Shrine of Ash Guide – Mortal Shell
One of the first areas you can visit after Fallgrim in Mortal Shell is the Shrine of Ash. This location is found by entering the Temple Grounds. Inside this location you need to reach and defeat the end boss Imrod, The Unrepentant to get the Inflamed Gland for the Old Prisoner. This area is somewhat of a labyrinth so try to keep your bearings. Like other areas you should spend you time exploring as much as you can to find weapon upgrades, glimpses, and Tar. To help get you through this area use our Shrine of Ash guide below.
Exploration: Due to the game’s gland/fog mechanic you will want to explore each location as much possible prior to fighting the area’s final boss. This mechanic causes the level to change when a gland is acquired. The Shrine of Ash doesn’t change much besides a simple cave-in, but future areas change more which can cut off access to certain room. These area remain this way until you reset them by entering NG+.
Shrine of Ash Map and Guide
To help you navigate the Shrine of Ash I’ve put together a simple map (I’m not an artist) you can see above. Like most areas in the game you need to explore most of it before you can reach the end boss area. In the case of the Shrine of Ash there are a number of doors (black blocks) that can only be opened from certain sides (black arrows). The goal here is to reach the boss of the area which can be accomplished by drinking a goblet in the furthest right room on the map above.
Weapon Unlock: Smoldering Mace
To unlock new weapons in Mortal Shell you need to fight Hadern for them. This can be done at the beginning of each unique area via the book next to the statue holding the weapon. For the Shrine of Ash you will fight Hadern for the Smoldering Mace. If you have trouble with Hadren you can wait until you are stronger or have more shells before challenging him here. If you feel ready to fight interact with the book and enter the battlefield. Defeat Hadern to gain access to the Smoldering Mace from the statue next to the book pedestal. It also unlocks back in the weapon’s room in Fallgrim.
How to Reach the Shrine of Ash Boss
From the entrance of the Shrine of Ash head forward into the next room. Defeat the four enemies here and continue to the left into the large room with the raised path on the left of it. Here you can go to the right or left. If you go right along the path heading below you will reach a room with a tomb in it. Make an offering at this tomb to receive some loot (including a weapon upgrade). Once you receive the loot the room will burst into flames and some specters will appear. Defeat them.
Head back to the big room and head up the raised path to the left. As you cross this path you will encounter a powerful enemy that sort of phases into the center of the path. Take them out and continue forward to the double door. Open the double door and enter the next room to reach the next area of the Shrine of Ash called .
Defeat the enemies in this room and continue heading forward until you reach a T. The right of this T is a shortcut we will open later. Since the door is inaccessible currently head to the left and follow the path into the next room. In this room you will encounter an enemy and then two of the stronger enemies will phase in as head further into the room. Clear the enemies then loot the sarcophagus on the right for another weapon upgrade. Head forward into the next room with the hole in the middle of it. Take out the enemies around the hole then head forward and take a right into the round room.
Round Room
The round room features ranged enemies sitting in cauldrons that hurl fireballs at you when they see you. This can be a bit annoying as there are a number of enemies in this circular room that need to be dealt with. Whenever possible try to break the line of sight on the ranged enemies so they don’t hit you with their fireballs.
Head into the round room and take out the enemies and ranged enemies. Head to the left and go into the room there to reach another tomb you can make an offering at. There are two powerful enemies near this tomb so be careful when you approach it. After the tomb is opened you will receive your loot and more specters will appear. Dispatch them and head back to the round room.
Shortcut 1
Go left in the round room and ignore the huge room. Instead make your way across it to the double doors on the opposite side from the tomb room. Open these door then path through the room and open the next sets of doors to get a shortcut back to the T. Once this shortcut is open head back to the round room.
Reaching the Sanctum of Flames
Head into the large room and head up the stairs to the tomb there. Interact with the tomb then speak to Sester Genessa to get a checkpoint. From the checkpoint head back down the stairs and take a left. Take out the guy with the flaming double-swords and go up the stairs to the next room. Open the double doors to your right but don’t go through them yet (Shortcut 2). Continue heading down the hallway to reach a bridge with a tomb on it. Cross the bridge to the tomb and two powerful enemies will phase in.
Defeat the enemies around the tomb and interact with it. When you do this two more powerful enemies will phase in. Take them out then head across the bridge to the double-doors. Open these doors to reach the Sanctum of Flames. This final room features the boss goblet. Take out the enemies in this room then explore it for some loot. Head up the stairs and speak to Sester Genessa. When ready approach the goblet and take a swig of it to start the boss fight.
Boss: Imrod, The Unrepentant
Important: End of area bosses always have two health bars. Don’t celebrate when you drain the first health bar. Be ready for the second phase.
Imrod is a fairly straightforward boss to fight. Imrod’s weapon of choice is a large flaming mace that gives him decent range when he swings it. Because of this range you want to keep a good distance from him. If you remain away from Imrod he will use a gap closer jump that covers a sizeable distance. This jump ends in a slam that leaves him vulnerable for a few hits.
While in the first phase Imrod is fairly squishy so you can get him down fairly easily just by attacking when there are openings. Most of Imrods combos in the first phase are 2-3 swings so you can easily get out then back in or even tank a hit with harden then follow up with a hit.
After the first phase Imrod becomes a lot more tanky. For the most part he retains the same move set he had in phase one but he will now randomly kick you then walk over and pick up a dead body. While lighting the body on fire Imrod’s back is exposed for a few hits. Once you get the couple hits in, harden and wait for him to throw the flaming corpse at you.
Since this is one of the first bosses you will face it is largely a tutorial fight. Simply pay attention to his attack patterns and learn when to jump in an out to take him down with no sweat. As the bosses continue they get slightly harder than Imrod, so be prepared for a bit of a jump in difficulty.
The Fog Descends
When you defeat Imrod loot his body then you will teleport back into the Sanctum of Flames where there is a bloody flesh sack in front of you. Approach the flesh sack and interact with it to extract the Inflamed Gland. This gland is the first of three glands you need to collect for the Old Prisoner to beat the main story.
Upon acquiring the gland you will notice a change in the location. A darkness has fallen over the area. This is due to the game’s fog mechanic. When you hold a gland (or speak to an NPC we will meet in Fallgrim), fog falls over the map. This changes the difficulty with different enemies spawning. While the fog is active you can also open those statue chests you may have see around Fallgrim.
Back to Fallgrim Tower in the Fog
To leave this area take the shortcut doors back to the T. From here head all the way back to the beginning of the level. When you are ready to leave the area head back out into the Fallgrim Outskirts. To return to the tower you can head either left or right from the entrance to the Shrine of Ash so choose whichever path you wish to explore. On the way back be sure to open any statue chests you see as they contain beneficial loot.
Once back at the tower you will notice a new NPC in the weapon’s room. This NPC is called Thestus. When you talk to Thestus they will explain how the fog system works. Basically the fog descends when you have a Gland or give the Thestus glimpses. With that aside head up to the Old Prisoner and give him the first Gland to remove the fog and receive the .
Now that you’ve delivered the first gland its time to head to the next area called Seat of Infinity. This location can be reached by going through the right wall hole in the Grisha boss room. To learn exactly how to reach this location check out our Fallgrim guide.
This post is part of our larger Mortal Shell guide and walkthrough. Check it out if you need more help finding all weapons, bosses, side quests, items, and other secrets in the game.
