Overview
8 out of 10 players who’ve been to Greenpath and beat Hornet haven’t found the 1st ending – this guide is for you!!! I show you an easy, yet fast way to make it in less than 5 hours… It’s worth it, I think, I played on for another 500 hours…
Introduction
50% have defeated Hornet according to Global Achievements, that’s good, but only 12% made it to the first end-boss. However, it’s really not that difficult to get there! I did it (and I’m old and slow) so you can do it, too!
Of those “tipped their toe in” players nearly half made it to the City of Tears (presumably, since 35% opened half of the 10 stag stations). That’s a good start! To split this up: If you haven’t been to the City yet you only need 2-3 hours to get there. If you’re already there you only need 2-3 hours to get to the first ending!
(For those who love their calculator: At about 500,000 players who actually started the game according to steamspy, that’s roughly 180,000 players. So you’re not alone! 🙂
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I should mention that for a long time I preferred using the nail, I even beat The Radiance with nail only… If you really want to get fast, use spells more often! Desolate Dive in particular is a powerful attack that makes you invincible for a short time – you should try it!
Also, this is not a “speedrun” in the sense of speedrun.com (you’ll find excellent guides there, btw) The WR is at under 40 minutes (no glitches) but the path uses skips that you’d need to practice for hours, like pogo on your own shade, super-dash over acid, and of course excellent boss-fighting skills. This is not required in this guide.
In my first run, I had MASSIVE difficulties in Soul Sanctum, so for this guide I found a way to buy the lantern to get to Crystal Peak, gathered 4 mask shards, and got the second nail upgrade, and even the double-jump. This all helps greatly with the remaining boss fights. I also liked playing with Fragile Heart (2 more masks) and Fragile Strength (50% more nail damage!) in later runs but you’d have to stop the game if you are down to like two masks… (yes! you can stop the game any time! no problem!)
Thanks again to Blankdud for the original “3HR Speedrun Guide” and many, many others who provided detailed maps and all those useful Hollow Knight Wiki entries!
Questions and feedback welcome!
Looking for even more basics of all the basic game elements? What is this white energy? money? lives? How to get out of Crossroads in the first place? Look no further, read this guide:
[link]
The Plan
☻ Dash from Hornet
☻ Wall Climb in Fungal Wastes
☻ City of Tears
☻ go to King’s Station:
. . . ♦ beat Dung Defender and go up
. . . ♦ 2nd Nail Upgrade
. . . ♦ maybe 4 Mask Shards
. . . ♦ maybe Fragile charms
☻ Dream Nail
☻ Watcher Knights
. . . ♦ 650 Geo Cash + 450-relic pay for the Lantern
☻ Crystal Dash
☻ Isma’s Tear
☻ Uumuu
☻ Queen’s Gardens
☻ Beast’s Den
☻ and finally beat The Hollow Knight
Download Full 4K Map v3, now with Steel Mode
The Fun Begins
. . . ♦ visit Sly to activate the shop
. . . ♦ take the bench and open the Stagway
. . . ♦ beat False Knight to get City Crest and 200g
. . . ♦ get “soul shoot” Vengeful Spirit
. . . ♦ buy Gathering Swarm and maybe Stalwart Shell
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. . . . optional: free some Grubs on the way
. . . . optional: free ZOTE this time! Only takes a minute or two and you’ll get a new Boss later!
. . . . recommended: unlock the stag station for 150g to get back here more easily. Not required for the speed run but maybe you want to continue later, e.g. get an easy King’s Idol up in Howling Cliffs.
. . . ♦ fight Hornet to get dash Mothwing Cloak
. . . ♦ take 200-relic near Stagstation: smash wall
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. . . ♦ get 4th Notch after the 2 big mushrooms
. . . ♦ take the bench (Steel-Run: Fragile Heart 86+350=436g)
. . . ♦ just jump over and under all those Mantis Traitors/Petras
. . . ♦ get wall climb Mantis Claw
. . . . . (I would not free Bretta here. Do that later when you can beam back to a bench. Going down is easy, up not so much.)
. . . ♦ take 200-relic in area above
. . . ♦ go to the City and take the first bench (free)
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. . . [1] get 1st Nail Upgrade for 250 Geo
. . . [2] 450-relic: hop off elevator, then up and left
. . . . . . open door above Relic-Shop and sell everything
. . . [3] pick up Simple Key on your way up to Stagstation
. . . . . . pick up 200-relic left of Stagstation
[4] Back in Crossroads
Do NOT take a bench in Dirtmouth or Crossroads!
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Steel-Run: forget the Mask Shards but you need a 5th notch:
. . . ♦ Crossroads Salubra: 5th notch (120+220+120=460g)
. . . ♦ Dirthmouth: 450-relic before “ascending”, quit
. . . ♦ you may have to sell relics first (quit!)
. . . ♦ Queens Station: 450-relic right-and-up
. . . ♦ Fragile Strength 600g before doing Dung Defender
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☻ buy charms and a 5th notch from Salubra (300+220+120)
. . . . . ♦ quit!
. . . . . ♦ then equip charms
☻ 4 Mask Shards (optional):
. . . ♦ buy one from Sly for 150g
. . . . . (get the 450-relic before “ascending” now)
. . . ♦ from Grubfather if you have 5 Grubs*
. . . ♦ “below” Hot Spring (needs Wall Climb), quit!
. . . ♦ at Queens Station (needs Wall Climb)
. . . . . (right-and-up: Hollownest Seal)
. . . . . (Fragile Heart/Strength?)
☻ get the 450-relic before “ascending” to Dirtmouth
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* 5 Grubs:
. . . ♦ pick up 2 or 3 in Greenpath on the way
. . . ♦ in City of Tears, when going up [3] of LEG 4
in Crossroads:
. . . ♦ above Stagstation entry (easiest)
. . . ♦ right and half-way down from Grubfather (easy)
. . . ♦ path right of Stagstation (spikes)
. . . ♦ top level, far right, behind a Husk Guard
. . . ♦ bottom, far left, over the water
Make King’s Station your new home (LEG 4)
☻ get to the right (east) side of the City:
. . . ♦ beat Dung Defender in Royal Waterways [5]
. . . ♦ get back up, take bench+stag at King’s Station
☻ Golden Husk: 420g, top-left door from King’s Station [6]
☻ Pale Ore in Ancient Basin [7]
. . . ♦ only go down, then stop the game!
☻ 2nd Nail Upgrade for 800 Geo [8]
. . . ♦ sell relics first!
. . . ♦ quit when you have it!
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☻ Dream Nail in Resting Grounds [9]
. . . . (per elevator above King’s Station, stag there is free)
. . . ♦ 200-relic on the way up
. . . ♦ (optional: Vessel Fragment after a mini-boss fight)
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Free Zote-Run: If you’re not after the Speedrun achievement but just wanted to free Zote in this second run, you don’t need to fight Warrior Knights or any of the other Dreamers. Get the money for the lantern e.g. in Howling Cliffs with a King’s Idol and Wanderer’s Journal (~1000 Geo). You probably need other upgrades, though, to have a chance to beat Zote… More details here.
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☻ Watcher Knights: 650 Geo + 450-relic [10]
. . . ♦ to get up that ledge: nail-down on some candlesticks
. . . . . easier with Long Nail
. . . . . just run over and “against” the wall
. . . . . leave the room for the candlesticks to re-appear
. . . ♦ take bench
. . . ♦ the huge Husk takes damage after slashing TWICE
. . . ♦ open shortcut door in case you need to repeat
. . . ♦ make sure to cut chandelier before (smash wall)
Tips:
. . . ♦ mainly, stay on the ground, hit once, listen for “roll” attacks
. . . ♦ when you dash you can’t jump!
. . . ♦ stay near so they only hit, not roll
. . . ♦ when nailing-down from above they WILL jump up eventually
. . . ♦ always keep some soul to heal, and only heal once…
(If you still need money:
. . . ♦ Hollownest Seal right-and-up from Queen’s Station
. . . ♦ Mantis Lords: 650g Chest + 450-relic
. . . ♦ Soul Sanctum: 380g Chest + 450-relic)
☻ Before you continue you need the Lantern
And all the Rest
☻ Crystal Dash in Crystal Peak LEG 5
. . . ♦ take the bench in Crossroads, then enter with the Lantern
. . . ♦ have full lives and as much soul as possible so you can retry the platforming part
. . . ♦ keep jumping if you take damage! you CAN land on turned-over crystal bars as long as you are “blinking”!
. . . ♦ quit when you have it
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(Double-Jump?)
If you want to get the double-jump Monarch Wings this is the time to do it! Remember, you need Crystal Dash to get to the boss. Again, jump down the well to Ancient Basin, down at the train station, and then all the way left and down again. I’d recommend the bench because Broken Vessel is tough with just 2 nail upgrades. Even with both Fragile charms you probably need more than one try before you recognize all his moves… Depending on that, this may take 15-20 minutes. WITHOUT double-jump, on the other hand, it may take several tries until you make it through Queen’s Gardens, and several tries with Uumuu and The Hollow Knight. Save time or play it save? You decide! Should you regret not taking it, you can go there any time, for example from Queen’s Station just ride to King’s Station.
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☻ Isma’s Tear in Royal Waterways LEG 6
. . . ♦ enter from King’s Station through well shaft/Dung Defender
. . . ♦ there’s a mini-boss fight just before the Tear, so soul-up
. . . ♦ quit when you have it
(There is no LEG 7 here because it is included in the 10-point LEG 4 above.)
☻ Uumuu LEG 8
. . . ♦ listen, the guy shouts “kazzar” when you can attack
. . . ♦ stay at the top, so you can jump down and slash down
. . . ♦ a save area usually are the walls
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☻ Beast’s Den LEG 9
. . . ♦ the mini-boss with the flying Mantis is the toughest, try to hit at least once per damage! With Fragile Strength, they only need two hits each.
. . . ♦ on the way left, just dash through, don’t fight anything
. . . ♦ going to Beast’s Den is basically just down, down, down
. . . ♦ in the Den, basically just up, up, up
. . . ♦ the way out is LEFT and down
. . . – Bench in Queens Gardens: 150g
. . . . (the 50g-Gate has been removed in 1.1)
. . . – last Stagstation: 250g (there are some geo rocks on the way out)
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☻ The Hollow Knight LEG 10
I guess you know what to do. The first phase is the toughest, just stay away, jump and dash over him when he attacks. When he throws fire dash towards him since you probably can’t prevent one damage anyway. Wait with healing until he bends down. The “fire strips” are a good moment to heal, too.
Epilog – Make Your Life Easier
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Would you recommend getting double-jump?
Well, I did this in my first 8-hour-run and also on Steel Mode (4 hours). However, Broken Vessel can be tough with only one nail upgrade (do the 2nd first!), few lives and no Quick Slash. First time it took me another hour to beat him! Also, when you follow this Guide, you can only get there AFTER the Watcher Knights (with Crystal Dash). Fighting Uumuu and The Hollow Knight, as well as going through Queens Gardens and Deepnest is easier but may not be worth the time. For Steel Soul Mode it certainly makes sense (take Fragile Heart and Fragile Strength first!)
Steel Soul Mode? Same path?
Sure! Most importantly: Take Fragile Heart and Fragile Strength! They cost 760g with, and 950g without Defender’s Crest. So if you can’t afford both when doing LEG 3, don’t worry, take one at least. You want to go to Queen’s Station anyway for the Mask Shard and the Hollownest Seal once you have wall-run Mantis Claw. Watcher Knights and even Broken Vessel become soooo easy with 7 or 8 lives and a nail with 20 damage points, almost like Pure Nail or Shaman Stone (2 upgrades = 13 damage, times 1.5 = 19.5, whereas Pure Nail with 4 upgrades has 21, Soul alone 15 and with Shaman Stone 20).
They need 2+3 notches, so the question is, do you need any other charms? Yes, because you need the 5th notch! (that you get from Salubra if you have 5 charms…) You could take less expensive charms or wait till after Dung Defender but again, you should get along with the money. Remember that you have all the time in the world on Steel Mode, you can hit lots of geo rocks, and even farm some Husks.
As stated above, go for the double-jump, once you have Crystal Dash.
Is it fun, Steel Mode? Oh yeah, immensely! Especially if this is your third run, after the speedrun achievement. 🙂
Should I collect an additional vessel?
I did that for my 5-hour speedrun achievement that took 4 hours, so you have time for it. However, I didn’t really “feel” the advantage. It only holds one third of the main vessel but requires two thirds to fill… Buying a third fragment for 550 Geo might not be possible unless you hit a lot of Geo rocks. It makes more sense on Steel Mode and/or if you use Fragile charms. Anyhow, here’s how you do it:
♦ after you unlocked the upper Stagstation ‘City Storerooms’ [3]:
. . . go left, take the elevator up (150g), then left
. . . quit again
♦ later, before taking the elevator to Resting Grounds (9a):
. . . go up
. . . soul-up to prepare for a long mini-boss fight
♦ buy the 3rd Fragment from Sly BEFORE Watcher Knights, to be useful
What about the 6th Notch just above Uumuu?
Only if your charm loadout needs it (Long Nail, Stallwart Shell, Soul Catcher). It comes a bit late, and I wouldn’t do it just to equip Gathering Swarm, since you don’t need money any more. But if you have to repeat Uumuu and The Hollow Knight five times (like me), you might regret not having it. 🙂
How do I get faster?
Are you kiddin’? Just play and have fun! 😉
No, really, you need to know all the traps and mini-bosses. This comes with practice… If you haven’t beaten https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k8LsOk964k I would recommend doing that first (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hPa5HbTT9U, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9X21zfhvMs…) Playing the core part of the game a second time brings back a flood of memories! Just follow this guides path and take your time. The third run WILL be much faster once you know where to go and how to beat the remaining bosses. Of course they are tougher with just two nail upgrades, so find a good strategy. Then, go for a Steel Run! 🙂
Where to go from here?
If, maybe a few weeks later, you want to continue this run, I guess you want to delay boss-fights until you have proper updates: 3rd Nail Upgrade, another mask/vessel, Fragile Heart and Strength (yeah, get it!), and most importantly Quick Slash!
I’d get a Pale Ore from the Seer at 300 Essence (two Dream Warriors like Xero and Gorb, and a few trees), and take the long but nice way up to Crystal Peak (needs double-jump). Once you have the 3rd nail, Soul Sanctum should be easy for you to get the floor-dash. For more money check the Interactive Map[rainingchain.com] to get some King’s Idols (800g) and Hollownest Seals (450g), enough to buy all the charms and notches you want. You could even double your money by bringing it to the bank…
Eventually, Kingdom’s Edge shouldn’t be a problem: get Quick Slash (needs floor-dash to enter), then do the wonderful 2nd fight against Hornet! She grants you the King’s Brand, which allows you into The Abyss to get Shade Cloak (dash through enemies).
The Big Money:
– King’s Idol (800g) in Crystal Peak, where the map guy was (needs double-jump)
– King’s Idol in Resting Grounds behind the waterfall (needs 200 essence). Don’t dream-nail any of the ghosts!
– King’s Idol in Howling Cliffs + Journal (200g)
– King’s Idol below Dung Defender (needs floor dash)
– Arcane Egg (1200g) in the Abyss where the Shade Cloak is found
– Hollownest Seal (450g) above Queen’s Station, now with double-jump visit this giraffe and jump up where her head is
– Hollownest Seal when you enter Fog Canyon down from Crossroads, left, behind a hidden wall. Also get the notch in the room above Uumuu, just shoot your way through, use Dream Nail if you have to soul-up.
– Hollownest Seal above King’s Station: Dash over from the opposite wall, double-jump once, than nail down as usual…
If you think anything is missing or unclear please write it in the comments! Thank you!