Hollow Knight: Silksong Tips & Tricks
A practical beginner's guide to Silksong's combat, traversal, and economy systems. Covers hidden mechanics, tool usage, and the resource habits that keep you alive in tough encounters.
16 Tips · 5 categories
8 tipsCombat
Taunt to Control Enemy Aggro
Clicking the right stick triggers a taunt that draws nearby enemies toward you. It costs a small amount of Silk, but lets you pull enemies into tool traps you have already set up or break apart patrolling groups before engaging.
Use Short Hop Attacks for Faster Combos
Aerial attack strings are slightly faster than ground combos. Tap jump as briefly as possible and immediately roll your thumb to the attack button to execute a short hop attack. The speed difference is small but can squeeze an extra hit into windows that a grounded combo would miss.
Equip the Reaper Crest for Safer Aerials
Found in the Chapel of the Reaper in western Greymore, this crest replaces your diagonal downward stab with a wide horizontal slash, making aerial platforming and pogo bouncing far more forgiving. It also triggers a buff after healing that pulls Silk orbs from enemies, letting you chain heals mid-fight.
Attack Enemy Projectiles to Avoid Damage
Physical projectiles thrown by enemies can be destroyed by hitting them before they connect. You can also strike a weapon mid-swing animation to cancel the attack outright, then jump or dash to avoid any follow-up hits in the sequence.
Your Dash Has No Invincibility Frames
Unlike many action games, dashing through an attack in Silksong does not make you invulnerable. When an incoming hit is unavoidable, swinging to intercept it is often a safer option than trying to dash through it.
Save Death Cocoons for Mid-Fight Heals
When you die, your Silk cocoon remains in the world. Destroying it returns a large chunk of Silk, so in tough encounters you can deliberately leave it untouched and use it as an emergency resource drop. Just make sure you recover it before dying again.
Complete the Thumbtacks Quest in Sinus Road
Two NPCs in Sinus Road offer a side quest to collect roach guts from nearby enemies. Complete it as soon as you find it. The reward is the Tax tool, a deployable thumbtack trap that stacks multi-hit damage and is particularly effective at shredding ground-based bosses that linger in its area.
Equip Weighted Belt to Hold Your Ground
Sold by a vendor in the Far Fields, the Weighted Belt reduces both incoming knockback and the pushback from your own attacks. Equipping it lets you stay in melee range and land more hits per opening without being nudged out of position after each swing.
4 tipsTraversal
Cancel Airborne State with Downward Swift Step
Once you have Swift Step, pressing down while airborne instead of left or right sends you straight to the ground instantly. Use it in combat to drop back into melee range quickly, or in traversal to descend faster without waiting for your fall arc to complete.
Pogo Off Enemies to Gain Height
For much of the early game before you have a double jump, enemies are your primary tool for reaching elevated areas. Lure them into position beneath ledges or shortcuts, then bounce off them with a downward attack to reach heights that would otherwise be inaccessible.
Bounce Off Metal Spikes to Survive
Metal spike hazards can be safely bounced off with a downward attack, letting you treat them as a platform rather than instant death. You can chain bounces to cross spike fields or recover from a fall without taking damage.
Natural Thorns Cannot Be Bounced Off
The pogo mechanic only works on metal surfaces. Natural thorns in the environment are not bounceable and will deal damage normally. Check the visual before attempting a downward attack on any spike-like hazard.
2 tipsExploration
Skip Travel Sequences by Pressing Jump
When the game plays a travel cutscene between locations, pressing jump skips the entire animation. This saves meaningful time over the course of a full playthrough.
Play the Needle Len for Hidden Lore
Once unlocked, the Needle Len can be played in front of most NPCs to hear them perform a short voiced song. Playing it near certain corpses summons a ghostly image of that character who sings a piece of their backstory. It is one of the more unusual ways the game delivers lore.
1 tipProgression
Expand Crest Nodes with Memory Lockets
To unlock additional pendant slots on your Crest beyond the default, select any locked node on the Crest screen and consume a Memory Locket. These are found throughout the world and each one permanently adds a new socket for upgrade pendants.
1 tipEconomy
Bank Rosary Beads Using Necklaces
Rosary Beads are dropped on death and can be lost if you die before recovering them. Converting them into Rosary Necklaces at a shop protects them permanently. The conversion is lossy at roughly 80 beads to 60 necklace value, but the safety is worth it when carrying a large stack.
Verified: 2026-05-15 · All content is original with full credit to original creators.