All Mortal Shell II Shells

All eight permanent Shells

A Shell is more than a health bar. Each body changes the safest defensive answer, the way a player earns or spends tempo, and the type of weapon commitment that feels comfortable. Use the roster to find a likely match, then read the individual route before leaving a Beacon.

Compare Shells

Select up to three bodies to compare their role, signature tool and beginner fit. Ratings measure early reliability, not maximum endgame power.

How to choose your first main Shell

If you dodge first

Tiel rewards mobility and creates stealth opportunities from clean evasive play. Proxima stays aggressive with a gap-closing Biosampler and a chance-based armor cushion. Both suit players who would rather control distance than absorb a full hit.

If you Harden or trade first

Eredrim turns deliberate commitments into Break pressure and fits wide, heavy weapons. Lazlo arrives later but adds predictable damage reduction and a fiery retaliation cycle. Gragu can sustain long exploration routes through defeated enemies, though his boss economy is less convenient.

If you want specialist control

Genessa's doubles distract and pressure targets, making boss attention easier to manage. Smert trades health for disruptive control and status possibilities. Sariel converts some incoming damage into recoverable Pain, rewarding a precise return to aggression. Those kits are strong only when the player respects their cost and timing.

No rating makes a Shell mandatory. The correct early choice is the body whose emergency response you can repeat. If you keep forgetting an active ability or losing the resource it needs, switch to a clearer loop instead of forcing the theory.

How this guide evaluates a Shell

Defensive clarity asks whether the kit gives a repeatable answer under pressure. Tiel's dodge-to-stealth loop and Eredrim's committed Harden plan are easy to describe, even though they demand different reactions. Smert and Sariel can produce stronger specialist turns but make health management part of the decision.

Resource independence asks what the body needs before its signature tool is available. A route full of normal enemies supports Gragu's sustain better than an isolated boss. Genessa's doubles and sidearm-heavy plans depend on a clean Resolve cycle. A beginner rating falls when the player must manage several interlocking conditions before seeing value.

Weapon tolerance measures how many animation rhythms fit naturally. Proxima can close gaps for several short or balanced weapons. Eredrim makes a slower weapon commitment more manageable. Specialist bodies may have excellent best pairings but feel less comfortable when the desired pickup is still several regions away.

Recovery after error is different from raw durability. Lazlo's predictable reduction helps absorb mistakes; Sariel's Pain can be recovered only if the player safely returns to offense; a random armor chance cannot be treated as guaranteed. The guide rates the decision loop, not an isolated health value.

Efficient unlock route

Tiel and Proxima are the best first comparison because both sit in early Fainweald routes and represent different styles: evasive stealth versus pursuit and control. Gragu asks for the Heart of Vatra, while Eredrim sits beyond the Warden at the Citadel of Penance. Those four let a new player compare mobility, aggression, sustain and stability before Mammon.

Smert's Offerings of Blood are near Prophet's Rest. Genessa requires recovering Sester's Censer and returning it to Marrowkeep. Lazlo waits beyond Vellen in the Royal Crypts, and Sariel is an encounter inside the Chamber of Becoming. Treat these as objective chains, not casual roadside pickups.

Unlock order should follow present need. If the current Shell and weapon already solve regular routes, finishing one regional gate may be more valuable than collecting another unbonded body. If the build repeatedly fails for the same defensive reason, take the nearest Shell that changes that response and test it before committing upgrades.

A repeatable Shell test

Return to the same Beacon and fight the same common enemy, elite and small group with each candidate. Use the same weapon and consumables. Record how often the Shell's active tool was available, whether its passive changed a real outcome, and how much healing remained at the end of the loop.

Then test one boss opener. Do not judge full damage; judge whether the body makes the first dangerous sequence easier to read and answer. A Shell that performs well on a route but loses its resource engine in an empty arena may remain your exploration choice without becoming your boss choice.

Finally, compare attention cost. If a passive works naturally while another kit requires constant meter, health and status tracking, that difference matters. Mechanical potential only becomes practical power when the player can still watch the enemy and arena. Keep the test notes beside the Beacon name so a later patch or bond upgrade can be compared against the same baseline rather than remembered vaguely.

Why Harros is not in the permanent roster

Harros appears during the prologue and introduces the Foundling to inhabiting a warrior's body. That sequence grants the Iconoclast, Naylshotte and Untarnished Seal. The main game then tracks eight permanent Shells that can be found, bonded and developed. Treating Harros as a ninth collectible Shell creates incorrect achievement and completion counts.

This distinction matters for route planning. You do not return later to build Harros through the same eight-Shell collection system. Use the prologue to learn parry, Harden and weapon timing, then make the first long-term body decision after reaching Marrowkeep and Fainweald.

Bonding and upgrade plan

Do not spread early resources evenly. Take one Shell to a point where its main loop becomes dependable, then keep a reserve while testing a second body. A permanent unlock and maximum bond are separate completion states; the achievements for unlocking every Shell and watching every memory demand different work.

Read the current tooltip at the Shellkeeper because patch values can drift. Prioritize the upgrade that supports the body's signature response, then a survivability or resource option, then specialist damage. Test one upgrade on the same route before buying another. That produces evidence you can use instead of a build assembled from names alone.

Shell FAQ

Continue the route