One of, if not the most difficult bosses in the PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One title Mortal Shell is Hadern. Yes, Hadern. His four boss fights to unlock each of the standard weapons are easy, but his final form, with the Axetana as part of the Virtuous Cycle DLC, is an absolute nightmare unless you have a specific build with Eredrim and the Smoldering Mace. The trick is that you need to have Eredrim’s special skill to stack damage on kills, you’ll need about 20 roasted rats (or mushrooms, either one is fine), at least 5 boiled frogs, and preferably the Damaging Kick skill.
So in order to unlock Hadern’s fifth and final boss fight, which is him decked out with the Axetana, you will need to unlock all four of the other weapons. So this is assuming you have done that. You can only really properly beat him with the Martyr’s Blade or the Smoldering Mace in a reasonably easy fashion. This is because he has almost no starting neutral frames that can be intercepted with parry, and he can keep attacking you through hardening. Hence, the only effective way to beat him is by zoning him with kite-attacks at range. But first you need the right equipment.
Acquire Eredrim The Venerable And His Execution Stack
This is extremely important if you want any chance at beating Hadern. You can find the shell of Eredrim The Venerable at the entrance of the Eternal Narthex castle just before you head up the steps. He’s not terribly difficult to get to. Once you acquire him, make sure you have some glimpse items stocked up so you can quickly unlock his Execution Stack. You can stack up to 100 kills, and it raises the base damage of his attacks.
If you want, you can also unlock his ability to deal extra damage to single enemies who are alone. This is an ideal skill to have for bosses, as he does more damage against them. You may have to farm glimpses to unlock both skills, but they are absolutely necessary. The Damaging Kick is also good to have as it can be used to keep Hadern at bay if you can’t seem to create distance. But it isn’t necessary like the Execution Stack – which you will absolutely need.
Proceed to farm enemies until you have maxed out the stack at 100. The Hammer & Chisel is a good weapon to use for this, because it can do damage very quickly and stun-lock enemies without using as much Stamina. This will allow Eredrim to quickly get through foes and raise the stack. One way of doing this is killing enemies around Fallgrim Tower and then resetting them by talking to Sester Genessa. Once you’re stacked at 100, you’re almost ready to face Hadern.
Stockpile Roasted Rats Or Mushrooms
You will need to heal during the fight. Giving that some of Hadern’s attacks with the Axetana are simply unavoidable, or he will exchange hits with you even if you are trying to stay out of range. His chipaway damage on you will add up, and if you get knocked out of your shell with Eredrim, you will lose your Execution Stack. Your success is very much dependent on this skill staying stacked at 100, as it does the most damage.
One other alternative is using the Tainted Nektar when your life gets low to exit the shell and then re-enter quickly to recharge all of Eredrim’s life. This is a good way to avoid being knocked out of the shell by Hadern if your life gets too low. But that’s an emergency alternative, and your main focus should be on just whittling down Hadern’s life as if it’s a quotidian task.
How To Beat Hadern And His Axetana: Phase 1
Once you have your supplies and the Execution Stack ready, you can then enter into the fight.
The main thing is to keep your distance.
During the fight your main goal will be to keep Hadern at bay by moving backwards. Be sure to avoid getting stuck on geometry, so you should be moving backward in large circles.
Your next tactic will be to use the Smoldering Mace using basic R1/RB attacks as he walks/runs toward you. You want to swing at him as he’s coming close – the range on the mace will keep him out of range of his own attacks while enabling you to deal damage to him as he attempts to get close.
Be sure to roll-dodge out of the way to avoid being struck by his attacks.
You should have enough stamina to do a simple attack and then roll-dodge before he gets close. Using the mace (even if it’s not upgraded) will do substantial damage to him with the Execution stacked at 100.
If stamina becomes an issue, be sure to pop a Boiled Frog at the start of the fight. It should take around six minutes to beat the first phase of the boss. The idea is to roll-dodge, do chip damage, and roll-dodge. You want to make sure you’re striking him as he’s walking or after he’s coming out of his harden.
How To Beat Hadern And His Axetana: Phase 2
Once you get past the first phase of the fight, you have to fight him while he connects the Axetana and uses it as a two-handed axe. This fight is much easier than the first phase of the fight, because while he still does a lot of damage and can zap your life with his axe combos, it’s much easier to harden against him during this phase. He also cannot stun-lock you as easy and harden actually breaks up his combos unlike when he’s using the katana.
The tactic here is going to be similar to the first phase, except instead of roll-dodging away, harden and wait for him to do an attack. He will hit your hardened form and be repelled. During this time use an R1 attack on him.
It’s much easier to harden and attack during this phase than it is during the first phase. You wil also have an opportunity to use an R2 combo on him. It’s risky, but basically during the middle of an attack he will harden. Wait about a second before he unhardens to start a charged up R2 attack with the mace, and you will be able to do massive damage to him as he’s unhardening and completing his attack. Make sure you do this on his side or back, so you’re out of the range of his attack, all while dealing massive damage.
Rinse And Repeat For Victory
Basically, you’re going to want to keep using those tactics until you finally defeat Hadern. The second phase is much easier than the first, but both can still be challenging. A lot of it will boil down to timing.
If you’re wiling to play a bit risky, you can do a running R2 attack on Hadern as he’s unhardening between attacks. It requires a lot of skill to pull off without losing any of your own life, especially during phase 1 where he can basically shrug off your attacks and deal damage. But once you get past the first phase, it’s much easier to finally finish him during the second phase.