Hollow Knight Silksong tips for beginners

Looking for some effective Hollow Knight: Silksong beginner tips and tricks to get you through the early game? The deadly realm of Pharloom has many obstacles in store, and Hornet undeniably feels very different from her predecessor in the first Hollow Knight. She's way faster, and learning how to restore health and Pogo off of enemies with her is an entirely new experience.

If you've never played a Metroidvania in the past, Hollow Knight: Silksong can feel very intimidating with its expansive, labyrinthine map and powerful enemies - and we haven't even gotten into the light Soulslike elements thrown into the mix!

This guide walks new players through 8 top tips for Hollow Knight: Silksong, including how to Bind and Pogo effectively, where to farm Rosaries, which upgrades to prioritise, and more. Follow these beginner's tips to make the first few hours of the game much easier!

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1. Learn how and when to Bind

In Silksong, instead of using Focus to heal yourself via collected Soul (as was the case in the first Hollow Knight), Hornet utilises Bind. Requiring strands of Silk to activate, Bind is an ability that lets Hornet heal herself instantly and get back into the fight.

To get more Silk, just keep attacking enemies, and pay attention to the Silk meter in the upper left corner. You know, Hornet is technically a spider, despite her name, so this mechanic makes sense when you think about it.

Be aware that activating Bind makes Hornet vulnerable for a second. If an enemy attacks her while she's using Bind, the entire process will be cancelled, meaning that Hornet will lose all of her accumulated Silk and she'll still be low on health. Thankfully, you can Bind in mid-air - which is much safer against many of Silksong's ground-moving enemies and bosses, particularly in the early game.

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2. Practise the Pogo

The art of bouncing on top of enemies like a Pogo Stick is a time-honoured tradition in platformers, and in the original Hollow Knight, it was a necessary tactic for advancing further in the game. The same is true in Hollow Knight: Silksong, but there's an added complexity. Hornet's default Pogo attack is diagonal, until you find and equip other Crests such as the Crest of Wanderer, which turns it into a more straightforward downwards slash.

To use the Pogo technique, jump and do an attack while holding down. Hornet will dash her Nail downwards at a 45-degree angle, and if she hits an enemy, she'll bounce off and carry this momentum onwards. If your timing is good, you can consistently bounce off of enemies without ever needing to touch the ground. This works well against large foes, like the Bell Beast boss, but it's also good against regular enemies as long as you can predict where the enemy will be after you bounce off of them. Often, you'll have to turn directions in mid-air, which takes practice.

Mastering Hornet's Pogo gives you a powerful tool against nearly every enemy in the game, and is also essential for many platforming sections later in Silksong. You'll have plenty of opportunities to learn the Pogo once you reach Hunter's March, the third or fourth region that most players will stumble upon. This area is full of red flowers that Hornet will need to Pogo off of in order to reach greater heights. Get ready for some tricky platforming sections (that really tested the patience of our hardware master James!)

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3. Study enemy behaviours and attacks

It's good practice to count how many hits it takes to dispatch an enemy. Hornet's initial foes go down after a single hit or two, but once you're in the aforementioned Hunter's March, those damn ants take a lot of damage. Counting the hits is a good strategy that ties into Pogo-ing off of their heads, since you don't want to try to bounce on an enemy who suddenly dies. Also, take note of the fact that there's a slight pushback whenever you hit a foe. It's minor, but it is enough to knock Hornet off of certain platforms if she's standing too close to the edge.

Some mobs also aren't worth fighting. The more humanoid-looking bugs usually drop Rosaries, the currency you need to buy most important items in Silksong. The pot-wearing bugs in the Marrow, for instance - always kill those podgy fellas. The explosive grubs that hang onto platforms there? I personally don't bother with them.

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4. Attack every wall

I tend to fall into a certain pattern whenever I play Metroidvanias - dash and/or bunny hop everywhere (even if it doesn't actually make you move faster, it feels like you're moving faster) and hit every wall for the possibility of a hidden chamber. I heartily recommend that you abide by this second bit of advice, since Pharloom is filled with breakable walls, most of which aren't especially obvious until you hit them. You'll usually hear a visual or auditory "tell" to let you know that you can break the wall and find some treasures beyond - typically a shortcut, Rosaries, or maybe even a Bench to rest and save your progress.

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5. Invest in your Tools

Hornet uses Tools in her arsenal. These are colour-coded according to the slots of Crests that Hornet finds during her journey. From what we've seen thus far, they abide by the following rules:

• Red Tools: Active Tools that require a button press to use. The Straight Pin, a light throwing projectile designed for rapid attacks, is a good example of this.
• Blue Tools: These provide passive benefits that usually revolve around extra armour or resisting environmental hazards. For instance, the Magma Bell, which wards Hornet against heat.
• Yellow Tools: Passives that are more geared towards exploration or general support. The Shard Pendant, which lets you collect more Shell Shards from foes, falls under this category.

There are also White Tools, but despite sitting in the same place in the menu as Red, Blue, and Yellow Tools, they're technically special Skills that expend Hornet's Silk meter - for example, dashing (Swift Step). You'll naturally find these as you explore the world, and most are mandatory.

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6. Purchase maps from Shakra as soon as possible

Shakra is Silksong's equivalent to Cornifer, the cartographer from the original Hollow Knight. She can first be found in the Marrow, and you'll hear her singing whenever you enter an area that she's in. Buy all of the area maps that she has available, but also be sure to purchase the Quill and the Compass. If you're lacking Rosaries, you can grind for them easily enough in the neighbouring Mosshome region (see more on that below).

Like the first Hollow Knight, Silksong has an irking map system that requires you to possess several different items before you can just track your progress normally. Shakra's maps give you an incomplete overview of an area, the Compass shows your position on the map, and the Quill lets you fill out Shakra's sketch. These new sections will be added to your overall map when you rest at a Bench.

When you unlock a new region, Shakra will move from the last place she was, so don't expect her to always be hanging out where you left her. You'll need to purchase all of her resources in order to unlock additional markers on your map - for instance, fast travel points, the locations of especially tough enemies, etc.

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7. Learn effective Rosary management

Like the first game, Hollow Knight: Silksong possesses a fair bit of Soulslike influence. Aside from the gloomy atmosphere, this is most obvious in Rosaries, the little red beads that you can sometimes find hanging from rocks or on the corpses of defeated enemies. This currency is the bread and butter in Pharloom, and it's hard to come by. Whenever you die, you'll lose all of your Rosaries unless you head to the site of your death and slash the Cocoon that's appeared there.

Every now and then, however, you'll encounter a Rosary String, which will not be lost upon death. Some merchants will let you convert your existing Rosaries into a Rosary String, and if you can afford this, it's a handy option especially if you don't want to lose your hard-won beads when moving through a very hard area.

There are also a number of areas throughout the game that allow you to farm rosaries very quickly. Using these farms, and effectively managing your Rosaries throughout Silksong helps minimise frustration and ensures you can afford upgrades and unlocks as soon as they become available.

Mosshome is a decent place to farm Rosaries at the start of the game. Go west after meeting Shakra in the Marrow and you'll reach this village full of pilgrim bugs who attack you on sight. There's a Bench nearby, and they'll respawn every time you sit there, so get ready to grind. You can quickly raise your Rosary amount by repeatedly killing the mobs here over and over again.

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8. Unlock Swift Step before facing this miniboss

New players, beware the Skarrgard. The Skarrgard is a huge ant wearing a skull awaiting you above the Jail Bench in the Marrow, near the area's border with Hunter's March. He seems like a boss and hits hard like a boss, with two massive swipes from a bone cudgel that will cut off two Masks of your health at a time. But he's technically just a really big regular enemy (or a miniboss at most), and it's painful to face him unless you either manage to get really good at Pogo-ing on his head or kiting him into the small corridor that leads into his room.

For an easier time facing the Skarrgard, track down the Swift Step dash Skill, which can be found at the top of the Deep Docks area. You'll need to run across some lava and then hit an oranga magma ball in the ceiling that explodes and makes a new passage. A statue containing Swift Step awaits you.

Once you've got this upgrade, Silksong opens up tremendously, and Hornet becomes faster and significantly more fun to control. The Swift Step also isn't just a dash - if you hold it down, it's a full-on run, and it'll make Hornet much speedier and increase her agility against everyone, including this big skull ant.

With that, you should be ready to tackle the beginning of Hollow Knight: Silksong. For more on the challenges that await you when you first step into Pharloom, take a look at our expansive walkthrough hub, and specifically our guides on Moss Grotto and The Marrow/Mosshome

We've also got a list of all bosses in Silksong, as well as primers on how to get the Needolin, how to beat Widow, and all the Lost Flea locations across Pharloom. Good luck, and may your Silk strands never run out!