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The Shadow Poisoner: a Mortal Shell 2 poison build

Stack Poison, then detonate all of it in one strike.

10Tarstones
3Skill nodes
2Alternatives

This is the Mortal Shell 2 poison build: you coat a target in Poison with the Axe and Dagger and a quill spread from the Caged Hystrix, then dash through an incoming swing and let Tiel's Shadow Strike set the whole stack off at once. It rewards players who like to stay inside an enemy's reach rather than trade at the edge of it, and it comes together the moment you have the Serpent Stone and Tiel's second tier of skills.

Colour keyCombatInfusionSupportthe same tone means the same thing on every page

The loadout

  • ShellTiel the Acolyte

    Shadow Dash turns a dodge you had to make anyway into free Stagger Damage and a charged Shadow Strike, so Tiel's defence and his offence are the same button.

  • SealVatra's Seal

    Harden lets you eat one hit in the middle of a long combo instead of abandoning it, which is what a build that never steps back needs most.

  • WeaponAxe and Dagger

    A paired set built on the light string, and Poison cares about how many times you connect rather than how hard each hit lands. Nothing in the catalog times a swing, so read the speed as our judgement — the part that is on record is that the Duality Stone fits here and strikes that string twice.

  • SidearmCaged Hystrix

    A spread of quills applies a status to several enemies in one shot, where a single bolt would only ever poison one of them.

When it comes togetherPlayable from the moment you pick up the Axe and Dagger, but it is a different build once the Serpent Stone drops and Tiel's second tier is open.

Tarstones

Listed in priority order — slot them in this sequence as you find them rather than waiting for the full set. Every stone below is one the named gear actually accepts.

Axe and Dagger

Weapon socket
6 stones

Tied to the primary, so changing weapon means revisiting this list.

  1. Serpent StoneInfusionslot first

    The whole build in one socket — it puts Poison on your weapon for fifteen Resolve, the cheapest infusion there is, and at level four the infusion stops expiring, so you pay that fifteen once.

  2. Duality StoneCombat

    Your light combo strikes twice, which doubles the rate you apply Poison rather than the damage of any single hit.

  3. Unyielding StoneCombat

    Stagger immunity on the light combo is what lets you finish the string you started, and finishing the string is where the stacks come from.

  4. Wounding StoneCombat

    Perforation on top of Poison, so two timers run on the same target while you keep swinging.

  5. Parasitic StoneCombat

    Leech on every kill, which covers the health you give up by fighting this close.

  6. Auspicious StoneSupport

    More melee critical chance across a combo that lands a great many small hits.

Caged Hystrix

Sidearm socket
3 stones

Drawn from a pool the melee slot mostly cannot touch.

  1. Hag StoneInfusionslot first

    Poison at range, so the quills feed the same stack your weapon is building instead of a separate one.

  2. Myriad StoneCombat

    Seven projectiles per shot for no extra Resolve — seven chances to apply the status rather than one.

  3. Corroded StoneCombat

    Damage over time from the quills themselves, which keeps pressure on a target you have had to back away from.

Tiel the Acolyte

Shell socket
1 stone

These fit whatever else you are carrying, which makes them the picks that survive any change of weapon.

  1. Devout StoneSupport

    Melee hits return more Resolve — half again at level two, double at level four — which pays for the infusion and the sidearm both.

Skill tree priorities

Nodes from Tiel the Acolyte's own tree, in the order they are worth spending Glimpses on.

  1. Poison Bursttake first

    The keystone: Shadow Strike detonates every Poison stack on the target, turning a slow accumulation into one payment.

  2. Lasting Legacy

    Longer Shadowed uptime, so a dash you took early still has a Shadow Strike waiting on it.

  3. Shadow Stalk

    Shadow Strike hits harder the longer you stay Shadowed, which rewards holding the strike until the Poison is deep.

How to play it

  1. Open at range with the Caged Hystrix so the first stacks are on before you close.

  2. Work the light combo — the Axe and Dagger applies faster than anything else in the slot.

  3. Dash through the counterattack rather than away from it; the dash is what arms Shadow Strike.

  4. Hold the strike one beat longer than feels comfortable, then detonate the stack.

  5. Harden if the beat goes wrong, and pick the combo back up where you dropped it.

If you have not found it yet

Each of these plays close enough to the piece it replaces that the rest of the page still holds.

  • Black Needleinstead of the Axe and Dagger

    The Black Needle also takes the Serpent Stone and the Unyielding Stone, and it has more reach if you keep getting clipped on the approach.

  • Forgotten Crossbowinstead of the Caged Hystrix

    It holds the Hag Stone and the Myriad Stone too, and it is far easier to aim while something is walking at you.

What it is bad at

Poison needs time, and a boss that gives you three seconds at a stretch never lets the stack get deep enough to be worth detonating. Against those fights the build is a fast weapon and very little else.