As any good Soulslike should be, Mortal Shell 2 is jam-packed full of monsters all too willing to tear you limb from limb, and the boss monsters are more keen than most.

The first you'll encounter, aside from the few before the end of the game's de facto tutorial, is Vrannic. A boss that you'll find if you're in the habit of clearing corruption from Beacons early on.

This is a tricky early-game boss who hits hard and has a few gimmicks, but with this guide, we'll get you through this one and allow you to press on through the corruption.

Where Is Vrannic, The Grand Illusionist?

Vrannic, as mentioned, is a boss that can be accessed by choosing the 'Cleanse Beacon' option when resting at the Mushroom Village Gate Beacon.

This will take you to a dungeon with a few light puzzle elements where you'll need to see through some of this boss monster's illusions and make it to their arena.

You'll fall through the floor, and this battle will immediately begin, so be ready.

How To Prepare For Vrannic

Because this is so early in the game, as the Mushroom Village is the first port of call for a lot of players, you probably won't have a ton of build options to mess around with. So, we will simply list the bare essentials here.

We would suggest the following before taking on Vrannic:

• Upgrade your weapon to at least (+3)
• Go with Vatra's Seal
• Consider early-game Tarstones like the Wounding Strike, Auspicious Stone, and the Emberseed Stone
• Only take on this fight when you have acquired Tiel's Shell, found near the Ritual Grounds

How To Beat Vrannic

Now onto the fight with this decrepit creature. Vrannic will open the fight by casting off projectiles that will home in on your position. To avoid them, strafe left or right, and they should all miss you entirely.

Note: these cannot be blocked, so don't try to harden or parry these projectiles.

They will continue to do this until you close the gap, so the onus is on you. You'll want to stand before them, and when they start to attack, it's best to back off immediately.

They will usually do a three-time attack with their staff, and after the third attack, if you back off, you'll gain a window to get a few swipes in.

Alternatively, you can time your block or harden perfectly to stagger them. However, they will often follow up this attack with an unblockable staff stab, so be prepared to dodge immediately after.

Truthfully, that's almost all they have in their locker, and it's a rinse-and-repeat scenario. However, they do have one other trick that they'll put out of their hat when they reach 50% health.

At this point, they will duplicate, spawning six fake versions of themselves. They all go down in one hit, but they also all have the capacity to fire off projectiles.

The best thing you can do to avoid these attacks and gradually whittle down the pack is to use the pillars around the arena to hide from fire, and then time your runs to the next clone accordingly.

Also, Tiel's Shell ability, allowing you to perform sneak attacks and lose enemy tracking for a moment, is phenomenally helpful.

Rewards For Defeating Vrannic

Alongside clearing the Beacon and gaining access to a new area, as well as Mether's Breath, allowing you to fast travel and clear corruption across the map. You'll gain the following for defeating this boss.

• 1x Volatile Fragment
• 1x Glimpse
• 3621x Gloom