Mortal Shell | ADVANCED COMBAT GUIDE + Gameplay Tips

[@BoomstickGaming]

*What do you think of this style of “preview” coverage? Good demonstration of the game?* *Or too involved for this early? Let me know because YOU directly shape what I do here.* _Boomstick Gaming is a safe haven for gamers who value game mechanics and systems,_ _because that’s what makes anything from 8-bit to 8k, equally enjoyable._ -BoomstickAlex

[@blaqthrax]

I like it, very good demonstration, definitely something I'll look out for when it releases. Any excuse to get outside right?

[@WikiNikipedia]

I prefer this style of coverage because it gives me a better sense of playing the game than a more theatrical, trailer-like preview.

[@TheVDaddyo]

You are the only one that I have seen since the recent closed beta release that has provided this type of detailed combat analysis. Kudos!

[@MashyM3llow]

Need you to do live stream. your breakdown is surreal!

[@theLoneCodesman]

YES YES YES! This is exactly what sells the game for me! And little previews are showing these details. Please, do more of this style.

[@FTHPoetry]

That Harden mechanic looks innovative, calling it a block is an understatement. It also functions as a form of controlled hyper armor for our attacks. Impressive.

[@J0hnny650]

Yeah it's more like when you're playing a fighting game and you hit an EX or enhanced move for armor

[@Number-bj1yn]

Kind of reminds me of royal guard from DMC.

[@babrown1978]

Kinda like absolver.

[@RJsTao]

haki

[@Hajsu]

nothing impressive. like a 'quen' from witcher3 or another protection spell absorbing dmg in any rpg game. rolls are useless like in witcher 3 - they have longer animation time and eat stamina (in w3 quen and dodge-step is all u need to win every fight). this shell only leads to hit and run strategy. game deserves for an attention like 'lords' or 'immortal' but after Sekiro mechanics it has nothing to attract to play this more than beta (to be honest i didn't finish the beta also cuz gameplay was boring in my opinion).

[@Wckd79]

Another note on the tainted nectar. If you interact with NPCs while out of your shell you sometimes will get unique dialog. Also, when you leave a shell behind when you die and re spawn. So at a boss fight there might be or old shell still in the area. Don't recover it right away, wait until you get knocked out of the current shell, and then recover the old shell for health refill. Then you also have the "current" shell still there for another health regen.

[@Yuhara_rev]

The harden mechanic looks weird but badass in its own way. Very interesting.

[@TheSoCalledZoner1]

Lenny face insert

[@steve87j]

I would have prefered a shield to be more authentic but it's a great game. instant buy.

[@korokseed1619]

ExuberantOne wdym more authentic?

[@booates]

hard on

[@booates]

@@steve87j what do you mean by authentic

[@Vratta]

The animations are very detailed and smooth, truly enjoyable and well blended. It definitely is a Souls Like title and it's ok to me to get inspired by this great genre. However I'd add (i know, not so easy and generally not acceptable) dismemberment, which truly add satisfaction and depth in this kind of combat system/situations.

[@darkdivergrandahl4913]

more dismemberment, dodge rolls and breakables i always say. Why can i dodge roll into the boxes dammit!

[@justincard1658]

I do enjoy lobbing off the heads of my enemies, like in Skyrim for example

[@chosendrunkard2389]

My God this looks AWESOME. I really like how two-handed sword feels like a sword - heavy and mighty, it doesn't look like you holding some paper toy. And look how the opponents react to mc's attack - they don't just motionlessly consume damage like sponges, both player and opponents bend and twist after getting hit. It's little details,but such attention to them shows the game's quality.Very excited about this!

[@k.g.b.8514]

For instance, bastard sword or even zweinhander are not as heavy as they show us in video games. If they were, warriors with them would be ineffective during real field battle.

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

@@k.g.b.8514 they r heavy enough, but well balanced, So in strong/good hands they seem light enough...

[@axceljos]

Two handed sword can be as fast or more than a rapier lol

[@jengaaaaa]

I practise long sword. It weighs less than 2kg. Extremely light and easy to wield.

[@nikvett]

@@axceljos in the thrust? I don't think so, unless using halfswording... But in general they weight about the same, the longsword is often just a bit heavier. The difference in balance is what makes them feel distinct.

[@qifrey6349]

The atmosphere of this game is simply fantastic

[@shirakani]

The Harden mechanic is honestly dope AF. Its like finally in a soulslike game we get to experience what... almost every mob has but the player never gets. Fighting fire with fire almost as the one huge negative about any souls game in general is the fact super armor on mobs is used to force the player to dodge... Its not really fun and gets old real fast. Being able to actually fight back 'evenly' in this way goes a long way in making things overall more fun.

[@darkmirror21]

I was still a bit meh on the game but this video sold it to me.

[@ironsight333]

Some of these tips I never knew. Like canceling out of your usual combo into a jump attack and then finishing your normal combo. That's so awesome

[@FishMan1nsk]

Teinted Nektak allow you to leave your "statues" at some areas to to dwell in them later. Also just before you die you can leave your body with Tinted Nektak and then possess it again to fully heal.

[@theLoneCodesman]

I cannot believe how good it looks overall. Thanks for highlighting the mechanics, as always - great content!

[@BoomstickGaming]

Welcome!

[@Ryuksgelus]

This is the only Dark Souls clone that doesn't look like a poorman's version of the series. I'm not counting something like Nioh which is too different for me to call a DS clone. I wanted to see something like Harden defensively in DS for a long time. My idea was to give our very Heavy armor characters the ability to Brace for big attacks or to keep form&position when needed.

[@wakaman3295]

So much better than Nioh and Code Vein

[@Ryuksgelus]

@P A V L V S Iron Flesh is functionally nothing like this Harden mechanic. Harden is more like Royal Guard in DMC.

[@spankg888]

@@wakaman3295 combat doesn't look half as good as nioh witch also plays much better than souls

[@Dorahellmon]

It's not clone, It's inspired by dark souls. From software create New Genre many called Souls-like. Mortal Shell is Video Game with Souls-like Genre.

[@2_572]

What would you consider a poor man's souls game?

[@NarutoUzumaki-hj2hb]

Here's some amazing tips: -When you learn to parry you'll become 5 times stronger than without parrying. -Soloman is the best for parrying, mostly because he has a lot of resolve compared to the other characters and he is the strongest most balanced character. He has maximum amount of resolve, has a good amount of health and stamina. I recommend him and the hammer and chisel for really fast and strong attacks and when you combine harden and parry you'll be invincible with him. -Having one of the R1 and L1 attacks with the hammer and chisel will get you insane amount of Damage because you can spam your attacks and before an enemy or boss attacks you harden and proceed to finish all of your stamina and before they hit you again you hit them with R1 and L1 attack which will turn you invincible and will give you insane damage. I've reached 600-700 damage just through that small tactic which easily destroys bosses. I recommend the first hammer and chisel R1 L1 attack (Blade Tornado) because the other one is for long distance. -Do not rush and study the movements and the attacks of the characters by dodging or hardening when they are attacking. This way it will be easier to learn when to parry. -Knowing the locations of all of the mushrooms in the main map ( area where you do not have to enter through a door that puts you in a loading screen) will make farming a lot easier and less of a waste of time to wait 5+ min for it to regenerate. -Watch youtube videos on the combos of your preferred weapon because you'll be able to do a lot more damage. -Even if Hammer and Chisel is a close range weapon you can still damage multiple enemies if they are bunch together, add a little fast attack and you're a killing machine. -Before picking one of the 3 sacred glands make sure to have a lot of healing mushrooms because those extra enemies will be troublesome if you run out of heals. -You can always avoid enemies because they won't be able to catch you and damage you if you run and dodge. -Become familiar with all 4 shells before spending glimpses to upgrade them -Glimpses do not transfer between shells. So play with the one that suits you the most -Use heavy attacks when starting a fight cause those enemies that are chilling on the ground will take some time to stand up and attack you. Preferably heavy, light light. -Using parry and attack is recommended to get easy health against easy enemies

[@Roin0525]

Easily one of the most useful videos. I have seen released about the game since they have started letting certain people try it out.

[@markymarkeaton]

The combat looks really weighty and amazing. I'm interested in this game now!

[@BrimstoneBeard]

Been checking a few different Mortal Shell previews and enjoyed this technical breakdown a lot. Others were just, here is gameplay or here is conversation. IRL harden was a solid absurdist insert too lol. Good stuff.

[@derausmpark]

When your timing is right, you can Harden during the Hallowed Swords running R2 right as the hit connects. After your Harden breaks, you hit a second time, doubling the damage spent on stamina.

[@panic_diver]

Pretty neat. Alex, you have the best tips videos on KZbin mate. They are not your obvious stuff like we see in most videos of this sort, most of them are super insightful digging in the available mechanics. Always top tier content on Boomstick gaming. Thank You.

[@milagroman75]

My favorite gaming channel! You get straight to the point, mate! It’s really refreshing when most reviews seem like ads

[@GameGuide2020]

I was unsure of this game after watching some other gameplay, but you've sold me. This looks fantastic.

[@birms3287]

Gotta say I love this channel! I was watching you for a while, and I couldn't remember when and where I first followed Boomstick Gaming. Years later I rediscovered that IGN reviewer that plagiarized you and it came back to me. Giant Bomb covered that story back then, and they gave you a shoutout and I'm so glad they did, and that I subbed. Aside from them, this is probably my favorite games coverage outlet. You focus on all the features/mechanics that I would actually care about, you've got great taste, and you're very honest (Which seems quite rare in KZbin games coverage). So yeah, thanks! And great job!

[@BoomstickGaming]

Appreciate that, birms

[@suba7320]

The mechanics seem interesting and good. The combat has a satisfying weight and feel to it. The graphics and mood is on point. Now it's just a question of if they can deliver in world, map and boss design. If all these things click we might have a really good game on our hands.

[@nerio1227]

I noticed 1 more thing about a harden mechanic. When you harden in the middle of attacking the opponent you deal multiple hits. Saw 1 person playing as a knight doing the thrust attack and then used harden, the thrust dealt more damage and stugger.

[@CounStellar]

Nerio holy shit. Nice trade off mechanic!

[@AlterRektMLG]

This is shaping up to be the best non-BB Souls-like.

[@theolddarksoul1129]

Nioh?

[@ceral1871]

Bb isn’t a soulslike

[@pmgrodrigues]

Did not noticed how combat was so complex and deep in this game. Looks very promising!

[@ColdmochaArt]

awesome explanation sir! At first i thought the combat is lackluster but you changed my mind.

[@BoomstickGaming]

thanks!

[@MrDionysos01]

thanks for explaining the combat system. It shows me what can be done and how.

[@eumesm9770]

03:47 Cool! Bloodborne was about damage exchange and this morthal shell gaming will make you use even your defensive movement as an attack movement! 04:34

[@mpandunky]

Wow you speak with incredible clarity

[@exiil2]

Exquisite editing and in crisp 4K! Thank you!

[@BoomstickGaming]

Welcome!

[@LolaliciousSmiley]

Thank you for the clear and concise format! If you were doing this for any of the fromsoft games then I missed out before!

[@johnladen9988]

These guys got mechanics I'd like to see in From games in their first game. The devs seem to really understand/love the genre.

[@Skoshtwo]

They are fans of Lords of the Fallen, not From Software games. From Software never makes clunky and weighty combat like this.

[@milakovic2332]

Bruuuuuhhhh I've done dozens of playthroughs over the last 2 years, not until this video did I realize you can backstep mid combo and still deliver the finisher of that combo. Thanks for the tips!

[@SoulShrowden]

I super appreciate an in-depth look at this game. man i can't wait for it to come out!

[@TheVDaddyo]

Outstanding video. Underrated channel ! I think I first ran into your channel for your review of Ashen (which was outstanding by the way, best indie souls-inspired game yet). Keep it comin’ ! 😎

[@BoomstickGaming]

Thanks! Ashen is great and I am actually working it in to a vid I'm currently working on.

[@aditya-ie2bc]

watching this pushed my expectations for the game from a 7.5 to a 9. i didn't expect this much depth

[@Kemco1989]

i like the style of the game. but i also like is the style of your video. its almost like a demonstration directly from the devs. keep up the work mate, thumbs up

[@NeedsContent]

Solid breakdown, I like it. The harden mechanic had me hyped as soon as I first saw it. Excellent work!

[@Livingreciever]

Nice video man, Definatly need to see a full video on crafting/inventory and stats/abilities and any rank/level systems. :)

[@rampagesmithyakaash6128]

This is a very well done presentation 👏 excellent quality 👏 thanks for taking the time to put this together cant wait for this game looks amazing for saying 12 people made it 😀

[@BoomstickGaming]

Thank you!

[@misterq3409]

After watching this a couple times I wanted to say you are the God on info in a game while demonstration is taken place. Im a martial arts teacher and i know how difficult this is, and how important the skill is. Well done young man

[@YeOldeMachine]

This is becoming one of my all time favorite channels. Your analysis is always exactly what I wanna know about a game

[@Iskedo]

This is very impressive visually 10/10. Combat is interesting the whole Shell mechanic I'm sure it tied to a story and would be great for PvP, if there is pvp. I'm pretty confident this game will blow up if not rushed by publisher.

[@steelparagon5868]

I’m gonna support these guys forsure!

[@Kobra31677]

I use the Tainted Nectar for tactical healing. If you are near death and still have your white dot (second chance) active, you can use the nectar to go out of your shell. When you reactivate your shell you gain full health and still keep your white dot. Just try to make sure no enemies are around when you use it ;) It has saved me a couple of times! Also if you use two Tarspor in quick succession, the first one will poison you, but the second one will not only instantly max out your familiarity so you don't need to consume 10, but will also activate the immunity to poison. Hope this helps!

[@LemosArt0987]

Looks really good, fun mechanics and beautiful art style.

[@yaoooy]

The npc also look really cool and inspired. The atmosphere is amazing. I'm buying this

[@FP19487]

Love it when dev give extra mechanics to gameplays.

[@BrilliantBenGaming]

excellent info, this might save me once I start my first play in the beta

[@777shea1]

About to start the game & I'm horrible at the "DS/BB action RPGs combat style". Very useful with several ways to effectively utilize all the combat mechanics & watching it makes me want to see if I can find other combinations etc. myself. You explain what you've discovered from the combat system so well. Thank you for making this video. Game looks awesome but I was almost kinna dreading playing it until I watched this. This was the most useful MS combat video I watched. Subbed.

[@IllIlllI]

Good video! A lot of things covered I didn’t know about

[@SinSiete777]

That real life sword jump by you king just gained you a subscriber LMFAOO I’m dead

[@BoomstickGaming]

Lol

[@symz4665]

The art direction and design are breathtaking.

[@d3vastat0r89]

The real life demo! LMAO I got a good laugh out of that one

[@blaqthrax]

It's funny how the gameplay did more to explain what happened in the demo than the other way around

[@luisestevan3272]

Very underrated channel. I love how this guy just dissects a games mechanics like second nature, really knows his stuff. Already see a bunch of negative comments for this game, ready to write it off.

[@BoomstickGaming]

Thanks, Luis

[@YhelloWish]

Wow I love this kind of combat, it's like old school combat style

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

Fantastic video. This is the type of tips and tricks video I want before I start a game like this.

[@renatoszfr]

About the Tainted Nektar: when you get back to your shell, you get your full health back. Maybe that's its intended use? Loved the video, by the way! The game is looking great, can't wait to play it!

[@RuthwikRao]

probably similar to the Hidden tooth in Sekiro.

[@martinblake2278]

Loving it! Can't wait!

[@sfinxwojerz]

I'm not a fun of today's games but I love that whenever I want to put myself into a mood of aome hellish woeld exploration the sound and visual effects of this game makes me enjoy it a lot I'd love to see some more things to explore and more of the worlds well written world lore.

[@samrees7061]

Very much looking forward to this game. Good video!

[@shmookins]

I love everything about this (and your coverage as well, obviously :))

[@chrisredeo4847]

Damn the combos are sick, I was pretty meh on the combat in the trailers but this sold me

[@quint3ssent1a]

That moment when a knight sits and plays a tune on a weird looking lute was really good.

[@Cold_Zero_The_Wise]

an interesting thing to note is it is possible to do damage while harden use the heavy thrust attack and as soon as the blade inters/pierces the enemy use harden damage is dealt while being protected

[@beef4847]

As a huge Dark Souls and For Honor fan, this game looks incredibly promising and the animations look gorgeous. That 3rd chain attack on the 2h sword where you half-sword and spin with your momentum back to the hilt... ooomg. Drooling over that

[@doomantiaseven6606]

Didn't know about this game. Thanks for bringing it to my attention .

[@naarad_muni9440]

This is so much more interesting really!! A must buy for me

[@mathieu499]

very HIGH quality content :) !

[@the_dread_wolf1936]

I'm so ready for this game!

[@frankodare8248]

I think the "Tainted Nektar" will work similarly to the "Hidden Tooth" in Sekiro.

[@darkskindeep]

I've played this and can't wait for the full release

[@spiritualantiseptic]

Great video and hopefully an amazing final game!

[@JackShen]

I love this game, it's even more impressive when you discover it was created by only 4 developers. The only complaint I have is, I wish it was longer. There is 1 bug with the new weapon added by the Virtuous cycle DLC. When performing the special with the Axatana, it will occasionally leave you unable to attack until you get killed. It happens if a higher level type of enemy blocks as the animation for the Ax jump special kicks off. It's happened a handful of times, but I still love playing with the Axatana. And being able to play as Hadern, who can choose an ability from each of the 4 other shells makes it even cooler.

[@danielsheehan1]

Really cool enemy design. I like the look of this game.

[@Zatracenec]

Very nice video. I started playing this and since I don't play any similar kind of games, this helped a lot. Thanks.

[@nescapre1640]

ive been playing for 15 hrs and didnt knew that back step dodge was giving me a invulnerability, i thought it was a bug or just manage to dodge at the right time. glad to know this

[@mrxxsesshomaruxx9642]

Never seen this before, looks very good.

[@nyarlantothep9555]

looks absolutely amazing, for me it seems to solve a lot of combat problems DS had for me

[@namenullvoid]

The Surge and The Surge 2 have had, for years, a combat system where you can change your combo depending on when you press different attack buttons and in whichever pattern. The Surge also has a mechanic where on top of this is you time each swing at its peak and get the timing right, you attack faster. Very overlooked. These games are also arguably better than an indie Souls Clone. This game does look good though, I like the aesthetic a lot

[@aiskye2295]

Yep, that timing mechanic was first in Lords of the Fallen.

[@jiminatorx]

That was pretty good. some other reviews complained about the lack of combat options due to recharge mechanics. Maybe they were not playing "as intended"?

[@samiches4500]

I didn’t know anything about this game until I came across this video I really like what you did here I think I’ll get it thanks to your content. Got s like an subscribe from ! Thank you

[@BoomstickGaming]

Thank YOU

[@hedgehogpie2003]

Hardened = block + poise, anytime. Awesome

[@n1lknarf]

8:00 there's a shell that explodes when you go out of the shell, with that item you can force that ability

[@Number-bj1yn]

Harden shell is a beautiful design because it isn't an infinite hold block. It's like a parry window that acts as a deflect-shield.

[@Jesse__H]

Looks promising! Harden is an interesting mechanic. It's a pretty game too. Do you know if it's gonna have a Souls-like setup? Looks like it might. I'll keep an eye on this one! Good video my dude. P.S. riposte rhymes with lost. Please forgive me, I'm an English teacher; I can't help myself 😇

[@granthamlin8126]

I believe that's more of a UK pronunciation.

[@Jesse__H]

Riposte is a French loan word, so it's a French pronunciation ultimately. Of course languages change all the time so it's possible, even likely, that we'll standardize the "riposte rhymes with toast" pronunciation eventually. My go-to advice on these kind of language gray areas is this: look to the experts. Not the _language_ experts, the people who actually use a word regularly in an official or professional capacity. In this case fencers, and you probably won't find a pro fencer rhyming it with toast. Another good gray area example is with the word carbine. Dedicated gun nuts will tend to rhyme it with teen, but our generation (and maybe one before) has started rhyming it with twine. Ultimately it's a choice. But knowing your options makes it a _conscious_ choice, which is always preferable, and that's why I mentioned it in my post script 😊👍 Take care and have a nice day!

[@granthamlin8126]

@@Jesse__H A quick search show Olympian fencers saying it as he did in this video. Even the French pronunciation rhymes it with "toast", so I'm not sure where you are getting your pronunciations from. As I said, it's more of a UK pronunciation. Which is fine, but even the experts you cite say it the way you claim is wrong. I would argue it's more of an accented pronunciation the way you say it, due to someone's dialect impacting the way they speak.

[@mattr.1804]

@@granthamlin8126 Yeah this Jesse guy seems full of shit

[@Jesse__H]

@@granthamlin8126 I admit I've only known a couple fencers and I'm still pretty sure you won't hear a frenchman do that. Buy if an olympian is, then it's probably standardized in some places, here included.

[@MrAgentIncognito]

I didn't expect this game to have dodge offset.

[@FloresRain]

U broke this game down the best way.

[@corax1996]

I've noticed during my play through that there are few interesting combat mechanics that are not explained in game. One of the most interesting i found is the ability to cancel any chained attack (beside the chain starter) with dodge or parry. This works even with slow weapons like Martyr's Blade. So if your timing is on point, you just throw swing after swing and when you see the enemy retaliate, you press parry without having to worry about your current attack to finish.

[@CallinWasTaken]

Dang feels like a combination of souls-like combat and a character action game, I'm getting this one.

[@DaRoachDoggJrr]

Hope they fix the healing items, it’s kinda annoying. A bit more speed similar to lifegems in ds2 would be nice. Not instantaneous, but you don’t feel the need to run away for a minute to heal

[@plebflayer666]

It looks pretty good. Holds a lot of promise. I wish I could think of a question or suggestion for it but so far, with all I've seen, it's seems pretty original. I'm going to buy my copy for sure.

[@mazovist]

This looks great!

[@twitchsopamanxx]

My like and view. Stay strong brother.

[@mrgreenteatime2987]

Wow,that's quite impressive...and here I am with my jump attack followed by R1 R1 R1 smashing like a madman everytime

[@bloozism]

I'm excited now

[@MrNotteNera]

Sweet Baby Yoda, the animations are so good!

[@007galaxie]

Very cool stuff, thanks for sharing. I just picked up the enhanced version for xbox and am looking forward to exploring this game.

[@ivangabriel3472]

2:20, cut the dirt with steel and it will produce sparks.

[@MrStonehengeX37]

I like starting chains early, like with the mace before an enemy is in range use harden to delay the final swing. It’s most useful moment I caught on stream in my first impressions when I first learned you could keep your chains active as long as you already started the attack animation before hardening. I used this to beat the temple boss because he is able to be knocked down with that swing in that 1 hit. I have that fight time stamped for the winning fight if u want to check it out. Although I now know that using Eredrim is pretty much ez mode, I still won that fight without getting knocked from the shell