The best weapon in Mortal Shell II is the Axe and Dagger — here is every melee weapon and sidearm, ranked and sourced
By DayOneFix Editorial · August 24, 2026
The Axe and Dagger is the consensus best melee weapon in Mortal Shell II, and the Caged Hystrix or Triarch Repeater the best sidearm. English tier lists and the highest-viewed Chinese guides landed on the same answer independently, which is about as much agreement as a four-day-old soulslike ever produces.
Before the opinions, here is something that is not an opinion.
There are exactly 8 melee weapons and 8 sidearms
Mortal Shell II’s own Steam achievement list names them. Every weapon has an “Unlock the …” achievement, plus Lord of War — Unlock all Weapons and Guns. Lots of Guns — Unlock all Sidearms. Two starting items have no unlock achievement because you are handed them: the opening achievement is You're More Than a Weapon — Claim your first Shell, Weapon and Sidearm.
Melee weapons (8): The Iconoclast (starting weapon) · Axe and Dagger · Veteran’s Battle Axe · Great Martyr’s Blade · Axatana · Black Needle · Clockwork Scythe · Obsidian Hammer
Sidearms (8): Naylshotte (starting sidearm) · Forgotten Crossbow · Salvaged Trebuchaxe · Troubadour’s Lute · Triarch Repeater · Ballistazooka · Cursed Child · Caged Hystrix
Seven of the eight melee names and six of the eight sidearm names come straight from the achievement descriptions; The Iconoclast, Naylshotte and the sidearm/melee split are from guide sites, which agree with each other. That is the whole arsenal — anything you see listed beyond these 16 is a Tarstone or a Seal, not a weapon.
Melee tier list
Game8’s ranking, which is the most complete one published:
| Tier | Weapon | Short reason (Game8) |
|---|---|---|
| S | Axe and Dagger | Fast multi-hit combos; the only weapon that takes both the Arbiter’s Prize and Duality Stone Tarstones |
| S | Axatana | Near-twin of the above — fast light-attack chain, also doubles output with Duality Stone |
| A | Black Needle | A spear: great reach, good damage, fairly fast lights |
| A | Great Martyr’s Blade | The strongest charged light attack in the game, good AoE sweeps, slow |
| A | The Iconoclast | Starting weapon; decent range, good damage, fast, broad Tarstone compatibility |
| B | Veteran’s Battle Axe | Good damage and AoE, punishing recovery animations |
| B | Clockwork Scythe | Excellent AoE clear, struggles against bosses |
| C | Obsidian Hammer | Highest base damage, slowest attacks in the game, so poor DPS |
The Axe and Dagger’s case rests on one mechanical fact rather than on raw numbers: Tarstone compatibility. Weapons accept different Tarstones, and the Axe and Dagger is the only one that takes the two most-cited damage stones at once. Game8 states this as its reason for the S placement, and it is the same reason Chinese build videos give.
What Chinese players actually built
This matters because keyword tools have nothing on a game this new, but Bilibili does. Searching 「致命躯壳2」 — the game’s Chinese title, not the name it is often mis-searched under — the weapon videos with real traction are:
- 「斧头匕首王朝了」 (“the Axe and Dagger is running a dynasty”) — musiq肥宅小笨比, ~15,500 plays
- 「06 最强武器斧子匕首 蘑菇村钥匙」 (“strongest weapon: axe and dagger; the Mushroom Village key”) — 御风逆流, ~8,200 plays
- 「新手最强开局流派 斧剑血爆流 完整配装」 (a beginner “axe-and-blade bleed-burst” build) — Assassin月, ~7,400 plays
- 「格拉古+斧匕+二元之石=轮椅=通关」 (Gragu + Axe-Dagger + Duality Stone = a “wheelchair”, i.e. a carry setup) — 小肥宅学生, ~10,800 plays
Two independent language communities converging on the same weapon within four days is the strongest signal available right now.
The dissent is interesting too. 「巨剑是最弱的武器？错，绝对是轮椅」 (“the greatsword is the weakest weapon? No — it’s an easy-mode carry”, 时间段内东大街, ~13,400 plays) and 「轮椅武器推荐：殉教者巨剑」 (游戏圈在逃人机, ~12,300 plays) both argue for the Great Martyr’s Blade. That lines up with the English A-tier placement and with its “strongest charged light attack” note: it is slower and less forgiving, but a landed charged hit buys a full opening. Play counts alone do not settle a balance argument, so treat this as two camps, not one winner.
Best early weapon
The Axe and Dagger, and you can have it early. It comes from the Shrine of Trials dungeon near the Mushroom Village beacon in Fainweald, gated behind a Chapel Key — no boss required, and the surrounding enemies are tuned for low levels. Both the English guides and the most-viewed Chinese route videos (谜之灭’s 「蘑菇村钥匙获取位置」, ~5,800 plays) send new players there first. Full route in our weapon locations guide.
Steam’s global achievement stats back the “early” claim: Deep Cuts — Unlock Axe and Dagger sits at 56.1% of all owners, higher than any other weapon unlock and above several story milestones.
Best sidearm
Game8’s sidearm tiers put three at S: Caged Hystrix, Salvaged Trebuchaxe and Triarch Repeater.
| Tier | Sidearm | Short reason (Game8) |
|---|---|---|
| S | Caged Hystrix | Rapid, fairly high-damage bullets; works at any range |
| S | Salvaged Trebuchaxe | Single-target burst, especially with critical builds; needs charging |
| S | Triarch Repeater | Shreds groups like the Hystrix; accuracy falls off at range, has a wind-up |
| A | Ballistazooka | Big single-target burst, few shots, slow to bring up |
| A | Forgotten Crossbow | Decent damage, most useful for exploration and environmental interactions |
| A | Naylshotte | Starter; fine for melee-heavy builds, wants close range |
| B | Troubadour’s Lute | Applies Confusion so enemies hit each other; niche |
| B | Cursed Child | Decent up close, no specialisation |
The practical early answer is the Forgotten Crossbow, because of how cheaply you get it: one search result reports that Merrick at Marrow Keep will mark its location for you free of charge. We have seen that claim once and have not corroborated it, so treat the “free from Merrick” detail as a single-source lead — the crossbow’s location itself is confirmed by two guides.
Which weapon should you actually upgrade?
Upgrading happens at the Tarforge — the achievement Over 9000 — Max out a Weapon at the Tarforge names it, and only 15.3% of players have done it once. A Chinese review aggregating launch coverage noted GameSpot advising players to concentrate on a single main weapon early rather than spreading upgrade materials; the underlying scarcity is consistent with that 15.3% figure, but we are relaying the advice second-hand.
The safest read: pick Axe and Dagger (or Great Martyr’s Blade if you prefer heavy weapons), and pour everything into it.
FAQ
What is the best weapon in Mortal Shell 2? The Axe and Dagger. It is S-tier on the most detailed English tier list and the most-recommended weapon in high-view Chinese guides, mainly because it is the only weapon that can slot both the Arbiter’s Prize and the Duality Stone.
What is the best early weapon? Also the Axe and Dagger — Shrine of Trials, near the Mushroom Village beacon, no boss fight required. 56.1% of Steam owners have the unlock achievement.
What is the best ranged weapon / sidearm? Caged Hystrix, Salvaged Trebuchaxe and Triarch Repeater share the top tier. The Forgotten Crossbow is the easiest early pickup.
How many weapons are there?
Eight melee weapons and eight sidearms, 16 total. The achievement list confirms the count via Lord of War and Guns. Lots of Guns.
Is the Obsidian Hammer bad? It has the highest base damage and the slowest swings, which Game8 rates as C-tier because the DPS does not survive the animation cost. It is not unusable, it is unforgiving.
Does weapon choice matter more than Shell choice? They interact. See best builds — most published builds pair a specific Shell with a specific weapon rather than treating them separately.
Related
- Every weapon and sidearm location
- All 8 Shells, ranked and located
- Best builds, Seals and Tarstones
- All 53 achievements with rarity
- Is there co-op? No — and here is why people think there is
- Known issues and crashes, live tracker
Sources
The weapon and sidearm names, and the counts, are taken from Mortal Shell II’s own Steam achievement list, read 24 August 2026 — the same page supplies the global unlock percentages quoted here (Deep Cuts 56.1%, Over 9000 15.3%), which Valve computes across all owners and which drift over time. Store details are from the Steam listing and the developer’s news hub, also 24 August 2026. The melee and sidearm tier placements and their stated reasoning are Game8’s, from its weapon tier list and sidearm tier list, checked 24 August 2026; the identification of The Iconoclast and the Naylshotte as the starting pair is corroborated by KeenGamer’s weapon locations guide and its sidearm guide. Weapon flavour text and the eight-melee roster were cross-checked against the Fextralife wiki’s weapons page. The Chinese community signal comes from Bilibili video search for 「致命躯壳2」 performed 24 August 2026; play counts are the figures shown at that moment and will have moved since. Those videos are cited as evidence of what players are recommending, not as sources for mechanics — every mechanical claim above is also carried by an English guide or by the game’s own text. The “Merrick marks the crossbow for free” detail and the GameSpot upgrade advice are each single-sourced and labelled as such in the text.