TL;DR

Permanent Items (also called PP Items) are self-replenishing consumables that refresh every time you rest at a Beacon.
Every PP Item has two effects — an Active effect you trigger manually, and a Passive effect that runs in the background.
You can equip one item in the Active slot and one in the Passive slot at a time.
Active charges are shared across all PP Items — swapping to a different one will not give you extra uses.
Each item has a Familiarity system — collecting more of the same item (1, 10, and 50) upgrades it through three tiers.
Tier 3 passives scale infinitely with how many of the item you collect, even across New Game Plus runs.
The first PP Item you find is Weed, which you get at the very start of the prologue.
Some rare items like the Grisha Remnant, Mango, and Seedbearer’s Scripture have unique Familiarity thresholds — you can only collect a few per playthrough.

Table of Contents

Permanent Items in Mortal Shell 2: How They Work & Best Ones to Use

Permanent Items — often referred to as PP Items — are one of the most useful systems in Mortal Shell 2, and also one of the least explained. The game introduces them within the first few minutes of the prologue but gives little guidance on how the Familiarity upgrade system works, what the difference between Active and Passive slots is, or which items are worth prioritizing.

This guide covers everything: what PP Items are, how to equip and use them, how Familiarity tiers work, which items are worth hunting early, and where to find a few key ones. If you are new to the game and still figuring out the core systems, our Mortal Shell 2 Beginner’s Guide covers the basics alongside this. And since weapon upgrades at the Tarforge interact with Tarstones that work similarly to the Familiarity system, that guide is worth reading alongside this one.

Mortal Shell 2 is available on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. More information is on the official Mortal Shell website.

What Are Permanent Items in Mortal Shell 2?

Permanent Items are equippable consumables that stay in your inventory permanently once collected. They are not one-and-done like regular consumables — every time you rest at a Beacon, all of your PP Items fully replenish and become usable again, exactly like the Mether’s Pulse healing flask.

They are called Permanent Items (or PP Items) because they never disappear from your inventory. Once you pick up a Weed or a Weltcap, it is yours for the rest of the game. Picking up additional copies of the same item does not give you extra charges per rest — instead, it feeds the Familiarity upgrade system, which makes the item progressively stronger over time.

Every PP Item has two distinct effects:

Active effect — an ability you trigger manually by pressing D-Pad Down (console) or the 1 key (PC). These have a limited number of uses per rest period that recharge when you sleep at a Beacon.
Passive effect — an ability that runs automatically in the background at all times, as long as the item is in the Passive slot. Most passives are flat stat boosts like damage mitigation or slow health regeneration, though some have unique conditional triggers.

How to Equip and Use Permanent Items

You can equip one PP Item in the Active slot and one in the Passive slot at the same time. Access your Equipment menu to swap items between slots freely — there is no cost or penalty to changing your loadout.

The Active slot item is triggered on command. The Passive slot item’s effect runs silently in the background. You cannot have the same item in both slots simultaneously.

One important rule to understand: Active charges are shared across all PP Items. This means that if you have used your Active charges on one item and then swap to a different item, the new item’s Active effect will also be depleted. The charge pool is global, not per-item. This becomes relevant when you find a second PP Item you want to test — do not swap mid-fight expecting a fresh set of uses.

What Is Familiarity in Mortal Shell 2?

Familiarity is the upgrade system tied to every PP Item. The more copies of the same item you collect throughout the world, the more Familiar you become with it — unlocking stronger versions of both its Active and Passive effects across three tiers.

The Three Familiarity Tiers

Tier 1 — Unlocked by collecting 1 of the item. This is the base level with standard Active and Passive effects.
Tier 2 — Unlocked by collecting 10 of the same item. The Active effect typically gains an additional use per rest, and the Passive becomes stronger or covers a larger threshold.
Tier 3 — Unlocked by collecting 50 of the same item. The effects are significantly stronger. Critically, the Tier 3 passive bonus does not have a hard cap — it scales further the more of the item you collect past 50, with diminishing returns. This means it can be pushed further in New Game Plus runs.

Familiarity Carries Over to New Game Plus

Familiarity progress is retained when you start a New Game Plus run. This makes NG+ genuinely rewarding — even items you already maxed out in your first run can grow stronger as you keep collecting them through subsequent playthroughs. The diminishing returns prevent any item from becoming completely broken, but the scaling is real and meaningful for dedicated players.

Rare Items with Different Familiarity Thresholds

Most PP Items follow the 1 → 10 → 50 path. But some rare items have unique exceptions because you can only find a handful of them per playthrough. These include:

Grisha Remnant — a powerful combat-focused item available in very limited quantities per run
Mango — only available once per playthrough; missable if you defeat a certain boss before collecting it
Seedbearer’s Scripture — another rare item with a compressed Familiarity path

For these items, the Familiarity tiers unlock at lower thresholds, adjusted to how many can realistically be collected across a playthrough and NG+.

Notable Permanent Items in Mortal Shell 2

While the full list of PP Items is large, several stand out as particularly useful — either because their effects are strong, they are easy to find early, or they synergize well with specific shells and builds.

Weed

The first PP Item you ever find is Weed, picked up in the opening moments of the prologue behind the starting house — before any combat begins. Reaching Tier 3 Familiarity with it requires collecting a total of 1,000 Weed across the game, making it a long-term investment rather than an early priority. However, since you will be naturally collecting it throughout the whole game, its passive effects will gradually grow on their own.

Amanita

Found early in the prologue area, the Amanita is a mushroom-based PP Item that functions like a secondary healing option. In the Active slot, it restores health on command. In the Passive slot, it slowly refills your health up to a threshold — at Tier 1 this is 20%, which the game’s own walkthrough notes is too low to be very useful, since most enemies deal enough damage to push you well below that. Using Amanita in the Active slot for on-demand healing is generally the better call. As you collect more of them and push into Tier 2, the passive threshold improves to 35%, making it a more viable passive option later.

Weltcap

The Weltcap is the most straightforward healing PP Item in the game, and it scales very well through Familiarity. Here is what each tier looks like:

Tier 1 (1 collected): Active — Restores 20% Health over 30 seconds, once per rest. Passive — slowly refills Health to 20%.
Tier 2 (10 collected): Active — Can now be used 1 additional time per rest. Passive — slowly refills Health to 35%.
Tier 3 (50 collected): Active — Restores 50% Health over 30 seconds. Passive — slowly refills Health to a maximum that scales proportionally to the total number of Weltcaps found, continuing to grow beyond 50 with diminishing returns.

Weltcaps are scattered across both Fainweald and the Ruins of Mammon. You can find one in front of a house to the right of the bone chest in Mushroom Village. Since they are common enough to encounter regularly, pushing toward Tier 2 during a normal first playthrough is very achievable.

Grisha Remnant

The Grisha Remnant is the most combat-impactful PP Item in the game when used in the Passive slot. Its passive effect gives you a chance to summon a Grisha spirit to fight alongside you. The trigger is described as on-hit, but in practice it functions closer to on-swing — meaning it can proc even when an attack is blocked or misses. When a Grisha spirit appears, it charges into enemies, body-slamming and pouncing until they are dead. In chaotic multi-enemy encounters, this can single-handedly turn the tide.

Because the Grisha Remnant is a rare item with limited copies per playthrough, it requires multiple NG+ runs to fully maximize. Even at Tier 1 though, the proc rate is strong enough to justify using it as your Passive from early on.

Burnt Figurine

A PP Item tied to fire resistance. The Burnt Figurine is earned by defeating the Rotten Ancient mini-boss, found in a wooded area to the left of the first Beacon after your initial visit to Marrow Keep. Its passive provides protection against burning — a status effect that several late-game enemies and bosses apply frequently. Equipping it before entering areas with fire-based enemies significantly reduces the pressure of managing burn stacks.

Tarncap

Found in the swamp areas of Fainweald. The Tarncap removes the poison status effect when used in the Active slot, and provides a small permanent resistance to toxins in the Passive slot. Given how many poison-inflicting enemies populate the Fainweald swamp routes, having the Tarncap on hand makes those sections far more manageable — especially on your first run before you have built up natural resistances through other means.

How to Get More PP Items Faster

Familiarity progress requires volume — and some items take real effort to push into higher tiers. A few strategies help speed the process up:

Explore every area thoroughly. PP Items are scattered across the open world in plain sight, tucked near Beacons, inside dungeons, and dropped by specific enemies. The more ground you cover, the more copies you naturally accumulate.
Reset enemies at Beacons deliberately. Some PP Items like the Weltcap and Amanita appear as ground pickups that respawn after enemies reset. Resting at a nearby Beacon and sweeping the same area repeatedly is a valid way to stack Familiarity progress on common items.
Gorf’s mushroom exchange. The NPC Gorf, encountered early in Fainweald, will trade Marsh Pearls in exchange for Weltcaps. However, Marsh Pearls sell for 2,000 coins each — so weigh whether the coins are more valuable to you right now than the Familiarity progress from holding onto the Weltcaps.
New Game Plus is the real Familiarity grind. For items requiring 50 copies, a full NG+ run is almost necessary to reach Tier 3. Plan which items you want to max out and actively prioritize collecting them during your second playthrough.
Always keep an item equipped. The Active slot item’s charges do not drain passively — only when you actually use the ability. There is no reason to leave either slot empty.

Tips for Using Permanent Items Effectively

Think about your shell when choosing your Active item. Tiel benefits from items that support burst damage windows. Proxima and Lazlo, being more defensive shells, get more mileage from passive healing items like the Weltcap. Match your PP Item choice to your shell’s playstyle.
Do not neglect the Passive slot. Many players focus on Active effects and leave the Passive slot empty or filled with a random item. A well-chosen Passive — especially the Grisha Remnant — can have more impact over a long fight than a well-timed Active ability.
Shared charge pool matters in hard fights. If you are about to attempt a difficult boss, make sure your Active charges are full before entering. Do not waste them on exploration. Rest at a Beacon immediately before committing to a tough encounter.
Rare items are worth saving for key fights. Items like the Grisha Remnant and the Mango are too scarce to use carelessly. Save them for moments where the summon or the effect will genuinely change the outcome of a fight.
Push common items toward Tier 2 first. Amanita and Weltcap both hit Tier 2 at 10 copies, which is easily achievable in a normal first playthrough. That second use per rest or higher passive threshold makes a real difference. Focus here before worrying about Tier 3.

Final Note

Permanent Items are one of the quieter but most rewarding systems in Mortal Shell 2. They give you a secondary layer of survivability and utility that complements your shell abilities and weapon choices — and the Familiarity system means they keep getting stronger the more you explore. You are not farming for currency or crafting materials here. You are literally just playing the game and finding things, and the items grow alongside you.

Start with Amanita in your Active slot in the early game while you find your footing. Switch to the Weltcap as you push toward Tier 2. Drop the Grisha Remnant in your Passive slot the moment you find one and leave it there. For everything else that ties into your gear and progression, check our full breakdown of how to cleanse corruption in Mortal Shell 2 and our Mortal Shell 2 Review for the full picture.