change these anymore. They're like, locked in on the consoles.

"And we were like, there isn't any for the Slayer Seal, and that was supposed to be the whole thing. So we ended up kind of cornered there, where we had to lock all the achievements at some point."

— Andrew McLennan-Murray, Co-founder and Game Director at Cold Symmetry.

After about 5-6 hours of playing the Advanced Access, I've realized that the Infinite Seal is not at all worth it.

The enemies in the main game hit 2-3x as harder compared to the Demo, not to mention that there are multiple enemies who are harder in general owing to their variety of attacks.

While I loved using the Infinite Seal in the Demo, it's no longer a favorable risk-reward to use it in the main game. In the Demo, whiffing an Infinite Seal parry meant taking 10-20% of damage or 20-30% against tougher foes. In the main game, it's more like 50% even against some of the regular enemies and straight up 70-80% against the tougher ones. You'll be practically dead unless you are at full HP at all times. The Infinite Seal's parry simply takes too long to 'reload' once you whiff it.

The other problem is that the combat system is not at all made for taking on multiple enemies at once, and the Infinite Seal just makes it that much worse. I've multiple ocassions where I whiff a parry and receive attacks from two different enemies at the same time, effectively kicking me out of the shell. That rules out using the Infinite Seal for general exploration, which sucks.

Unless the 'reload' window for the Infinite Seal is reduced drastically, I see no point in using it. Once you whiff a parry, the Harbinger holds the knife high above his head. There should be an animation to bring it back down quickly to trigger another parry window. However, I don't know how realistic it is to expect the Devs to include an entirely new animation in the game post launch.

Possibly the only use for the Seal right now is in fights where you've memorized all the attack patterns of the enemy (I did use it sucessfully one time against >!the Grisha!<). Even then, you need to practice fighting the enemy a little more to adopt the parry window for the Seal. It is too much effort for little reward and a whole lot of risk.

I am personally alternating between the Untarnished Seal and the Vatra Seal, with a slight preference towards the Untarnished Seal. I think the parry window provided by the Untarnished Seal is generous for my taste, but at least it does not mean death when I whiff a parry one time.

I was looking for something fresh and short to play over the week while waiting for Mortal Shell 2 (Post which, I know I will stop playing everything else). However, I didn't want to stray too far from the souls genre.

Given all this, I picked up Thymesia and also it was available at a huge discount on Steam (I got it for like GBP 3.99). I just completed the first area, and it's been good. The combat is fantastic, but everything else is kind of meh.

What are you playing?

First of all, thank you Cold Symmetry and Playstack for such an elaborate Demo!

I've just completed the main content and all the challenges Mortal Shell 2 Open Beta. Here's my honest feedback about the game.

I'm ignoring commentary on some common bugs (Ex: Enemies not spawning in corrupted statues, getting stuck off bounds, collision detection issues, items getting unquipped automatically) and hope that they will be fixed in the full game.

What works for me in Mortal Shell 2

• Environment: The dark fantasy vibes of the game is fantastically crafted. I haven't played the mainline souls games. But I likened it to the environment in Lies of P, and I loved that game.
• Level Design: Even though it was a short exploration, I liked what I saw. I could see early signs of intriguing world-building and lore. I'm confident the full game will handle it well.
• Enemy Design: The enemy variety (Including bosses) even in this very short demo was appreciable. Even their movesets were completely unique. I can't wait to see all the different types of enemies in the full game.
• Combat: The combat system is amazing. I normally love games with a fast-paced combat system, like Sekiro or Khazan. But somehow MS2's slow and heavy combat flow just works. Be it meele combat, parry, or ranged combat - all of them feel like they have a sense of weight to them. It's awesome!

What I wish could change in Mortal Shell 2

• Too Generous Parry: I love the Parry look and feel in MS2. But I feel like the parry windows are too forgiving. In my opinion, the Untarnished Seal's parry window should match the parry window granted by the Infinite Seal (Maybe even a tad bit lower than that). The Infinite Seal can be reassigned to a different combat use (Why do we need two different Seals for Parry?)
  • Also, someone on this subreddit opined that Parry should be available by default (i.e., Without the use of Seals) and I kind of agree with that too. In that case though, the Poise Break granted by Parries should be reduced.
• Lack of Autonomy in Levelling Up: I noticed that levelling up automatically allocates points across your stats. I think in classic souls fashion, letting players have full autonomy with allocating them works best (i.e., If I want to upgrade attack and resolve first without investing into health for a risky playstyle or vice versa). Each level should allow players to invest 1-2 points into Health, Resolve, Attack, Ranged Attack, Poise Break build up, or Shell Points.
• Character Movement: The main character seems to be always floating an inch above the ground, and his gait is the same regardless of whether he's walking on water, rock, or earth. There should be more weight to his steps, variety in gait based on environment and maybe adding sounds to movement could help.
• Unbalanced Boss Difficulty / Build Progression: The first boss (Tar Golem) was amazing. But the bosses after that seemed to slowly reduce in difficulty to the point where I was able to dispose of the final boss in like 10 seconds. Either boss difficulty curve is too slow, or the skill/build progression is too fast. I hate fighting a HP sponge just as much as I hate being a freaking nuclear bomb. These should be more balanced.
• Limited Combos: Of course, the Open Beta has only 2 weapons. But I felt like they had a limited number of combos. So far, I've just been using the 4-move light attack, the jump attack and the ocassional heavy attack. I know a couple of the Tarstones grant new moves, but even that's limited. There should be at least 5-6 different combos for each weapons class, apart from the default light/heavy combos, to clearly set them apart. Players could practice them with Sister Genessa before heading out into the world.
• Better Effect Descriptions: The Beta has shown multiple effects like Poison, Perforation, Burn etc., But their description should exactly lay out what they do. For instance, I had no idea Perforation is similar to Bleed until I read a post on this subreddit.

My personal wishlist

These are things which are not in the game, and honestly do not affect my view of the game. But they could add a lot to my personal enjoyment of it.

• Auto Loot: Include a menu option to enable auto loot. I don't mind picking up unique items. But things like gold coins should be part of auto loot.
• Familiarity System: I did not play Mortal Shell 1. But one of the systems MS1 had is apparently the familiarity system related to items i.e., You had to consume items to slowly reveal their effects and unlock their full potential. That sounds fantastic. I didn't see it in the Beta. But hopefully it is present in the full game.
• Weapon Skill Tree: Everyone loves a good skill tree. The character level-up is already done from the Beacons. But I wish there was a weapon skill tree (Even if it's a relatively small one) that can be slowly unlocked by interacting with Sister Genessa.
• Overworld Shell Interaction: Each Shell should have 1-2 unique abilities outside of active combat. For instance, equipping Tiel could enable a stealth kill on enemies and it could also grant Poison Resistance. Plus, some of the Beacon Cleansing challenges should be accessible only while equipping a certain shell.
• Unique Combat based on Shell: This request may be too much to ask, but a man can dream. I wish shells had unique deflect and riposte animations. Further, there should be synnergines between specific weapons and shells. But like I said, I don't think it's possible to include in the game at this point. Maybe in Mortal Shell 3.
• Fast Travel between Beacons: As much as I appreciate the awesome teleporter on top of the temple, allowing players to travel between Beacons is a bare minimum requirement.
• Beastiary / Lore Journal: The Harbinger cannot speak. That's why I think it would be cool if there was a journal section in the menu, where he records lore bits and notes on enemies. I'm not sure if the game has side-quests. If it does, it should go on the journal as well.

That being said, the good news is that the positives outweight the negatives for me. I have already pre-ordered the Devout Edition, and can't wait to play it. But if some of the above changes are incorporated, I will be a much happier man.

Once you 'die' in the fight, the game saves only after the cutscene.

Do what you will with this information.

Currently, both of these seals have the same use case: Enabling Parry. But I felt like the Untarnished Parry is too generous and the Infinite Parry, while more difficult to execute, is essentially the same thing. The other two Seals found in the Beta have a completely different purpose. So why do 2 Seals enable the exact same mechanism?

That's why I thought of something that solves both of these problems (Granted, they're my problems).

• The Untarnished Seal should have a smaller parry window. In fact, the parry window for the Infinite Seal is a perfect reference.
• The Infinite Seal should be reassigned to a slightly different usage. One cool possibility is somewhat similar to the 'Clash' mechanic from Wuchang or the 'Counter' mechanic from Khazan. Essentially, you use a Light Attack to time and meet the enemy's strike right in the middle. In MS2, this should trigger an increased Poise Break build up and a large amount of stagger. It's just that the method of execution is different and plays like whole new mechanic.

What are your thoughts on the Untarnished Seal and the Infinite Seal?

I completed my NG some time back with the "Dream's Sweet Deceit" ending. I was playing blind for the most part and didn't care about achievements or anything of that sort.

I've now played through NG+ and just completed the Avian area. I'm about to head into Zhenwu Temple.

I only have the 'Sage' trophy and the trophies related to the other 3 endings left to get. I originally intended to get all these trophies in successive NG cycles. But Mortal Shell 2 is about to drop, and I can already tell from playing the Open Beta that I'm going to switch to that game as soon as it drops in about 3 weeks.

I have precious few days left with Wuchang. I wanted to ask, what's the best way for me to get all 3 endings in a single playthrough, if I'm open to save scumming?

For reference, I'm playing on a PC via Steam.

Having played the Mortal Shell 2 Open Beta, one minor issue for me was not understanding what all the combat related attributes meant.

For instance, some of the abilities and Tar Stones inflict statuses like Burn, Leech, Poison, Bloodcurse, Perforation etc.,

While I can guess what some of these will do based on previous RPG/Action gaming experience, it's better to avoid all doubts and add descriptions of what each of them do as a tool tip while exploring these objects.

I'm sure this feedback has already been provided, but let me add to the pile.

The Main Character feels like he's always floating an inch off the ground. His gait is constantly the same, regardless of whether he's walking over a rocky surface, water, or earth.

It's throwing my immersion off by a lot.

W game otherwise though

For reference, 'Corrupted Statues' are the ones which spawns waves of enemies for you to kill as a challenge (The screen goes grey until the challenge is finished).

Bug: The challenge fails to spawn enemies. It's either at the very beginning, where only 1 enemy is spawned or at the end, where instead of 3-4 enemies, only 1-2 are spawned. After defeating the enemies, the player is softlocked into the challenge arena (The arena is blocked off by an energy wall once the challenge begins and will not let up until it's complete). The only way to get out is to quit to main menu and load back in, which puts the player back at the last Beacon.

There's a Corrupted Statue right next to the Widow's Overlook Beacon. I didn't mind the bug in that location too much, since I could just run back immediately and try it again. After 3-4 attempts, I was able to complete the challenge. But there's another one of these statues inside the 'Ritual Ground' dungeon (Gloopy thing found next to where you find Tiel's body). This dungeon is quite a ways away from the Beacon and there are multiple enemies in between. After getting glitches in this challenge a couple of times, I had to quit the game for the time being since I got frustrated from all the running back.

I'm going to log off for today, but I will be back tomorrow to bash my head against it until I clear it. The silver lining is that quitting back to main menu from anywhere in the game and then loading back retains your current level of Gloom. It's like a psuedo Homeward Idol, which is neat.

I understand that this is just a Beta, and hopefully it's fixed in the final game. I just wanted to report the bug.

I just started playing the Mortal Shell 2 Beta.

Just before the first boss of the game (Gloombound Ritualist, I think), there were two paths leading up to the boss arena. I took the one up top, then dropped down. I took down the boss quite easily, and in that exileration, I forgot about the other path. I proceeded all the way until I reached the hub area (Marrow Keep).

I just remember the path I missed. But there does not seem to be a way to go back to the tutorial region.

Can I somehow go back and take the other path? Is there something important there that I've missed?