Mortal Shell 2: How to get the Axe and Dagger

The Axe and Dagger is one of the first weapon acquisitions in Mortal Shell 2 after your starting longsword, the Iconoclast. Especially handy with Tiel's skillset, they're not as strong as other weapons, but can massacre an enemy's health bar at a very fast pace.

Finding the Axe and Dagger is tricky, however. They're hidden within the Chapel of Mushroom Village, but to get into that place, you first need the Chapel Key. In this guide, we'll spill all the details, telling you exactly how to get the Axe and Dagger in Mortal Shell 2. We'll also provide some handy pointers for making the most of this deadly attack duo.

On this page:

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.

Manage cookie settings

How to get the Axe and Dagger

To get the Axe and Dagger, you need the Chapel Key to open the locked Chapel in Mushroom Village. From the Mushroom Village Beacon, head rightwards until you can see several Babka old ladies dancing around a bridge. Kill them and cross over; there will be more Babkas dancing around a pyre.

Blast the Babkas away and then check out the archway nearby. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

Once all of the crazed grandmas are dead, take note of the archway near the pyre. Step around to the other side of it and peer through the archway - you'll see a large kneeling statue that wasn't there previously. Step through, and the magic of the archway will manifest the statue into reality.

Surprise, surprise! Whenever you see an archway in this game, always try walking around it to see if things appear differently. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

There's a rope hanging from the statue; interact with it to get the Chapel Key. With the key in tow, go to the Grisha Hunter Camp in western Mushroom Village and use the Chapel Key to open the Chapel Door.

Enter the Shrine of Trials via the Chapel door in the Grisha Hunter Camp. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

Opening the Chapel door leads to the Shrine of Trials. You'll first need to contend with four cultists standing near the entryway. Once they're dead, examine the statue in the centre of the room; a message on it says: "Gaze upon your king so true, back and back you shall pass through."

Ominous! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

This is another example of Mortal Shell 2 featuring illusory magic. Take the hint, face the statue, and walk backwards. Doing so makes you move right through the wall.

The next room has two Wraiths, including one in an iron maiden, a stand-like statue, and a pressure plate on the ground.

A puzzle where you need to clearly activate the pressure plate. Not hard once you realise that hitting the statue makes it move (took me a while, I admit). | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

Hitting the statue will move it around; your goal is to position it onto the pressure plate to open the door. (I was also able to sneak through the door by using Tiel's Shadow form without fiddling with the statue, but this may have been a bug. Either way, it won't work in the next room.)

Dispatch the enemies in the next room, then take notice of another two pressure plates on the ground, with two statues to move around. This time, you'll need to hit the statues around to make sure they land atop both plates.

Another puzzle. Such a cerebral dungeon! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

• Position yourself so you're standing behind both statues, and the pressure plates are in front of you as well.
• Hit the left statue to move it northwards, so that it's in between both pressure plates.
• Walk up to the left statue and hit it to the left to activate a pressure plate.
• Return to your original position behind the right statue and hit it leftwards. Then hit it northwards, so that it collides with the other statue. Finally, carefully stand behind it and hit it northwards one more time to land on the remaining pressure plate.

Once that's done, the doorway will open, and the following room reveals an armoured Brigand Knight. Kill him and then loot the Axe and Dagger from the statue in the room. You've done it!

The last guy standing between you and the Axe and Dagger. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

How to use the Axe and Dagger

The Axe and Dagger let you slice real nice. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Playstack

The Axe and Dagger are speedy combat tools designed to chip away at enemy health at a steady clip, letting you generate lots of Resolve all the while. They certainly don't do much damage compared to bigger weapons, including your starting Iconoclast, and they won't stagger enemies much. But they're awfully quick and don't have any windup delays, meaning you're in less of a vulnerable position when it comes to tackling bosses and hulking foes.

Tiel is an easy choice for the Axe and Dagger, since it's his iconic weapon in all of the game's artwork, and his Shadow Strike playstyle emphasises speedy strikes. Combine the Axe and Dagger with the Serpent Stone Tarstone and the Magdalena's Momento Tarstone (earned by killing Magdalena, the Lady of the Woods) if you can. The latter infuses the weapon with poison, which goes very well with a Tiel poison build, while the former lets you unleash a spiralling attack that's great when you're surrounded.

The Axe and Dagger versus Mortal Shell 1's equivalent A fun fact from Jeremy

The Axe and Dagger in Mortal Shell 2 is a reinvention of the Hammer and Chisel from the first Mortal Shell. If you played that game, you might recall that the Hammer and Chisel was potentially OP and capable of stunlocking enemies into submission in Tiel's hands, thanks to its very low Stamina requirements.

Since Mortal Shell 2 has no Stamina bar, many weapons are less broken, and the Axe and Dagger isn't nearly as powerful as it used to be. It's still a damn fine weapon duo, nonetheless!

Well done, you now know how to get the Axe and Dagger in Mortal Shell 2. For another awesome weapon that you should locate as soon as possible, check out our guide on how to get the Lute. If you're more interested in quests, we've also got guides on how to complete Gorf's questline and Hilga's questline. Last but not least, be sure to bookmark our list of all bosses and our comprehensive walkthrough!