Mortal Shell II dungeon walkthrough: Holding Cells Route

The Holding Cells Dungeon is reached from Blackridge Pass Beacon by traveling toward Blackridge Hamlet. The dungeon entrance is inside the well at the settlement. Before entering, make sure your Shell, weapon, healing items, and combat resources are ready because the dungeon combines crowded rooms, hidden walls, projectile traps, vertical drops, and a paired boss encounter.

The safest approach is to treat the dungeon as two connected layers. The upper layer contains the first secrets, the gate mechanism, and the route toward the well exit. The lower layer contains additional loot, the key, an elevator shortcut, and the boss door.

After entering the Holding Cells Dungeon, clear the initial enemies before searching. The early rooms contain hostile prisoners, armored targets, and enemies positioned near breakable objects. Removing them first prevents an unexpected attack while you inspect the walls.

The first important secret is located near a Ventrium and a false wall. Strike suspicious sections of wall rather than assuming every reward is visible from the main path. A second hidden wall nearby leads toward an additional item and helps establish the dungeon’s visual language: unusual wall seams, isolated loot, and blocked sightlines often indicate a secret.

Continue through the main route instead of taking the elevator immediately. Several larger enemies occupy the upper passages, and a gate blocks the way forward. The gate is opened by a pressure plate concealed behind boxes. Break the boxes, activate the plate, and return to the gate once the mechanism moves.

The corridor beyond the gate is designed to punish hurried movement. Arrow traps fire from the walls when floor triggers are activated, and later sections add bear traps to the danger. Move in short bursts, watch the floor, and avoid attacking while standing on a suspicious plate.

A false wall in this stretch conceals a stronger enemy encounter. Before striking the wall, restore your positioning and make sure you have room to retreat. Breaking the wall can expose an enemy at close range, so entering the secret without preparation may cost healing or resolve.

The path eventually reaches an exit from the well, but do not leave yet if you still need the lower-area rewards. Return to the elevator and use it to descend. From the upper ledge, ranged attacks or abilities can remove some of the most troublesome targets before you drop down.

The lower section contains a cabin with the Feeding Room Key. Search the floor carefully because the key is easy to overlook among the surrounding objects. Once collected, it opens the door leading to the dungeon’s paired boss encounter.

The key does not require an immediate boss attempt. If your healing supply is low, return to the exit, replenish your resources, and come back through the unlocked route. The enemies may return after resetting the dungeon, but the unlocked door remains the important progression point.

Before entering the Feeding Room, prepare for a fight against two Grishas. The most reliable general plan is to reduce one target quickly rather than spreading damage across both. Keep the pair in view, avoid being trapped between them, and save enough stamina or resolve to respond after a stagger or knockback.

The Feeding Room fight begins after using the key on the locked door. Two Grishas enter the encounter together, making crowd control and target priority more important than aggressive trading. Choose one boss and commit to removing it quickly, while preserving enough mobility to escape the second attacker.

Abilities that create burst damage, stagger pressure, or knockback are especially valuable. Use them during safe openings rather than spending every resource immediately on a low-value hit. If one Grisha begins a red attack, create distance or interrupt it only when your timing is reliable; taking a risky counter can leave you vulnerable to the other boss.

Once one target is defeated, the encounter becomes much more manageable. Maintain the same defensive rhythm against the remaining Grisha, then collect the reward after the arena is clear. The notable reward is the Inflamed Claw Stone, a weapon infusion that consumes resolve to add burn to a weapon.

After the fight, use the arena’s traversal route to return toward the elevator. Depending on your previous movement, either elevator can provide an exit. The dungeon also has an alternate route that leads toward the other Holding Cells entrance near the Citadel of Penance, which is useful for understanding the region’s connected layout.

The alternate exit is not required for boss completion, but it can save travel time when you are continuing toward nearby objectives. Mark both entrances on your mental map so future returns do not require repeating the entire dungeon.

A full clear is easiest when divided into a first exploration pass and a boss pass. On the first pass, collect the hidden items, activate the gate, search the lower cabins, and obtain the key. On the second pass, enter with restored healing and travel directly toward the Feeding Room.

Use the checklist below as a final sweep before leaving:

• Confirm that both false-wall areas have been searched.
• Check the Ventrium and Gloom locations in the upper route.
• Collect the Revered Gland beyond the opened gate.
• Search the lower cabin for the Feeding Room Key.
• Inspect the floor around the boss approach for bear traps.
• Collect the Inflamed Claw Stone after defeating both Grishas.
• Test the alternate exit if you want the complete dungeon route.

This route keeps exploration, combat, and resource management separate. Clear dangerous rooms before searching, delay the descent until the upper area is complete, and treat the Feeding Room as a planned boss attempt rather than an accidental encounter. With that structure, the Holding Cells Dungeon becomes far easier to navigate and revisit.