When should I start New Game Plus?

After you have collected the Shells and weapons you want, upgraded your main gear, and defeated all optional bosses. There is no rush.

Do achievements carry over?

Achievements are account-level and persist. However, NG+-specific achievements may require completing the game again on the higher difficulty.

Can I return to my first playthrough after starting NG+?

Typically no. NG+ overwrites your current save or creates a separate NG+ file. Check the in-game menu before confirming.

Is there a confirmed fix for the Baghead Special Moonshine NG+ issue?

No. As of the 2026-09-01 check, it is a community-reported issue without a verified non-destructive workaround.

Getting Started

Mortal Shell II New Game Plus: What Carries Over, Resets and Can Break

Published 2026-08-25 · Updated 2026-09-01

Prepare for Mortal Shell II New Game Plus with current carry-over limits, reset warnings, Baghead Special Moonshine reports, difficulty scaling, and safe pre-NG+ checks.

Accuracy note: Source-backed and checked 2026-09-01. Patch-sensitive values are excluded unless verified.

Sources

Checked on 2026-09-01. Store details and balance may change after patches.

What Is New Game Plus

New Game Plus (NG+) in Mortal Shell II allows you to restart the story while retaining some progress from your first playthrough. This is a standard feature in soulslikes and is confirmed for Mortal Shell II based on community reports and system design conventions.\n\nThis guide covers what is generally expected to carry over based on genre conventions and early community observations. Exact details may be refined by future patches.

What Typically Carries Over

Based on genre conventions and community reports from the retail release:\n\n- Discovered Shells and their talent trees\n- Weapons and sidearms in your inventory\n- Map fragment discoveries\n- Cosmetic unlocks (such as the Flayed Harbinger from Beta participation)\n- Completed tutorial or prologue skip eligibility\n\nWhat this means:\nYou can experiment with different builds in NG+ without re-collecting every Shell and weapon. Your map knowledge also persists, making exploration faster.

What Typically Resets

Elements that usually reset in NG+:\n\n- Story progression (you start from the beginning)\n- Boss defeat status\n- Beacon cleansing status\n- Enemy placement and difficulty scaling\n- Key items and progression-gating objects\n\nThis means you will fight every boss again, re-cleanse every Beacon, and re-acquire key items even though you keep your combat gear.

Community Report: Baghead and Special Moonshine in NG+

Last checked on 2026-09-01. Recent Steam and Reddit reports describe a possible NG+ inventory problem involving Baghead and Special Moonshine: players who carry Special Moonshine forward, then obtain another copy, may be unable to return to a zero-item state needed for the quest path they want. This is not an official confirmed patch note, and reports seen so far are PC/Steam or platform-unspecified community posts. Treat it as a community warning, not a universal rule.\n\nCurrent safe advice: if the Baghead quest, hidden outcome, or related cosmetic matters to you, avoid picking up a second Special Moonshine in NG+ until official notes or repeatable testing confirm the item state is safe. Do not use Cheat Engine, delete inventory data, overwrite cloud saves, or force NG++ only to test a rumor. If you are already affected, preserve the save, record platform, patch/version, whether Special Moonshine was carried from the previous cycle, and whether Baghead accepts any item you can place back down. As of this check, there is no verified non-destructive workaround.

Difficulty Scaling

NG+ typically increases enemy health, damage, and possibly aggression. In Mortal Shell II specifically:\n\n- Enemies hit harder and have more health.\n- Posture thresholds may increase, requiring more attacks to break.\n- Bosses may have new attack patterns or faster combos.\n\nPreparation advice:\n1. Finish upgrading your main weapon and Shell before starting NG+.\n2. Stockpile healing items if they are renewable in your patch.\n3. Learn the full movesets of your preferred weapons so you can adapt to faster enemy timing.\n4. Consider keeping a backup weapon with a different speed category for encounters where your main weapon feels too slow.

Recommended Pre-NG+ Checklist

Before starting New Game Plus:\n\n1. Collect all Shells you intend to use.\n2. Upgrade your main weapon to its maximum available tier.\n3. Complete any optional bosses or dungeons you skipped.\n4. Collect all map fragments for easier navigation.\n5. Test and save at least two distinct builds in the Build Planner.\n6. Verify that you have a comfortable performance baseline (FPS, settings, camera).\n\nNG+ is more enjoyable when you enter with options rather than a single build that might struggle against the scaled difficulty.