Mortal Shell 2 Materials — Ventrium, Laterite, Tarcore
Quick answer: Weapons eat a ladder of smithing stones plus gold: Ventrium → Laterite → Dorsalite → Thoracium → Ossinite. Tarstones do not use those stones. They gain XP while equipped, convert 1→2 into a Tarcore for 100 coins, then need six Tarcores to hit level 3.
Official promotional screenshot: Steam / Cold Symmetry / Playstack
Weapon and sidearm stones
| Material | Used for | When you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Ventrium | Early weapon / sidearm levels | Common overworld and low dungeons |
| Laterite | Mid upgrades | Fainweald onward; Merrick also sells a limited stock |
| Dorsalite | Higher mid / late upgrades | Mammon and later dungeons |
| Thoracium | Late upgrades | Scarcer; shop and late areas |
| Ossinite | End of the ladder | Rare; do not waste it on a weapon you will smelt |
Every level also costs coins. Balance Patch 1 increased enemy gold — Mammon drops were doubled — and cut smelting Gloom cost by 75%, so swapping a bad upgrade is cheaper than at launch hour.
Tarcore
- Slot a Tarstone and kill enemies. Only the equipped stone gains XP.
- At 10,000 XP, temper it at the Tarforge for 100 coins. That is level 2 and grants one Tarcore.
- At 20,000 XP, level 3 requires six Tarcores.
The efficient loop is: park mediocre stones at level 2 to mint Tarcore, then dump the cores into Duality / Grudge / Auspicious. Maxing every stone is how players run dry.
Where to get more
- World drops from enemies, chests, and Beacon interiors. Higher regions drop higher stones.
- Merrick in Marrow Keep. Launch reports put a shop cap around 15 of each of Ventrium, Laterite, Dorsalite, and Thoracium. Treat the shop as a buffer, not an infinite vendor.
- Smelting refunds the stones you already spent. Use it after Patch 1 if you upgraded the wrong weapon.
- Gold is the other half of every upgrade. Night Mode and Mammon (post-patch) are the faster coin loops.
Related guides
Tarforge unlocks · Best Tarstones · Gloom and gold · Balance Patch 1
Evidence: Material names and Tarcore rules follow GameSpot's Tarforge guide and Game8's materials list. Merrick's finite shop stock is a Reddit launch report, not an official inventory table. Verified August 23, 2026.