Mortal Shell 2 Keeps Crashing? Every Known Fix (2026)

Symptom: Shader compilation crash — 'Compiling Shaders' freezes or crashes before the main menu

Cause: Oodle decompression error: LowLevelFatalError: Could not decompress shader group with Oodle (ShaderCodeArchive.cpp:499) An i7-14700K player with this exact Oodle signature reported crashes persisting after the Week 1 patch (community-reported, Aug 30 follow-up); the error string in their report links to Oodle's own advisory on Intel 13th/14th-gen instability — a vendor-side attribution, not a statement by the game's developer. Their post-Sept-24 status is unknown.

Fix / workaround:

• NVIDIA Shader Cache Size → Unlimited (recommended by the Playstack community manager)
• Clear DXCache + GLCache
• Retry compilation multiple times

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix rebuilt shader (PSO) caches and world HLODs; this may relate to shader-related crashes, but the developer did not name any crash fix in the notes. Status unchanged — monitor for recurrence (Steam event comments follow-up scheduled). The Oct 14 hotfix rebuilt shader (PSO) caches and world HLODs (general optimization, not a targeted fix).

Symptom: Death/reload crash — loading screen freezes after dying, then CTD

Cause: D3D12 GPU crash / render thread crash: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION reading 0xffffffffffffffff — related to Frame Generation

Fix / workaround:

• Disable Frame Generation (restart required)
• Switch to Fullscreen
• Drop to High preset
• FSR → TSR

Symptom: DLSS Frame Generation crash — crashing mid-game with FG on, especially on respawn

Cause: FG conflicts with the UE5 render pipeline; 2x/3x auto modes are worst

Fix / workaround:

• Turn off Frame Generation and restart

Symptom: Burn status crash — 0x0000000000000000 GarbageCollection.cpp:1744

Cause: Lazlo Retribution + Burn status effect interaction

Fix / workaround:

• Avoid using the Burn status effect until patched

Symptom: Intro cinematic crash — crashing during the torch + wall-break opening cinematic

Cause: FSR upscaling conflicts with that scene

Fix / workaround:

• FSR → TSR

Symptom: Post-death loading lockup — completely locks up after death

Cause: Shader cache exhaustion / D3D device loss

Fix / workaround:

• NVIDIA Shader Cache Size → Unlimited

Symptom: Riposte steals enemy weapon — enemies 'steal' your weapon pose during Riposte

Cause: Game logic bug

Fix / workaround:

• Fixed in HF2.0

Symptom: Slayer Seal UI lockup — equipping the Slayer Seal from the Beacon menu locks the UI

Cause: UI logic bug

Fix / workaround:

• Fixed in HF2.0
• Re-fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011: "Fixed a bug that made the Slayer Seal unresponsive" (developer patch notes). This is a distinct symptom form from the HF2.0 fix — that one covered the Beacon menu UI lockup, while the 1.000.011 fix covers the Slayer Seal item itself becoming unresponsive.

Symptom: Vatra's Temple progress lock — the temple stays permanently locked after exploring it

Cause: Progression logic bug

Fix / workaround:

• Fixed in the Week 1 Update (console patch 1.000.008)

Symptom: Lazlo's Rekindle crash / softlock — potential crash or progress freeze while using Lazlo's Rekindle

Cause: Ability interaction bug

Fix / workaround:

• Fixed in the Week 1 Update (console patch 1.000.008)

Symptom: Gragu barkeep softlock — talking to the tavern barkeep between Gragu's shell dying and reclaiming it could freeze progress

Cause: Dialogue and progression logic bug

Fix / workaround:

• Fixed in the Week 1 Update (console patch 1.000.008)

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix separately fixed "an issue that blocked Gragu from being possessed" — a distinct symptom form; see new entry #52. This entry remains the barkeep softlock form.

Symptom: Keybind menu crash — crashing when opening Settings > Keyboard Bindings

Cause: Corrupted input settings save

Fix / workaround:

• Delete EnhancedInputUserSettings.sav + SpartaGameSettings.sav under %AppData%\Local\MortalShell2\Saved\SaveGames

Symptom: D3D12 GPU Crash Dump — 'GPU Crash dump Triggered' FD3D12DynamicRHI::TerminateOnGPUCrash

Cause: DX12 GPU driver crash; targeted by HF1.0 but some players still report it. Developer-acknowledged (Steam Discussions, Aug 25 & Aug 28): the developer confirmed it is "actively working on this issue and are looking into a fix." Players report this crash did not occur during advanced access and started appearing after the early hotfixes — and new reports of the same crash dump continued after the September 5 Adaptive Difficulty patch (Sept 9–10). One player traced the dump to INVALID_POINTER_READ in SetShaderParametersOnContext (community analysis, unconfirmed).

Fix / workaround:

• DDU clean driver reinstall
• Remove GPU overclocks
• Last resort: -dx11 launch option (may cause visual glitches on some systems)

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix rebuilt shader (PSO) caches and world HLODs; this may relate to shader-related crashes, but the developer did not name any crash fix in the notes. Status unchanged — monitor for recurrence (Steam event comments follow-up scheduled).

Symptom: GC exception crash — EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION 0x00000000000002c8 in a GarbageCollection stack

Cause: UE5 GC bug; may correlate with unstable Intel 13th/14th-gen CPUs A Steam-side i7-14700K report (Aug 21) shows the same Oodle shader-decompression signature; see issue #1 for the shader-compile workaround set.

Fix / workaround:

• Disable FG + Ray Tracing
• Cap FPS — One Linux/NVIDIA player measured the Xid 13 fault rate scaling with frame cap (community-reported, measured by one player, Aug 22–23, before the Week 1 patch): roughly one fault per ~19 minutes at ~175 fps, one per ~3 hours at ~100 fps, and zero faults in 2 hours at a 60 fps cap. This is one player's self-test on their own hardware, not a general crash rate; the developer logged the report (post-Sept-24 status unknown).

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix rebuilt shader (PSO) caches and world HLODs; this may relate to shader-related crashes, but the developer did not name any crash fix in the notes. Status unchanged — monitor for recurrence (Steam event comments follow-up scheduled).

Symptom: Settings menu GC crash — 0x0000000220000769

Cause: UE5 GC triggered when opening settings

Fix / workaround:

• Disable Steam Overlay
• Verify files
• Delete corrupted saves (same as keybind fix)

Symptom: Black screen after shader compile — audio plays, no picture

Cause: Known issue, developer-acknowledged

Fix / workaround:

• No confirmed fix yet
• Try: clean driver reinstall, verify files, disable overlays

Symptom: Save load crash — UE error when loading a save

Cause: Unknown

Fix / workaround:

• Fixed in the Week 1 Update — its crash-fix list covers save loading
• Still crashing after updating? Verify game files, then report it to the developer

Symptom: D3D Device Lost — 'D3D device being lost' error

Cause: GPU overclock or driver crash

Fix / workaround:

• Remove MSI Afterburner OC/undervolt
• DDU clean reinstall

Symptom: HDD install stutter/crash — severe streaming stutter and crashes

Cause: The game needs an SSD; HDDs stutter badly and crash

Fix / workaround:

• Reinstall to SSD (70GB free, system drive recommended)

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix includes "a fix for slow-streaming dungeons when 'seamless dungeon streaming' is enabled" — a different symptom form from HDD stutter; not merged, status unchanged.

Symptom: Fast-travel / Beacon interaction crash — UE error when teleporting or leaving a Beacon

Cause: Regression bug, more frequent after HF2.0

Fix / workaround:

• No player-side fix yet
• Report to the developer

Symptom: Out of video memory — 'Out of Video Memory' error

Cause: Ultra textures + high resolution exceed 8GB VRAM

Fix / workaround:

• Textures to High
• Disable hardware acceleration in Discord/Chrome

Symptom: UE5 memory leak over long sessions — closing after long play sessions

Cause: UE5 memory leak Distinct from a community-reported CPU-usage escalation after opening and closing the map (watchlist item, Oct 13 evidence) — that reporter verified no memory or VRAM growth via the Steam overlay; #16 remains a memory-leak issue over long sessions.

Fix / workaround:

• Static page file: initial 16384 MB / max 32768 MB on SSD

Symptom: VFX-heavy scene crashes — performance degradation in particle-heavy scenes after the September 5 Adaptive Difficulty patch

Report: Community-reported: some players report degraded performance and crashes in particle-heavy scenes (electric effects, sparks) after the September 5 Adaptive Difficulty patch. Community-reported; developer-acknowledged at the problem-cluster level: the developer has not named this specific symptom, but did confirm on Steam Discussions (Aug 23): "We are aware of this bug and are looking into a solution." for the surrounding crash cluster. Reports of render-path GPU crashes continued after Sept 5 (Sept 9–10). One player's crash log pointed to corrupted shader parameters during rendering (INVALID_POINTER_READ in SetShaderParametersOnContext) — community analysis, unconfirmed.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Suggested workaround (unverified): lower particle/effect quality
• Cap the framerate
• Avoid prolonged VFX-heavy fights until more reports confirm the pattern

Update (Oct 16): the developer has re-confirmed Bring My Ova Back to Me is still not fixed, with a fix planned for next week's patch. Nothing to action on your side — the fix is patch-side. The Oct 14 hotfix's three extra ovas in the NG+ final dungeon may ease the count, but the achievement itself stays locked until that patch.

Symptom: Achievements not popping — some achievements stopped unlocking after the Week 1 Update

Report: Community-reported: players in the release megathread report that some achievements stopped unlocking after the Week 1 Update. The Sept 24 hotfix notes (1.000.011) initially listed two achievements as fixed — Seeking the Past and Bring My Ova Back to Me — but the developer then corrected the announcement: Bring My Ova Back to Me is NOT fixed in this patch, and a fix is planned for the next update (see the quoted correction below). Seeking the Past keeps the developer-patched status, though a few players still report unlock trouble (community-reported). Reports of achievements failing to pop continued after the Sept 24 hotfix; shell-unlock achievements (a distinct symptom form) are tracked separately in issue #47.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Seeking the Past: Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24) per the developer's patch notes — update to Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14) and re-check. If it still doesn't pop, restart the game after updating: at least one player reports the achievement auto-unlocked on relaunch, while another reports it still bugged after re-watching all memories (both community-reported, Sept 25).
• Bring My Ova Back to Me: NOT fixed in this patch. The developer's own correction states: "Bring my Ova Back to me is not fixed in this patch, but a fix for this will be added in the next update." No workaround is known — the fix is patch-side and expected in the next update. Multiple players report the achievement still locked after 1.000.011 (community-reported); some report it may have been fixed only for new players, but that has not been confirmed.
• “It should trigger automatically yet it doesn't. I think they fixed it for new players. I still have my achievement locked” — Steam announcement comment, Sept 25 (community-reported speculation; not confirmed)

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix adds "3 extra ovas in the final slice dungeon when playing NG+", which may ease the 'Bring My Ova Back to Me' count for NG+ players. The notes name no achievement fix; this entry stays partial pending community confirmation (CF-R4-04 context stands). Two players also asked about "Seeking the Past" still not triggering in the Oct 14 hotfix announcement comments (one in English, one in Portuguese; questions only, unconfirmed — no reproduction evidence). Post-1.000.012: one player reports "Seeking the Past" still stuck at 39/40 after watching all shell memories, across NG+ (community-reported, single report, Oct 15 — Bug Reports thread 581684714276050215). The developer is gathering info on achievement reports in that thread but has confirmed nothing. Oct 16 update (developer announcement on Reddit, level 4): the developer re-confirms Bring My Ova Back to Me is still not fixed, and states a fix is planned for next week's patch — more specific than the Sept 24 correction's 'next update' wording. Status stays partial: Seeking the Past keeps its developer-patched status (with the standing community reports noted above), the Ova achievement remains unfixed on all platforms as of the Oct 16 announcement, and the Oct 14 hotfix's 3-extra-ovas change remains a count easing measure, not an achievement fix. Watch item: next week's patch notes — if they name the Ova fix, re-verify wording verbatim before any status change.

Symptom: Rewards not granted on death — individual reports of missing rewards after kills

Report: Community-reported: some players report rewards not being granted on enemy/player death. Timeline note: the Week 1 Update already restored missing rewards per the developer's patch notes — reports of new missing rewards are individual and unverified; do not assume the earlier fix regressed until confirmed.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• No confirmed workaround yet. If rewards are missing, note the exact scenario and check back after the next patch.

Symptom: 4K resolution unavailable — display options capped at 2560×1440 (community report)

Report: Community-reported: a player reports 4K resolution unavailable, capped at 2560×1440. Whether this is a bug, a display-configuration issue, or an intentional cap is unconfirmed. The 2560×1440 figure is the player's own report, not a confirmed value.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• No confirmed workaround yet. Check display configuration and GPU driver resolution settings while the cause is unconfirmed.

Symptom: Won't launch — "Failed to start Process… An Application Control policy has blocked this file (0x11C7)" on Windows 11

Report: Windows 11 Smart App Control false-positive flagging MortalShell2.exe (developer: the game is safe to run; the flag is unnecessary — developer reply, Aug 25 Steam Discussions). The developer has logged the issue and is looking into it.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Turn off Smart App Control (Settings > Privacy & Security > Windows Security > App & browser control), or make an exception for Mortal Shell II — developer-recommended, Aug 25 Steam reply
• Note: Smart App Control can only be fully disabled once per Windows install (Windows policy); the developer has logged the false flag and is looking into it

Symptom: Crash when pressing Continue at the main menu — the game consistently crashes on first load while continuing an existing save, before reaching gameplay

Report: Community-reported: three independent players have reported this crash line since late August (two on Steam Discussions, one on Reddit), across different GPU and CPU configurations. Developer-acknowledged at the crash-cluster level only: the developer confirmed on Steam Discussions (Aug 26): "We are aware of these crashing issues and are looking into a solution." — but has not named this specific symptom. Whether Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24) addressed it is unconfirmed.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Reported workaround (reporter-verified): set a 30 FPS lock in the settings before pressing Continue. Multiple players report this stops the crash, but it must be re-applied after each system restart.
• Alternative workaround (reporter-verified): create or load a new save slot first, then load the intended save. Reported effective in repeated tests, also needs repeating after a restart.
• No developer-patched fix yet — status pending. If the crash persists after updating to Hotfix 1.000.011, use the workarounds above and check this page for updates.

Symptom: Falling through elevator lifts — walking into walls while riding elevator lifts could drop the player through the floor

Cause: Collision bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Several fixes to prevent players falling through elevator lifts when walking into walls". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Egon's Stone issues — dungeons not loading correctly when using the Stone, and the Stone removing Gloom dropped in the open world

Cause: Item logic bugs. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed dungeons not loading correctly when using Egon's Stone" and "Fixed Egon's Stone removing Gloom dropped in the open world". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Zmey fight bug — weapons disappear or attacks stop during the Zmey boss fight

Cause: Grisha Remnant summon interaction (developer-confirmed bug, Aug 20 Steam reply). The Sep 14 1.000.010 notes list fixed spawning and targeting issues with the Grisha Remnant and the Summon Stone; whether the weapon-disappearance symptom shares the same root cause has not been named in the notes.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Unequip the Grisha Remnant before the Zmey fight (developer-recommended workaround)
• If hit: 1.000.010 (Sep 14) fixed Grisha Remnant spawning/targeting — update first, then retry. If it still happens after updating, unequip the Grisha Remnant
• Note (post-1.000.010, community-reported): a distinct symptom form was reported after the Sept 24 window — losing the shell during phase 2 of the Zmey fight (two independent reports). A community reply attributes it to the curse mechanic built up by the boss's fire breath, which an item can cleanse — so this may be a mechanic misread rather than a bug; it is not confirmed as a bug. It is tracked separately and not merged with the weapon-disappearance fix above.

Symptom: Orrem, the Reclaimed dying instantly — the miniboss could be killed immediately at the start of the encounter

Cause: Encounter logic bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed an issue that could cause Orrem, the Reclaimed to be killed instantly". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: The Warden jumping through walls and unresponsive jumps — jump timing and trigger boxes felt unreliable, and the boss could jump through walls during the fight

Cause: Boss AI and trigger-box bugs. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Adjusted The Warden's jump timing and trigger boxes to be more responsive", "Adjusted The Warden's positioning so it no longer jumps through walls", and "Several fixes and improvements to The Warden". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Pushed outside the Hexapod arena — the player could be pushed out of the boss arena during the Hexapod fight

Cause: Arena collision bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed the player being pushed outside the Hexapod arena". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Random crashes every 10–30 min on AMD GPUs under Proton/Linux — amdgpu ring gfx_0.0.0 timeout, often taking the desktop session down

Report: Mesa/RADV graphics queue issue on the Proton compatibility layer (Valve-tracked, Proton issue #10121, open) — community-reported for this game, not confirmed by the game's developers

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Try launch options RADV_DEBUG=single_queue %command% (Valve-recommended first step; may only delay crashes)
• If it persists: RADV_DEBUG=nocompute VKD3D_CONFIG=single_queue — reporter-verified workaround on RX 7900 XTX (community-reported, Sep 5)
• Track Proton issue #10121 for updates
• Note: a Valve member (kisak-valve) suggests the single_queue launch option on Proton issue #10121 — this is Valve-tracked Proton-layer guidance, not a statement from the game's developers. The reporter later found RADV_DEBUG=nocompute VKD3D_CONFIG=single_queue stopped the crashing for them ("for now" — community-reported, not a confirmed fix). The Proton issue remains open as of Sept 28.

Symptom: Martyr Blade scaling possibly bugged — single Steam Discussions report

Report: Community-reported: a Steam Discussions thread asks whether Martyr Blade's scaling is bugged. Single report, no measurements, no developer response — treat as an observation only.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• No confirmed workaround — observation only, pending more reports.

Symptom: Mether pulse stuck at +1 — single Steam Discussions report

Report: Community-reported: a player reports "Mether pulse stuck at +1" on Steam Discussions. Single unverified report; no workaround confirmed yet.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• No confirmed workaround yet.

Symptom: Coward's Retreat input bug — single Steam Discussions report

Report: Community-reported: a Steam Discussions thread describes an input bug with Coward's Retreat. Single report, details unverified.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• No confirmed workaround yet.

Symptom: Zmey fight bug — weapons disappear or attacks stop during the Zmey boss fight

Cause: Grisha Remnant summon interaction (developer-confirmed bug, Aug 20 Steam reply). The Sep 14 1.000.010 notes list fixed spawning and targeting issues with the Grisha Remnant and the Summon Stone; whether the weapon-disappearance symptom shares the same root cause has not been named in the notes.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Unequip the Grisha Remnant before the Zmey fight (developer-recommended workaround)
• If hit: 1.000.010 (Sep 14) fixed Grisha Remnant spawning/targeting — update first, then retry. If it still happens after updating, unequip the Grisha Remnant
• Note (post-1.000.010, community-reported): a distinct symptom form was reported after the Sept 24 window — losing the shell during phase 2 of the Zmey fight (two independent reports). A community reply attributes it to the curse mechanic built up by the boss's fire breath, which an item can cleanse — so this may be a mechanic misread rather than a bug; it is not confirmed as a bug. It is tracked separately and not merged with the weapon-disappearance fix above.

Symptom: Mether's Severance soft lock and Stray Genessa — cancelling Severance with a gamepad could soft-lock the game, and Stray Genessa became non-interactable after using Mether's Severance

Cause: Bugs in the Mether's Severance interaction introduced alongside the Genessa trainer functionality added in Hotfix 1.000.010. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed a soft lock when cancelling Mether's Severance with a gamepad" and "Fixed Stray Genessa not being interactable after using Mether's Severance". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Harbinger shades and masks missing from the level-up tab — the items stopped displaying where you spend them

Cause: UI display bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed Harbinger shades and masks not displaying in the level-up tab". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Genessa's Faithful Doubles issue when using Lost Clotstone — the ability behaved incorrectly with the Clotstone equipped

Cause: Item-interaction bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed an issue with Genessa's Faithful Doubles when using Lost Clotstone". Update to the latest patch.

Note: The Oct 14 hotfix fixes a related but distinct form: "Lost Clotstone for Genessa Clones using Obsidian Hammer getting stuck and staying forever" — see new entry #51. This entry remains the 1.000.011 Faithful-Doubles form.

Symptom: Sheep attacks continuing after transforming back — the player kept attacking in sheep form after returning to their shell

Cause: Transformation state bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed the player continuing sheep attacks after transforming back into their shell". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Enemies aggroeing during miniboss fights — enemies could pull aggro during miniboss encounters when they should not

Cause: AI aggro bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix 1.000.011 (Sept 24): the developer's patch notes list "Fixed enemies becoming aggroed during miniboss fights". Update to the latest patch.

Symptom: Shell-swap state anomalies — invulnerability after switching shells at a beacon (persists until resting again); passive effects possibly double-applying after a shell swap

Report: Community-reported: two players on different platforms (PC Steam, Oct 6; PS5, Oct 4) report state anomalies after swapping shells at a beacon — invulnerability with Proxima after switching from Lazlo, and a roughly doubled Moonshine passive after Lazlo→Gragu→Lazlo. The PS5 reporter speculates passive effects in general may be stacking or re-applying on shell change; this is a player hypothesis, not a confirmed mechanic. No developer response in either thread as of Oct 13.

No workaround yet. This entry is pending a developer response — no player-side fix has been reported.

Symptom: Shell-unlock achievements not popping — 'Down with the Thickness' (Lazlo), 'My Brether' (Smert), and 'The Alchemist' stay locked while 'Shell Seeker' (unlock all shells) is unlocked

Report: Community-reported (Oct 2–11, all after the Sept 24 hotfix, version 1.000.011): three players report shell-unlock achievements never triggering, in each case while the unlock-all-shells achievement DID trigger — a self-inconsistent state. The developer replied in two of the threads asking for details (Slayer Seal usage, admin/compatibility mode, Steam overlay, Linux/experimental build) but has not confirmed a bug and is still gathering info. One player ruled out the Slayer Seal and the Proton compatibility layer via a fresh playthrough on the same machine (community-reported self-test).

No workaround yet. This entry is pending a developer response — no player-side fix has been reported.

Symptom: Trials not spawning enemies — activated trials spawn no enemies (or no golem while lesser enemies spawn normally), and trial barriers fail to hold the player, making trials impossible to finish

Report: Community-reported (Oct 10): one player reports multiple trial spawn failures across two locations, plus non-functional trial barriers in the same trials; reloading the area or returning to the main menu restored spawns for them (player-tested, not confirmed). No developer response.

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Reload the area (or return to the main menu) — player-reported to restore trial spawns; unconfirmed workaround

Symptom: Smert invincibility via Last Vow + kick spam — spamming kicks during Last Vow can make Smert invulnerable to nearly all damage indefinitely

Report: Community-reported: four independent players report the trigger across Aug 24 to Oct 4 (Steam Discussions threads 582806239606684240, 581680955258998925, 581680955259060645, 581684201210798848) — one reports the trigger as Last Vow plus two kicks, another confirms kick spam alone sustains it, and one reports the invulnerability persisting into October, after multiple interim patches. A developer team member responded to the earliest thread on Aug 25: "I have logged this for the team" (logged only — no confirmation and no fix named as of the Oct 14 hotfix notes).

Suggested workaround (unverified):

• Return to the main menu or die to an environmental hazard — player-reported to clear the invincibility (unconfirmed)

PS5 players: the Oct 16 patch notes list "Fixed softlock when interacting with the collector" — update your game and re-test. PC and Xbox players: no patch on your platform yet; the developer says it is coming shortly. Day-mode trading remains the reliable path in the meantime.

Symptom: Night-mode Collector trade UI gone + input lockup — during night mode, talking to The Collector and selecting Trade makes the merchant UI fail to appear; the dialogue/HUD disappears and controls stop responding, forcing an Alt+F4. Day mode is unaffected.

Report: Two layers. Developer: acknowledged in two threads on Oct 15 — "We are aware of this issue with some merchants since the hotfix and the team are investigating this issue!" and "Yes, can confirm we are currently looking into this issue." — a hotfix-regression merchant issue under active investigation; no root cause or fix named yet. Community-reported: 12 independent players across 5 threads (English, Russian, and Chinese; Oct 13–15, all after Hotfix 1.000.012) describe the identical symptom form: trade menu never opens, UI disappears, input dies, Alt+F4 required. Status update (Oct 16, developer announcement on Reddit, level 4): the developer has released a PS5 patch that names this fix directly — "Fixed softlock when interacting with the collector" — so the softlock half of this issue is patched on PS5. The same announcement says Xbox and PC patches are coming shortly. Status stays investigating: PC is this page's primary audience, the PC patch has not shipped at time of writing, and the fix line names the softlock form only — whether the night-mode trade-UI form (UI never appears) is covered by the same patch has not been stated. Per-platform fix claims are not adopted into the status field until the PC patch ships or a second source confirms coverage.

No workaround is confirmed yet; day-mode trading still works, and the developer is investigating.

Note: fix=null by design: no confirmed workaround exists. Players tried un-equipping Egon's Stone, switching shells/stones, day-night cycling via Festus, restarts, file verification, and resolution/overlay changes — all community-reported, all ineffective. Page copy carries the workaround-watch sentence: "No workaround is confirmed yet; day-mode trading still works, and the developer is investigating." Provenance threads: 564796605131212715 / 564796605131169935 / 564796605131130393 / 564796605131220092 / 564796605131305693. Developer replies verbatim in r12-evidence-round7/th_564796605131212715.txt (#3) and th_564796605131169935.txt (#10). Oct 16 PS5 patch (developer announcement on Reddit; Steam channels carried no announcement at verification time — the patch has not gone through the Steam news feed): the notes list "Fixed softlock when interacting with the collector" verbatim. Two-layer status: PS5 — fix published (per-platform, community confirmation of the fix landing still pending); PC and Xbox — pending, the developer says patches are coming "shortly". This entry is not flipped to fixed: the PC patch is not out, the announcement names no version number (version stays as-is), and the symptom split between the softlock form and the missing-UI form is unresolved. Day-mode trading still works as the interim path on all platforms. Watch item: when the PC patch lands, re-verify against its notes before any status change — see changelog entry ps5-hotfix-1016.

Symptom: Slayer Seal / Punch issues — several issues affecting the Slayer Seal and Punch, as described by the developer

Cause: Bugs in the Slayer Seal and Punch. The developer used generalized wording (\"several issues\") and did not enumerate the affected forms or describe the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14): the developer's patch notes list \"Fixed several Slayer Seal/Punch issues\". Update to Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14).

See also: Distinct from #18 (Slayer Seal UI lockup, fixed HF2.0; re-fixed 1.000.011 unresponsive-seal form) — different symptom forms, #18 stays unchanged.

Symptom: Mether's Breath second-warning soft lock — backing out of Mether's Breath's second warning soft-locked the game

Cause: UI prompt/interaction bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14): the developer's patch notes list \"Fixed backing out of Mether's Breath's second warning soft-locking the game\". The same notes add \"Mether's Breath now has multiple warning prompts\". Update to Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14).

See also: Distinct from #33 (Mether's Severance soft lock, fixed 1.000.011) — different ability, different form. Same soft-lock entry pattern as #33 precedent.

Symptom: Genessa Clones stuck with Lost Clotstone (Obsidian Hammer) — Genessa Clones using Obsidian Hammer with Lost Clotstone got stuck and stayed forever

Cause: Item-interaction bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14): the developer's patch notes list \"Fixed Lost Clotstone for Genessa Clones using Obsidian Hammer getting stuck and staying forever\". Update to Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14).

See also: Cross-reference #39 (Genessa's Faithful Doubles + Lost Clotstone, fixed 1.000.011): same item family, distinct symptom form — that fix covered the ability behaving incorrectly; this covers stuck clones persisting forever. Kept as a separate entry per recommendation; #39 gets a see-also note, not a merge.

Symptom: Gragu possession blocked — Gragu could not be possessed

Cause: Possession logic bug. The developer has not described the underlying cause.

Fix (developer-patched):

• Fixed in Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14): the developer's patch notes list \"Fixed issue that blocked Gragu from being possessed\". Update to Hotfix Update 1.000.012 (Oct 14).

See also: Distinct from #22 (Gragu barkeep softlock, fixed Week 1) — different form. #22 gets a distinction note; not merged.