Hollow Knight: Complete Walkthrough & Boss Guide
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🗺️ Main Story Walkthrough
Tick off each step as you go — your progress saves locally, no account needed.
The Knight enters the ruins of Hallownest from Dirtmouth, descending through the Forgotten Crossroads — the introductory biome filled with infected husks, crawlids, and the wandering Gruz Mother. Focus on finding Grubfather s location to begin rescuing Grubs for charm upgrades, and equip your first Notch charms before attempting False Knight. The Crossroads eventually becomes Infected Crossroads after a story trigger, so collect anything you need beforehand. Locate the Mask Shard hidden behind a cracked wall east of the Stag Station for an early health boost.
Greenpath is a lush acid-lake biome reached through a fungal passage below the Crossroads. Defeating Hornet here in the first boss encounter rewards the Mothwing Cloak — the dash ability that is required for every subsequent area in the game. Hornet s fight is the first real skill check in Hollow Knight; her needle throws and plunge attacks demand spatial awareness that sets the tone for every boss ahead. After the Mothwing Cloak, explore the northwest of Greenpath for the Shaman Stone charm location in the Stone Sanctuary, then continue to the Queen s Garden and eventually the Crystal Peak.
Crystal Peak is a vertical, spike-filled mountain area where the Crystal Heart is located — the super-dash ability that lets the Knight fly horizontally at high speed indefinitely. The Crystal Heart opens passages throughout the game that a simple dash cannot reach. The peak also contains the Dream Nail upgrade path once you acquire the Dream Nail from the Seer in the Resting Grounds. Bring the Sprintmaster charm and at least two masks of health before ascending; the boss fight guarding the Crystal Heart is one of the more mechanically demanding encounters in this part of the game.
Below the Crossroads lies the Fungal Wastes, a mushroom-thick biome that connects to the Mantis Village — where the Mantis Lords boss fight grants safe passage deeper into Deepnest and access to the lower City of Tears entrance. Defeating the Mantis Lords is optional but practically necessary for smooth navigation, and their defeat earns the respect of all Mantis Tribespeople in the area (they stop attacking). From the Mantis Village lower exit, Deepnest becomes accessible — bring a Lantern if you have one, as Deepnest is almost entirely pitch black.
The Ancient Basin is reached through Deepnest s lower exits or through the tram in the Forgotten Crossroads. This dark, ruined area leads to the Broken Vessel boss fight, which guards the path to the Monarch Wings — the double-jump ability that opens up the upper reaches of nearly every biome in the game. Broken Vessel is a corrupted husk of a fellow Vessel; it attacks with infection blobs and ground slams. After the fight, descend to the Abyss for the Shade Cloak upgrade (the invincibility-frame dash) and the Dream Nail upgrade from the Seer after collecting enough Essence from Warrior Dreams.
The City of Tears is the vertical rainy city at Hallownest s heart, requiring either the Lumafly Lantern or prior Mantis Village navigation to enter efficiently. Soul Master waits at the apex of the Soul Sanctum and guards the Desolate Dive spell. He is one of the most mechanically complex pre-Dreamers bosses, attacking with teleportation, soul orb bursts, and a diving body-slam. Defeating Soul Master opens the City Crest gate and unlocks Desolate Dive, which is needed to access the Royal Waterways, the Path of Pain optional challenge, and the entrance to the Abyss below.
To unlock the Temple of the Black Egg and face the Hollow Knight, you must locate and awaken the three Dreamer seals. Monomon the Teacher s body rests in the Teacher s Archives in Fog Canyon; Lurien the Watcher is in the Watcher s Spire atop the City of Tears; and Herrah the Beast is in Beast s Den in Deepnest, accessible only after completing the Hornet II encounter in Kingdom s Edge. Each Dreamer location contains its own puzzle navigation challenge and the area bosses that guard the approach are among the game s most demanding optional encounters.
With all three Dreamer seals broken, the Temple of the Black Egg opens at the heart of the Forgotten Crossroads. The Hollow Knight is the game s primary story boss and fights across two phases with nail sweeps, infection tendril eruptions, and a devastating black-void void attack in phase two. For the true ending and the Radiance fight, you must use the Dream Nail on the Hollow Knight during the phase-two stagger window; this triggers a second hidden boss fight against the Radiance inside the dream space. Equip Quick Focus, Shaman Stone, and Mark of Pride before this sequence.
⚔️ Boss Guides
False Knight
Attack Patterns
False Knight is a Maggot who has stolen the armor of a fallen warrior. He attacks by slamming his mace into the ground, creating expanding shockwaves that run along the floor in both directions. He also leaps into the air and crashes down onto the Knight s position, and during stun phases he rolls across the arena in a spinning ball that must be jumped over. Between attacks he stumbles, cracking his armor slightly.
Strategy
Stand on the raised platforms on either side of the arena during his mace slams — shockwaves do not reach platform height, making these positions completely safe. After each slam he staggers briefly: drop to the floor and nail him three times before retreating back to the platform. His jump attack can be predicted by watching his shadow on the floor; move out of the shadow s center to avoid it. After three to four stagger phases, his armor cracks open and the Maggot inside is exposed for extended damage. Quick Focus or Joni s Blessing allows healing during the slam recovery window from platform height.
Hornet (Protector — Greenpath)
Attack Patterns
Hornet attacks with a plunge dive from above onto the Knight s position, a dashing horizontal slash at floor level, and a needle-and-thread throw where she hurls her weapon in an arc that bounces back. She also performs a close-range AOE slash when the Knight is at melee distance. Her attacks are fast and cover a wide portion of the arena, demanding constant movement.
Strategy
Dash toward Hornet when she throws her needle — it is aimed at the Knight s position when thrown, so moving toward her puts you past the arc and within nail range for a free hit while she is weaponless. For her plunge, move horizontally the instant she leaves the ceiling; her dive tracks your position at launch but not mid-fall. Bring Quick Slash to land two nail hits in each window where she recovers after a dash slash. After her health hits half, she gains a brief speed increase and adds a second needle throw in the same pattern; the dodge strategy is identical, just faster. Healing is possible during the bounce-back phase of the needle throw, when she is stationary waiting to catch it.
Mantis Lords
Attack Patterns
The Mantis Lords fight in phases: first one lord alone, then two simultaneously. Each lord uses a boomerang chakram throw, a dashing slash, and a downward plunge. In the two-lord phase, one typically handles boomerangs from range while the other uses melee dashes, though they can swap. They teleport around the arena between attacks, making consistent positioning difficult.
Strategy
Stay on one half of the arena to make the two-lord phase more predictable — the farther lord defaults to boomerangs, which are the easiest attack to heal through. The boomerang is thrown, travels to the far wall, and returns; the Lord is stationary during both the throw and return animations, creating a nail-hit window. Dodge toward the dashing Lord rather than away — dashing through her leaves you on her far side with a free hit during recovery. Use down-slash aggressively after dodging plunge attacks; the Longnail charm extends reach enough to hit them reliably while they rise from a landing. Do not attempt to heal during the dash attack phase of the two-lord fight; only heal during confirmed boomerang animations.
Soul Master
Attack Patterns
Soul Master teleports constantly throughout the fight, making sustained nail pressure difficult. He fires expanding soul orbs from stationary positions, dives across the full arena with a body slam, and in phase two adds a spinning orb pattern after each dive. Between teleports he pauses for half a second — this is the primary nail-hit window. Phase two begins after a mid-fight cutscene where he shatters his shell and becomes faster with a larger move set.
Strategy
Stand in the center of the arena during his orb-rush teleport sequence — the orbs travel outward from his position and the center is consistently safe. Dash toward him when he fires standard orbs; they arc slightly upward and pass over the Knight s head at close range. His body slam has a long upward climb before the crash; use Shade Soul to hit him during the ascent phase when he is fully visible. In phase two, the spinning orbs after each dive require a lateral dodge followed by an immediate repositioning to the center. Heal only during his half-second post-teleport pause when he is not immediately attacking. Quick Focus makes these windows viable for at least one mask of healing per phase.
Broken Vessel
Attack Patterns
Broken Vessel is a corrupted sibling Vessel whose body leaks infection. It attacks with a wide horizontal nail swing, a jumping ground slam that scatters infection blobs on landing, and a slam that sends blobs rolling along the floor in spreading patterns. Blobs are slow-moving but persistent and quickly fill the arena floor. It also performs a periodic burst where it inflates with infection and sprays blobs in all directions from the body.
Strategy
Use Desolate Dive from directly above the Broken Vessel during its ground slam recovery — the dive hits twice and avoids the floor blob splash entirely. Clear blobs with nail attacks when they clump together; a single nail strike hits multiple blobs simultaneously. During the inflation-burst phase, dash to a corner and face away from the blast center; the blobs spray outward and corners limit how many directions they can reach you from. Shade Cloak s invincibility-frame dash is the most reliable escape from blob saturation phases. Equipping Fragile Strength significantly reduces the fight duration and blob management becomes less pressing when the boss dies faster.
The Hollow Knight
Attack Patterns
The Hollow Knight attacks with a Great Nail sweep (horizontal, covering two-thirds of the arena), a triple void tendril eruption from the ground, a homing void projectile volley, and a charged overhead slam. Phase two adds a full-arena void explosion triggered by a massive inhale, and a fast-moving void spike that tracks the Knight across the arena for several seconds. All attacks are telegraphed by the Great Nail s position before the swing.
Strategy
Watch the angle of the Great Nail before each attack — raised overhead means slam, swept to the side means horizontal sweep, pointed at the floor means tendril eruption. Dash under the horizontal sweep rather than backward — this closes distance and allows an immediate two-hit counter. During the void projectile volley, move to the far side of the arena and the spread of projectiles becomes easier to navigate through gaps. In phase two, run to the extreme edge of the arena when the inhale begins to minimize void explosion damage. For the true ending, apply Dream Nail during the stagger window in phase two when the Hollow Knight falls to one knee — this immediately triggers the Radiance encounter and requires no additional preparation in that moment.
The Radiance (True Final Boss)
Attack Patterns
The Radiance is the true final boss fought inside the dream realm. Her attacks include a Beam Burst (rays fired in a ring from her body, never hitting the same spot twice consecutively), Sword Rain (nail blades falling from the sky while she teleports), a Sword Wall (blades forming a vertical barrier that must be jumped over or under), scattered holy light orbs that track the Knight, and platform phases where the floor falls away and safe footing becomes limited. She becomes significantly more aggressive in her final phase, combining attacks in overlapping patterns.
Strategy
Abyss Shriek is the highest-damage spell available and Shaman Stone doubles its damage output against the Radiance s large hitbox — use it every time she holds still during Beam Burst. Nail attacks are most viable during Sword Rain when she holds a stationary position; dashing up to her and landing three quick strikes before a Sword Rain blade hits is the core melee damage loop. For Sword Walls, read the gap in the wall as it forms (usually at the top or bottom third) and position early. In platform phases, prioritize finding stable footing over dealing damage — no damage is worth a missed platform and fall damage. Heal only during Beam Burst when her pattern has a wide gap and you have three or more soul available for Quick Focus. Mark of Pride extends nail range enough to hit her during Sword Rain even at sub-optimal heights.