Still sitting at 8 or 9 Mether’s Pulse charges after checking every Revered Gland guide you can find? Then you’re probably wondering whether you somehow missed a hidden pickup — or whether that last charge is locked behind New Game+.
For the current version of Mortal Shell II, the answer appears to be:
You can reach 9 Mether’s Pulse charges in a first playthrough, but 10 is not currently confirmed as a guaranteed New Game total. New Game+ can give you additional Revered Glands, which is why you’ll see players showing 10 or more charges.
What Gives You More Mether’s Pulse Charges?
The item you’re looking for is the Revered Gland.
Every Revered Gland increases the number of times you can use Mether’s Pulse before resting at a Beacon. Synaptic Vessels are different: they improve how effective each healing charge is rather than adding another charge.
That distinction is important because it’s easy to think a missing Synaptic Vessel is responsible for a missing heal.
It isn’t.
Revered Gland = more charges
Synaptic Vessel = stronger healing
How Many Revered Glands Are There?
Current launch-era community tracking identifies 14 Revered Glands in the game, including the one sold by Merrick. A recently published community video lists these locations:
- Marrow Keep
- Widow’s Overlook
- Glutted Mire / Sunken Village
- Grisha Hunting Grounds
- Holding Cells Dungeon
- Thieves Retreat Dungeon
- Prisoner’s Domain / Hangman’s Scaffold
- Citadel of Penance
- Sanguine Shoreline Beacon
- Abbey Entrance
- High Lord’s Courtyard
- Forgotten Tower
- The Silent Steps
- The Silent Steps
Another current healing guide independently lists the same general network of overworld and dungeon locations, although it warns that launch-week databases disagree on totals because some map markers can represent merchant stock or repeat/NG+ states.
So Why Are Players Stuck at 9?
This is where the current community reports get interesting.
In the exact Reddit discussion you’re referring to, one player reported:
“Pretty sure you can only get 9 in NG”
Another player responded that they had reached 11 charges in NG+, while the original poster later confirmed that they reached 10 only in NG+.
Another comment says they ended their first playthrough with 9 charges, then reached 15 by NG+3, while noting that some glands don’t appear to respawn in every subsequent cycle.
So the community evidence currently points toward this:
9 charges is a normal first-playthrough stopping point for some players.
10+ charges can be reached through New Game+.
That makes the Reddit user’s situation much less suspicious than it initially sounds.
Do You Need to Beat the Final Boss First?
No evidence currently indicates that killing the final boss unlocks a hidden Revered Gland on your first playthrough.
The Reddit player specifically said the only thing they hadn’t done was the final boss, but the responses instead pointed toward NG+ as the reason some players have more charges.
So don’t assume:
“I haven’t killed the final boss, therefore one gland must be behind it.”
There doesn’t appear to be a reliable source supporting that.
Check Merrick Before Assuming You Missed One
Merrick sells a Revered Gland for 1,500 Coin through his Rare Findings stock. He also sells a Synaptic Vessel for 1,500 Coin.
The purchase itself doesn’t immediately apply the upgrade.
You need to take the Revered Gland to a Beacon and spend it through the Mether’s Pulse upgrade menu.
So, before searching the entire map again, make sure you actually used the gland you bought.
Where Are the Harder-to-Miss Revered Glands?
If you’ve already checked the obvious YouTube locations, pay particular attention to the locations that can easily blend into normal exploration:
Widow’s Overlook
A Revered Gland is located along the Widow’s Overlook route. Current guides list it as an early overworld pickup near the Beacon route.
Dungeon Locations
Several Revered Glands are hidden inside dungeons, including:
- Holding Cells
- Thieves Retreat
- Prisoner’s Domain
- Citadel of Penance
These are easy to overlook if you only follow the main objective through each region.
High Lord’s Courtyard
There is also a documented Revered Gland around High Lord’s Courtyard, which is especially relevant because it is deep enough into the game that players may assume they have already cleared everything there.
The Silent Steps
Interestingly, the current community list contains two separate Revered Glands in The Silent Steps. That’s the kind of detail that can explain why a supposedly complete video route doesn’t match someone’s inventory.
What About the Synaptic Vessel the Reddit Player Is Missing?
A Synaptic Vessel does not increase the number of Mether’s Pulse charges.
It improves the amount of HP restored by each use.
Current guides list Vessel locations including:
- Flooded Village
- Alchemist’s Workshop
- Holding Cells
- Thieves Retreat
- other overworld and dungeon routes
A recent community video tracks 17 Synaptic Vessels and 14 Revered Glands, for 31 healing upgrades total.
However, the written guides currently disagree about the exact collectible totals, so it is safer to use the individual location list than blindly trust a claimed grand total.
Is 10 Mether’s Pulse Charges the Maximum?
This is where you need to be careful with videos.
There are videos and player screenshots showing 10 or more charges, but that does not prove that 10 is the first-playthrough maximum.
In fact, current player reports suggest otherwise:
- 9 charges: commonly reported at the end of NG
- 10+ charges: reported after entering NG+
- Some players report going even higher across multiple NG+ cycles
A PC mod for Mortal Shell II also uses 10 as its default configured maximum, but that is a mod setting rather than evidence of the game’s natural collectible cap, so it shouldn’t be used to determine the intended NG maximum.
The Most Likely Answer to the Reddit Question
If you’ve:
- bought Merrick’s Revered Gland,
- collected the known first-playthrough glands,
- checked the major dungeon routes,
- and you’re sitting at 9 charges,
then you may not have missed anything at all.
Current community evidence strongly suggests that 9 can be the effective first-playthrough total for players, with extra charges becoming available through New Game+.
So the answer to:
“Do I need to go to NG+ to get 10 Mether’s Pulse charges?”
is:
Probably yes, if you’re already at 9 in NG and have exhausted the currently documented first-playthrough Revered Gland locations.
But there’s an important caveat: the launch-week collectible databases are still inconsistent, so it would be too strong to claim that every possible first-playthrough save is hard-capped at 9. Current evidence supports 9 as the commonly reported NG result, not an officially documented universal cap.
What Should You Do Before Starting NG+?
If you’re a completionist, do one final pass instead of immediately moving on.
Check these particularly carefully:
Marrow Keep → Widow’s Overlook → Sunken Village → Grisha Hunting Grounds → Holding Cells → Thieves Retreat → Prisoner’s Domain → Citadel of Penance → Sanguine Shoreline → Abbey Entrance → High Lord’s Courtyard → Forgotten Tower → The Silent Steps.
Then check Merrick’s shop one more time.
After that, if you’re still at 9 charges, NG+ is the sensible next step rather than endlessly rewatching location videos.
Bottom Line
The Reddit player’s missing two Revered Glands and one Synaptic Vessel do not necessarily mean they’ve overlooked three secret pickups.
The current evidence paints a more complicated picture:
Revered Glands increase Mether’s Pulse charges.
Synaptic Vessels increase healing potency.
There are 14 currently documented Revered Gland locations, including Merrick’s shop, but community reports indicate that players commonly finish their first run at 9 Mether’s Pulse charges and then pick up additional charges in NG+.
So if you’ve genuinely cleared all the known NG locations and you’re sitting at 9, you’re probably not missing some mysterious final gland.
Start NG+ and keep your eyes open for the extra healing upgrades.