Strange Remnant is a Sidearm Tarstone you earn by defeating the Strange Grisha mini-boss, reached by following the main path through the Withered Shoals and crossing the Bone Gate to the island where it waits.
Strange Remnant is one of the Tarstones you slot into a weapon to change how it fights, and this one turns your Sidearm into a chaining projectile launcher. There’s exactly one action standing between you and it: a mini-boss on a small island off the Withered Shoals. Below is where to find that fight, what the Tarstone does at each level, and how to push it higher through Franz at Marrow Keep.
Mortal Shell 2 Strange Remnant, and the boss that drops it
Strange Remnant is a Sidearm Tarstone, meaning it infuses into your Sidearm and gives it an active effect that spends Resolve. You get it by beating the Strange Grisha mini-boss — the kill is the whole requirement, and the Tarstone lands in your inventory the moment the fight ends.
Don’t confuse it with the Grisha Remnant, which is a completely separate item that summons a Grisha ally to fight beside you. They share a name and both come off Grisha enemies, but Strange Remnant is a weapon infusion, not a summon.
How to get Strange Remnant in Mortal Shell 2
Start in the Withered Shoals
From the opening area, get onto the main path that runs through the region.
Stay on the right side
Keep following that main path along the right until it carries you toward the water’s edge.
Cross the Bone Gate to the island
Use the Bone Gate to jump across to the small island beyond.
Defeat the Strange Grisha
The mini-boss is waiting on the island — kill it to earn the Tarstone.
Confirm the drop in your Tarstones tab
Open your inventory and check the Tarstones tab; it lists as Strange Remnant.
A few route write-ups label this area the Ossinite Falls or the “southwestern” beacon rather than the Withered Shoals Gate, and some have you cleanse the beacon before the fight opens up. That cleanse is route-dependent rather than universal, and a nearby chest is sometimes cited as holding the Tarstone — but the dependable method is the one above: reach the island and put down the Strange Grisha.
What the Strange Remnant Tarstone does
| Level | Effect |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Consumes 15 Resolve to fire a stream of projectiles that chain between multiple targets |
| Level 2 | Chaining projectiles deal 20 damage |
| Level 3 | Projectiles chain between up to 4 targets |
| Level 4 | Chaining projectiles deal 40 damage |
Once it’s infused into your Sidearm, Strange Remnant becomes an active ability that spends 15 Resolve to fire a stream of projectiles. The standout trait is that those projectiles chain between targets, so it shines against clustered groups rather than a lone enemy. Each upgrade level either raises the damage per hit or widens how far the chain jumps.
It equips to a Sidearm, and the one it’s commonly paired with is the Caged Hystrix. Slot it in, and the ability fires straight off your Sidearm’s Resolve-fueled action.
Upgrading Strange Remnant with the Etching Needle
Loot the Etching Needle
It sits in a bone chest just before Magdalena, the Lady of the Woods — past The Tarblighted Shepherd where you meet Ruk, jump down the opening and turn right before the tunnel.
Give the Etching Needle to Franz
Back at Marrow Keep, hand it over to expand the Tarforge’s Tarstone upgrade options.
Equip Strange Remnant and get kills
With the Tarstone slotted, fight normally to fill its XP bar toward the next tier.
Spend coins at Franz to level it
Once the XP bar is full, return to Franz and pay coins to raise it a level.
Equip Strange Remnant the moment you claim it and rack up kills to fill its XP bar before you get back to Franz, so it’s ready to level the instant the Tarforge option unlocks.
Where to go after Strange Remnant
Strange Remnant is one of the 73 Tarstones scattered across the game, so with the Tarforge unlocked it’s worth sweeping up the rest to fill out your builds. And if you came here half-expecting the summon item, that’s the Grisha Remnant — a different pickup entirely, and the more of them you hold, the stronger it gets.
Related Mortal Shell 2 guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Strange Remnant missable, or can you still get it later in your run?
It isn’t one of the Tarstones that get bug-locked behind a one-time area. Strange Remnant hangs on beating the Strange Grisha, a mini-boss sitting on the island off the Withered Shoals, so as long as you can make the crossing you can claim it whenever you get there — it isn’t tied to a closing window the way a couple of other Tarstones are.
How is Strange Remnant different from the Grisha Remnant that summons an ally?
They’re separate items that just sound alike. Strange Remnant is a Sidearm Tarstone that fires chaining projectiles for 15 Resolve. The Grisha Remnant instead summons a Grisha to fight alongside you — you can run it as an active item for a quick spawn, or as a passive that has a chance to spawn one when you hit an enemy, and stacking more of them raises both the odds and how many appear at once.
Video help
Leave a Reply