Hollow Knight: Silksong Beginner's Guide: 10 Essential Tips for Pharloom

How to Master Hornet's Movement in Hollow Knight: Silksong

Welcome to Pharloom, where every jump, dash, and swing feels like a declaration of war against gravity. In Hollow Knight: Silksong, you’re not the Knight of Hallownest anymore—you’re Hornet, and her movement is a masterclass in speed and agility. This section will break down the core mobility differences, so you can stop fighting the controls and start flowing with them. Trust me, once you internalize these fundamentals, the entire kingdom will open up.

Mastering the Pogo is essential for vertical mobility in Silksong.

Your first taste of freedom is the sprint. From the moment you gain control, you can hold [RT] to run, propelling Hornet across the landscape at a pace the Knight could only dream of. This isn't just faster walking; it's a fundamental shift in how you navigate. Use it to blaze past threats, outrun projectile wind-ups, and make those long "runbacks" after a death feel trivial.

Verticality is your new best friend, thanks to two key mechanics. First is wall mantling. As you jump near a ledge, Hornet will automatically grab and pull herself up—no more frustrating pixel-perfect jumps. This makes exploration far more forgiving and opens up new routes immediately. Second, and this is the real secret: the ledge jump. During that mantle animation, press [A] to launch yourself higher off the ledge without consuming your normal jump. This is your ticket to rapid vertical ascents and escaping tight spots. It takes a moment to get the timing down, but once you do, you’ll chain mantles and ledge jumps to scale walls with incredible speed.

Combat mobility is where Hornet truly shines. Forget the Knight's straight-down pogo. Hornet's signature move is the diagonal pogo. Execute it by jumping, holding [D-pad Down], and attacking. This causes her to strike at a 45-degree angle, bouncing off enemies, spikes, or even certain environmental objects. This angled attack is essential for both combat—allowing you to stay airborne by chaining bounces—and for traversal, letting you cross spike pits or reach higher platforms. It feels different, but it grants far more horizontal control mid-air.

Finally, embrace aerial recovery. Hornet's taller stature and acrobatic nature mean she has more options to correct a bad jump or dodge an attack mid-flight. Her animations include flips and tumbles that aren't just for show—they give you a tangible sense of control and momentum in the air. If you misjudge a leap, you can often use a well-timed diagonal attack or a quick directional adjustment to land safely. This fluidity makes her feel incredibly responsive and turns the air into your primary battleground.

Master these five fundamentals—sprinting, mantling, ledge jumps, diagonal pogos, and aerial control—and you'll stop seeing Pharloom as a series of obstacles and start seeing it as your personal acrobatic playground. Let’s move.

How to Use the Silk System and Bind Ability

In Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hornet’s survival hinges on a single, vital resource: Silk. This isn’t just fuel for fancy attacks—it’s the literal thread of your life. Mastering how you generate, spend, and protect it is the key to navigating Pharloom’s relentless challenges. Here’s the complete breakdown of the Silk System and the essential Bind ability.

Hornet performing a mid-air Bind to heal.

Your Silk Meter sits in the upper left corner of the screen, below your health masks. This meter fills up as you deal damage with your needle. Every successful hit on an enemy generates Silk, so aggressive play is your lifeline. You can also find Silk deposits scattered throughout Pharloom, often in cobwebs or specific environmental objects, which you can strike for a quick refill.

This Silk isn’t just for offense; it’s your only means of healing. By holding [B], you activate the Bind ability. This consumes your entire Silk spool to instantly restore 3 masks of health. The payoff is huge, but the risk is real: Hornet is vulnerable during the brief animation. If you take any damage during this Bind Vulnerability window, the heal is cancelled and you lose all the Silk you spent. This is the most common mistake new players make—healing in the wrong moment wastes your most precious resource.

Here’s the trick most guides miss: you can heal in the air. Mid-air Binding is your safest option against ground-based enemies and bosses. By holding [B] while jumping, you can heal above an attack’s reach, creating a safe window that ground healing rarely offers. Trust me, you’ll want to make this your default method in combat.

Managing your Silk is a constant balancing act. Since it’s also used to power your Silk Arts (special skills like Silkspear or Thread Storm), you’re always choosing between offense and defense. Don’t hoard it—spending Silk on a powerful skill can often end a fight faster than saving it for a heal. A good rule is to keep enough for one emergency Bind, and use the rest to unleash your tools.

With a firm grasp on generating Silk through combat and using Bind strategically (especially mid-air), you’ve mastered the core loop that keeps Hornet alive. It’s a dance of aggression and precise timing—once you get the rhythm, you’ll feel unstoppable.

How to Find and Use Maps from Shakra in Pharloom

Lost in the twisting tunnels of Pharloom without a guide? Don't worry—in Hollow Knight: Silksong, you’re never truly alone. The warrior cartographer Shakra is your key to navigating this vast kingdom, and finding her is your first and most important task.

Meeting Shakra to purchase maps in Pharloom.

Your journey begins in earnest in The Marrow, the early-game region you’ll enter after passing through Bone Bottom. To find her, head left through the large, lava-filled chamber and climb the shaft with crumbling ledges at the top. Keep going left until you hear singing—that’s Shakra, the map merchant. She’s a warrior monk on a quest to find her lost master, and she’ll sell you the tools you need to chart your own path.

What to Buy from Shakra First

Shakra’s shop can seem overwhelming, but trust me, you should prioritize two essential items above all else: the Quill and the Wayward Compass. Here’s the breakdown:

• The Quill costs 180 Rosaries. This isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. Purchasing a map from Shakra only gives you her incomplete sketches. To fill in the rooms you’ve actually explored, you must buy the Quill and then rest at a Bench. The map will update automatically, revealing your progress.
• The Wayward Compass costs 120 Rosaries. This is a Yellow Tool you equip in one of your Crest slots. While held, it shows Hornet’s exact position on any purchased map. Without it, you’re just staring at a drawing with no idea where you are.

Unlocking the Full Potential of Your Map

Once you have the Quill and Compass, Shakra’s other offerings become incredibly useful. Purchasing all her available resources unlocks additional Map Markers on your completed charts. These icons can reveal the locations of fast travel points, vendors, and tough enemies, transforming your map from a simple navigational aid into a strategic tool for planning your route and avoiding unnecessary danger.

Shakra won’t stay in one place for long. As you unlock new regions, she’ll move on, setting up shop in the next area you need to map. If you ever miss her, you can often find her in Bone Bottom or, later, in Bellhart. Her inventory expands as you progress, so revisit her whenever you enter a new biome.

Funding Your Cartography

Finding Shakra is one thing; affording her wares is another. Rosaries are your currency, primarily dropped by aggressive, humanoid bugs. A great early farming spot is the room just left of Shakra’s first location in The Marrow, which leads back into Moss Grotto. Corrupted pilgrim bugs here respawn and drop Rosaries. Rest at the nearby bench, clear them out, repeat.

⚠️ Watch out: The Compass takes up a precious Tool slot. You’ll have to decide if knowing your location is worth temporarily swapping out another ability. In unfamiliar territory, it almost always is.

With Shakra’s maps in hand, her Quill at the ready, and her Compass guiding your way, the overwhelming scale of Pharloom becomes a thrilling landscape to conquer, not a maze to fear. Let’s go explore.

Best Ways to Manage Rosaries and Rosary Strings

Rosaries are the lifeblood of your journey through Pharloom—but in Hollow Knight: Silksong, this precious currency can vanish in an instant if you’re not careful. Losing a huge stash to a double death is one of the most gut-wrenching setbacks in the game. Here’s how to master the economy and keep your hard-earned beads safe.

Rosary Strings are essential for protecting your wealth.

Understanding the Currency System

Your primary currency is Rosaries, the red beads dropped by defeated humanoid bugs and found in the environment. You’ll use them for everything from buying maps and tools to unlocking fast-travel Bellways (which often require an offering of 30 Rosaries). The catch? When Hornet dies, all the loose Rosaries in your possession are dropped at the death site inside a Cocoon. You must return and slash that Cocoon to recover your lost beads and repair your damaged Silk meter. Die again before retrieving it, and those Rosaries are gone forever.

Securing Your Wealth with Rosary Strings

This is your financial safety net. You can convert your vulnerable, loose Rosaries into a permanent inventory item called a Rosary String. Visit a merchant—the earliest is Pebb in Bone Bottom—and pay 80 Rosaries to create a Rosary String that stores 60 beads safely. Think of it as a 20-bead insurance fee. Once strung, these beads cannot be spent, but they are also completely safe from loss upon death. You can carry up to 20 Strings and Necklaces combined, letting you bank thousands of beads.

Later, you’ll find the Rosary Necklace at a mid-game merchant for 140 Rosaries, which stores a more efficient 120 beads. The rule is simple: never wander into uncharted territory or face a boss with a pocket full of loose change. Convert your savings into Strings at a bench, and only break a String (from your inventory) when you’re standing right in front of a shop, ready to make a big purchase.

Smart Farming and Spending

If you need to build up your funds, a little targeted grinding goes a long way. One of the best early-game spots is Mosshome, the area left of Shakra in The Marrow. Here, you can repeatedly defeat the pilgrim bugs near a Bench, resetting them by sitting down each time for a quick and safe Rosary loop.

⚠️ Watch out: Before you trigger the point of no return in Act 3, make sure you’ve bought every tool, map, and upgrade you want from earlier areas. Many shops and paths become inaccessible, so spend those saved Rosary Strings while you can.

Manage your beads wisely, secure them often, and you’ll never have to mourn a major loss. With your currency safe, you can face the dangers of Pharloom with confidence.

How to Unlock and Equip Tools and Crests

Think of Charms from the first Hollow Knight? In Hollow Knight: Silksong, they’re gone—replaced by a far more dynamic system called Crests. These aren't just passive buffs; they’re entire combat styles that fundamentally change how Hornet fights, moves, and builds her loadout. Mastering this system is the key to thriving in Pharloom.

The Straight Pin is one of the many projectile tools Hornet can equip.

The Core System: Crests and Tools

Crests are the new foundation of your build. Each one determines your basic attack patterns, your special ability (called a Bind effect), and, crucially, the color-coded slots you have for equipping Tools.

You start with the Crest of Hunter, which provides one slot each for Red, Blue, and Yellow Tools. You can swap between any Crests you've unlocked at any Bench. Here’s what those colors mean:

• Red Tools are offensive consumables, like the Straight Pin (a simple thrown projectile found in Deep Docks) or the Sting Shard, an early-game tool that creates an explosion of blades on impact.
• Blue Tools offer defensive or utility buffs in combat.
• Yellow Tools provide passive benefits for exploration and resource gathering.

To unlock more slots on a Crest, you need Memory Lockets. Find these hidden in the world or buy them from vendors, then spend them at a Bench to permanently add a slot to your chosen Crest.

Finding and Unlocking New Crests

New Crests are earned by conquering specific challenges, usually found in dedicated Chapels. Your second Crest will likely be the Crest of Wanderer, waiting in the Chapel of the Wanderer in Bonegrave. To reach it, you'll need either the Cling Grip ability or a Simple Key purchased from Pebb in Bone Bottom.

Each Crest radically alters your combat rhythm. The Crest of Reaper, found in Greymoor, trades speed for heavy, arcing slashes that knock enemies back. The Crest of Beast, earned by defeating the Savage Beastfly in Hunter's March, unleashes a wild, lifestealing frenzy after you Bind. Finding and experimenting with all seven Crests is a major part of Hollow Knight: Silksong's progression.

Managing Your Arsenal: Tools and Shell Shards

Tools are your active abilities. Unlike spells in the first game, you must find or craft each one and equip it to a compatible slot on your Crest. Using a Tool consumes a charge, and you’ll need Shell Shards to repair them when resting at a Bench. The good news? Shell Shards are not lost when you die, so you can use your tools aggressively without worrying about losing this key resource.

This system encourages constant adaptation. Facing a boss that keeps its distance? Slot in a Straight Pin. Exploring a dark area? A Yellow Tool that emits light might be your best friend. Your Crest and Tool loadout should change to meet the challenge ahead.

Upgrading Your Starting Crest

Remember that starting Crest of Hunter? It has a hidden potential. Once you acquire the Needolin ability later in the game, return to the large sealed door in Moss Grotto. Playing the Needolin there opens the path to Weavenest Atla. Deep inside, you’ll meet Eva, a Weaver child who can use her insight to upgrade your Hunter Crest, enhancing its unique "Focus" mechanic that increases damage with consecutive hits.

With the right Crest equipped and your Tools wisely chosen, you’re not just playing Silksong—you’re crafting a unique fighting style all your own. Now, let's put that build to work by helping the citizens of Pharloom.

How to Complete NPC Wishes and Quests

Pharloom is a kingdom brimming with stories beyond your own, and in Hollow Knight: Silksong, you can help shape them. The new Wish System formalizes side quests, letting you track Gather, Hunt, and Wayfarer objectives right from your main menu. This isn't just busywork—completing these wishes is your ticket to powerful upgrades, rare items, and a deeper understanding of the world.

Accepting a new quest from Sprintmaster Swift.

Finding and Accepting Wishes

You’ll discover wishes in two main ways: by talking to NPCs or by interacting with Bulletin Boards in town hubs like Bone Bottom and Bellhart. These boards are your central quest hubs, allowing you to accept multiple side quests at a glance. Once accepted, your active wishes are neatly organized in the Tasks menu, so you always know what you’re working toward. It’s a brilliant system that encourages you to engage with every corner of Pharloom.

A Guide to Wish Types and Early Rewards

Wishes are categorized by their goal, and tackling the right ones early can give you a significant edge.

• Gather Wishes ask you to collect specific resources. An excellent early example is Berry Picking. Find the Moss Druid in the Moss Grotto area, who will request 3 Mossberries. Bring them back, and he’ll reward you with the Druid’s Eye, an equippable item that restores a bit of Silk whenever you take damage—a fantastic survival tool.
• Hunt Wishes task you with defeating certain enemies. For instance, Volatile Flintbeetles in The Marrow has you hunt three fiery beetles for their Flintgems. The reward? A Memory Locket, a crucial item that increases the number of tools you can equip on a single Crest, letting you build more powerful loadouts.
• Wayfarer Wishes often involve exploration or finding lost characters. Keep an eye out for trapped or hidden NPCs during your travels, like Grindle in The Marrow. Free this trapped NPC, and he’ll offer you secrets and hints in exchange for your hard-earned Rosaries.

Making Wishes Work for You

The beauty of the Wish System is how it turns your natural exploration into tangible progress. Instead of wondering what to do next, you’ll have a list of objectives that guide you to new areas, introduce you to unique characters, and reward you for your curiosity. Whether you’re delivering fragile packages for the couriers or donating resources to rebuild a settlement, each completed wish makes Pharloom feel more alive and your journey more purposeful.

With the Wish System as your guide, you’re not just passing through Pharloom—you’re becoming a part of its story, one fulfilled promise at a time.

Essential Combat Tips for Early Bosses in Silksong

The first major bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong are your true welcome to Pharloom—a sharp spike in difficulty designed to test everything you’ve learned. This is where the game stops holding your hand and demands mastery of its new systems. While Hornet is faster and more agile than the Knight, her enemies are smarter, hit harder, and often require more than just reflexes to defeat.

Studying early enemy behaviors helps players prepare for more complex boss patterns.

Your success hinges on understanding two core combat mechanics that the game expects you to use: parrying and hit counting.

Mastering the Parry

Parrying in Hollow Knight: Silksong is a precise, high-risk maneuver that replaces the more forgiving Focus heal from the first game. To parry, you must time your [X] attack to intercept an enemy's strike the moment before it lands. A successful parry will deflect the attack, preventing damage and often stunning the foe for a brief counterattack window.

⚠️ Pro tip: The parry window is tight. You need to swing as the enemy begins their attack animation, not when the attack is about to hit you. It’s better to parry a fraction of a second early than too late.

This isn't just for show—many early enemies and bosses, like the shielded bugs in The Marrow, have attacks that are much easier to handle with a well-timed parry than a frantic dodge. Some projectiles can even be deflected back. However, be warned: if you mistime it and the attack is too close, you'll still take full damage despite the parry sound effect.

The Art of Hit Counting

This simple but vital strategy will save you from countless frustrating deaths. Get in the habit of counting hits to defeat each enemy type. Why? Because committing to a multi-hit Pogo combo on a foe that dies in one hit will send you plummeting into spikes or an enemy's follow-up attack. For example, the basic ants in Hunter's March take three hits. Knowing this lets you plan your final strike to land safely, rather than bouncing off a corpse into danger.

Conquering Your First Real Test: Skarrgard

You’ll encounter your first major skill check in The Marrow: Skarrgard, the large ant miniboss wearing a skull, found above the Jail Bench. This fight is a brutal introduction to Hollow Knight: Silksong's increased damage scaling, as his bone cudgel swipes hit for 2 masks of your starting 5-health pool.

The key to beating him is the Swift Step ability, found at the top of the Deep Docks area. This dash isn't just a quality-of-life upgrade—it's essential. It lets you dart through his attacks and creates the space you need to heal. The strategy is pure hit-and-run: dash in, land one or two quick slashes, then dash out before his slow, powerful swings connect. Greed will get you killed here.

Look Before You Leap

Finally, a universal piece of advice that will save you more Masks than any parry: always look down. Press the [Right Stick Down] to peer into pits and shafts before you commit to a jump. Hollow Knight: Silksong loves to hide spikes, enemies, and even valuable secrets just off-screen. Making this a habit prevents cheap deaths and helps you spot breakable floors and hidden passages.

Embrace these fundamentals—parry the predictable attacks, count your hits, use your dash aggressively, and scout your path. With this mindset, you’re ready to face Pharloom’s champions head-on.