Hollow Knight: Silksong beginner tips and tricks you need to know

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Hollow Knight: Silksong doesn’t shy away from leaving things unclear and instead challenges players to figure out the game’s mysteries on their own. This approach can lead to a satisfying gaming experience, but it might confuse some players. To help navigate this intricate world, we’ve compiled some helpful tips and tricks for you before you embark on your adventure in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

You can swim immediately

If you recall, the first game featured lethal waters, but that’s no longer a concern now. Interestingly, Hornet can swim without any initial upgrades, so you can dive into the water from the moment you start the game. Therefore, if you remembered a path being blocked due to water, you can safely assume otherwise.

Stay mobile

In this game, Hornet boasts a broader range of abilities compared to the original character, even without any enhancements, so take advantage of it! Keep in mind that the diverse array of bosses share one significant trait – they retaliate harshly when you remain stationary. To avoid getting hit, stay vigilant for their next action and respond accordingly. If healing is necessary, search for the opportune moment where a brief pause won’t leave you vulnerable to an attack, or else you could be in trouble.

Death is less punishing

In the initial game, dying would significantly weaken you due to its corpse-retrieval system: upon death, all your money and mana capacity would be reduced until you found your body again. However, in Silksong, death is less punishing as you still lose your currency (Rosaries), but there’s no reduction in mana. Furthermore, your ghost no longer attacks you; instead, it’s trapped within a motionless cocoon.

Buy the quill ASAP

In Silksong, the mapping system might require some initial familiarization, as it doesn’t automatically record your progress like in the previous game. Instead, you have to purchase area maps and manually complete them using the quill item, which you’ll need to acquire first. For details on where to find the quill, check out our guide titled “Unlocking the Map, Quill, and Compass in Silksong”. The quill is a crucial tool for keeping track of your exploration.

Dive Strike invincibility

One standout maneuver for Hornet is the Dive Strike, executed by pressing the attack button while in mid-air and moving down on the control stick. This technique causes Hornet to plummet diagonally towards the adversary before gracefully springing off them. What might not be apparent is that during this rebound animation, Hornet gains invincibility frames. If utilized strategically, this can help you escape potentially tricky situations.

Dive Strike is a platforming tool

With Dive Strike at your disposal, it’s not just about launching attacks. As you delve deeper into the environment, you may encounter peculiar sights such as small red rosebuds floating mysteriously. You might assume there’s a need for a specific ability to interact with these items, but that’s not the case. Instead, when you execute a Dive Strike on them, you’ll be propelled away and upward. By linking these together, you can reach greater heights. Remember, many of your moves serve both offensive and navigational purposes.

Experiment with new world objects

Building upon our earlier discussion, we stumbled upon the trick of that acrobatic move coincidentally when we observed the rosebuds and chose to investigate them out of curiosity. In a Metroidvania-style game, it can be confusing as to whether your advancement is hindered due to your skill level or because you lack a certain ability. To avoid getting stuck, whenever you encounter what seems like an obstacle, try every possible action. Give it a whack, dive towards it, leap at it, hurl something at it. You may be amazed to find that some walls conceal hidden secrets, or that certain items could guide your progress.

Glowing orange walls explode

Upon initially noticing a wall containing a radiant, orange orb, your initial reaction might be to tap it out of curiosity to uncover a hidden secret. While your intuition is correct, please maintain a safe distance before doing so because it has a tendency to burst – a lesson we unfortunately had to learn through experience.

Come back later

In Silksong, there’s typically more than one path or tasks available that can aid your advancement, especially during the beginning stages. If a certain section feels too challenging or a specific boss seems daunting, it’s perfectly fine to move on and revisit later. There’s usually another location to discover, or obstacle to conquer, which will empower you to face the problematic boss with renewed vigor.

Be patient

Above all else, it’s crucial to cultivate perseverance in this challenging game. You’ll inevitably meet defeat at the hands of bosses multiple times and find yourself making the rather disheartening trek back from the respawn point to the battlefield each time. It can be tempting to grow irritated or feel like you should be advancing faster, but remember to stay calm and maintain your composure. Study their attack patterns, practice your responses, identify opportunities for damage, and over time, mastery will come.

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2025-09-04 20:48