Hollow Knight: Walkthrough & Boss Guide

Hollow Knight is non-linear, so this is a condensed route through the main milestones rather than a full walkthrough. It covers the original 2017 game (Team Cherry). Hollow Knight: Silksong is a separate, already released game (4 September 2025) starring Hornet in Pharloom; it is not covered here. The base game’s four DLC packs (Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, Godmaster) were all free. Spoilers follow.

The Knight arrives in Dirtmouth and descends into the Forgotten Crossroads. The False Knight, fought in the center of the Crossroads, drops 200 Geo and a City Crest. After he falls you can grab the Vengeful Spirit spell in the first arena (Fextralife).

In Greenpath you fight Hornet; defeating her in her arena gives you the Mothwing Cloak, the dash ability needed to reach much of the map. After you get the Cloak, the three Dreamers begin to appear as projections in Greenpath (Fextralife).

The Mantis Claw (wall-cling and wall-jump) is in Mantis Village in the Fungal Wastes and needs the Mothwing Cloak to reach. The optional Mantis Lords fight is in Mantis Village; beating them gives Mark of Pride and a Hallownest Seal and opens the large gate between Mantis Village and Deepnest.

The Soul Master is fought in the Soul Sanctum, part of the City of Tears, and defeating him gives the Desolate Dive spell. Lurien the Watcher, one of the three Dreamers, is at the top of Watcher’s Spire in the City of Tears.

The Crystal Heart (super dash) is in an old mining golem in central-eastern Crystal Peak; no boss guards it, but reaching it needs the Mothwing Cloak and Mantis Claw, and the Lumafly Lantern is recommended for the dark sections. The Dream Nail is found in the Resting Grounds: inspect the Dreamers’ statue, follow the Moth to its resting point and interact with the statue there.

At the west end of the Ancient Basin, the optional Broken Vessel guards the path to the Monarch Wings (double jump). Fextralife lists the Crystal Heart and the ability to pogo as requirements to reach this area.

Finding all three Dreamers is required to break the seal on the Temple of the Black Egg. You strike each Dreamer’s sleeping body with the Dream Nail to enter the Dream World, destroy the vulnerable form with the nail and absorb it with Focus. Monomon the Teacher is in the Teacher’s Archives in Fog Canyon; Lurien the Watcher is at the top of Watcher’s Spire in the City of Tears; Herrah the Beast is in the Beast’s Den in Deepnest. We could not verify any extra gate for the Beast’s Den; the older text claiming a Hornet II requirement has been removed.

Wikipedia describes three outcomes: defeat the Hollow Knight and take its place, defeat it with Hornet’s help, or use the Void Heart to control the Void and defeat the Radiance. For the Radiance ending (the “Dream No More” achievement) Fextralife lists these requirements: the Kingsoul charm (fragments from the White Lady in Queen’s Gardens and the Pale King’s corpse in the White Palace), the Awoken Dream Nail (the Dream Nail upgraded by the Seer with 1,800 Essence), and the Void Heart, obtained by striking the broken egg at the Birthplace (bottom-left path of the Abyss) with the Awoken Dream Nail. Then defeat the three Dreamers and fight the Hollow Knight in the Temple of the Black Egg. At its weakest phase Hornet restrains it; instead of attacking with the nail, use the Awoken Dream Nail to enter its mind and fight the Radiance. The ordinary Dream Nail is not enough.