If you lose your shell during the Mortal Shell 2 prologue, you cannot get it back. Cold Symmetry designed this event to happen, taking away your tutorial shell regardless of whether you defeat the Tar Golem or not.
During the climax of the Tar Golem boss fight, a cutscene plays where the giant foe destroys the Harros Shell permanently. If you fail to beat the Tar Golem, Harros steps in to save the Harbinger before being fatally stabbed. If you defeat the boss, the Golem still delivers the final blow to the Shell, leaving the Harbinger stranded.
How to Get New Shells After the Prologue
Progress past the prologue into the Marrow Keep, where you meet Zhirelle. From this point onward, you can locate eight Mortal Shell 2 shells to keep and use throughout your playthrough.
Any shell obtained after the prologue serves as an extra life. Taking too much damage forces the Harbinger out of the shell, and death only occurs if the Harbinger's health reaches zero as well.
How to Recover Lost Shells in Combat
If your shell takes too much damage and is knocked off during combat, you can recover it using two methods:
- Visit a Beacon: Traveling to any Beacon on the map restores your shell at full health while refilling your abilities and Mether's Pulse.
- Melee Attack Gauge: Attacking enemies as the Harbinger fills a gauge on the bottom right of the screen. At 100%, you can summon your shell back at partial health, then heal it using Mether's Pulse charges.
Leveling up the Harbinger using Mortal Shell 2 Gloom also gradually increases the base health your shell retains upon respawning.