Mortal Shell 2 Leveling Guide: How to Farm Gloom Fast (135K/Hour Route)

If there is one thing I learned pretty quickly in Mortal Shell 2, it is that being underleveled hurts a lot more than it does in most action RPGs. You can have decent reactions, know your enemy patterns, and still get flattened because your Harbinger simply does not have the stats to survive another mistake.

That makes Gloom farming one of the most useful things you can do during the early game.

Mortal Shell 2 changes a lot about the original formula. The world is larger, the stamina system has been reworked, and progression now sits somewhere between traditional Soulslike leveling and the more specialized Shell-based systems. There is a lot going on, but the important part is simple: Gloom makes your Harbinger stronger, while Glimpse is tied to individual Shell progression.

And if you want to get ahead of the difficulty curve without spending hours mindlessly killing random enemies, there is a very efficient farming route in Fainweald.

The best part? Once you have the setup, the loop is ridiculously fast.

Gloom vs. Glimpse: What Actually Matters for Leveling?

Before farming anything, it is worth understanding what you are actually collecting.

Mortal Shell 2 uses two major progression currencies, and confusing them can lead to some frustrating upgrade decisions.

Gloom is your primary leveling currency. It works as the game’s universal experience resource. You take it to a Beacon and spend it on permanent improvements to your main character.

Glimpse is different. It belongs to the Shell you are currently developing and is used to unlock additional passive bonuses and specialized abilities.

For general character progression, therefore, Gloom should be your priority.

Spending Gloom at a Beacon improves several important parts of your build, including:

• Maximum Harbinger health
• Shell health
• Base melee damage
• Critical hit chance
• Shell Points for more advanced builds

That last part becomes increasingly important as you start experimenting with different Shell and Tarstone combinations.

Don’t Ignore the Risk of Losing Gloom

Mortal Shell 2 is still a Soulslike at heart, so there is a familiar catch attached to your progression currency.

Die while carrying Gloom and you drop it at the location of your death.

You then have to return to that spot and recover it. Die again before picking it up and the currency is gone.

This is why I actually prefer farming routes that are short rather than technically difficult. There is no reason to spend twenty minutes building up a huge Gloom bank only to lose everything because one elite enemy catches you with a badly timed attack.

There is also a surprisingly useful trick for recovering lost Gloom.

If your dropped currency is sitting in a dangerous area, you can use a ranged sidearm to shoot the floating Gloom from a distance. With enough Resolve available, a shotgun or crossbow can let you recover the pile without walking directly into the enemy group that killed you.

It is a small mechanic, but it can save a ridiculous amount of frustration.

The Best Early-Game Gloom Farm in Fainweald

The farming route I keep coming back to is located around the Mushroom Village in Fainweald.

It is not glamorous. You are basically killing the same two enemies over and over. But that’s exactly why it works.

The loop takes roughly 55–60 seconds when executed cleanly and can produce around 5,100 Gloom per run. With consistent resets, that puts the theoretical farming rate above 135,000 Gloom per hour.

That is an enormous amount of progression for the early game.

The targets are:

1. A Witch near the wooden bridge.
2. An elite Wolf/Knight-type enemy further down the path.

Both are close enough to the Mushroom Village Beacon that you do not waste much time running between kills.

What You Need Before Starting

I would not rush to this farm immediately after leaving the opening areas. Get the route unlocked first and make sure your character has enough damage to kill the two targets quickly.

For the most efficient setup, you want:

• Access to the Mushroom Village Beacon in Fainweald.
• The Mushroom Village Gate opened.
• A primary weapon upgraded to +2.
• Access to the Tar Forge in Marrow Keep.
• A Combat or Infusion Tarstone capable of applying elemental/status damage.
• A charged sidearm.
• Enough Resolve to use your ranged attacks consistently.

Fire or corrosion-based effects are especially useful because the damage-over-time effect helps shorten the elite encounter.

Step-by-Step: The 60-Second Gloom Loop

Step 1: Rest at the Mushroom Village Beacon

Start by sitting at the Mushroom Village Beacon.

This resets the nearby enemies and gives you a clean starting position.

From the Beacon, move toward the illuminated gate and face the wooden bridge.

Before leaving, activate your weapon’s elemental effect. On controller, the setup described for this route uses L2 for the weapon activation.

The goal is simple: don’t waste time applying your buff halfway through the fight.

Step 2: Kill the Witch First

Run across the wooden bridge toward the Witch waiting down the slope.

This enemy is the easiest part of the loop, but she can become annoying if you give her enough time to start casting.

The trick is to attack aggressively.

While sprinting toward her, use a running jump slam to interrupt the opening casting animation. Once she is staggered, follow with quick attacks until she goes down.

The Witch provides roughly 2,550 Gloom.

She also fills your Resolve, which is important because you are going to use that resource against the second target.

This is one of those fights where aggression actually saves time. Don’t stand around trying to create the perfect opening. Get in, interrupt the cast, and finish her.

Step 3: Burn Down the Elite

After the Witch dies, continue down the path.

You should find the larger Untouchable Wolf/Knight elite near the twisted roots.

This enemy is the reason the elemental setup matters.

While moving toward the target, pull out your shotgun or another ranged sidearm and fire directly into the enemy. With your weapon already carrying a fire-based effect, the attack can apply a powerful burn effect.

Then close the distance and follow with a jumping heavy attack.

The combination of the sidearm hit, status damage, and melee follow-up can shred the elite’s remaining health surprisingly quickly.

The reward is approximately 2,556 Gloom.

Add both enemies together and you are looking at around 5,100 Gloom every minute when the route is executed efficiently.

That is the number that makes this farm worthwhile.

Step 4: Reset and Repeat

Once both enemies are dead, do not explore.

Turn around.

Run straight back toward the Mushroom Village Beacon and rest.

The enemies will respawn, allowing you to repeat the exact same route.

Once the farm becomes familiar, the entire process becomes almost mechanical: Beacon → Witch → Elite → Beacon → Repeat.

There is no need to clear surrounding enemies. There is no reason to wander around Fainweald. You are optimizing the gameplay loop, not playing the area normally.

And honestly, that’s what makes this route so effective.

What If the Enemies Don’t Respawn?

There can be situations where an elite enemy does not properly respawn after using the Beacon.

If you return to the route and the targets are missing, don’t waste time waiting around.

Use the following reset:

Quit to Main Menu → Continue → Return to the farming area.

This forces the local area to reload and can restore the enemies without affecting the Gloom you have already earned.

It is especially useful if you are doing a long farming session.

Don’t Forget About Gold

Gloom is the priority if you are trying to level your Harbinger, but there is another resource that becomes increasingly important as your equipment improves: Gold.

Gold is used at the Tar Forge for upgrading different Tarstone categories, including combat, support, infusion, and ability-focused options.

If you are already spending time farming, it makes sense to keep an eye on your Gold reserves.

One useful source is the Spear Women patrols near the insect and centipede nests around the main hub routes.

They are relatively straightforward targets and can be staggered effectively with heavy jumping attacks. Each one can drop around 18 Gold.

I would also resist the temptation to burn your early Gold on unnecessary consumables or merchant maps. Gear upgrades provide much more value in the long run.

My Early Level 15 Build Recommendation

If you’re going to spend time farming Gloom, you might as well put those levels somewhere useful.

For an early-game setup, I like the idea of building toward Level 15 and creating a character that can comfortably handle the first major Corrupted Gates.

The suggested distribution looks like this:

The exact build will obviously depend on your preferred Shell and weapon, but this setup has a nice balance.

Attunement is particularly useful if you are already using fire or corrosion effects for the farming route. You’re not just speeding up your Gloom farm; you’re also building toward a status-focused combat style that can perform well against tougher enemies.

ExoShell gives you more breathing room when fights stop going according to plan.

And that’s important because even an optimized Soulslike build eventually meets an enemy that refuses to cooperate.

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Why I Prefer This Farm Over Random Gloom Grinding

There are plenty of ways to earn Gloom naturally while exploring Mortal Shell 2.

The problem is consistency.

Normal exploration means dealing with different enemy groups, longer travel times, unpredictable ambushes, and the ever-present possibility of losing a large pile of currency.

This route removes most of that randomness.

The enemies are close together. The Beacon is right there. The fights are repeatable. And once your damage is high enough, the whole thing becomes almost effortless.

5,100 Gloom in roughly a minute is difficult to ignore.

You also don’t need to turn the entire game into a farming simulator. A short session can give you a meaningful level boost, letting you return to exploration with better damage, more survivability, and a little less pressure.

That is the sweet spot for me.

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Final Thoughts

Mortal Shell 2 can be brutally unforgiving when your character falls behind the intended progression curve, but you don’t necessarily need to grind for hours to catch up.

The Mushroom Village Gloom farm in Fainweald is fast, compact, and relatively safe once you learn the two enemy encounters. With a +2 weapon, an effective elemental Tarstone, and a loaded sidearm, the Witch and elite Wolf/Knight can be cleared in roughly a minute.

At around 5,100 Gloom per run, the route can reach approximately 135,000 Gloom per hour under efficient conditions.

Personally, I would use it as a targeted progression tool rather than something to do endlessly. Farm until your next major upgrade feels comfortable, improve your weapon and Tarstones, then get back into the world.

Because the best part of Mortal Shell 2 isn’t standing beside a Beacon killing the same two enemies forever.

It’s taking that freshly upgraded Harbinger back into Fainweald and finding out just how much easier the next fight suddenly feels.

135K Gloom/Hour! BEST Early Farm in Mortal Shell 2