Reach Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Far Fields secret area in Act 3 via Silk Soar and Hunter’s March to earn the Heart of the Wild reward.

Okay, listen. I have been spelunking through Pharloom since the Act 3 content landed in 2026, and if you are anything like me, you have probably stared at the Far Fields map, noticed that suspiciously blank corner, and thought, “Yep, there is a secret over there.” Good news: there absolutely is. Bad news: Silk Soar does not care about your feelings, and the route to the Far Fields secret area in Hollow Knight: Silksong will make you work for it. Here is how to actually get there without losing your needle, your patience, or your mind.

The Route: Karmelita, Silk Soar, and a Very Sneaky Ceiling

First things first: you need to be in Act 3. A decent chunk of Pharloom only opens up once you reach this chapter, and the Far Fields secret area is one of those additions. If you are still poking around Act 2, go advance the main story before you waste an afternoon jumping at walls.

When you are ready, travel to Hunter’s March. Specifically, find the statue of Karmelita. This is not just a fancy piece of scenery; it is basically your vertical launchpad. Use the Silk Soar Ancestral Art near the statue to leap upward into a hidden passage. I missed this the first time because I kept hugging the ground like a frightened grub. Do not be like me. Look up.

After you make the leap, keep moving to the right. You are aiming for the border between Hunter’s March and Far Fields. Eventually, you will unlock a shortcut that connects the two regions together. That shortcut makes future visits much less painful, so take a moment to appreciate it before the game throws another obstacle at you.

The Shortcut That Betrays You in Act 3

Here is the twist nobody warned me about: if you previously unlocked the shortcut between Deep Docks and Hunter’s March, do not expect to use it in Act 3. It will be closed, and you will stand there pressing buttons like a confused mosscreep.

To get back into Hunter’s March after the Act 3 changes, Hornet has to take the original route from The Marrow. Then, once you are on the Hunter’s March side, smash the boulder that is blocking the way. Yes, this means you have to redo a chunk of the pogo platforming. The saving grace is that Silk Soar lets you skip a large part of that platforming, so it is less “painful flashback” and more “mildly annoying detour.” Spin, leap, pray, and move on.

Far Fields Secret Area: Loot, Quests, and Sweet Rewards

Once you actually enter the Far Fields secret area, it opens up into a surprisingly busy little corner of Pharloom. This is not just a dead end with a single chest. There are real objectives here, and a few of them tie directly into your journey.

Heart of the Wild

The big prize is the Heart of the Wild, one of the hearts required for the main quest. If you are hunting down essential pieces for progression, this is a stop you cannot skip. I recommend grabbing it as soon as you enter the secret area, because it is easy to get distracted by side paths and forget why you came.

Sprintmaster Swift and the Fastest in Pharloom Wish

Take the easternmost route inside the secret area and you will eventually reach the home of Sprintmaster Swift. This is where you can fulfill the Fastest in Pharloom wish in Silksong. It is a nice little side objective that rewards you for exploring every edge of the map. I will not spoil the exact conversation, but let us just say Swift lives up to the name.

Pilgrim’s Rest Connection

The hidden area can also be connected to Pilgrim’s Rest, which opens more routes on top of the existing Pilgrim’s Rest door. This is fantastic if you want to streamline travel across the region. Secret areas are always better when they create new shortcuts instead of just sitting there like a lonely room.

️ The Hidden Hunter Quest

On top of everything else, the Hidden Hunter quest in Silksong also leads Hornet straight into the Far Fields secret area. If you are following that mission, you will end up here naturally, which is a nice bit of design. It turns the secret area from a random hidden nook into a meaningful destination for multiple story threads.

TL;DR for Tired Spiders

Objective
Location / Requirement
Reward or Purpose

Enter secret area
Karmelita statue + Silk Soar in Hunter’s March
Shortcut to Far Fields

Heart of the Wild
Far Fields secret area
Main quest heart

Fastest in Pharloom wish
Sprintmaster Swift’s home, easternmost route
Side quest completion

Pilgrim’s Rest connection
Hidden route inside secret area
Opens extra routes

Hidden Hunter quest
Leads Hornet to the secret area
Quest progression

At the end of the day, the Far Fields secret area is one of those Act 3 surprises that makes Pharloom feel bigger than it should. Just remember: check the statue, use Silk Soar, go right, and do not trust the Deep Docks shortcut. Good luck out there, fellow wanderer.

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Mastering Hollow Knight's pogo downward slash is harder than it looks—this confession breaks down the bounce technique's brutal failures.

I have a confession to make: I cannot pogo. Not consistently, anyway. After 30 hours of Hollow Knight, after crawling through Deepnest’s nightmare tunnels, after turning the Mantis Lords into chitin confetti, and after spending so much Geo that the shopkeepers probably have a group chat about me, I still whiff the single most reliable damage technique in the game. It’s embarrassing. It’s humbling. It’s also weirdly funny, because every Hollow Knight veteran online talks about the pogo like it’s breathing.

What even is a pogo? It’s the move where you leap above an enemy, slash downward as you land on their head, and bounce back into the air. Do it again before you fall, and you’ve chained a pogo. If you’re really good, you can drift horizontally with a moving enemy, turning their skull into a trampoline. When a streak clicks, it feels better than sliced bread. Or better than ‘sects. Sorry, I had to.

I know the pogo isn’t new. It’s a classic 2D platformer trick from Shovel Knight and DuckTales. But in Hollow Knight, players treat it like a sacred rite. Need to beat the Watcher Knights? Pogo into Desolate Dive. Need to skip a tricky platform? Pogo on a flying bug. Need to feel like a god? Chain ten pogos on a poor Crawlid. The community says mastering the pogo is the difference between stumbling through Hallownest and dancing through it. And honestly? I believe them.

So why can’t I do it? I’ve pulled it off. I’ve pogoed into a Desolate Dive during the six-against-one Watcher Knights fight, which is basically a brawl with a gang of oversized armored bowling balls. I can nail it maybe 75 percent of the time. But that missing 25 percent drives me insane. I’ll jump, aim downward, and somehow my Knight decides to do a neutral slash instead of a pogo. I’ll be perfectly positioned, then the enemy shifts one pixel left, and I eat a faceful of bug. Am I bad? Is the game gaslighting me? Have I been outplayed by a cartoon beetle with no dialogue?

Let me break down my personal pogo failure chart:

• The thumbstick trade-off – I started this run using the Switch’s D-pad, but it hurt my hands. So I switched to the thumbstick. My old Hori Split Pad Pro would have saved me, but it broke last year. Now I’m using Joy-Cons, and the stick is about as precise as throwing a dart while riding a unicycle. Is this pointing down? Down and slightly left? Down and plotting my demise? I traded precision for comfort, and outside of pogoing, I don’t regret it. While pogoing, I regret everything.

• Hitboxes are liars 🥷 – Some enemy hitboxes are smaller than my will to live. I’ll visually be right on top of a bug, but the game says “nope, that’s not a head, that’s the concept of a head.”

• The nail is a toothpick ️ – Hollow Knight’s melee weapon is shorter than I expect. In most games, a sword reaches across the screen. Here, it barely reaches your own shadow. The pogo demands you be practically inside the enemy’s hat.

• Vertical movement ruins everything – If you’re fighting Hornet and she leaps up to do that whip-tornado attack, your pogo becomes a ticket to the bad weather. Enemies that move vertically break the rhythm, and suddenly I’m not a knight; I’m a ragdoll with a nail.

• I might just be a dingus – I’ve considered this. It hurts, but honesty matters.

It’s now 2026, and the gaming world has moved on. By this point, everyone and their grandma has opinions about Silksong’s new mechanics, final boss, and speedrun skips. People are arguing about Hornet’s new tools, the revised charm system, and whatever fresh nightmare Team Cherry has cooked. Meanwhile, I’m still in the original Hallownest, getting disrespected by a downward slash. I can’t leave. I won’t leave. Not until the pogo bows to me.

The worst part? I know the pogo isn’t the hardest tech in Hollow Knight. There are spell skips, shade cloak dashes, and nail-art combos that make the pogo look like kindergarten. And yet here I am, 30 hours deep, celebrating every successful pogo like I just won a boss fight. Maybe that’s the real lesson: Hollow Knight doesn’t care about your ego. It will let you beat the Mantis Lords, survive Deepnest, and still turn a simple bounce into a personal crisis.

So yes, I’ll keep trying. I’ll keep jumping, slashing, falling, and swearing. One day, I’ll chain twenty pogos on a moving enemy and feel like the true Ghost of Hallownest. Until then, I’ll be the guy who can beat Watcher Knights but still gets clowned by a crawling mushroom. Wish me luck. Or better yet, send a more precise thumbstick.

You know, maybe the real solution isn’t more hours of practice or stubborn grit—it’s better equipment. My broken Hori Split Pad Pro taught me that much. If I had a controller with a crisper D-pad or a stick that didn’t drift into the void every time I tried a downward slash, I might have landed that pogo chain by now. Hardware matters more than we want to admit, and if you’re on a similar journey, it might be worth seeing what alternatives are out there.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's Rosary Cannon tool offers unique gameplay in Pharloom, hidden behind a locked door in High Halls.

I have spent dozens of hours wandering through Pharloom in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and one of the strangest items I have picked up is the Rosary Cannon. At first I thought Tools would be a minor part of Hornet's kit, but once you upgrade a few of them, they can deal real damage. The Rosary Cannon is not necessarily a practical choice, but it is absolutely entertaining. It works like a little gatling gun that spits out Rosary beads, and I found it hidden behind a locked door in High Halls after a lot of backtracking.

The Locked Door in High Halls

The first step is to reach High Halls and look for a locked door that requires a Simple Key. I remember running past this area several times before noticing it. The door sits to the left of the High Halls Ventrica and Bench. That location is convenient because you can respawn and heal nearby if anything goes wrong. The door itself is marked with a Rosary Necklace icon, which felt like a playful hint that the room behind it would be full of bead-related treasure. And honestly, it was.

If you open that room and somehow miss the Rosary Cannon, do not panic. The Tool will still be there in Act 3. During my visit I also ran into Grindle in the treasury room. He was poking around the leftovers and muttering something about loot. I ignored him because I was too focused on finding the cannon.

Finding the Hidden Route

After stepping through the Simple Key door, the room looked almost empty at first. I stood there for a moment wondering if I had wasted a key. Then I remembered that Silksong loves hiding things above your head. I destroyed a breakable ceiling, and a secret way up opened. That led me into a narrow set of tunnels filled with small obstacles. I had to move carefully because the space was tight.

Eventually I reached an intersection. This is the point where the route splits, and it is easy to pick the wrong direction if you only care about treasure. Going up took me into a room packed with Rosary beads. It was a lovely reward for Hornet's pouch, especially if she is planning not to die for a while. But I wanted the weapon, so I turned around and took the downward path instead.

The downward route brought me into a place filled with steam. Visibility was not great, but I could see a platform I could stand on. On the left side there was a breakable wall. I destroyed it and entered what looked like another empty room. This time I knew better than to leave immediately. I looked up and spotted a breakable object attached to the roof. When I destroyed that object, the Rosary Cannon fell to the floor. It was glowing, so I walked over and claimed it.

How the Rosary Cannon Feels in Combat

After picking up the Tool, I headed to a bench to equip it. The Rosary Cannon can hold up to 80 Rosary beads as ammo. That sounds like a lot, but in a fast fight it disappears quickly. Once you run dry, you need to reload at a bench. That is a major limitation if you like to wander far from safe rooms.

I tested it against several enemies. The cannon shreds things that stay still on the ground, like the slow wandering creatures in the halls. You can hold down the trigger and feel like you are mowing down a corridor. Against flying enemies, however, it feels clumsy. The spread and lower accuracy make it much less reliable when something is buzzing around your head. Hornet already has precise needle attacks, so the cannon is more of a side tool than a main weapon.

The biggest downside is the upkeep. Rosary beads are also your currency, and feeding 80 beads into the ammo pool can quickly deplete Hornet's savings. I spent a while farming beads just so I could keep playing with the gatling gun. That felt a little wasteful, but I had fun experimenting with different upgrade combinations. I would not recommend it as a permanent loadout for difficult bosses. Still, for clearing simple ground enemies or just enjoying the novelty, it is worth seeking out.

Quick Checklist for Getting the Rosary Cannon

• Bring a Simple Key to High Halls.

• Find the locked door left of the High Halls Ventrica and Bench.

• Look for the Rosary Necklace icon on the door.

• Enter and destroy the breakable ceiling.

• Navigate the tunnels until you reach an intersection.

• Skip the upper Rosary bead room if you only want the cannon.

• Take the lower path into the steam area.

• Destroy the breakable wall on the left platform.

• In the next room, destroy the breakable object on the roof.

• Claim the glowing Rosary Cannon and equip it at a bench.

Even though the Rosary Cannon is not the most efficient Tool in Hollow Knight: Silksong, it is one of the most memorable. I love the absurdity of turning Hornet's bead pouch into a rapid-fire weapon. If you are playing in 2026 and have not picked it up yet, bring an extra Simple Key and go exploring. The detour is a bit long, but the moment that cannon falls from the ceiling is satisfying. Just remember to keep some Rosary beads in reserve, because the cannon is hungry.

Weapons like the Rosary Cannon are what make exploration in Hollow Knight: Silksong so rewarding. The thrill of breaking a hidden wall and finding a glowing tool is the kind of experience that keeps players hunting for every secret. Of course, chasing that feeling through multiple playthroughs means spending plenty of hours in the game, and many players like to keep their gaming setup comfortable and up to date while doing it.

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Master the Fatal Resolve quest in Hollow Knight: Silksong with this exact route to find the Pinstress and claim the Pin Badge reward.

I'm going to walk you through exactly how I triggered and finished Fatal Resolve in Hollow Knight: Silksong. When I reached Act 3 in the current 2026 build, I made a beeline to Bellhart and checked the Wishing Board. The Fatal Resolve wish was sitting there like a needle left in a pincushion, just waiting for me to pull it. I accepted it, and Hornet was told to find the Pinstress twice, then beat her in a final duel. The reward is the Pin Badge, which decreases the charge time of Needle Strike.

Quest at a Glance

Detail
Info

Quest name
Fatal Resolve

Quest type
Wayfarer

Act
3

Starting point
Bellhart Wishing Board

Pinstress stops
Blasted Steps, Mount Fay

Reward
Pin Badge

Blasted Steps: The Pinstress's Empty House

After taking the wish, my first job was to find the Pinstress's house in Blasted Steps. It sits at the west-most edge of Blasted Steps, near the Sands of Karak entrance. I started from the Blasted Steps Bellway and moved right. I glided down past the hanging cages until a blue flag with pins appeared on my left. From there, I used the platforms to continue in the same direction until I reached an area with a heavy storm. The balloons are key here: I rode them upward to reach the Pinstress house. Inside, I found a bench and a note explaining that she had moved to Mount Fay.

Mount Fay: Tracking a Trail of Pins

The route up to her perch felt like threading a needle through a sandstorm, every platform a thread that wanted to snap. The Pinstress waits on a cliff near the top of Mount Fay's first vertical area. To track her, I interacted with bodies impaled by pins along the way. They are grisly but effective markers.

Here is the path I used:

• From the bottom, double jump to the left wall and climb the platform.

• Hop right and quickly use the temporary platforms to go higher.

• Harpoon the enemy to reach the ring, then cling to the left wall and climb to the upper platform with silk flowers.

• Jump to the left wall as leverage to reach the ring on the right.

• Hop onto the temporary vertical platform and turn to the left wall, using it to climb to the platform with a warming light.

• Look left and cling to the wall while climbing up.

• In the next area, stay on the wall and avoid spikes to reach the other side.

• Glide down to a warming light and hop to the right side.

• Go up the vertical platform carefully to avoid spikes, then use Clawline on the enemy to gain height.

• Repeat for the next enemy and land on a metal platform with a pin.

• Use the upper enemy to reach the left wall and climb to the top.

• Proceed forward and jump onto the upper platform.

• Harpoon the enemy to the right to reach the ring.

• Double jump to the higher ring, then use the enemies to grab the upper ring.

• Follow the path that leads up and inspect the body to continue tracking her.

• Go left and rest at the bench if needed.

• Jump high and use Clawline into the ring, then use the left wall to reach the nearby enemy.

• Use the wall again to reach the ring and go left.

• Climb carefully to the warming light, then harpoon the needle to the spikes on the right to land on top of the platform. If that timing feels too tricky, glide down instead and use enemies and temporary platforms to go higher.

• Double jump left to find a blue body covered in snow. Hit it a few times to find out it is the Pinstress taking a nap.

The Duel and the Pin Badge

Speak with her, accept the challenge, and the fight begins. The Pinstress jumps around a lot and uses ranged attacks, so her fight cadence is less like a duel and more like a sewing machine in a hurricane. I stayed mobile, used Clawline to close distance, and punished her after ranged volleys. Once the fight is over, Fatal Resolve completes and Hornet receives the Pin Badge tool, which decreases the charge time of Needle Strike.

That is the whole quest. If you have already cleared Act 3 and are hunting for Wayfarer tasks, this one is absolutely worth the climb.

Completing this quest is a true test of traversal mastery, and the Pin Badge reward makes every subsequent needle throw feel snappier, which pays off in the harder gauntlets ahead. If you are playing on PC and found yourself coming back to this guide after finally grabbing the game, you likely already know how valuable a good deal can be on release week.

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These Soulslike action RPGs feature exceptional enemy variety, elevating gameplay and ensuring each region feels fresh and challenging.

In the sprawling universe of Soulslikes, few design choices shape a journey as deeply as the enemies prowling each region. A game can refine its parry timings, polish its stamina management, and craft a haunting world, yet if its bestiary dresses the same creature in three different shaders, the experience slips toward monotony like sand through an hourglass with a cracked base. Enemy variety is not simply a quantitative flourish; it is the whetstone against which every combat system sharpens itself. The titles gathered in this article recognize that a wide bestiary functions like a kaleidoscope, each rotation of the region revealing a new shape, demanding fresh tactics and resetting the player's rhythm. From tear-soaked islands to hallowed underground kingdoms, these eight games prove that a roster of disparate threats can turn a good action RPG into an enduring masterpiece.

8. Death’s Door

In Death's Door, a diminutive crow wielding a blade journeys through a world deliberately built to test patience and reflexes. Each map functions as a small theater of threats, populated by mages hurling glowing projectiles, leaping beasts springing from every corner, bell-ringing enemies that restrain movement, and shield-bearing titans lobbing explosives from impossible distances. The game transforms its modest scope into a dense ecosystem of danger, where every combat sequence demands that the player monitor multiple sources of pressure at once. The result is a tight, expressive loop in which clearing a horde produces a surge of mastery. The rogues' gallery may not rival larger productions in raw numbers, but Death's Door demonstrates how efficiently variety can energize a compact adventure.

7. Lords of the Fallen (2023)

Lords of the Fallen (2023) arrives with a dual-realm mechanic that splits its world between the mortal plane and the shadowed realm of Umbral. This interdimensional gimmick doubles the bestiary's impact, presenting different oppositions depending on which layer the player stands. Sparrows and spectral sentinels populate the Umbral side, while the living world offers its own brutalized champions. The enemy designs often outshine their mechanical behavior, yet the range of antagonists remains among the title's strongest feats. There is a theatrical cruelty to the roster, as if each new encounter were plucked from a Gothic bestiary bound in rusted iron. Though not every player will warm to its punishing pace, the game's comeback after a shaky franchise history is impossible to ignore.

6. Another Crab’s Treasure

Another Crab's Treasure dives beneath the waves and returns with one of the most imaginative enemy lineups in the genre. The ocean floor becomes a carnival of pollution-inspired combatants: lobsters jousting with plastic straws, pufferfish strapped to discarded bags, and crabs swinging bottles like cudgels. Each opponent forces a distinct response—parrying, dodging, platforming, or retreating—so the game repurposes marine biology and environmental debris to produce both laughter and suffering. The bosses join the pageantry, smashing players with microplastic-laced fury while maintaining the title's sharp satirical edge. In a sea of grim Soulslike imitators, this crab's adventure gleams like a pearl wrapped in seaweed.

5. Blasphemous 2

Blasphemous 2 takes the solemn religious horror of its predecessor and sharpens it into something far more varied. Every region is not only distinguished by its stunning art and audio but also by how enemies reinforce those spatial contrasts. The bestiary becomes a narrative device, aligning each mob with the visual and thematic texture of its biome. The game's Metroidvania skeleton means platforms and adversaries are designed around newly acquired abilities, so the challenges remain in constant flux. Players rarely repeat the same tactics twice, as each corridor introduces a fresh permutation of pressure. This cohesion between aesthetics, story, and combat makes Blasphemous 2 feel like an illuminated manuscript whose pages keep turning into darker, stranger chapters.

4. Lies of P

Lies of P has often been hailed as one of the finest Soulslikes ever made, and its enemy design is a significant reason. The game learns from Bloodborne's arc, gradually shifting from mechanical puppets to celestial abominations as the narrative deepens. Early regions pit players against clockwork soldiers and carnival horrors, while later stages unveil corrupted bears, monstrous clowns, spider creatures with aristocratic flourishes, and shambling undead. This gradual mutation of the bestiary operates like a tide that washes away the familiar and deposits something alien. Each enemy introduces its own mechanical identity, forcing players to retool their approach as the story warps the world. By the final chapters, the game feels almost like a different title than the one that opened it—a testament to its dramatic variety.

3. Salt and Sanctuary

Salt and Sanctuary remains a towering achievement among early Soulslike indies. Its 2D world stretches across a desolate, seemingly endless shoreline of suffering, where each region peels back another layer of hellish threats. Movement abilities unlock increasingly hidden zones, transforming encounters from shambling undead to beings that recall Lovecraftian nightmares. A giant eye trailing a scorpion's tail can emerge from the dark with a soundscape designed to disturb. Playing Salt and Sanctuary feels like descending through rings of an underworld where every circle grows more turbulent and concealed than the last. The sheer volume of enemy types across its campaign remains startling, and the game's ability to sustain dread through variety keeps it a genre masterpiece.

2. Nine Sols

Nine Sols marries precise side-scrolling combat with an absurdly diverse cohort of enemies. While its boss count is deliberately restrained to preserve quality, the lesser mobs are legion and distinctive. Over a hundred specimens populate the world, ranging from robotic guardians and laboratory test subjects to undefined biological horrors, further split into warriors, mages, flying creatures, statues, archers, assassins, worms, and even a boar. Each biome presents a unique ecosystem of threats, turning navigation itself into a sequence of small duels. The game fuses Metroidvania exploration with Soulslike parry-centric combat, and the bestiary supplies a ceaseless stream of opportunities to test both. In Yi's journey, no two encounters feel alike.

1. Hollow Knight

Any discussion of Souls-adjacent greatness eventually arrives at Hollow Knight. From the earliest hours, its bestiary compiles an enormous list of creatures inhabiting the fallen kingdom of Hallownest. Each biome introduces enemies that reflect its identity and mechanical demands, from buzzing sentries in overgrown ruins to spectral warriors in sunken depths. The game replicates the core formula of the genre but pushes depth and detail to an extraordinary degree. Variety here is not decoration; it is the pulse of exploration, pulling players through caverns with the promise of new adversaries around every bend. Even its successor Silksong looms on the horizon with promises of even greater scale, but the original adventure remains a benchmark. Hollow Knight's bestiary is less a list of enemies and more a living encyclopedia of a dying world's last inhabitants.

Rank
Game
Enemy Variety Highlight

8
Death's Door
Compact but dense theaters of simultaneous threats

7
Lords of the Fallen (2023)
Dual-realm bestiary split between two planes

6
Another Crab's Treasure
Pollution-inspired marine combatants

5
Blasphemous 2
Enemies as narrative extensions of each biome

4
Lies of P
Gradual mutation from puppets to cosmic horrors

3
Salt and Sanctuary
Hellish descent through increasingly hidden zones

2
Nine Sols
Over 100 distinct specimens across biomes

1
Hollow Knight
A sprawling living encyclopedia of Hallownest

For players who measure a Soulslike not only by its boss quality but by the breadth of threats between those bosses, these eight titles offer a masterclass in enemy design. Each one proves that when a bestiary refuses to repeat itself, the entire adventure becomes sharper, stranger, and far more memorable. Whether through comedic pollution-fueled crabs or somber gothic horrors, the lesson remains the same: in a genre built on overcoming adversity, the adversaries themselves must never stop surprising.

For anyone inspired to dive into these rich worlds, building a wishlist is only half the journey—securing the best deal for each adventure is the other. With so many titles spanning different genres and platforms, prices can vary dramatically across stores and seasons, making a little research well worth the effort. Savvy players know that patience often pays off, and the right discount can turn a budget-friendly purchase into an excuse to try two games instead of one. That’s where a quick visit to a reliable price comparison hub can save both money and time.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong’s PlayStation trophy list omits Steel Soul permadeath and Speed Completion, making its platinum easier than Steam/Xbox.

In the sprawling kingdom of Pharloom, a PlayStation 5 owner named Mara finally reached the final challenge after thirty hours of careful platforming and brutal combat. Like many players, she had been drawn to Hollow Knight: Silksong when it launched on September 4, 2025. The game immediately earned a reputation for punishing early areas. Yet Mara also noticed something strange while scrolling through the trophy list. The PlayStation version felt shorter than what she had seen in online guides. The reason was not a glitch. It was a deliberate absence.

Hollow Knight: Silksong contains a semi-secret permadeath mode called Steel Soul. When a player dies in this mode, the save file is deleted. It is one of the most demanding features Team Cherry has ever created. On Steam and Xbox, the game asks players to overcome that fear. On PlayStation, however, the associated trophies are nowhere to be found.

The Missing Permadeath Trophies

The omissions were first highlighted by TheGamer. Two achievements tied to Steel Soul are absent from the PlayStation Network trophy list. The first is Steel Soul, which requires finishing the game in Steel Soul mode. The second is Steel Heart, which demands 100% game completion and a finish in Steel Soul mode. Additionally, PlayStation does not include Speed Completion, a trophy that asks players to achieve 100% completion and finish the game in under 30 hours.

That last exclusion is particularly interesting because PlayStation still features Speedrunner, a far more extreme trophy requiring a five-hour run. So the platform does not shy away from intense challenges entirely. It simply omits the permadeath and moderate speed goals.

As a result, PS4 and PS5 owners have a significantly easier time platinuming Silksong compared to their peers on other platforms. The mode itself remains available on both PlayStation consoles. But the risk no longer carries a trophy reward.

A Comparison Across Platforms

The difference in trophy totals is stark. Steam and Xbox each list 52 achievements for Hollow Knight: Silksong. PlayStation offers only 34. Most of the absent trophies are smaller challenges, but the Steel Soul omissions stand out.

Trophy / Achievement
Requirement
PS4 / PS5
Steam / Xbox

Steel Soul
Finish the game in Steel Soul mode

Steel Heart
Achieve 100% completion and finish in Steel Soul mode

Speed Completion
Achieve 100% completion and finish in under 30 hours

Speedrunner
Finish the game in under 5 hours

This table reveals a strange balance. PlayStation players are spared the permadeath grind, but they still face one of the most demanding speedrun trophies in the game. The Platinum trophy remains a serious challenge, yet its path is shorter and less psychologically punishing.

Why the Lists Differ

Team Cherry has not commented on the missing trophies. The pattern is not unprecedented. The original Hollow Knight also had fewer trophies on PlayStation. It offered 35 trophies compared to 63 on other platforms.

Once upon a time, Sony imposed strict achievement restrictions on non-full-priced games. Those games were not even allowed to include Platinum trophies. The policy was so rigid that it affected high-profile developers. Hideo Kojima once explained that this was why Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes had a smaller PlayStation trophy list than other versions.

That policy, however, belonged to an earlier era. As of 2026, shorter PlayStation trophy lists are more likely explained by design philosophy than by old platform rules. Silksong's PlayStation achievement list emphasizes major progression milestones. Each trophy may therefore feel more meaningful, even if the total number is lower.

An Easier Platinum, Not an Easy Game

Make no mistake: Hollow Knight: Silksong is still exceptionally difficult. Players must master precise movement, learn aggressive boss patterns, and survive long stretches without rest. The PlayStation trophy list simply removes some of the most brutal optional peaks.

Some community members are relieved. Others argue that a Platinum should represent the complete experience, including Steel Soul. For now, trophy hunters on PlayStation can celebrate a slightly softer climb. The Pharloom kingdom remains dangerous, but at least the save file will not erase itself on the road to Platinum.

For players weighing which version to buy based on the trophy list they prefer, the decision often comes down to more than just achievement counts. Console releases and Steam keys frequently launch at different prices, and seasonal sales can shift the value equation dramatically. Checking where the game is cheapest before committing to a platform is a smart way to make the choice easier.

A reliable [game price tracker]( like DealNest can help you monitor price drops, compare offers across major stores, and get notified when Hollow Knight: Silksong falls within your budget. That way, you can focus on the challenge ahead — whether you pursue the Platinum or chase every achievement on PC.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's Flintslate boosts Hornet's attacks with burn damage—here's how to buy the Simple Key and reach Deep Docks to grab it.

Let me be real with you: Hollow Knight: Silksong does not mess around. Between the unforgiving combat and those brutal platforming stretches, Team Cherry has absolutely kept the “git gud” energy alive in 2026. But here’s the good news — the game gives you tools that can seriously tip the odds in your favor. One of the earliest and most satisfying offensive pickups I’ve found is the Flintslate. This little beauty cranks up Hornet’s attack power and sets enemies ablaze with every hit, which is a total game-changer when you’re still learning enemy patterns. I’m going to break down exactly how I snagged it without pulling my hair out.

What Makes the Flintslate Worth Your Time

The Flintslate is not just for show — this thing punches above its weight. Once equipped, it gives Hornet’s needle attacks a fiery edge, applying burn damage to anything you hit. Trust me, that extra damage over time can mean the difference between a clean kill and another trip back to the bench. Here’s the quick rundown:

Detail
What You Need to Know

Tool
Flintslate

Effect
Boosts Hornet’s attack power and inflicts burn on every hit

Location
Deep Docks area

Requirement
Simple Key

Merchant
Pebb the Merchant in Bone Marrow

Cost
500 Rosary Beads

Charges
3 charges when equipped

Before You Go: Simple Key Shopping

You can’t just waltz into the Deep Docks and expect the Flintslate to be sitting there for you. The door is locked, and you’ll need a Simple Key to open it. I got mine from Pebb the Merchant in the Bone Marrow area. The price tag is 500 Rosary Beads, which honestly isn’t too bad if you’ve been poking around the early game. I didn’t have to grind for ages — between enemy drops and breakable objects, those beads stack up faster than you’d think.

Once you have the Simple Key in your pocket, head over to the Deep Docks area. The spot you’re looking for is a large cavern with a locked door on the bottom-right side of the map. No switches, no puzzles — just use the Simple Key and the door opens. Easy peasy.

Deep Docks Walkthrough: Getting the Flintslate

Now comes the fun part. After you unlock that door, you’ll step into a chamber that’s absolutely crawling with enemies, so go in ready to scrap. I made the mistake of waltzing in with low health once, and let me tell you, it was not pretty. Here’s the route I followed:

• Enter through the locked door and follow the pathway into the first chamber with chained platforms.

• Fight or dash past the enemies — either works, but don’t get cocky. The first area has plenty of nasty critters waiting to ruin your day.

• Keep heading right and enter the next area.

• Climb the chained platforms slowly in this second chamber. There are flying enemies here, so take them out before they knock you off.

• Reach the top and jump into the top-left path.

• Follow that path until you spot an item on a table. That’s your Flintslate!

My Combat Tips for the Flintslate

Once you grab it, simply equip it at a bench to start using it. You’ll get three charges for the Flintslate, and activating it imbues Hornet’s attacks with fire damage. The activation animation looks slick, but it’s not just cosmetic — every needle strike while it’s active applies burn damage to enemies. That said, don’t sleep on the short duration. The burn window is brief, so I only pop the Flintslate right before a clear opening. If you activate it too early, you’ll waste a charge and miss out on the damage. Patience is the name of the game, folks.

Honestly, the Flintslate is one of those early game godsends that makes Silksong’s tough-as-nails combat feel a little more manageable. If you’re struggling with aggressive enemies or just want to melt through early encounters, don’t skip this tool. Grab the Simple Key, brave the Deep Docks, and light some enemies up. You’ve got this.

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At the end of the day, smart spending is just another skill worth sharpening. Pair that with the burn damage from your new Flintslate, and you'll be slicing through both enemies and your wishlist like a true hunter. Happy exploring, and may your needles always strike true.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's hidden mechanics include taunting enemies, a haunted Bellhart bench cutscene, thieving ants, and musical pauses.

After Hornet’s needle finally cut through the last pale thread of Pharloom in early 2026, I was certain I had wrung every drop of silk from Hollow Knight: Silksong. I was not even close. The game had been hiding tiny mechanical threads beneath its already dense map, and I only found them through accident, rumour, and stubborn backtracking. Some secrets are as quiet as a bell’s last harmonic fading into moss.

I watched the player count spike after the long-awaited release, so I assumed the community would surface every mystery within a week. But Pharloom keeps its secrets needle-thin, slipping through your awareness unless you press your ear to the wall.

️ You Can Taunt Instead of Poking

The first hidden trick I learned saved me from countless cheap hits. By pressing down on the right stick, Hornet spends one spool of silk to taunt and draw nearby enemies toward her. It is like using a moth’s wingbeat to call predators rather than chasing them through brambles. Against climbing or flying enemies that hit as hard as Silksong’s nastiest bosses, this ability is a quiet lifesaver. I went an entire playthrough without realising it existed.

️ The Bellhart Bench Cutscene

Bellhart already feels like a town stitched together with bad dreams, so I treated its bench as a safe pocket of air. I was wrong. There is a small chance, when loading a save at the Bellhart bench, that Hornet gets sealed in the same haunting webs that plague the town. It is a blink-and-you-miss-it scene, easy to miss depending on how quickly you beat the Widow. The moment felt like a nightmare slipping between the stitches of an otherwise ordinary rest.

Ants Carry More Than Bodies

The ants in Hunter’s March are not just background dressing. I first noticed them dragging corpses away for food, which was unsettling enough. Then one of them stole a Rosary I had knocked loose and carried it off like a tiny hearse driver with no respect for my loot. They can also snatch placeable tools or useful shards you leave behind. It is comedic and infuriating in equal measure, and it taught me not to trust Pharloom’s smallest citizens.

Enemies Listen When Hornet Plays

The Needolin is more than a mirror of Hollow Knight’s Dream Nail. If you play it near hostile bugs, many of them pause their attacks and briefly sing with you. It is a strange, almost tender reminder that something human remains in their ruined minds. Revisiting empty boss arenas can also uncover hidden NPC interactions. Characters like Nuu and the Chapel maid have new dialogue after their nearby battles end, and I never would have heard it if I hadn’t wandered back out of nostalgia.

The Bells Are Singing a Funeral Hymn

Once I activated a few Rosary benches, I noticed a familiar tune beneath the chime. It turns out the bell motif is drawn from Dies Irae, a Latin hymn for the dead. Pharloom is already a vertical graveyard of infected pilgrims, so the choice fits like a shroud. It also means the game hides its meaning in audio as often as it hides rooms behind breakable walls.

Rumble Points the Way

I played much of Silksong on keyboard and missed vibration clues entirely. On a controller, the rumble grows stronger as you approach Bell Beast fast-travel stations. It is an invisible compass, helpful before the map fills in but easy to overlook if you play on PC without Big Picture mode. This is not a visual secret at all; it is a pulse in your palms.

🧭 The Starting Area Is an Inverted Mirror

I had played Hollow Knight several times, yet I still missed how deliberately opposite Silksong’s opening is. Hornet arrives in Moss Bottom against her will, while the Knight entered Hallownest by choice. Their journeys move in opposite directions: one descending into a kingdom’s depths, the other climbing toward the ancient beings at Pharloom’s peak. It is a quiet structural rhyme that recontextualises the entire climb.

Stardew Valley’s Creator Is Hiding in the Cast

One cameo broke my brain after the credits. Eric Barone, the developer of Stardew Valley, provided additional voices for Silksong. He has not confirmed which character he plays, but the theories have been running hot since release. It sounds like an odd pairing until you remember Barone had already contributed to Hollow Knight merchandise. Now every weirdly cheerful bug I meet sounds suspicious.

Steel Soul Without Finishing the Story

Steel Soul mode is still brutal, but you do not have to beat Silksong once to unlock it. A riff on the Konami code in the extras menu opens the permadeath mode immediately. I tried it after learning the trick, and Pharloom responded by killing me in the first hour. At least the secret is easy to find, even if survival is not.

Quick Field Notes

• Taunt: right stick, costs one silk spool, draws enemies.

• Bellhart bench: rare load-in cutscene with webs.

• Ants: steal corpses, Rosaries, tools, and shards.

• Needolin: can make enemies sing, not just NPCs.

• Boss arenas: revisit for Nuu and Chapel maid dialogue.

• Bells: Dies Irae funeral motif.

• Controller rumble: points to Bell Beast stations.

• Starting area: Hornet’s climb mirrors the Knight’s descent.

• Eric Barone: hidden voice cameo.

• Steel Soul: unlock early from the extras menu.

Pharloom is not just another map: it is a vertical instrument that keeps playing long after you think the song is over. I am on my third run now, and I have stopped assuming I have seen everything.

Every playthrough seems to surface another detail, and the community is still peeling back layers months later. That kind of longevity makes Silksong an easy recommendation, especially for players who enjoy chasing secrets long after the credits roll. But jumping into Pharloom on multiple platforms — or hunting down the physical edition and its extras — can get expensive, which is why smart shoppers keep an eye on price drops before committing.

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Master Hollow Knight: Silksong's Ecstasy of the End quest by returning all fleas, then beat Flea Juggle, Dodge, and Bounce champions to win.

For players working through Hollow Knight: Silksong in 2026, the Flea Caravan can seem like a modest errand at first. It asks Hornet to round up scattered fleas across Pharloom, but the activity sits much closer to the main path than its cheerful presentation suggests. Returning all the lost fleas to the Caravan is necessary to advance into Act 3, and tracking down every flea location also points toward an exclusive tool and one Pale Oil. The payoff, however, is not automatic. Hornet still has to win the Flea Festival by claiming the grand champion title in the Ecstasy of the End quest.

How to Trigger the Ecstasy of the End Quest

The quest becomes available only after the full flea hunt is completed. Once all fleas have been found, players should speak to the Fleamaster to receive the Egg of Flealia. This item is the key that opens the next step.

After obtaining the Egg of Flealia, Hornet should return to Bellhart's Wishwall. A new wish called the Ecstasy of the End will now be available there. Promise the wish, then travel back to Fleatopia in the Putrified Ducts area. Doing so begins the Festival of the Flea and unlocks the three required flea games.

The full trigger sequence can be summarized as follows:

• Find every lost flea in Pharloom.

• Speak to the Fleamaster and obtain the Egg of Flealia.

• Return to Bellhart's Wishwall.

• Locate and promise the Ecstasy of the End wish.

• Go to Fleatopia in the Putrified Ducts to start the Festival of the Flea.

Completing the Ecstasy of the End Quest

Finishing the quest requires Hornet to achieve the highest score in all three flea games: Flea Juggle, Flea Dodge, and Flea Bounce. Beat every champion and Hornet earns the grand champion title.

Flea Juggle

Flea Juggle asks Hornet to keep falling fleas from touching the ground by hitting them upward. The game ends if three fleas land, and stepping off the stage also causes an immediate failure. Upward hits are preferred, but a normal sideways hit can be useful when a flea drifts too far outside the stage to reach with an upward strike. The score to beat is held by Grishkin at 30 points.

Flea Dodge

Flea Dodge places Hornet on two wooden platforms while fleas fly in from any direction. At times, one of the two platforms will fall, leaving less space to stand. The champion Vog has a high score of 65 points, meaning players must dodge a significant number of fleas. A useful detail is that a flea flying over Hornet's head still awards points as long as it passes by, so close dodges are not always necessary.

Flea Bounce

Flea Bounce is the final aerial challenge. Hornet must stay in the air and bounce over fleas to earn points. Touching the ground will end the game, so players should use all available abilities to maintain an airborne position. Vog is also the champion of Flea Bounce, with a high score of 42 points.

A quick reference for the three high scores is shown below:

Flea Game
Champion
Score to Beat

Flea Juggle
Grishkin
30

Flea Dodge
Vog
65

Flea Bounce
Vog
42

After all three high scores are beaten, Hornet earns the grand champion title. Completing the Ecstasy of the End quest is essential for players who want to secure the Pale Oil and continue deeper into the story. Because the Flea Caravan is tied to Act 3 progression, it is worth handling the flea search early so the Wishwall and Festival of the Flea are ready when needed.

Mastering the Ecstasy of the End quest is a rewarding milestone, but it also highlights how much content Hollow Knight: Silksong packs into every corner of Pharloom. For players who have yet to begin Hornet's journey or are looking to gift the game to a friend, finding a good price on the title can make the adventure even more enjoyable. Keeping an eye on current promotions and discounts is a smart way to grab games at the right moment.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong on PS5 delivers a challenging, agile adventure with new Crest tools and stunning hand-painted visuals.

After what felt like an eternity—and a running joke about the heat death of the universe—Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally here. By 2026, players who fire it up on a PS5 know that surreal feeling of pausing in Bellhart or Shellwood, soaking in the hand-painted backdrops, and thinking, 'Good grief, this is actually happening.' It may have taken a hot minute longer than anyone expected, but the game is real, and it is absolutely glorious.

A Different Flavor of Hollow Knight

Silksong is not merely Hollow Knight with a fresh coat of paint. Hornet cuts through Pharloom like a completely different creature. She is quicker and more agile than the Knight—able to sprint, float from great heights, and wield a grappling hook right out of the gate. That faster tempo can make the opening hours feel humbling, even for folks who breezed through the original.

Once the controls click, though, exploring Pharloom becomes a joy. Winding hallways and bug-filled biomes hide secrets behind nearly every corner, and each new traversal ability makes old areas feel brand new. There is a constant sense of momentum as Hornet starts off moving slowly from place to place, then gradually unlocks sprints, climbs, jumps, and glides that send her rocketing through spaces that once felt impossible.

The Charm system from Hollow Knight also takes a back seat. Instead, players find various tools scattered around the world that can be equipped based on their current Crest. Each Crest has a set number of slots for specific tool types, so builds are less flexible than before, but the twist is worth it: Crests change Hornet’s primary attacks. That alone keeps experimentation alive without copying the old system beat for beat.

Key differences stand out right away:

• Hornet can sprint, float, and use a grappling hook from early on.

• The Charm system is gone, replaced by tools equipped via Crests.

• Each Crest changes Hornet’s primary attacks.

Yes, Silksong Is Difficult, But That’s Okay

No cap, the difficulty discourse has been loud since launch. A chunk of it is a little overblown. Hollow Knight was never a walk in the park—Path of Pain still haunts plenty of nightmares—but Silksong’s status as one of gaming’s white whales means more casual players are jumping in to see what all the buzz is about. To its credit, Team Cherry has been rolling out updates to smooth over a few overtuned early-game spots.

Even so, enemies in Silksong hit like freight trains. Multiple foes can swipe two masks of health at once, and whenever a player only has five masks for a long stretch, mistakes become brutally expensive. Some boss fights are even nastier because simple contact can take two points of health. It sounds rough, and honestly, it can be.

Still, Team Cherry walks the tightrope between challenging and unfair for most encounters. Early bosses like Lace, Sister Splinter, and Widow will toss players around, but beating them feels earned. Learning attack patterns and finding counters turns each fight into a proper obstacle rather than a wall. Widow in particular has made plenty of players spend hours retrying, but rarely does it feel unbeatable—just spectacularly tough, like watching Hornet take another giant bell to the skull while a huge grin refuses to leave the player’s face.

Pi Na So Mi Ma Ni Se, Da Na Fun Su Low Ba

It is hard to keep a straight face through the punishment when the supporting cast is this lovable. Team Cherry has a gift for crafting weird little personalities that players cannot help but adore, and Silksong is stuffed with them. Sherma, a tiny bug who sings and hammers away on his chime, has basically been adopted by the community already. Hearing Shakra’s song echo through a brutal corridor is enough to spark joy—and not just because she usually has a new map for sale.

Then there is the fleamaster who wants help recovering his lost fleas, the nosy spa owner who peeks while Hornet bathes and can be given a well-deserved smack, and the timid pilgrim too frightened to begin his trek to the Citadel. These characters make Pharloom feel like a mysterious, living world rather than a hallway simulator funneling players toward the next boss arena. Their brief moments of levity are the secret sauce that elevates an already excellent metroidvania.

Pharloom’s Economy Is In Shambles

On top of the main path, Silksong introduces the Wish system, which works like a collection of side quests. Players can gather items, rescue stranded bugs, hunt specific enemy types, and earn extra goodies along the way. These tasks are not especially deep and can be skipped if someone just wants to gun it down the main route, but they add solid reasons to backtrack.

The only real gripe is currency. Many Wish rewards should include more Rosaries, the game’s main money. Fast-travel stations, benches, and extra tools all demand Rosaries, and there are not many natural ways to stock up outside of grinding certain enemies. Worse, Rosaries can be lost if the player dies and fails to recover their body, which stings especially hard in the early game. Pharloom’s economy could charitably be described as rough around the edges.

Verdict: A Triumphant Metroidvania

Minor quibbles fade when the finished game is this magnificent. Team Cherry has crafted an absolute triumph. Seven years of sky-high expectations would crush most projects, but Silksong somehow exceeds them. The boss fights are exhilarating and tough, the world is a gorgeous marvel, the art direction is unpredictable in the best way, and every visual and audio detail lands. This is not just a great sequel—it cements itself as a high watermark that other metroidvanias will chase for years to come. ️

For anyone who has just finished reading this and feels the itch to explore Pharloom for themselves, the next logical step is grabbing a copy—and smart players know that paying full price is not always necessary. Steam keys regularly fluctuate in price across legitimate storefronts, and a quick price check can save enough to cover a future DLC or another indie gem. After all, the only thing better than a masterpiece is a masterpiece bought at a bargain.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong hides a missable Bellhart easter egg where quitting at its bench leaves Hornet strung in silk—Pharloom's creepiest scare.

When Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launched, longtime fans expected the same brand of melancholy and hidden weirdness that made the original Hollow Knight such a cult hit. In 2026, the game has been out long enough for players to compile maps, boss guides, and speedrun routes, yet some secrets still slip through the cracks. One of the creepiest and most missable easter eggs in Silksong is tucked inside Bellhart, and it is the kind of moment that can genuinely rattle a player who thought they had seen everything Pharloom had to offer.

Team Cherry built a reputation on secrets. The original Hollow Knight had players chasing thief Millibelle after she bolted with a hefty pile of Geo, and the game kept dropping lore bombs years after release. Silksong follows the same playbook. Even though the game has only been widely available for a little while, enthusiasts have already uncovered tucked-away rooms, hidden interactions, and strange dialogue flags. But Bellhart's unnerving surprise seems tailor-made for players who grind through the opening hours and call it quits at just the wrong moment.

A town frozen in silk

Bellhart stands out early in Silksong because it is one of the first places where the game's tone shifts from difficult platforming to quiet horror. When Hornet first reaches the settlement, a cutscene shows her reacting to a grim sight: the town's inhabitants are all hanging limply, wrapped in silk. It is a genuinely unsettling image, and it lingers even after the cutscene ends.

That alone would be enough to get under a player's skin. But if they decide to rest at the bench in Bellhart and then quit the game, the next launch is a different kind of nightmare.

The secret scene that catches players off guard

Instead of loading into a normal resting state, players are greeted by a hidden scene in which Hornet herself is strung up, just like the villagers she found moments earlier. The first instinct is usually to panic, but the way out is simple in theory: mash buttons until she tears free of the silk. In practice, it is disorienting enough to feel much worse than any boss fight.

The scene is not a game over, a trap, or a punishment. It is a pure easter egg, designed to make players squirm before letting them back into the game. For a series that loves to blur the line between player and character, it works a little too well.

Why so many players miss it

The requirements are narrow enough that most first-time players will never see the moment. Here is exactly what has to happen:

• The player must reach Bellhart before saving the town.

• They must rest at the specific bench inside Bellhart.

• They must quit the game while resting there.

• They must load the save again during that same window of progression.

If any of those steps are skipped, the secret scene simply does not trigger. Once Bellhart has been saved, the chance is gone for that playthrough. That time limit is what makes the easter egg so elusive. In typical Hollow Knight tradition, the game does not advertise the moment, and there is no tutorial hint nudging players to try it.

Condition
Result

Reach Bellhart before saving it
Cutscene shows villagers wrapped in silk

Rest at Bellhart bench and quit
Hidden scene on next load

Save Bellhart first
Easter egg window closes

Load save after triggering
Hornet is strung up; mash buttons to escape

A small scare with a big impact

What makes the Bellhart secret stand out is how personal it feels. Hornet is not witnessing someone else in danger; she is the one trapped, and the player is the one forced to free her. It is a quiet, clever piece of environmental storytelling that echoes the original game's best hidden moments. Plenty of players will finish Silksong without ever seeing it, and that is almost certainly the point.

For completionists, speedrunners, and lore hunters, this is one easter egg worth chasing before Bellhart's story resolves. It is a quick scare, a strange reload, and a reminder that Pharloom is watching — even when the game is not running.

️

Hidden moments like this one are a big part of why Hollow Knight fans keep returning to the series. They reward curiosity, patience, and a willingness to poke at every corner of the map. The same mindset that drives players to discover the Bellhart easter egg often carries over to how they hunt for new games in the first place — waiting for the right moment, keeping an eye on prices, and jumping when the timing finally lines up.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's Barbed Bracelet boosts Hornet's needle damage but increases damage taken, making it a high-risk Yellow Tool.

In Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hornet's expanding collection of Tools grants players flexibility for every combat and platforming challenge. Some Tools improve movement, others grant defensive benefits, and a few trade safety for raw damage output. The Barbed Bracelet falls into that last category. While most damage upgrades require tracking down Pale Oils and returning them to Bellhart, this hidden Yellow Tool increases Hornet's needle damage but also increases the damage she receives. For players exploring the 2026 builds of the game, the Barbed Bracelet remains one of the most debated Tools in Hornet's loadout.

How to Get the Barbed Bracelet

The Barbed Bracelet is hidden deep enough that players cannot grab it during the opening hours. The first requirement is reaching Shellwood and unlocking the Wall Jump ability. That means defeating Sister Splinter and then moving right from the boss arena to collect the ability. Without Wall Jump, the vertical climbs and spike-filled corridors leading to the bracelet are not accessible.

Once Wall Jump is available, travel to Greymoor Bellway Station. Head left and enter the first tower. From there, climb upward until a passage on the right appears. Follow that passage into the second tower, then continue moving right and take the passage on the right. This is where the platforming becomes tighter: from the elevator, pogo off the metal spikes on the left, float toward the right, and use a down slash on a ball to reach the top-right exit. The passage leads directly into Sinner's Road.

Inside Sinner's Road, ignore the imprisoned green mantis above and push far to the right. The route passes through a room filled with multiple Muckroaches. At the end of that room, do not take the path going upward. Instead, enter the cage and drop down carefully. After avoiding the spikes, players will find the Barbed Bracelet resting on top of a wooden raft.

How the Barbed Bracelet Works

The Barbed Bracelet is a Yellow Tool with a simple but risky effect. It increases Hornet's total damage output, and it also increases the damage she takes. That double-edged design makes it very situational. Because most players will have fewer than eight Mask Shards before reaching the endgame, the higher incoming damage often means that bosses can two-shot Hornet. This is especially dangerous in fights with fast combos or delayed attacks that are difficult to learn quickly.

Platforming sections are even more punishing with the bracelet equipped. Many enemies, wall spikes, and environmental traps already deal two Mask damage without any extra penalty. With the Barbed Bracelet equipped, a single mistake can send Hornet back to the bench in under a minute. For that reason, it is not recommended for blind exploration, difficult platforming gauntlets, or any boss fight where the player is still learning attack patterns.

That said, the Barbed Bracelet is not without value. Against predictable bosses where players are confident in their ability to avoid hits, the damage boost can shorten fights significantly. Fewer attack cycles mean less time in danger and more room for mistakes overall, which can offset the risk for skilled players.

Is It Worth Equipping?

The Barbed Bracelet has a clear niche, and it shines most when players are farming for Rosaries. On farming routes, taking one or two hits is common, but the bracelet allows Hornet to clear enemies much faster. Pairing the Barbed Bracelet with the Fractured Mask creates an especially effective setup, because the extra survivability lets players withstand three hits while still benefiting from the boosted damage. The result is a faster and safer farm loop.

The bracelet also has synergy with the Clawline ability once it is unlocked. Since the Barbed Bracelet increases Clawline damage as well, players can harpoon enemies and dash away repeatedly. This hit-and-run style makes most Rosary farming routes easier and noticeably shorter. Instead of committing to long melee trades, players can kill from range and reposition before enemies can respond.

• Best use cases: Rosary farming, predictable bosses, experienced players who rarely get hit

• ️ Avoid using in: platforming-heavy areas, multi-phase boss fights, early-game loadouts

• ️ Pairs well with: Fractured Mask, Clawline ability

Final Verdict

The Barbed Bracelet is a high-risk, high-reward Tool that rewards careful planning and confident play. It is not a universal best-in-slot item, and players who prefer a defensive or exploration-focused build should leave it unequipped for most of the game. However, once a farming route is established or a boss pattern is fully learned, the damage increase becomes a powerful tool for saving time and ending fights quickly.

For players exploring Hollow Knight: Silksong in 2026, the Barbed Bracelet is absolutely worth collecting once the route to Sinner's Road is open. The acquisition requires solid Wall Jump control and some precise spike pogoing, but the payoff for Rosary farming and confident boss kills makes the detour worthwhile.

Of course, an efficient build only matters if you actually have the game in your library. Players who enjoy fine-tuning their loadouts in Silksong often apply the same careful planning to how they buy games. Timing purchases around seasonal sales can make a big difference, and staying informed about the best ongoing offers is a smart habit for any PC player.

For those looking to expand their collection without overspending, keeping an eye on [PC game discounts]( is a practical way to spot worthwhile deals early. A little patience between sales can free up budget for other indie gems while you keep mastering Hollow Knight: Silksong.

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Find every Hollow Knight Silksong Simple Key location and door reward, from Bone Bottom's merchant key to the Sands of Karak key, with exact costs.

I still remember the first time I saw the Simple Key in Bone Bottom. Five hundred rosaries for a key felt like a scam. After dozens of hours in Hollow Knight: Silksong, I can tell you it is not. These keys unlock some of the most valuable rooms in Pharloom, from powerful tools to story moments you do not want to miss. There are four Simple Keys in the game. Each one is tied to a specific area, and each one opens a specific door. I will walk you through every location and every lock.

Quick Reference

️ Simple Key
Area
Cost / Requirement

#1
Bone Bottom
500 Rosaries from merchant

#2
Songclave
650 Rosaries after Wandering Merchant quest

#3
Sinner's Road
Defeat chain-wielding enemy, need Cling Grip

#4
Sands of Karak
Need Clawline, reach far east bench

Door
Area
Main Reward / Note

#1
Wormways
Sharpdart, Plasmium Phials

#2
Sinner's Road
Green Prince story

#3
Deep Docks
Flintslate, Act 3 path

#4
High Halls
Rosary Cannon, many Rosaries

Simple Key #1: Bone Bottom

The first Simple Key is sold by the merchant in Bone Bottom. It costs 500 rosaries. That price is brutal when you first arrive. I tried to grind early and quickly realized it was not worth it. My advice is to continue the adventure and return later. By the time you clear a few areas, 500 rosaries feels much more manageable. The key is always there waiting.

This key pairs perfectly with the Wormways door above Bone Bottom. I used my first key there and immediately got a good return.

Simple Key #2: Songclave

The second key is also sold by a merchant, but she is not available immediately. You need to complete the Wandering Merchant quest. Grab the quest from the Wishboard. Once Jubilana returns to Songclave, she will sell you the key for 650 rosaries.

This price is higher than the first key. Luckily, Songclave is next to the long Citadel corridor. I used that spot to farm rosaries quickly. After a short loop, I had enough cash without too much pain.

Simple Key #3: Sinner's Road

The third key is different. It is not bought. It is dropped by a large chain-wielding enemy in Sinner's Road. Before you try this, make sure you have the Cling Grip from Shellwood. Without it, you cannot reach the arena.

I climbed a massive shaft full of spikes. At the top, the enemy dropped from above. The fight was tough but fair. Take him out and he drops the key. This one felt earned.

Simple Key #4: Sands of Karak

The fourth and final Simple Key is in the Sands of Karak. You can only reach this area once you have the Clawline ability from the Underworks in Act 2. The area is harsh. I died several times to environmental hazards.

You need to platform across vine puzzles from the left side all the way to the right. It does not take too long to find the key. At the far east, there is a bench. Rest there and grab the key. It is a quiet reward after a stressful trip.

Door Location #1: Wormways

This is probably the first locked door you will find. It sits just below the Wormways entrance, above Bone Bottom. I headed west from Mosshome, crossed the gap, and went through the cave with the acid spitter. The door is right there.

Opening it reveals more of the Wormways area. You can find the Sharpdart and the Plasmium Phials inside. For me, this was the best early use of a Simple Key.

Door Location #2: Sinner's Road

While exploring Sinner's Road, I noticed the Green Prince sitting in a cell. He does not beg you to open the door. I opened it anyway. It is absolutely worth it.

Later, the Green Prince appears in the Citadel. You learn much more about his story there. This door is not about loot. It is about lore. I still think it is one of the most memorable unlocks in the game.

Door Location #3: Deep Docks

This door is familiar from the Deep Docks. But do not be fooled. This is not an early game area. The enemies will shred you without proper tools and preparation.

If you are prepared, the area offers great tools like the Flintslate. The area is necessary for Act 3 progression. However, you can also reach it through the Far Fields once you have the Clawline. So this Simple Key door ends up being a little redundant. I would not prioritize this key unless you want a shortcut or extra challenge.

Door Location #4: High Halls

The final locked door is easy to find in the High Halls area. It is just left of the bench and before the dreaded Forum fight. I remember the panic of that fight.

Inside the room, you can find a huge number of rosaries and the Rosary Cannon tool. This tool is fantastic. If you can grab it before the Forum fight, it can make a noticeable difference.

My Recommended Order

Not every Simple Key has the same value at every stage of the game. This is the order I would follow in 2026:

• Simple Key #1 from Bone Bottom — buy it after you have a comfortable rosary supply.

• Open the Wormways door for Sharpdart and Plasmium Phials.

• Complete the Wandering Merchant quest and buy Simple Key #2.

• Grab Simple Key #3 from Sinner's Road and free the Green Prince.

• Save Simple Key #4 for later, then decide between Deep Docks and High Halls.

Simple Keys may look like a money sink at first. But every single one opens something worthwhile. I learned the hard way that ignoring them only made backtracking more painful. If you are still exploring Pharloom, keep an eye out for these keys. They are small. They are expensive. They are worth it.

Finding the right path in Pharloom often comes down to knowing where to spend your limited resources. The same logic applies outside the game. Whether you are hunting for a new metroidvania to scratch that same itch or simply want to stock up on titles without breaking your budget, a little research goes a long way. After all, a well-spent rosary is no different from a well-spent dollar.

If you are anything like me, finishing a run through Pharloom usually means immediately looking for the next great adventure. That is why I like to check the [best game deals]( before committing to a full-price purchase. You never know when a hidden gem is sitting at a fraction of its usual cost, just waiting for someone savvy enough to grab it.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong bosses challenge players with unique mechanics, testing Hornet's skills and patience in Pharloom's perilous arenas.

In the kingdom of Pharloom, every corner hides a challenge, and the road forward is never free of trouble. The bosses of Hollow Knight: Silksong are more than simple obstacles; they are tests of timing, patience, and mastery over Hornet's silk and needle. A traveler who steps into these arenas quickly learns that some fights can be skipped, while others must be faced with a steady hand. Below is a chronicle of ten bosses that stand out—not always because they are the hardest, but because they leave a lasting mark on the journey.

️ 10. Trobbio – Clumsy And Slow Attacks

When Hornet found Trobbio beside the Choral Chambers after defeating the Cogwork Dancers, she quickly realized this boss was not about raw speed but about chaos. Trobbio uses fast, wild movements and becomes more aggressive as its health drops. It twirls and summons tornadoes that shoot up from both sides, and it throws bombs that explode in straight patterns across the floor. The fight rewards patience. A player should wait for Trobbio to begin a heavy swing, dodge out of the way, and punish during the recovery. Trading blows almost never works, because his hits out-damage Hornet's. Short combos of one or two quick strikes before retreating are the safest route. If Trobbio leaps into the air, a dash is essential, since the ground smash covers more space than it looks.

️ 9. Bell Beast – Once You Get the Timing, It’s Not Threatening

The Bell Beast lives in The Marrow and serves as the second main boss. Hornet first encountered it trapped in silk near the entrance. To wake the beast, she had to retrieve the Silkspear from Mosshome and cut it free—an act that immediately triggers the fight. The Bell Beast uses ground moves that cover wide spaces: it dashes across the arena, jumps from one side to the other, and drops into the center with two large rolling bells that travel toward the edges. In its second phase, after losing about half its health, it digs underground and causes falling bells to rain down. Some attacks make the ground shake before they happen, providing crucial warnings. The move set is not super fast, but it covers large zones and can catch a player who stands still.

️ 8. Savage Beastfly – Aggressive But Predictable

Found in Act 1 and completely optional, the Savage Beastfly is a fight that pressures Hornet with both direct attacks and summoned minions. It spawns waves of small flying bugs to distract, then rushes in to take advantage of the confusion. At certain moments, the Beastfly drops to the ground in a vulnerable state, but those windows pass quickly. The longer the fight drags on, the more minions appear, making dodging far harder. The main boss's strikes are not overly complicated, but the combined pressure of the swarm can overwhelm an unprepared player. The best strategy is to fight aggressively. Saving the strongest Silk Skills for when the Beastfly drops prone is essential—unload everything in those short openings, because burning its health quickly means fewer swarms to deal with.

️ 7. Moorwing – The Swooping and Speed Make It Harder, the Patterns Are Readable

Depending on the choices Hornet makes, especially if she resolves the Lost Fleas side quest, she can actually skip the Moorwing boss fight. But if the fight is chosen, the first signature attack is a fast dive from the top of the screen that forces a quick reaction. A skilled player can pogo on Moorwing's back during the descent. The boss also has a forward drill rush with its legs, a move that deals heavy damage if caught unprepared. The other big threats are saw-blade hazards. In one version, rotating blades sweep across the arena floor. In another, a circular pattern of blades radiates outward, covering wide portions of the stage. These blade attacks often happen when Moorwing pulls back and rises into the air, so learning the windup animation helps predict what is coming.

️ 6. First Sinner – Fast and Makes Hiding Difficult

The First Sinner is one of Silksong's secret Act 2 bosses, and it relies heavily on thread and needle constructs. During the first phase, it sets up straight-line silk needles across the arena while mixing in precise melee swipes. These attacks are dangerous because once the silk patterns are laid out, they restrict movement until they fade. The boss later summons more complex thread webs that block sections of the floor or ceiling, and it mixes in new binding moves. If Hornet is caught in a bind, she will be open to a follow-up hit unless she breaks free fast. The best time to land damage is when the boss is summoning threads. It pauses for a short moment while shaping the attack, and that is the perfect opening to strike.

️ 5. Forebrothers Signis and Gron – Keeping Track of Both Brothers Is the Challenge

These two brothers appear together in Act 2 as an optional fight. Each brother has a distinct style, but both throw fiery arrows at Hornet. One is slower and covers more area, while the other attacks faster with quicker combos. On their own, neither is too overwhelming, but when they attack together, it is easy to get cornered. The safest plan is to focus on one brother first. Taking him out early reduces the chaos and makes the fight much easier. Keeping both in the line of sight prevents blindsiding, and using wide attacks when they are close together can deal damage to both at once. Standing between them is a fatal mistake.

️ 4. Sister Splinter – Fast and Relentless

In Shellwood, Hornet meets Sister Splinter in a tight arena filled with obstacles, which makes the fight stressful before the boss even attacks. This boss blocks the way forward and must be defeated to obtain the Cling Grip ancestral art that enables wall-jumping. Sister Splinter spends most of the battle clinging to the ceiling, punishing Hornet with overhead strikes. Her main move is a sequence of claw slams, often three in a row, that cover a wide part of the stage. She also calls down thorn walls from above—barbed roots that rise up and split the arena into smaller spaces. After some damage, she summons small flying bugs that swarm around while she keeps pounding from above. The second half of the fight is faster and more crowded, with more vines and minions. The best time to damage her is during her claw combos. Jump and strike upward, but do not linger. Tools like the Threadstorm excel here, shredding both vines and minions while also tagging the boss.

️ 3. Last Judge – Requires Patience and Good Timing to Defeat

Unlike some chaotic fights with minions, the battle against the Last Judge is controlled and focuses on spacing. He uses wide swings that take a while to charge up. If a player ignores the telegraph, they will take massive damage. Some attacks also create small shockwaves that punish anyone standing too close. Patience wins this fight. A traveler should not rush him. Instead, watch his windups, wait for the strike to finish, then step in for one or two hits before backing away. Pushing too much results in eating a heavy swing. Healing is easier here than in faster boss fights, since there are longer gaps between attacks.

️ 2. Lace (Act 2) – Moveset Expands with Faster Combos and Relentless Pressure

Lace appears multiple times in Silksong, and the Act 2 fight gives her a stronger moveset than in Act 1. The arena is slightly larger this time, allowing her to make full use of her acrobatics. Her core moves carry over: slashing combos and sudden leaps. In Act 2, she adds a charged leap where she pauses, channels energy, then launches into the air and slams down in a wide AoE circle. The key to surviving this fight is recognizing the channel. As soon as the channel begins, the player should move out of the marked zone. Once she lands, that is the opening to punish. Attacking during the channel is a mistake—staying safe and patient is better. Defeating Lace rewards Hornet with a Silk Heart.

️ 1. Grand Mother Silk – Tests Endurance with Multi-Phase, Overwhelming Attacks

At the top of the list stands Grand Mother Silk, a boss that tests endurance like no other. She fights with scissor-like arrows that chase Hornet around the arena. She can cover large areas with threads, summon extra enemies, and mix sweeping slashes with ranged strikes. She also has multiple stages, with each shift adding speed or layering new hazards on top of the old ones. As the battle progresses, more silk webs clog the arena, reducing the safe spaces where Hornet can move. This means movement skills are just as important as damage. A traveler must remain calm, dodge the chasing arrows, break the threads when possible, and find windows to strike. Grand Mother Silk is a fitting final challenge for any journey through Pharloom.

These ten bosses are only a sample of what Pharloom has to offer, but each one stands out for how it forces Hornet to adapt. Whether she is dodging bombs, tracking two brothers at once, or weaving through silk webs, every victory teaches something new. The best travelers are not the ones who swing hardest, but the ones who learn fastest.

Every boss in Silksong rewards preparation as much as reaction time. Travelers who clear Pharloom’s toughest fights are often the ones who studied the arena, planned their approach, and stocked up on the right tools long before the first swing. That same resourceful mindset carries over outside the game itself. Knowing where to get quality gear, accessories, or even the game at a fair price gives a player a quiet advantage before the challenge even begins. When the time comes to add to a collection or upgrade a setup, it pays to [find the best deal]( rather than settle for the first price that appears.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's Conchcutter Tool excels against stubborn bosses, ricocheting for high damage in the Sands of Karak.

If you have been poking around the Citadel in Hollow Knight: Silksong, you have probably heard about the Conchcutter, and yeah, it is every bit as nasty as it sounds. I finally grabbed it in the second act after a few very sweaty attempts, and it immediately changed how I approached stubborn bosses. It is a red Tool that ricochets off walls and drills into anything unlucky enough to stand still. Honestly, using it feels like throwing a caffeinated pinball into a glass jar and just letting physics do the violence.

I think the biggest mistake I made was assuming the Conchcutter would be handed to me early. Nope. You need the Clawline ability and the Needle Strike from the Pinstress after the Great Conchflies fight. Without the Clawline, the Sands of Karak might as well be behind a stone zipper, because you cannot reach the upper path at all.

The Long Walk to Sands of Karak

Start from Blasted Steps and head north into the Sands of Karak. The route still holds up in 2026, although I would recommend bringing some healing items because the platforming can get prickly. Once you arrive, work your way upward with the Clawline. There are plenty of platforms that demand patience, but the geography is not hard to read.

As you climb, keep an eye out for the Stalactide. You can hit it from above to create a shortcut that will save you a horrific amount of time if you die. I hit it, watched it drop, and the whole route opened up like a bone-colored elevator shaft, which made backtracking much less annoying.

To the left of the second Stalactide is the Raging Conchfly boss arena. Do not go in lightly. Every single attack from that boss deals two mask damage, and it does not care about your feelings. Once its health gets low, it starts summoning smaller conflies that drill around the arena like angry little corkscrews. You suddenly have to split your attention between swatting minions and avoiding a giant shelled monster.

I found it easier to stay mobile and not get greedy. The boss punishes standing still, which is ironic because once you get the Conchcutter, you become the one who punishes stationary bosses. After the fight, keep moving forward to the far end of the Sands of Karak. Head inside the Coral Tower, and the Conchcutter is just lying there on the ground. No extra puzzle, no secret door. It is a relief after that boss.

What Makes the Conchcutter So Good

The Conchcutter is a high-damage Tool that bounces off walls. If you have extra Tool Pouch upgrades, you can carry quite a few into a boss fight. Against enemies that love to plant themselves while charging a big attack, this thing is a dream. Aim, throw, and it starts drilling into the boss like a furious little excavator.

I did some testing with a build, and the best combo for me was the Pollip Pouch plus the Quick Sling. That setup launches two Conchcutters at once and adds Venom to the mix. It is basically a double-barreled shell barrage, and it melts through large hitboxes. The trade-off is that you still need to manage spacing, because the Conchcutter wants walls and angles, not just a straight line.

It is also excellent for clearing obstacles in platforming sections. In Sands of Karak, while grabbing the Crustnut for the Great Taste of Pharloom, I ran into blocked paths that would have been a chore with regular attacks. The Conchcutter cleared them away in seconds. If you are exploring, keep one or two in reserve just for utility, not only combat.

Final Tip Before You Go

I will say this: do not sleep on the shortcut from the first Stalactide. You will probably revisit the area, and the climb back is not fun. With the Clawline, the shortcut, and a bit of patience against the Raging Conchfly, the Conchcutter is absolutely worth the detour. Once you have it, stationary bosses go from threats to target practice.

For players who like to be thorough, the preparation doesn't stop at in-game tools. Knowing when to buy — and when to wait — is its own kind of strategy. A quick look at a [game price tracker]( like DealNest can show you exactly when a title drops, so your next adventure doesn't have to cost a fortune.

It's a small habit that pairs well with a meticulous play style. The same patience that helps you clear a brutal boss room can also help you land a great deal, which means more games in your backlog and less money spent chasing full-price releases.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong Act 3's Dark Hearts quest guides players to remove Void Masses in Pharloom, earning a valuable Mask Fragment.

While pushing through Act 3 of Hollow Knight: Silksong, I noticed a new Hunt-type wish pinned to the Bellhart Wish Board. The citizens of Bellhart were clearly unsettled—they kept looking over their shoulders at dark, pulsing growths that had begun appearing in the surrounding areas. Their wish was simple: find someone brave enough to remove the Void Masses permanently. That request turned out to be the Dark Hearts quest. It did not take long to trigger, but tracking down enough Void Masses made me climb through almost every corner of Pharloom.

The trigger itself is straightforward once you have reached Act 3. I approached the Bellhart Wish Board and grabbed the wish. From that moment, Hornet's objective was to destroy 12 Void Masses. The reward promised for clearing the danger was a Mask Fragment, which is always useful for survivability. What surprised me was how many Void Masses actually exist—there are more than 40 scattered across Pharloom, but only 12 are required for the quest. That gave me plenty of freedom to pick a route close to Bellhart and avoid some of the more dangerous detours.

I started my search right outside Bellhart. From the hub, I headed right and took the elevator upward. After running left and climbing a few rocky ledges, I reached Shellwood. Under one of the wooden platforms I found my first Void Mass. The growth was dark, sticky, and seemed to cling to the surface like tar. A quick strike removed it.

I continued left and glided down beneath a cliff edge to find a second Void Mass. Staying on lower ground, I entered a larger chamber. Near the top of that area, next to a room entrance, a third Void Mass was stuck to the side of the wall. Venturing through a lower door to the left brought me close to the bench near Bone Bottom. In that horizontal room, another Void Mass clung to the ceiling, forcing me to jump and strike upward.

From Shellwood I made my way toward The Marrow. I also used the Needle to summon the baby Bell Beasts and returned to the Bellway, which allowed me to teleport closer to my next targets. Heading left from the Bellway and then down revealed a Void Mass tucked in a corner under a platform on the right. Gliding down to the bottom of a vertical room, I looked to the upper left corner and used the platforms to reach another one. Climbing to the top of that same vertical room, I went right and found a Void Mass on the roof near a red bulb. Further right, I flew past a bench—resting there helped because the enemies were starting to pile up—and found a Void Mass on the upper part of the area.

Deep Docks became the next major stop. I kept moving in the same direction and climbed the second vertical room. At the end, a Void Mass waited. Heading higher and turning left, I saw another Void Mass stuck to the side of a platform near the lava. That one was tricky because enemies guarded the area. I cleared them first and then used a plunge attack to scrape the growth off cleanly.

I briefly considered heading into Hunter's March. There is a Void Mass on the roof above two enemies not far from the entrance, but after checking my count I decided to skip it. If you want a safer route or need an extra one without going too far into Far Fields, Hunter's March is a reasonable option. However, I preferred to push forward.

Returning to Deep Docks, I went right into Far Fields. I climbed higher and moved into the next area, where a Void Mass was stuck to the top and surrounded by enemies. Defeating them before removing the mass made the task less frantic. Then I went back to the previous room, glided down to the lower section, and ran right. There, under one of the platforms near the lava, I found the final Void Mass I needed for my count.

By the time I destroyed twelve, I had explored a good chunk of Pharloom. The route I followed was not the only option, and I know I left many Void Masses untouched in more distant areas. That is one of the best parts of the Dark Hearts quest: you can mix and match based on your preferred path, your combat comfort, and whether you want to detour into optional regions.

Returning to Bellhart felt satisfying. I spoke with the quest giver, turned in the removed Void Masses, and completed the Dark Hearts quest. The reward was exactly what the board had promised—a Mask Fragment. For any player in Act 3, I would recommend picking up this wish early and keeping an eye out for the dark growths as you travel. Since only twelve are needed out of more than forty, the quest is manageable even if you skip the more hostile locations.

Quick trigger checklist:

• Advance to Act 3.

• Visit the Bellhart Wish Board.

• Accept the Hunt-type wish called Dark Hearts.

• Destroy 12 Void Masses anywhere in Pharloom.

• Return to Bellhart and turn them in for a Mask Fragment.

A few tips that helped me:

• Use plunge attacks when a Void Mass is attached to a platform or floor.

• Clear nearby enemies before trying to remove a growth.

• Rest at benches before enemy-heavy rooms.

• Watch ceilings, corners, and the undersides of platforms, because the black growths blend into shadows.

Once you've cleared your board and collected that Mask Fragment, it's natural to start thinking about the next adventure. Many players I know like to keep a rotating backlog of games so they can jump straight from one quest to another. Hunting for good deals is part of that habit, and I've found it pays to compare prices before picking up a new title.

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Hollow Knight Silksong's 92 OpenCritic score tops the original and ties Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as 2025's best-reviewed game.

I’ve kept a close eye on Hollow Knight: Silksong’s post-launch reception, and after nearly two weeks of reviews filtering in, the picture is remarkably clear. Team Cherry’s long-awaited Metroidvania sequel currently sits at a 92 on OpenCritic across 45 critic reviews, including our own Josh Robertson’s 4/5. That score is two full points higher than the original Hollow Knight and ties it with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game many considered the frontrunner for 2025’s Game of the Year before Silksong finally emerged.

That 92 is not just a number. It places Silksong at the top of an unusually crowded year while also outperforming one of the most beloved indie breakthroughs of the last decade. I’ve seen plenty of sequels struggle under expectation, but Silksong has managed to turn years of anticipation into critical validation.

What Critics Are Saying

Our own review captured the consensus well: “Its boss fights are exhilarating and challenging, its world is a gorgeous marvel to explore, its unpredictable art design is impeccable, and everything else about it looks and sounds stunning.” Robertson’s only real criticism was that Silksong’s punishing difficulty can sometimes feel “obnoxious,” which kept it just short of a perfect five.

That difficulty conversation has become one of the most debated points of the launch. VGC handed the game a 3/5 and argued that Silksong’s challenge sometimes becomes tiring rather than exciting, with spikes that hurt overall pacing. It is an interesting split: some reviewers see those same spikes as part of the game’s identity, while others think they go too far.

Outlet
Score
Key Takeaway

TheGamer
4/5
Exhilarating boss fights, gorgeous world, occasional obnoxious difficulty

VGC
3/5
Difficulty spikes feel tiring and disrupt pacing

Screen Rant
10/10
Masterful bosses and a high skill ceiling

Eurogamer
5/5
Mean-spirited at times, but charmingly so

Screen Rant gave Silksong a 10/10 and framed its controversial difficulty as a “high skill ceiling,” praising the boss encounters as masterful. Eurogamer was similarly unmoved by the difficulty complaints, awarding a 5/5 and describing the game as mean-spirited, but charmingly so. For me, that tension is exactly why the review spread feels so healthy: Silksong is demanding enough to produce radically different experiences depending on player temperament.

A Tight Race At The Top

The race for best-reviewed game of 2025 has shifted several times. Monster Hunter Wilds, Split Fiction, and Blue Prince all led at various points earlier in the year. Now the top of the pile is messier. Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are tied at 92 on OpenCritic, which makes direct comparisons difficult because both games occupy very different design spaces.

There are also two titles with higher aggregate scores worth acknowledging. Shujinkou sits at 94, but that average comes from only seven reviews, making it statistically fragile compared with Silksong’s larger sample. Tears of the Kingdom’s Switch 2 edition also holds a 94, though I hesitate to treat that as a brand-new 2025 release. It is a port or enhanced version of a game that already made its own historic mark elsewhere.

So as 2025’s award conversations move into their final phase, Silksong has done exactly what Team Cherry needed it to do. It did not merely match the original; it exceeded its critical standing, anchored itself at the center of the difficulty debate, and forced every other major contender to share the spotlight. Whether it ultimately takes Game of the Year honors depends on how voters weigh punishing challenge against flawless execution — but from where I sit, Silksong has earned its place among the very best of the year.

For players who have been waiting on the sidelines through the Silksong review discourse, the urge to finally dive into Hallownest is understandable. But with so many other major 2025 releases also competing for attention and budget, choosing where to commit your time and money is not always easy. PC players in particular have become savvy about waiting for the right moment to pick up a game, especially when a critical darling like Silksong is still hovering near full price after launch. Keeping an eye on [PC game discounts]( can make the decision much simpler, letting you grab several of this year's biggest contenders without blowing past your gaming budget.

That practical side of the hobby matters more as the calendar fills with heavy hitters. Even if Silksong or Clair Obscur ends up taking the top prize at year-end ceremonies, the conversation around 2025 will stay alive for months—and players will keep looking for ways to experience these games at a reasonable cost. Whether you are chasing the next high-skill boss fight or simply curating your backlog for the holidays, checking a reliable deals hub before you buy is a small move that can stretch your library much further, leaving you free to focus on what actually matters: the games themselves.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong player CrazyTemplar completes an impeccable no-hit run against all 36 bosses, including permadeath-mode exclusives.

Man, when it comes to Hollow Knight: Silksong, the community never ceases to knock my socks off. I have been deep in the weeds with this game since it finally launched back in September 2025, and just when I thought I had seen it all, a player comes along and pulls off something that makes my own playthrough look like a walk in the park. We are talking about defeating every single boss in the game without taking one point of damage. Not a scratch. Zip. Nada. I was honestly gobsmacked when I saw the footage floating around.

I have been playing Metroidvanias for ages, and Team Cherry really outdid themselves with the difficulty spike in this sequel. The original Hollow Knight was already a tough cookie, but Silksong cranks that dial up to eleven. We are dealing with a grand total of thirty-six different bosses here. I have spent hours banging my head against the wall with some of the more aggressive encounters. Enemies like Trobbio and Groal the Great have become household names in the community, and honestly, some of their attack patterns still give me nightmares. The idea of taking down all of these maniacs in a row without taking a hit is the kind of challenge that usually makes me want to throw my controller through the window.

But hey, someone actually did it. I was scrolling through my feed when I saw the report about a YouTuber named CrazyTemplar. This absolute legend posted a nearly two-hour-long video showcasing a perfect run of every single boss. Two hours of flawless gameplay. I can barely keep my focus for a twenty-minute boss rush, let alone two hours of perfect dodging and punishing. And this mad lad didn't just stop at the main roster; he also cleared several hidden bosses, including the ones exclusive to the game's brutal permadeath mode. Talk about going the extra mile. I remember watching his uploads chronicling the journey, where he would break down the fights into different groups. It is one thing to master a single pattern, but stringing them all together without a single slip-up is a different beast entirely.

The skill ceiling in this game is just astronomical. I like to think I am a pretty decent player, but watching this run gave me a serious reality check. It is like watching a ballet where the choreography involves a needle and a whole lot of spite. The precision required to avoid chip damage from some of the more chaotic bosses is unreal. The fact that he included the permadeath mode bosses is the cherry on top. I do not even want to think about the anxiety of doing a no-hit run on a mode where one mistake means starting the whole save file over. That is a level of mental fortitude I simply do not possess.

Of course, this is exactly the kind of energy that has made the Silksong community so vibrant since day one. Even though we are well into 2026 now, players are constantly finding new ways to interact with the game. I have seen people pointing out weird trophy discrepancies, like the fact that a pair of achievements exclusive to permadeath mode are missing from the PlayStation Network. Honestly, that is a bit of a relief for me because I might actually have a shot at the Platinum Trophy on my PS5 without having to put myself through that specific kind of torture. The modding scene has also been absolutely popping off. I have messed around with a few skin mods for Hornet, and seeing a full co-op mod hit the scene so quickly was wild. It really keeps the game fresh.

It is funny to think back to the release window. The hype was so real that other games were scrambling to move their release dates out of the way, and the player count for the original Hollow Knight spiked like crazy because everyone wanted a taste of that atmosphere before diving into the sequel. Silksong wasn't just a game; it was a cultural event. And now, months down the line, we are seeing the fruits of that obsession. Perfect runs, dedicated modders, and a community that shares every little secret.

Seeing the Bell Beast lose its marbles in that screenshot above reminds me exactly why I love this game. The fights are emotional, the world is grim, and the sense of accomplishment is unmatched. But even with all that love, you will not catch me trying to replicate this no-hit run. I will leave the perfection to the crazy talents. I am just happy to sit back, watch the two-hour masterpiece, and cheer from the sidelines. It is inspiring, sure, but it is also a humbling reminder that there is always a bigger fish in Pharloom.

If you have not seen the video yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. It is a masterclass in patience. Just be prepared to feel a little bad about your own skills afterward. I know I did. But in the best way possible, because it shows just how deep this game really goes.

Watching runs like this always makes me want to dive back into the game myself. Whether you are a veteran looking to replay with the co-op mod or a newcomer finally ready to see what all the fuss is about, there is no wrong time to jump into Pharloom. For anyone inspired to experience the game for themselves, it is always worth keeping an eye out for the [best game deals]( if you want to pick up Silksong or the original Hollow Knight without burning a hole in your pocket.

And with the modding scene constantly adding new ways to play, having the game on hand means you will never run out of fresh challenges. A quick stop at DealNest might just save you a few bucks before you start your own journey—just maybe do not aim for a no-hit run right away.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong bench locations and brutal achievements challenge even veteran players, making every victory in Pharloom hard-earned.

I never thought a game about a tiny bug princess with a needle could make me question my existence. But here I am, deep into 2026, still replaying Hollow Knight: Silksong like it is a personal grudge. The latest balance patch has certainly softened some of the early game's rougher edges, yet Silksong remains the kind of sequel that looks at your hundreds of hours in the original and just laughs. The movement is deeper, the combat is meaner, and the achievements? They are definitely not for the faint of heart.

Navigating Pharloom without losing my mind meant learning every bench location like the back of my hand. Those small safe havens became my lifeline, especially when I attempted some of the game's most brutal challenges.

Even with benches, though, the real horror starts when you open the achievement menu. When Silksong first launched in 2025, a few achievements were already hovering at just about 0.1 or 0.2 percent completion. Now in 2026? Those numbers have barely moved. I get it. To earn some of them, you have to beat the entire game a second time in Steel Soul mode, where a single death erases everything. No retries. No checkpoints. Just memory, muscle, and a whole lot of anxiety.

I tried Steel Soul once. Honestly? My longest run lasted nearly five hours. Then a regular enemy, the kind I had killed a hundred times before, caught me mid-dash. I just sat there, controller still in my hands, staring at the death screen. Silence. I did not rage quit; I just... sat. That is when I realized Silksong's hardest achievements are not mistakes. They are designed for a very specific kind of player — the ones who want bragging rights that take years to earn.

The game also mixes in speedrun challenges on top of Steel Soul completion, which turns an already punishing experience into an absolute nightmare. Unlike traditional RPGs that can be ground out with enough time and effort, Silksong's hardest achievements can take years of practice to master. It mirrors the original Hollow Knight in that way, and maybe that is why I keep coming back. There is something weirdly appealing about a challenge that does not care about my feelings.

But if Steel Soul or speedrunning is not your thing? Trust me, there is still plenty to do. The newly implemented Wish system and those adorable NPCs who would be completely helpless without Hornet make the side content just as rewarding as the main story. I spent an entire weekend chasing the 'Great Taste of Pharloom' quest, and it forced me to unlock locales and items I had completely missed. That quest is no joke, but it is the good kind of brutal.

Here is a quick breakdown of how different challenge types have treated me so far in 2026:

Challenge Type
What It Demands
My Experience

Steel Soul completion
Beat the whole game without dying
Five hours down the drain

Speedrun achievements
Finish under strict time limits
I am not built for this, honestly

Inventory completion
Find every item and upgrade
Doable and oddly satisfying

Alternative endings
See every story conclusion
Rewarding, less rage-inducing

Those alternative endings and inventory completion achievements are much more forgiving, and they still offer fun challenges for players of all skill levels. I found myself enjoying those far more because they let me appreciate Hornet's journey instead of just surviving it.

By this point in 2026, I still have not unlocked every impossible achievement. Maybe I never will. But every time I return to Pharloom, I learn a little more about patience and precision. And honestly? That might be the real reward.

That relentless pursuit of mastery extends beyond the game itself. For those of us who love testing our limits in games like Silksong, patience is a virtue that carries over into how we buy games too. I have learned the hard way that impulse-buying every title that looks challenging just drains the wallet and the willpower. These days, I wait for the right moment to strike.

That is exactly why I started checking a reliable [steam sale tracker]( before adding anything new to my backlog. It lets me grab the games I actually want at a price that does not sting when I inevitably fail twenty times in a row. Between grinding through Steel Soul attempts and hunting down hidden treasures, I can build a library of brutally hard games without breaking the bank.

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Silksong Lace 2 boss fight guide reveals location, best gear, and survival tips for conquering this challenging rematch.

Let me paint you a picture: back in Hollow Knight, Hornet was the boss who made me hurl my controller across the room in Greenpath and later in Kingdom's Edge. Now, in Silksong, I finally get to play as her. But the universe has a twisted sense of humor, because Lace has arrived to fill the vacant role of 'nightmare that lives in my head rent-free.' If you have already fought Lace once in Deep Docks and thought that was the end of it, surprise! She is back for round two near The Cradle, and she has not come to cuddle. I was on my way to confront Big Momma Silk when Lace jumped me for the second time, and honestly, I was not emotionally prepared.

This guide is written from the perspective of an ordinary player—me—who got absolutely shredded by Lace 2 the first few tries. I will walk you through where to find her, what to equip, and how to survive all three phases without losing your mind.

Where This Rematch Happens

I will not lie to you: getting to Lace's second fight is a mini-quest in itself. You will need to collect the threefold melodies required to operate the elevator near Cogwork Core. That means:

• Clearing Whispering Vaults, which includes finding a secret sound cylinder for one very particular NPC.

• Surviving High Halls, home to one of the deadliest battle arenas in Silksong.

• Getting through Cogwork Core, a platforming and puzzle combo that will test your patience.

Once you have all three melodies, return to the elevator, play the tunes, and ride it up. Fair warning: the moment you step out of that elevator, the fight starts. No dramatic cutscene to catch your breath. Lace is just there, ready to ruin your day.

Preparing for Round Two (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cogfly)

Before I talk strategy, let us talk gear. Honestly, there is no single must-have item for this fight, but after my own trial and error, I found a combination that kept me alive long enough to actually enjoy the choreography.

Here is what I ran with:

Tool / Crest
Why It Matters

Cogfly
Your tiny mechanical buddies do consistent damage in phase three and help end the fight before Lace's nastiest attacks can stack up.

Silkspeed Anklets
This fight is all about hit-and-run. The extra speed lets you dart in, poke, and sprint to the other side of the arena before Lace can punish you.

Barbed Bracelet
Only use if you are extremely confident in phases one and two. It can shorten the fight, but if you are sloppy, it will cost you.

The core idea is to stay mobile. Standing still against Lace is basically asking her to turn you into a pincushion. Keep moving, keep poking, and let the Cogfly do a chunk of the heavy lifting when things get chaotic.

How To Beat Lace 2

Phase One: The Needle Dance

The first phase is all about reading Lace's quick stabs and closing the distance before retreating. Her main attack is a steady string of stabs that she uses to chase you down. My advice? Sprint away, and when you are out of room, pogo off her head to escape.

She also has a jump-and-diagonal lunge. Watch where she is going to land, jump above the impact point, and pogo on her after she touches down. Her thrust attack is even nastier: she slides across nearly the entire arena in one motion. The trick is to wait for her to commit, leap up, pogo on her head, and then haul yourself to the opposite side.

One more thing that caught me off guard: her parry. If you hear the clink of her blocking your attack, run. Fast. She will immediately launch into a flurry that can drain two masks if you are too close. Treat that sound as your early warning system.

Phase Two: Bubbles of Doom

After you stun Lace for the first time, she decides to get a little more creative. Her jump attack now leaves behind three light bubbles that deal damage if you touch them. Instead of trying to dodge around them, I found it more consistent to dash under her jump and hit her from behind—there is a small safe pocket between the bubbles if you time it right.

Beyond the bubbles, phase two is mostly the same as phase one. Keep chipping away at her health, avoid the new AOE trick, and you will eventually stun her again. That is when the real chaos begins.

Phase Three: Thread Storm Nightmare

Phase three is easily the worst. Lace takes flight and marks out a huge circle covering much of the arena, then unleashes a flurry of attacks that looks a lot like your own Thread Storm ability. The saving grace? It is very well telegraphed. Whenever you see that large glowing circle with white light fizzing in the center, dash away as fast as you can.

This is also the moment I started spamming my Cogfly minions like there was no tomorrow. They deal solid damage and can shorten this terrifying phase so you do not have to survive her barrage any longer than necessary. If you can stay calm, keep moving, and let your little mechanical helpers chip away at her, you will finally put Lace down for good.

Rewards (Or the Lack Thereof)

After all that effort, you might expect a shiny new crest or a pile of currency. Nope. Lace 2 gives you no tangible reward. Instead, she unlocks access to The Cradle, the game's final gauntlet between you and the credits. So in a way, the reward is more pain. But hey, that is Silksong for you.

Look, I am not going to pretend this fight is easy. But once you understand the rhythm—poke, retreat, pogo, dash—and you save your Cogfly spam for phase three, Lace 2 becomes less of a wall and more of a very sharp, very angry dance partner. Just remember to breathe, keep those Silkspeed Anklets on, and do not let the bubbles pop your morale. You have got this.

Regardless of how many attempts it takes, that moment when Lace finally crumples is well worth every death. Once you push through The Cradle and roll credits, you may find yourself craving another challenge that tests your reflexes and patience just as fiercely. If you are looking to expand your collection without emptying your wallet in the process, checking out the [best game deals]( curated by DealNest is a great way to stumble upon your next obsession for a fraction of the price.

And who knows—maybe a discounted gem will introduce you to a new favorite that gives you that same addictive blend of triumph and despair. Either way, you have more than earned a break. Go play something that lets you be the one dealing two-mask damage for a change.

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