Mortal Shell 2 Endgame Push: Endless Core and the Tarforge Cap

The endgame of Mortal Shell 2 is a resource problem, not a skill problem. Once you can explore freely, two systems gate the ending and everything after it. One is the Tarforge: weapons freeze at level 16, Tarstones need a separate XP loop, and your Shell perks are gated behind Glimpse-funded Bond Tiers — though since the Aug 29 Week 1 Update those funding limits are far looser than they were at launch. The Endless Core is the linchpin of that side. Feed it to the Tarforge before Zmey and your best armaments finally push past +16. The other is Ova collection, which is the actual finale unlock and most first-run players under-count. This guide documents both: the verified Tarforge pickup route, the real upgrade-material tiers (which differ from some early summaries), and the Ova-to-Mether’s-End loop that decides when your save moves into New Game Plus.

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Table of Contents

1. The Real Endgame Loop: Ova, Mether’s End, and NG+
2. Prerequisites and Tarforge Unlock Order Before the Endgame
3. Step-by-Step Route to the Endless Core in the Hidden Nave
4. Cap Mechanics, Material Conflicts, and Glimpse Limits
5. Maxed Loadout Payoffs and the Pre-Zmey Checklist

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The Real Endgame Loop: Ova, Mether’s End, and NG+

The Endless Core is an item, not a mode. The thing that actually ends your save is Ova — the collectible you feed into the Gloom Siphon at Marrow Keep.

• What Ova is. Singular Ovum; Chinese databases log it as 圣卵 (“holy egg”), which is why English summaries sometimes say “Holy Eggs”. It is a pickup, not a currency, boss, or vendor token. Game8’s story breakdown has the Harbinger’s whole purpose framed as “searching for the rest of the Ova that is littered around the overworld”.
• How you collect it. Ova comes from purifying zones and killing bosses. Fextralife’s Endgame page adds the scaling that matters: the more Ova you have turned in, the better the odds the trip itself succeeds.
• The numbers. 168 Ova unlocks the finale; 196 exist in the game, and all 196 are required for the Ova trophy that platinum routes depend on (Chinese trophy lists name it 把圣卵还给我). Sources: 139y 圣卵 guide, Gamersky 白金攻略, 9game 奖杯攻略.
• Where you turn it in. The Ova nursery / Gloom Siphon (幽质虹吸器) in Marrow Keep. Resting at a Beacon does not count a zone as purified, so a “cleared” region on your map may still be holding Ova.
• What sending does. Choosing “Send Ova” pushes the save forward into New Game Plus — the Harbinger is tasked with finding more Ova again, per Game8. You are not forced straight in: you can beat the final boss, keep playing, finish the collection, and only then enter NG+ (Gamersky platinum notes).
• The other exit. A second Baghead ending (tied to the NPC logged in Chinese sources as 袋头 and the item 特制私酿酒) does not force NG+, but it must be triggered before the main ending. (whisperofthehouse endings)

Practical read: bank Ova before you touch the finale. If you want the platinum, 196 of them means every zone properly purified, not just the boss kills — which is exactly why the Endless Core run is worth doing first, since a +20 weapon makes the Ova-farming sweep cheaper than a repeat pass would be.

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Prerequisites and Tarforge Unlock Order Before the Endgame

• Required items: Muradean Actuator, Obsidian Lathe, Etching Needles, Foundry Stone, Endless Core (the five Tarforge items).
• Prerequisites: Reach the Unfound Path, the final major dungeon, which opens after defeating at least 5 of the 6 Corrupted Gate bosses. The Hidden Nave beacon appears only after you clear the corrupted tendrils in that zone.
• Recommended level/gear: This is a true endgame step. Collect the first four Tarforge items during normal exploration; save the Endless Core run for right before Zmey.

The Tarforge in Marrow Keep is operated by Franz. Deliver items to him to unlock functions. Kill Franz instead and all four main functions unlock instantly, with the items then paying out bonus smithing stones (reported with no downsides in testing). [Unverified: the kill-Franz trade-off is undocumented by most guides and should be treated as optional]

Tarforge item	Unlocks	Verified location
Muradean Actuator	Enhance Weapons	Fainweald / handed to Franz
Obsidian Lathe	Enhance Sidearms	Mine dungeon; shoot device above gate to exit
Etching Needles	Temper Tarstones + Tarcore	Glutted Mire dungeon, SE Fainweald, chest past Ruk before Magdalena boss
Foundry Stone	Smelt Equipment (refunds materials)	Ruins of Mammon, near Outskirts of Mammon beacon, chest by the wall
Endless Core	Removes all upgrade level caps	Hidden Nave beacon, Unfound Path (final dungeon)

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Step-by-Step Route to the Endless Core in the Hidden Nave

1 Progress through the Unfound Path

Location: Unfound Path, final major dungeon. Action: Clear all corrupted tendrils blocking the route. This reveals the Hidden Nave beacon in the middle of the zone, just before the final boss. Outcome: The beacon becomes enterable.

2 Enter the Hidden Nave and trigger the torch

Location: Hidden Nave beacon interior. Action: Find the first bonfire in the tunnel. Run to the far side to a second bonfire, then return to the first. A torch will have appeared there. Pick it up. Outcome: The torch reveals a hidden path through the fog.

3 Descend to the Endless Core altar

Location: Red-lit caves beyond the fog. Action: Carry the torch through the fog, follow the sloping path downward, and drop off the ledges to the bottom. Loot the chest at the stone altar. Outcome: You obtain the Endless Core.

4 Handle the Gloom doorway first

Location: Nearby chests in the descent. Action: Before looting the surrounding Gloom chests, interact with the doorway that demands you offer all carried Gloom. Do it first, then collect the resources. Outcome: You keep the Gloom instead of losing it to the doorway’s tax.

5 Feed it to the Tarforge

Location: Tarforge in Marrow Keep. Action: Deliver the Endless Core as the fifth Tarforge component, then use the Enhance Weapons option on any +16 armament. The item’s own tooltip is the instruction: feed it to the Tarforge to remove the level cap. Outcome: The +16 to +17 path unlocks, and Games.gg and Gamersky both report the ceiling landing at +20. The Core only needs feeding once.

Note: The beacon is named “Hidden Nave” by Gaming ProMax, All Things How, and Sports Rant, but “Hidden Knave” by GameRant and a second All Things How article. Treat the exact spelling as unresolved.

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Cap Mechanics, Material Conflicts, and Glimpse Limits

The weapon upgrade ladder uses specific stones per tier band. Early community summaries that list Laterite as the +1 to +5 stone and mention a “Quenching Acid” for max level do not match the sourced tier table below, so use this verified version:

Tier band	Material	Verified use
+1 to +5	Ventrium	Lower-tier upgrades (most common, early game)
+6 to +10	Laterite	Mid-tier upgrades
+11 to +15	Dorsalite	Higher-tier upgrades
+16 to +20	Thoracium / Ossinite	Near-cap and final levels; Ossinite unlocked with the Endless Core
Any tier	Coins	Paid alongside stones for every upgrade

Upgrades are permanent unless you use the Foundry Stone’s Smelt function, which reverts a weapon to base and refunds all spent materials.

Tarstones run on a separate system. They gain XP only while slotted in an equipped weapon or sidearm as you kill enemies. Once a stone hits its threshold, level it at the Tarforge, spending Coins and earning Tarcore that higher tiers then consume. Arbiter’s Prize is the headline example: its Bloodcurse infusion goes from 4 strikes (L1) to 8 strikes (L2) to permanent (L3), a scaling worth building toward for any Shell.

Glimpses are the Shell-side currency. They raise Bond Tier (I to IV), which unlocks higher perk bands and improves revive efficiency. They come from chests, cleansing Corrupted Beacons, and certain NPC interactions (such as the Grisha Pup in Mushroom Village).

Update note (Aug 29 Week 1 Update): launch-era guides — including this one — called Glimpses finite and non-refundable, with “about two Shells per run” as the working budget. That is no longer true. The single-playthrough hard caps on Glimpses and Tarcores were removed, and Mether’s Severance (restocking from the merchant Merrick, used at Zhirelle) refunds every Glimpse poured into a Shell so the points can be redeployed. A focused first run can now develop more than a pair of Shells, and a misallocated Bond Tier is a repairable mistake rather than an NG+ sentence. Full route and cost breakdown: Mether’s Severance respec guide.

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Maxed Loadout Payoffs and the Pre-Zmey Checklist

Source	Reward
Hidden Nave (Endless Core)	Weapon/sidearm cap removed; push to +20 with Ossinite
Etching Needles	Tarstone Tempering + Tarcore for maxed stones
Foundry Stone	Smelt to refund and reassign materials freely
Maxed Arbiter’s Prize	Permanent Bloodcurse on your main weapon
Gloom Siphon, Marrow Keep (168 Ova)	Unlocks the finale; “Send Ova” commits the save to NG+
Zmey, the dragon	Final boss; clear after full endgame prep

Recommended maxed endgame combination, synthesized from the verified Shell builds: take your preferred main weapon (Axatana for Lazlo, Iconoclast for Eredrim, or Axe and Dagger for Tiel) to +20 via Ossinite, slot a maxed Arbiter’s Prize for permanent Bloodcurse plus Duality Stone for doubled hits, and keep Retribution Stone or Deadeye Stone in support depending on melee versus ranged focus. The exact “best” combo is build-dependent, so treat this as a framework rather than a single mandated set. [Unverified: optimal endgame combo ranking is synthesized, not source-listed]

Pre-Zmey checklist: (1) all five Tarforge items delivered or Franz killed, (2) Endless Core fed to the Tarforge, (3) main weapon at +20, (4) core Tarstones tempered to L3 with Tarcore banked, (5) target Shell at Bond Tier IV via Glimpses, (6) spare Ossinite and Coins stocked for the fight, (7) Ova turned in at the Gloom Siphon up to the 168 threshold if you are finishing the run.

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