The spooky Temple Grounds are an intimidating location to start your adventure in Mortal Shell. There are fire-spewing demons, spectral knights that appear in a burst of flame, and dual-wielding warriors that will really test your skills. The Monument of Ash is filled with challenging encounters, but the area itself is pretty short — and the boss himself is the easiest of the three major fights.
This is where you’ll want to get started. The Temple Grounds are found up a winding flight of stairs, and the area itself is filled with ghostly specters. You can acquire the Smoldering Mace heavy weapon here, and find all the key items to fully upgrade it. If you need help navigating the dungeon, we’ve got a full walkthrough and boss guide below.
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At the Fallgrim Outskirts — accessible through the left hole in Grisha’s boss arena opposite the Fallgrim Tower door, there’s a large wall with an opening behind one of the big guards. Go up this mountain path to reach the second zone of the game — the Temple Grounds. There’s a Sester Genessa inside to save your progress.
Temple Grounds
At the Temple Grounds entrance, you’ll find a strange book. Choose to [Recite] and you’ll enter a battle with Hadern. If you can’t defeat him, retreat by selected [Yes] when it asks you to [Call the Wormfish]. For defeating Hadern, you’ll earn the [Smoldering Mace].
The path is guarded by knights with shields and large swords. You can shatter the knight shields with strikes, leaving them vulnerable. It’s only a short walk to the next area — the Monument of Ash.
- TIP: A Smoldering Mace upgrade is located to the right of the Monument of Ash entrance. Enter the small sarcophagus room and loot the coffin.
Monument of Ash
The Monument of Ash features a new enemy — fire-throwing demons. To create a shortcut back through this area, go right when you reach the first demons and follow the path up to a door. You can unlock it from this side and skip the pair of fire knights.
There’s also a [Solemn Offering] item in a chest near the shortcut door. Continue toawrd the exterior of the temple. Past the three cultists, there’s a large sarcophagus. Ignore it for now, because Sester Genessa is right behind it.
Talk to her to gain a checkpoint, then you can open the sarcophagus. Back down in the courtyard, you’ll encounter a new tough enemy type. The Duel-Wielding Flame Knight is a fast opponent, so play it safe and hang back when he begins a combo. He’ll counterattack fast, so be prepared to use Harden when you start attacking.
Enter the temple past the knight and unlock the second shortcut door. Continue to the large bridge ahead — the [Awakened Stone] upgrade for the Smoldering Mace is located in the large sarcophagus ahead. Enter the doors to reach the Sanctum of Flame.
Sanctum of Flame
The Sanctum of Flame is a small area where the boss Nektar is located. Defeat the duel-wielding flame knight, and take the stairs up to reach another Sester. You’ll also find the boss Nektar altar nearby. Near the entrance to the Sanctum, there are stairs that lead to an optional chest.
Choose to drink the Divine Nektar to initiate the boss fight against Imrod, The Unrepetant.
Boss: Imrod, The Unrepetant
Imrod is a very straightforward boss fight. I highly recommend fighting Imrod first — if you’re experienced, it’s very possible to beat this fight without taking a single hit. To play it safe, hang back and wait for him to swing his mace twice. After two swings, he’s open to attack. Sprint and Heavy Attack — you can hit him multiple times or just once depending on your timing.
You can also use Harden to defend against his next combo and keep striking. Imrod is easy to predict and slow, but he’s very aggressive and won’t let up. He’ll charge at you, swinging his mace — make sure to dodge away instead of around him.
Many of his attacks will burn you if they connect. It can use flamebreath or an explosive hammer slam — just keep your distance, and then get in a hit with a charge-heavy attack to punish him.
The boss has two phases, but the second phase isn’t much more difficult than the fist. He gains some attacks, but they’re all very similar to his normal moveset. He will periodically shoot fire from his mouth, lighting up his mace. The mace will cause extra damage, so keep weltcaps ready to heal to offset the fire damage-over-time.
Otherwise, Imrod shouldn’t be too difficult. Collect the [Inflamed Gland] and exit the temple. The temple will go dark, and the enemy layouts will change. Use the shortcut doors to reach the exit quickly — you can sprint right past most of the enemies here if you’re nimble.
Return to the Fallgrim Tower and give the gland to the Old Prisoner. Fallgrim will be populated with ghouls and a heavy green fog, but returning the gland to the Prisoner will clear the fog away. That completes another step of your quest to clear all three temples.
As a reward, the Old Prisoner will award you with the [Seal Infusion – Inflamed] Empowered Riposte, which attaches an explosive larva to your target.
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