Mortal Shell 2's first balance patch cuts boss health and lifts gold drops

Cold Symmetry has released the first balance patch for Mortal Shell 2, a day after the soulslike action-RPG launched on August 20 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The studio posted a breakdown of what Balance Patch 1 changes on the game's subreddit and Steam page, GameSpot reports.

Gold, Glimpses and smelting

Shell map locations now cost Gloom, the game's equivalent of souls, rather than Glimpses, the rare currency players spend to bond with a shell and unlock its memories. Cold Symmetry is refunding Glimpses already spent on shell maps, with the refund waiting in the Shell Keeper's alcove in Blackmarrow. "Finding your favorite shell shouldn't cost you the ability to bond with them," the studio wrote in the notes.

Gold drops from enemies have been significantly increased, with enemies in Mammon now dropping double, a change the studio said brings the gold economy more in line with how often weapon crafting materials turn up. Smelting a weapon at the Tarforge now costs 75 percent less Gloom; Cold Symmetry said the original figure had been set exorbitantly high for a feature meant to let players switch weapons without grinding through New Game+ runs.

Enemy and boss tuning

Every enemy that appeared in the beta has been restored to its beta health values, with one exception: the Caerinid spider in Magdalena's area keeps its higher values so it stays a threatening enemy that does not respawn once defeated. GameSpot noted that this returns the game's starting area to beta tuning, which its writer found easier than the full release.

Two bosses were cut back. The Lost Child loses 10 percent base damage and 15 percent maximum health, while the Monolith loses 19 percent base damage and 10 percent maximum health, and some of its attacks were retimed to be more fair. Cold Symmetry also listed specific enemy reductions: the Infested Stalker's maximum health falls 52.4 percent, the Caerinid spider's 33.3 percent, the mace-wielding Cultist's 21.1 percent and the halberd-carrying Rusted Knave's 20.8 percent, the last also picking up a hit-detection fix on its overhead strike.

Weapons were buffed alongside the nerfs. The Great Martyr's Blade gains 20 percent attack damage and the Troubadour's Lute doubles its own, the Caged Hystrix and Triarch Repeater no longer carry minimum resolve requirements to fire, and light-attack tracking improves for the Axatana, Black Needle and Clockwork Scythe. Seals Guard can now be used while walking, and the Parasitic, Grudge, Bulwark, Clerik's and Squall Tarstones were buffed, with the Bulwark Stone's damage reduction raised significantly.

Balance Patch 1 is live on PC. Cold Symmetry has not dated the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions beyond saying the patch will arrive shortly. The notes also list crash fixes, bug fixes and performance updates.