Mortal Shell has been scratching the community's Dark Souls itch since mid-August. An unforgiving game designed to punish reckless mistakes and impatient attacks seem to be the formula for an addictive high fantasy RPG. Thankfully, Mortal Shell does a good job of condensing the vast customization options of the Souls franchise into three basic stat fields: Health, Stamina, and Resolve.
Which a much more streamlined character build mechanic, Mortal Shell forces players to grow accustomed to one of four playable warriors instead of crafting their own from the ground up. Players begin as a Foundling and venture into an interconnected open world with nothing but an old sword in hand. Thankfully, players will come across the corpse of Harros, the Vassal right off the rip. They will enter his body, dawn his armor, and now have a fighting chance as they search for three other fallen warriors. This guide will walk players through the best way to build Harros as they progress through the game.
Each body in Mortal Shell comes with its own predetermined stats. For example, Tiel, the Acolyte is tailored to have high stamina at the cost of HP. Contrarily, Solomon, the Scholar sacrifices some stamina for an increase in HP and resolve. Harros’ stats are even across the board. This makes him the perfect early game character to develop and advance the story. His baseline stats offer players the chance to determine their play style and then choose which other Shell they may have more fun with.
After taking a few serious beatings, players will finally find Sister Genessa. For those equating everything about this game to Dark Souls, she’s the Fire Keeper, and she works the exact same way. Players will spend their Tar and Glimpses in order to choose from a wheel of different abilities. First and foremost, players must discover (in-game) the name of their hero. At the cost of 500 tar, players will learn Harros’ name along with a little bit of backstory. Now for the real fun. Harros, like every other shell, has 7 personalized abilities to choose from. Each shell also shares the same 3 abilities at the bottom of the wheel. Below are all of Harros’ abilities equipped with a short description on how they are best applied in-game.
Accretion of Foresight - Gaining a glimpse has the chance to restore some HP.
Accretion of Dominance - For a short time after hardening, enemies killed have a chance to drop an additional glimpse.
Accretion of Resolve - Hardening cooldown is reduced by 25%.
Accretion of Endurance - Hardening Causes Harros’ stamina to rapidly refill.
Accretion of Ascent - Killing two enemies in quick succession resets your harden cooldown.
Accretion of Inheritance - Hardening lasts for twice as long upon being broken.
Accretion of Yearning - Adds a chance for enemies to drop an additional glimpse upon death.
Finally, Harros shares the same 3 abilities (Recollections) with the other shells:
Recollection of Strength - Put your enemies off balance with a powerful kick.
Recollection of Knowledge - Harden in the air to create a devastating area of impact upon landing. Foes killed by the blast may drop an additional glimpse.
Recollection of Death - Regain last chance upon defeating enough foes.
Harros, The Vassal should be focused on hardening and glimpse farming. Extra glimpses will allow players to ‘level him up’ quicker than other Shells. Remember, glimpses do NOT transfer between shells. However, once maxed out, Harros could realistically buy Glimpse of Affection from the merchant, switch shells and crack it. Affection costs 6 and grants 5.
Mortal Shell is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox & PC