Mortal Shell 2: How to Level Up Tarstones
Leveling a Tarstone in Mortal Shell 2 involves two separate actions that the game does not explain particularly well. You first build XP by keeping the Tarstone equipped while killing enemies, then return to the Tarforge and manually temper it once the XP requirement is full. A stone showing 10,000/10,000 XP is ready for its first upgrade, but it will remain at level 1 until you complete that second step.
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Tarstone Leveling Explained
Unlock Tarstone Tempering
How To Earn Tarstone XP
Upgrade A Tarstone To Level 2
Upgrade A Tarstone To Level 3
How To Level Tarstones Faster
Tarstone Not Leveling Fixes
Why Does A Tarstone Stay At Level 1 With Full XP?
Tarstones do not increase their level automatically when their XP bar fills. Reaching 10,000/10,000 XP only completes the combat portion of the first upgrade. The yellow or flashing level-2 indicator means the stone is ready to be tempered at the Tarforge.
Return to Marrow Keep, interact directly with the Tarforge, and choose Temper Tarstones. Select the individual stone with the completed XP bar and pay the required Coin to finish the upgrade. Every Tarstone must be tempered separately, even when several become ready at the same time.
If Temper Tarstones does not appear in the forge menu, you have not unlocked that function yet. Speaking to Franz or delivering an unrelated Tarforge component will not unlock every part of the machine; Tarstone tempering specifically requires the Etching Needles.
How To Unlock Tarstone Tempering
The Etching Needles are found in the Glutted Mire beyond Mushroom Village. Begin at the Mushroom Village Gate Beacon and pass through the Cleansed Gate directly behind it. Continue through the Mire until you reach the shepherd miniboss encounter.
After defeating the shepherd, break the large crates near the gate and squeeze through the newly revealed opening. Follow the route across the bridges until you reach Ruk near the approach to Magdalena, the Lady of the Woods. Open the nearby chest to collect the Etching Needles.
Return to Marrow Keep and give the Etching Needles to Franz beside the Tarforge. Interacting with the machine should now display Temper Tarstones as a selectable function. This unlock remains available for the rest of the playthrough.
How To Earn Tarstone XP
Tarstones gain XP from enemy kills while they are part of your active loadout. Support Tarstones must be equipped on your character, while Combat, Infusion, and Ability Tarstones must be slotted into a compatible weapon or sidearm that you have equipped. A stone left in your inventory receives no progress.
You do not need to trigger a Tarstone ability or repeatedly activate an Infusion to earn its XP. Killing enemies while the stone is properly equipped is enough. This matters because repeatedly casting a low-level Infusion may feel like the intended leveling method, but the activation itself is not what advances the bar.
Weapon compatibility can prevent a stone from being equipped in the first place. Combat, Infusion, and Ability Tarstones may only work with certain weapons or sidearms, so settle on equipment that supports the stones you want before committing to the grind. Our Mortal Shell 2 weapon tier list compares the eight primary weapons and the playstyles each one supports.
How To Upgrade A Tarstone From Level 1 To Level 2
The first Tarstone upgrade requires 10,000 XP. Once the bar reaches 10,000/10,000 and the game displays the tempering-ready notification, visit the Tarforge in Marrow Keep.
Open Temper Tarstones, choose the completed stone, and spend 100 Coin. The Tarstone will advance to level 2 and provide a stronger version of its effect.
Tempering a Tarstone to level 2 also produces one Tarcore. Make sure you collect the Tarcore from the forge after completing the upgrade, since it may appear as a pickup rather than moving into your inventory automatically. Leaving without collecting it can make the later level-3 requirement appear more restrictive than it actually is.
How To Upgrade A Tarstone From Level 2 To Level 3
Level 3 is the maximum Tarstone level. After reaching level 2, keep the stone equipped and continue killing enemies until it completes the next 20,000-XP requirement.
The final upgrade requires six Tarcores rather than another simple Coin payment. Since each level-2 Tarstone provides only one Tarcore, you must temper several different stones before you can maximize one preferred option.
This creates the central progression loop: take six stones from level 1 to level 2, collect the Tarcore produced by each upgrade, then spend those six Tarcores on the level-2 stone you actually want to maximize. Certain Infusion Tarstones improve substantially at their final level, including versions that make the infused effect permanent instead of limiting it to a small number of attacks.
Tarcores are far more restrictive than ordinary Tarstone XP, so do not spend six simply because the first stone becomes eligible. Our Mortal Shell 2 max level guide explains the Tarstone cap and how this finite upgrade resource differs from Harbinger, Shell, and weapon progression.
How To Level Up Tarstones Faster
The most efficient approach is to equip as many unfinished Tarstones as your current loadout supports. A kill can contribute progress to the stones that are equipped, allowing you to work toward several level-2 upgrades during the same combat route instead of finishing them one at a time.
Prioritize safe areas with dense enemy groups. Tarstone progression comes from kills, so repeatedly fighting one durable opponent creates more downtime than clearing several weaker enemies in quick succession. You can continue exploring normally if you are not in a hurry, but a short route containing numerous manageable enemies will fill the bars more consistently.
Rotate completed stones out of the loadout. Once a Tarstone reaches its current XP cap, further kills will not finish the tempering step for you. Replace it with an unfinished stone, continue building XP elsewhere, and temper the completed group together when you return to Marrow Keep.
Infusion duration can make early levels feel especially awkward with rapid weapons. Multiple activations can stack additional infused hits for combat purposes, allowing you to bank more charges before attacking. This does not increase the XP earned from each kill, but it reduces how often you must stop and reactivate the effect. The issue is most noticeable with a fast setup such as the weapon covered in our Axe and Dagger location guide.
Why Is My Tarstone Not Leveling Up?
If the XP bar is not moving, confirm that the Tarstone is equipped rather than sitting in your inventory. Weapon-specific stones must also be attached to a compatible weapon or sidearm in your active loadout.
If the bar shows 10,000/10,000 but the stone remains at level 1, return to the Tarforge and manually temper that exact Tarstone. Full XP only unlocks the upgrade; it does not apply it.
If Temper Tarstones is missing, retrieve the Etching Needles from the Glutted Mire and give them to Franz. Handing over a different Tarforge component unlocks a different machine function and will not allow Tarstone upgrades.
If you upgraded a stone to level 2 but your Tarcore total did not increase, inspect the forge area for the Tarcore pickup. The reward is not always deposited directly into your inventory.
If level 3 remains unavailable, check both requirements. The chosen stone needs its second XP bar completed, and your inventory must contain six Tarcores collected from other level-2 upgrades.
Final Blurb
To level up a Tarstone in Mortal Shell 2, keep it equipped while killing enemies, fill its current XP bar, and manually temper it at the Tarforge. The first upgrade requires 10,000 XP and 100 Coin, while also producing one Tarcore. Reaching the maximum level requires another 20,000 XP and six Tarcores.
If your stone is stuck at level 1 despite showing full XP, it is usually ready for tempering rather than bugged. Unlock the forge function with the Etching Needles, select each completed stone individually, and remember to collect the Tarcore created after the level-2 upgrade.
