How to Reach Lace in The Spire's Crown in Hollow Knight: Silksong
This is it—the climb up Pharloom reaches its fever pitch as you prepare to face your most persistent rival in the upper reaches of the Citadel. In Hollow Knight: Silksong, the second encounter with Lace serves as a massive late-game progression gate, testing every combat reflex you’ve honed since the Deep Docks.
The rematch with Lace takes place in the high-altitude Spire's Crown.
Activating the Grand Elevator
To reach this rematch, you must first secure the Threefold Melodies from across the kingdom. These melodies are hidden within the Whispering Vaults, the High Halls, and the Cogwork Core. Each location presents a unique trial: you'll need to navigate the spectral labyrinth of the vaults, survive a brutal combat arena in the halls, and master a complex platforming gauntlet within the core. Once you have all three, return to the Grand Elevator near the Cogwork Core to play the tunes and ascend to the peak.
Reaching The Spire's Crown
The elevator delivers you directly to The Spire's Crown, a dramatic sub-location within the upper reaches of the Citadel. Be warned: the moment you step out of the lift, the fight begins. You will immediately encounter Lace, the frenzied fencer born from Grand Mother Silk, who initiates combat immediately upon elevator arrival. She is faster and more aggressive than before, acting as the ultimate gatekeeper to the game's final challenges.
Trust me, you do not want to make the long trek back if you fall. Rest at the Memorium Bench near the Cogwork Core before you use the elevator; it is the closest respawn point for the Spire's Crown encounter.
If you’ve wiped here before, you’re not alone—this jump in difficulty catches everyone off guard. However, by securing the nearby checkpoint and understanding the musical requirements for the elevator, you’ve already cleared the biggest logistical hurdles. With the melodies in hand and your needle sharpened, you're ready to step onto the stage and finish this duel. Let's go.
Best Build and Preparation for Lace in Hollow Knight: Silksong
This is it—the rematch. You’ve reached The Spire's Crown in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Lace awaits. This isn't the same duelist you faced in the Deep Docks; she's faster, hits harder, and has new tricks. To survive, you need more than just skill—you need the right gear. Here’s the optimal build and preparation to turn this brutal rematch into a victory.
Countering Lace's aerial attacks with precise movement.
Gear & Upgrades: Your Survival Kit
Before you step off the grand elevator, your loadout is your lifeline. This fight demands a blend of high damage, mobility, and durability.
Core Crest & Tools
Your primary damage engine should be the Crest of the Reaper. This red crest enhances your nail's power and synergizes perfectly with Hornet's pogo attacks, making every aerial counter-strike count. For consistent pressure, equip the Cogfly as your Blue Tool. Deploy multiple Cogflies to maintain passive DPS during Lace's evasive phases and her overwhelming Thread Storm attack, letting you chip away at her health while you focus purely on survival.
Essential Mobility & Defense
You cannot out-space Lace's rapier without the Silkspeed Anklets. This trinket is non-negotiable—it increases your dash speed and reduces recovery lag after attacks, giving you the micro-spacing needed to dodge her thrusts and punish safely. For a safety net, slot in the Magnetite Dice. This trinket provides a chance to outright negate incoming damage from Lace's rapier, which can save you from her devastating two-mask flurry counter.
Pair the Cogfly with the traversal tool Clawline. Press [R] to grapple walls or pull Hornet toward Lace for quick counters after her dash attacks, then use the speed from your Silkspeed Anklets to dash back to safety.
Mandatory Stat Check
If you've wiped here before, you're not alone—this phase trips up everyone who's under-prepared. Don't even attempt this fight without two key upgrades.
First, visit the Forge-Daughter in Deep Docks and get your needle upgraded. A minimum of 3 upgrades is recommended to ensure your punishes are meaningful and the fight doesn't become a marathon.
Second, scour Pharloom for Mask Shards. You need a health buffer to survive her combos, especially the double-damage flurry. Aim to acquire at least 8-9 masks before heading up. Trust me, that extra health will be the difference between a triumphant victory and a frustrating runback to the Memorium bench.
Final Preparation
With your Crest of the Reaper equipped, Cogflies ready, Silkspeed Anklets speeding up your dashes, and your health and nail upgraded, you’ve done everything you can. The rest comes down to execution.
This setup is designed for the hit-and-run rhythm this Hollow Knight: Silksong rematch demands: deal damage with your enhanced nail and tools, then use your superior mobility to escape. You’re now as ready as you can be. Let's go.
Lace Phase 1: Rapier Lunges and Aerial Sting Counters
This is it—the moment the elevator doors open in The Spire's Crown. In Hollow Knight: Silksong, Lace wastes no time, and your first lesson is learning to dance around her opening gambit: a deadly, precise rapier offense.
Using aerial dashes to cycle around Lace is an effective strategy for her combos.
Her initial phase is all about controlling space and punishing her aggression with your mobility. Here’s how to break down her patterns and turn her speed against her.
Reading the Opening Gambit
Lace’s Dash Thrust is your primary opening. She’ll crouch, her rapier glowing, before lunging straight across the arena. Your best counter isn't to jump away, but to dash through her. Press [ZR] during her lunge to use your Silk Dash i-frames, phasing through the attack to appear at her back. She has a significant recovery period after this move—that’s your window to press [Y] for a quick 1-2 hit punish before resetting.
The i-frames on your Silk Dash are generous here. Trust the dash and go through her; trying to out-space the lunge often puts you in a corner.
When she leaps into the air, watch her angle. Her Aerial Sting is a fixed 45-degree downward strike. Don't try to dash under it on the ground. Instead, use your Clawline tool: press [R] to grapple to the ceiling or a wall just as she jumps. From your safe perch, you can drop with a [Y] down-strike pogo on her head as she lands, then use the bounce to create distance.
The Danger of Greed
Here’s the trick most guides miss: Lace’s Rapier Parry. If you get too aggressive, she’ll hold her weapon vertically with a sharp metallic ‘clink’ sound. This is your only warning. You must press [L] to move away immediately. If you attack into her parry, she’ll retaliate with a swift, damaging flurry that can cost you two masks. Patience is non-negotiable.
If the spacing feels collapsed and you’re getting cornered, use the Clawline Reset. Press [R] to grapple toward a wall, then [B] to jump off it. This instantly repositions you to the center of the arena, giving you back the breathing room you need to bait her predictable lunges.
⚠️ Watch out: Her parry can come out after any of your attacks if you linger too long. Land your 1-2 hits, then disengage. This phase punishes greed harder than mistimed dodges.
With these counters in mind, her initial flurry transforms from overwhelming to manageable. You’re not just surviving her attacks—you’re using her momentum against her, setting the rhythm for the entire duel. Nail this dance, and you’ll carve a clean path into her more dangerous phases.
Lace Phase 2: Light Bubbles and Environmental Hazards
Phase 1 was a frantic duel, but now the real test begins. In Hollow Knight: Silksong, Lace’s second phase is where the arena itself turns against you. She’s done playing fair, layering her relentless rapier strikes with lingering hazards that punish old habits and force a new, patient rhythm.
Lace's arena features dark, atmospheric lighting that highlights her light bubbles.
This is where your Spacing Control becomes a life-or-death dance. The goal is to stay at a mid-range—close enough to bait her predictable Dash Thrust, but far enough to avoid the new, persistent danger zones she creates. If you get greedy and crowd her, you’ll have no room to dodge the environmental chaos she’s about to unleash.
Her first new trick is the Bubble Jump. Instead of a simple aerial lunge, Lace now leaves a trail of three glowing light bubbles where she lands. These linger for a few seconds, dealing damage if you touch them. The old strategy of jumping over her and pogoing is now a trap. Instead, the moment you see her leap, dash underneath her to avoid the trail entirely. This puts you safely behind her, often with a brief window to land a single counter-strike before retreating.
The audio cue for her jump is slightly different in Phase 2—listen for a higher-pitched swish. Reacting to the sound can be faster than waiting for the visual tell.
Her Sliding Thrust also becomes more dangerous, as she can now chain it directly after other moves. When she crouches low and streaks across 80% of the arena floor, your only safe response is to jump and perform a down-slash pogo off her head as she passes beneath you. This not only avoids the attack but also gives you a burst of height to reposition away from any leftover bubbles.
If you’ve struggled here, you’re not alone—this phase trips up everyone who relied on aggressive pogo combos in Phase 1. The key shift is to stop chasing damage and start controlling the battlefield. Lure her to one side, clear the bubbles, and only then look for an opening.
Your safest moment to breathe and recover is still after her Cross Slash. When she finishes that wide, X-shaped attack, she remains stationary for a significant recovery period. This is your prime Healing Window. Back off to a safe distance, hold [A] to Bind, and restore a mask or two. Trying to heal at any other time is incredibly risky.
⚠️ Watch out: The light bubbles from her Bubble Jump can linger right where you want to stand to heal after a Cross Slash. Always clear the area first.
With your spacing locked in and her new patterns understood, you can systematically dismantle her health bar. Chip away with safe punishes, heal during her recovery, and keep the arena clean. Once you stabilize here, you’re ready for the storm to come.
Lace Phase 3: Thread Storm and Final Onslaught
This is it—the final test. In Hollow Knight: Silksong, Lace's third phase is where she stops holding back, unleashing a relentless, screen-filling assault designed to overwhelm you. If you've struggled here, you're not alone. The pace is frantic, but her deadliest moves are also her most predictable. Keep your cool, and you can turn her aggression against her.
The final phase of the Lace fight tests your mastery of Hornet's kit.
Surviving the Thread Storm
The most dangerous new attack is Lace's Thread Storm. She'll hover in the air, drawing a large white circle that expands across the arena. This is your only visual cue—when you see it, stop everything and press [ZR] to dash repeatedly to the opposite side of the arena. Getting caught inside the circle means eating a full barrage of needle attacks that can end the fight instantly.
⚠️ Watch out: The circle appears quickly. Trust your eyes over your offense—abandon any attack you're starting and focus solely on escape.
This is the perfect moment for the Cogfly Spam strategy. As soon as she starts the animation for Thread Storm, deploy all your remaining Blue Tool charges. Your Cogflies will chip away at her health while you focus entirely on dodging, effectively shortening this dangerous phase without you having to risk a direct approach.
Managing the Enhanced Onslaught
Beyond the storm, her existing combos become faster and more vicious. She'll frequently chain her rapier strikes into a Void-Infused Flurry of four or more rapid stabs. Trying to dash through this is a gamble. Instead, the safest counter is to use [R] to fire your Clawline at the arena wall, pulling Hornet airborne and out of harm's way until the combo ends. Stay on the wall if you need to; it’s a safe haven.
Your goal is to survive this barrage until you trigger a critical opening. After dealing a certain threshold of damage, you'll activate a Stun Window. Lace will hunch over, briefly vulnerable. This is your signal to go all-in: spam [Y] for nail strikes or unleash high-damage tools like the Barbed Bracelet you might have equipped. This is your primary damage phase—make every hit count.
Don't waste your high-damage tool charges earlier in the fight. Save them specifically for these guaranteed Stun Windows to maximize your payoff.
The chaos of Phase 3 can feel overwhelming, but its rhythm is learnable. Focus on evasion, punish only during the clear stun, and let your tools do the work during her deadliest attacks. With patience and precise reactions, you will break through her final onslaught.
Lace Boss Rewards and Path to The Cradle in Silksong
Victory is yours—the final clash in The Spire's Crown is over, and Lace lies defeated. But in Hollow Knight: Silksong, every triumph opens a new door. Here’s what your hard-fought win has unlocked and where it leads you next.
Combat skills are tested on the way to the game's final areas.
First, your immediate reward: the Aerial Sting ability. This isn't just a trophy; it's a powerful new combat tool. Unlocked automatically after the defeat, this ability transforms Hornet's mid-air dash into a devastating horizontal drill-dash, perfect for closing distance and shredding through airborne foes in the challenges to come.
Practice the Aerial Sting in a safe area. It consumes silk, so weaving it into your existing combo strings takes some getting used to, but it dramatically increases your offensive pressure.
With the battle over, turn your attention to the arena itself. The path forward is now clear at The Cradle Entrance, located directly behind Lace's arena in The Spire's Crown. This newly opened gateway is your ticket to the game's climactic final gauntlet. Don't rush in just yet, though—take a moment to check your Hunter's Journal. A new entry for Lace - The Spire's Crown has been added to your bestiary, cataloging your victory over this formidable thread-born duelist.
Before you depart for The Cradle, there's one more piece of the puzzle to uncover. Interact with the ornate silk pedestal that materializes after the fight. This triggers a short lore cutscene, revealing Weaver Secrets about Lace's tragic origin and her deep connection to Grand Mother Silk. This moment adds crucial emotional weight to the conflict you just endured and sets the stage for the narrative's conclusion.
With your new ability mastered, your journal updated, and the story enriched, you stand at the threshold of the endgame. The path to The Cradle awaits, promising the ultimate test of everything you've learned in Pharloom. You've proven you can beat the gatekeeper; now it's time to face what lies beyond.