Overview
How to achieve 112% in Hollow Knight and obtain the Pure Completion Achievement (with screenshots)
Introduction
Wanting to get to 112% completion in Hollow Knight, but struggling to get there? This guide should help! Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead, so make sure to finish the main game before attempting to 112% it. Without further ado, here is how to achieve all 112% in Hollow Knight (with screenshots).
Bosses (17%)
Bosses are one of the major forms of enemies in Hollow Knight while you’re likely to encounter nearly every one of these in a normal playthrough, there are some optional bosses that sill contribute to completion percentages. All of the screenshots show the location of the bosses, but if you need help on how to get there, you can follow the maps in the images, watch a walkthrough, or consult the Hollow Knight Wiki.
Notes:
- To fight Grimm/Nightmare King Grimm, you must first start and complete the Grimm Troupe questline, making it a not very efficient completion percentage.
- The collector requires the Love Key found in the Queen’s Gardens to get into the sub-area with the boss fight.
- Banishing Nightmare King Grimm will give you the same completion percentage as beating him.
Charms (40%)
Charms are the biggest section completion to be had in the entire game. Charms help modify gameplay to make the Knight stronger, but much of the time cost a helping of geo or take a substantial detour to get to. Many of the easier charms to obtain are through vendors in Hollow Knight like Sly, Salubra, or Leg Eater. All in all, charms are a massive facet of Hollow Knight, but obtaining most of them is a fairly simple task, making them an easy way to obtain completion percentage.
Notes:
- Obtaining all charms and talking to Salbura will give you Salubra’s blessing, which passively give you soul when you sit at a bench.
- Lots of the charms are in unique locations, so it could be worthwhile to watch a walkthrough or use the wiki since the locations can be unspecific or not details. Find more at Charms (Hollow Knight Wiki)[hollowknight.fandom.com].
Gathering Swarm
Stalwart Shell
Heavy Blow
Nailmaster’s Glory
Sprintmaster
Fury of the Fallen
Steady Body
Longnail
Quick Focus
Lifeblood Heart
Fragile Greed/Unbreakable Greed
Fragile Strength/Unbreakable Strength
Grubberfly’s Elegy
Equipment (14%)
Equipment is a section of Hollow Knight items which permanently augment your gameplay. Obtaining all equipment before attempting this guide is recommended though not strictly necessary. One unmentioned piece of equipment that could be useful is the Lumafly Lantern for traversing sections of Crystal Peak and Deepnest. However, the lantern is not (technically) needed. Most pieces of equipment should be obtained during a regular run of the game.
Skills (9%)
Skills in Hollow Knight cover both melee and magic skills since they are not associated with a physical item. The sword arts can be found from two nailmasters and one paintmaster across the Hollow Knight world. Magic arts are very different, though need a bit more nuance to get to, but are well worth it for the damage they do.
Notes:
- To obtain the Shade Soul you need the elegant key from Sly’s shop.
- To obtain the Abyss Shriek you need to use Howling Wraiths in the specified room on the Abyss Shriek map.
Nail Upgrades & Pale Ore (4%)
Nail Upgrades are one of the most important ways to improve your character in Hollow Knight. Nail upgrade directly upgrade the strength of your nail, and can be obtained at the Nailsmith up to 4 times. Keep in mind that every nail upgrade requires geo which increases with each consecutive upgrade up to 4000.
Mask Shards & Vessel Fragments (7%)
Mask Shards and Vessel Fragments are some of the most integral upgrades that can be obtained in the game, upgrading your health and soul respectively. There are many shards and fragments all throughout the game, and you will likely find the majority of them through any given playthrough of the game, so instead of showing the location of every single shard or fragment, I will link the wiki to each of them, and from there you can find any pieces that you are missing.
Notes:
- After obtaining all Mask Shards and Vessel Fragments, you should have 9 masks (5 base + 4 added) and 3 soul vessels (not counting the primary vessel).
Mask Upgrade 2
Mask Upgrade 3
Mask Upgrade 4
(4 Mask Shards each)
Vessel Upgrade 2
Vessel Upgrade 3
(3 Vessel Fragments each)
Dream Nail & Essence (3%)
The Dream Nail & Essence are an integral mechanic for the latter half of the game in Hollow Knight. To obtain the Dream Nail, you have to make it to the Resting Grounds and go through a dream sequence. From then on, you can obtain essence through means like whispering roots, dream warriors, and dream variants of normal bosses.
Notes:
- Essence can be obtained from normal enemies as well, but it is far from effective, and it is best to stick to bosses and dream warriors.
Awakened Dream Nail (1800 Essence)
Ascension (2400 Essence)
Dreamers (3%)
Dreamers are some of the most important characters in the Hollow Knight game and story and are absolutely required to finish the game. If you haven’t yet beat the dreamers, I don’t recommend this guide with all its spoilers, but I will still provide their locations in the case someone would need them.
Warrior Dreams (7%)
Dream Warriors are minibosses that you can beat around the world of Hollow Knight. These bosses offer dream essence for beating them, but can be challenging. This guide does not include entries for dream variants of normal bosses, but they can be a good source of dream essence if that is what you are looking for.
Notes:
- You must have the dream nail to fight warrior dreams at all.
- Dream variants are found at the remains of, or very near to the body of the original bosses in the main game.
Colosseum of Fools (3%)
The Colosseum of Fools is an area based area where the Knight can go through combat challenges. This area contains lots of geo to farm, a piece of pale ore, and a simple key. However, if you are attempting to 100% the game, the trial of the fool may be not worth your time for one extra percentage point.
Trial of the Conqueror
Trial of the Fool
Godhome (5%)
Godhome is an endgame section of the game located in the Junk Pit in the Royal Waterways. Godhome, accessed through the Godseeker using the Godtuner. Godhome contains all of the pantheons, the hall of gods, and several other sub-areas.
Notes:
- In order to try and complete the Pantheons in Godhome, you must first beat all of the bosses included in each of the individual Pantheons.
Pantheon of the Artist
Pantheon of the Sage
Conclusion
With all of these prerequisites completed, you should have obtained all 112% of completion in Hollow Knight. After this, all you have to do is beat one of the endings and watch the credits to obtain the achievement.