All Bosses In Hollow Knight: Silksong And How To Beat Them

Are you eager to defeat all bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong? Dozens of these foes can be found in various regions in Pharloom, oftentimes guarding the way to the next area. Each one presents a unique challenge but, if you're patient, you might just triumph against your adversaries. Naturally, consider this guide to have major spoilers.

How to defeat all bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong

We've organized our boss guide to reflect how we progressed through the campaign. Before you head off to battle these beasts, we also encourage you to take a look at our beginner's guide. It has several tips to help you as you start the campaign.

Note that, due to the difficulty of some of these fights, we recommend acquiring items that further boost Hornet's survivability and offense. You can check the following guides:

• Mask Shards - Increase your maximum health.
• Spool Fragments - Increase your maximum silk energy.
• Pale Oil - Upgrades the damage dealt by your Needle weapon.
• Silk Skills - New abilities and spells that you can cast in battle.

The Moss Mother is the first boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong. There's really not much to say about this foe given that she doesn't present too much of a challenge.

• Sliding Sting - Moss Mother's main attack is a maneuver where she slides across the room. You can "pogo" throughout this whole sequence to hit her multiple times.
• Caterpillars/Cave In - One of two things can happen when the ceiling starts to shake. The boss will either spawn Caterpillars that walk around the area or rocks will fall down.

The Bell Beast has some rather simple and predictable attack patterns, but you should still be careful as most of its abilities deplete two pips of your health.

• Rushing Strike - The boss scurries along the ground. You can pogo on its back to deal more damage.
• Jumping Strike - The boss leaps into the air. Run underneath it, then strike it as it lands.
• Bell Blower - When the boss is about to emerge from the middle of the arena, it will instead cause bells to roll along the ground. Just jump over these.

Lace is a Hollow Knight: Silksong boss that's actually your first true test due to her blindingly fast attacks. She has a Fencing Strike where she stabs the area in front of her multiple times, as well as an Aerial Blitz where she dashes and slashes in mid-air.

The best thing to do is to play more defensively, watching her moves and pogoing only when she's doing her normal attacks on the ground. Also, watch out for the edges of the platform. Lace cannot fall, but Hornet can, and she'll get burned to a crisp by the lava.

Speaking of getting burned to a crisp, the arena where you fight the Fourth Chorus actually takes place on a lake of molten hot lava. Here are the abilities that you need to avoid:

• Arm Swipe - This happens when its lower arms flash. The arm will then sweep along the ground horizontally.
• Arm Smash - Watch out when its upper arms flash. Its arm will smash downward, destroying part of the ledge. That section will reappear after a few seconds.
• Molten Bombardment - When it shrieks, be ready to dodge the molten orbs that fall from the ceiling.

You can only hit Fourth Chorus' head, which means jumping up to reach it just as it does its abilities with its arms. Wind currents will also appear later in the fight. You have to float upward and destroy the two slag heaps on the ceiling. Doing so causes a stalactite to crash down and blow up the mech.

Moorwing, similar to Lace, has multi-hit attacks that need to be avoided at all costs:

• Sickle Orb - This creature throws small orb-like projectiles that travel along the ground. Each projectile tends to hit twice.
• Sickle Shred - If Moorwing lunges toward you, it'll do a shredding attack that hits a couple of times as well.

This Hollow Knight: Silksong boss is probably one of the toughest opponents that you'll ever face at this stage of the campaign. Its name is Skarrgard, a giant ant that guards the rightmost exit of The Marrow. Although his attacks have fairly slow animations, they hit extremely hard, depleting at least two pips of your maximum health. Ideally, you should dash underneath him if he leaps toward you. But, if you want to repeatedly pogo during his attack animation, you have to be mindful of two of his sequences:

• If he swings his axe in a horizontal arc, then pogoing should be fine. You'd be able to hit him multiple times.
• Conversely, if he actually leaps vertically, then you'd take damage if you attempt to pogo.

Defeating the aforementioned Skarrgard unlocks the path to the Hunter's March region, which is filled with spike traps and pendulum traps, as well as red flowers that can be used for pogoing. The Savage Beastfly itself can be found in the Chapel of the Beast in the lower-right corner of this zone--i.e. You'll actually meet up with Shakra the map vendor just before that location.

In any case, there are a few opportunities that allow you to repeatedly pogo off the Savage Beastfly, most notably when it flies closer to the ground. If you keep hitting its back, it could even get stunned in mid-air as you continuously hop and strike it. That said, this creature will also summon other beetle mobs. Be careful when this occurs since you'll have to avoid a bunch of hazards in such a small confined space. Note that beating the Savage Beastly also nets you the Crest of the Beast.

This foe in Shellwood might pose some problems if you're not prepared for its attacks. Basically, it causes multiple thorny vines to block off sections of the arena. Thankfully, these can be destroyed when struck with your attacks and skills, as well as the boss' own swipes. Its claw swipes do reach the ground level, so try to dash away without hitting the vines if they're nearby. Note that Splinterbark mobs also appear during the second phase of this battle.

Note: Beating Sister Splinter opens a path that leads to the Cling Grip ability. It allows you to wall climb, which is extremely useful for traversal and finishing quests, such as the one where you have to collect Pollip Hearts in Shellwood.

The Hollow Knight: Silksong boss battle against Widow is bound to test your mettle. That's because this opponent has numerous abilities, some of which deal multiple instances of damage:

• Slash and Slide - The boss will move across the floor while swiping you with its claws.
• Rip and Tear - This is a multi-hit ability that can quickly deplete your health.
• Bounding Bells - Straight lines will form on your screen. Roughly one second later, bells will start flying out either vertically or diagonally, so just dodge out of the way.
• Bell Barrage - Spiked bells will emerge once the ground begins to shake. You can avoid these hazards by floating in mid-air and pogoing just as you're about to hit the spikes.

Assuming you've beaten the Widow boss at Bellhart, then you should have a new power: Needolin. It allows you to play your Needle weapon akin to a musical instrument. With it, you'll be able to access new areas previously barred by cocoon doors.

One of these is Weavenest Atla, which is connected to the lower-right corner of Moss Grotto. Explore the area thoroughly to reach the duo Moss Mother encounter. Since you're just battling two spawns of the initial boss, then this bout shouldn't pose too much of an issue.

The Skull Tyrant is a Hollow Knight: Silksong boss that's part of a Grand Hunt--i.e. wish board quests where you need to eliminate a target. Pick up the quest via the Bone Bottom wish board and, upon arriving at The Marrow, interact with key objects to track your quarry. Note that the Skull Tyrant also appears a bit later in Bone Bottom if you attempt to rest on the bench.

The encounter against the Great Conchflies is somewhat optional. If you end up facing them, just beware of how they move across the room. The rumbling on the ground, walls, and ceilings should tell you if they're moving vertically or horizontally. Take it slow and do a couple of hits whenever either of your two targets passes near you. You'll clear the encounter after eliminating just one of them.

You can do battle against these two fellas once you have a Simple Key. It can be used to unlock the ornate door just below the room with the vendor and bench. From there, you have a long trek ahead of you as you go through several chambers filled with lava and exploding mobs. As you loop around, you'll eventually end up dealing with these two as part of a gauntlet encounter.

This is one of those Hollow Knight: Silksong boss battles where your main concern is attacking a specific body part of the boss. In this case, you need to target the flame-spewing lanterns on this giant wicker man. Your best bet is the Delver's Drill tool found in the Underworks. With it, you can double-jump and pogo, then drill downward to hit each lantern multiple times. Later, during the second phase of the fight, you have to target the exact center of the boss' body.

The Phantom encounter takes place in the Exhaust Organ, which is a mini-zone connected to Bilewater. However, you can reach it by going through Sinner's Road and escaping The Mist. Eventually, you'll stumble upon the Phantom boss, who has some of the fastest attack animations in the game. At the very least, some of these maneuvers can be telegraphed, since your opponent likes to throw her weapon, which denotes the direction where she'll stab or dash.

Note that beating the Phantom nets you the Cross Stitch skill. It's essentially the game's parry-and-riposte maneuver. Time your deflections properly so you can counter with a devastating blow.

The Last Judge boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong will punish you if you're not careful. The three things you need to watch out for include:

• Censer Flail Smash - The boss swings and brings down his weapon a short distance away from him. You can get a few hits during this part, but be ready to move away because your enemy will yank the weapon's chain toward him.
• Flame Aura - The boss will pause and emit searing hot flames around him. Fire will also erupt outward during this part.
• Flame Trail - Jump when the boss rushes toward your location. Also, you'll see glowing segments denoting that an eruption is about to occur.

This is yet another tandem boss encounter, and it's going to test if you're able to effectively track two moving targets simultaneously:

• Linear Step - The bright flash that appears from each target denotes the direction that they'll rush toward. They can move horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Likewise, they can strike from the ground or from mid-air.
• Flourish - The two dancers will move toward the center, triggering a flourish that hits multiple times.
• Crisscross Blitz - Several lines will appear all around the room. Both dancers will zip through these lines, so just find a safe spot and stay there for a couple of seconds.

Note that defeating one Cogwork Dancer doesn't end the fight. You still need to finish off its partner to end the encounter.

What makes the Trobbio boss fight frustrating is the fact that so many things are happening all at once on your screen. You need to be mindful of the boss' moves, especially when he sidesteps and dodges your advance:

• Tornado Whirl - Trobbio spins around and hits your character several times.
• Bouncing Bonanza - Trobbio juggles several balls that bounce all over the room. Once they stop, they'll emit lasers horizontally or vertically.
• Firework Flash - Fireworks will suddenly erupt onstage, so be ready to move away when you see the sparks flying out.

The Unraveled boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong can be found at the very bottom of the pit in Whiteward. To fight him, you have to pick up the Surgeon's Key, which is in a hidden nook at the top-left portion of the zone. Then, ride the main elevator all the way down and walk to the left. You should spot a mechanism, so use the key to unlock its latch.

The Unraveled is a monster with several abilities:

• Mob Summon - It will spawn various enemies found in Whiteward.
• Rain of Lances - Lances will either shoot up from the ground or fall down from the ceiling.
• Cocoon Spit - The boss will spit multiple cocoon orbs in an arcing trajectory.
• Ramming Rush - The boss will rush along the ground in a straight line.

What makes this bout somewhat difficult is that the Unraveled's head and shoulders are completely covered in brass armor. Your pogo hits won't deal damage. Instead, you have to jump as he rushes you, and then slash him from behind.

This particular fella only appears in Sinner's Road if you're tackling the Great Taste of Pharloom quest, which comes from an NPC in Choral Chamber. The most notable problem you'll have is that Lugoli's abilities inflict the poison maggot debuff, which drains your energy gradually. Moreover, the only way to remove it is to heal--i.e. your bind spell or sitting on a bench. This means the first heal that you cast won't actually restore your HP, as it will only remove the maggots.

Speaking of the maggot debuff, here's another boss that's sure to get on your nerves. Groal the Great can be found in Bilewater, a large region that has several rooms with maggot-corrupted pools of water. And, yes, Groal's own arena has that same muck, too.

The funny thing is that, for all of Groal's abilities, it's actually the maggot water that's his undoing. That's because this boss fight can be "cheesed." All you need to do is stay in the water so you can avoid most of Groal's attacks. Ignore the debuff for now. Instead, just pelt away at Groal using your projectile-based tools, such as the Threefold Pin, Curveclaw, or Sting Shard. You could even equip the Pollip Pouch from the Pollip Hearts/Greyroot quest to inflict your foe with poison.

The Broodmother is your target for a Grand Hunt called The Wailing Mother. It comes from the wish board in the Songclave settlement in Choral Chamber. You'd be correct for thinking that this bloated fly looks disgusting, since its own minions look like globs of poop. Heck, it even spits poop on Hornet, which causes her to get stuck in place.

You can only fight the First Sinner in The Slab once you obtain the Key of Apostate, which comes from the lower-left section of the Putrefied Ducts zone. The Key of Apostate lets you open the last two rooms in The Slab--i.e. the one closest to the bench and fast travel point lead to the First Sinner's chamber.

While the boss has several deadly abilities, including swords that fly in all directions and an area-of-effect explosion, its most dangerous trait is that it teleports constantly. Throughout this encounter, you have to chase down the First Sinner as she teleports back and forth. Use your jumps and grapple when necessary so you can close the gap, but watch out for her own projectiles.

Note that beating the First Sinner rewards you with the Rune Rage skill. It lets you use her AoE explosion spell.

Lace is back with a vengeance. As usual, you need to be careful if you're at the edge of the map, as falling down the chasm causes damage. Think of this as another one of those bouts where you just need to attack once before moving away. You should have opportunities for a pogo hit whenever Lace finishes her sequence or a single slash when she does her dash or stab flurry move.

During the second and third phases, Lace's arsenal will include area-of-effect exploding circles and bright flashes where she does a multi-hit combo in mid-air. If you need to heal, the safest bet is to wall-climb and double jump high up to the ceiling where she won't be able to reach you.

The Grandmother Silk boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong waits for you at the top of the Citadel. She has several attacks that will test your reaction times:

• Sweeping Strike - The boss will pull her claws out and swipe along the ground.
• Pale Nails - Several needles float around the boss. These will skewer you as they fly downward or sideways.
• Death's Embrace - When bright lasers crisscross your screen, find a gap and stay there. If you get ensnared, the boss will repeatedly claw you and deplete at least three health masks.
• Rock Smash - Later in the fight, the cavern will start to collapse. Move away from the locations before boulders start falling down.
• Spiky Surprise - Thin straight lines that form denote that spikes will emerge from the ground in those spots.

Note: Upon defeating Grandmother Silk, you'll be presented with the "bind" option. This leads to one of the game's endings. Alternatively, you can attempt to unlock the cursed ending by completing the Twisted Bud quest. Lastly, there's the Silk and Soul quest, which leads to an even more shocking turn of events.

The Bell Eater encounter and everything else past this point are all part of Act 3 in the campaign. This creature tends to spew red orbs and toss around bouncing bells. It also burrows and reemerges to slash you with its claws. However, the most dangerous facet of this bout is the fact that the boss' torso bars the edges of the chamber. If you move too close, its claws will rip you apart.

The Palestag only appears in a secret area called Lost Verdania. You can learn more about how to unlock it in our Green Prince/Verdania guide.

This encounter is surprisingly straightforward: The creature likes to teleport around the chamber, all while shooting sickle-shaped projectiles that travel horizontally. More and more projectiles appear as the fight progresses, so it's just a matter of closing the distance while you avoid taking damage.

The Clover Dancers bout is pretty much akin to the Cogwork Dancers fight in the Citadel. The key differences are:

• The Green Prince is your only corporeal target. Don't bother hitting the clone made of light.
• The two entities tend to have slightly delayed rushing movements, which can mess with your timing.
• When the two start to dance in the center of the room, they'll create a tornado that rotates either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Just dash and jump to move out of the way.

Shrine Guardian Seth, as well as several of the Hollow Knight: Silksong bosses enumerated below, are all part of The Old Hearts wish. This is a main quest where you need to seek out specific bosses in the other parts of Pharloom that were inaccessible earlier in the game.

Seth is a melee warrior who also has a shield equipped. That means he can block some of your attacks, and he also tosses that shield around like he's Captain America. His most dangerous move is his dive bomb attack, which also triggers a short-range explosion. He becomes more erratic during the second phase, so expect him to do several dive bombs in quick succession.

The Nyleth battle happens just a few rooms after you've dealt with Seth. This floral being causes spiked shrubs to emerge from the ground and she also spits blobs of goop. Likewise, she has an AoE explosion that can only be avoided if you move to the opposite side of the chamber.

The biggest problem you'd have to contend with is that the floor and walls have spiked vines. That's why you need to be ready when using your double jump and grapples. Lastly, the best utility tool for this part is the Ascendant's Grip, which allows you to grab hold of walls for longer periods. While you're holding onto a wall, you can throw a few projectiles and traps to damage Nyleth.

Skarrsinger Karmelita's arena is located in Far Fields. However, you have to traverse Hunter's March and take the secret passage from the deer statue just to reach her.

As for the encounter itself, Karmelita has a bunch of abilities, so this fight boils down to recognizing her attack patterns:

• Skarr Sickles - Throws several sharp sickles that slice through the air. You can deflect these with your weapon.
• Twisted Dance - Does a backstep before running forward with a twisting slash.
• Serrated Salsa - Karmelita jumps into the air and rolls into a ball. Multiple spikes will emerge from the ground and travel outward once she lands.

While undertaking the portion of The Old Hearts main quest in Sands of Karak, you might want to take a short detour into a mini-zone called Voltnest. The boss, Voltvyrm, only has a couple of abilities: It creates beams of purple lightning and multiple orbs that explode into electrified auras. These are fairly easy to avoid, so check when your foe pops up for a quick strike.

Remember the Great Conchflies battle from many hours ago? Well, that lone Conchfly is back and it's not too happy:

• Doom Drill - Just like before, the boss will either drill horizontally or vertically, albeit much faster this time around:
  • If it drills horizontally, jump up and hit it with a pogo.
  • If it drills vertically, move sideways and slash it as it drops.
• Conchcutter - If the boss stops moving in mid-air momentarily, it will spit out a pointy shell that ricochets off surfaces.
• Minion Summon - During phase 2, the boss will summon three minions that fly in a straight line. Watch their sequence and jump to avoid them.

Crust King Khann isn't a particularly difficult battle. What's more ridiculous is the fact that you have to go through so many hostiles just to get to him. There are dozens of enemy waves spread across multiple gauntlet battles. By the time you reach Khann, you'll probably scream like William Shatner due to frustrations.

In any case, Khann doesn't attack you directly. He merely creates stalagmites and stalactites that emerge from every side of the cavern. Watch for the tell--i.e. red smoke--and get out of the way. Since Khann stays on the ground most of the time, the Sting Shard and Cogwork Wheel become your most reliable traps/tools.

Well, you've done it. You've reached the final boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong. Yes, you'll be up against Lace once more, except she's been corrupted by the Abyss this time around. She's got a vast arsenal of tricks up her sleeves... and tentacles:

• Tentacle Lash - Lace often does melee strikes, followed by a move where tentacles extend from her arm.
• Tentacle Grip - Tentacles or wheel traps emerge from the pool of black goo.
• Abyssal Orb - Lace creates dark orbs that fire projectiles.
• Abyssal Gunk - Lace stops moving before quickly spitting out blobs of goo.
• Wave of Darkness - During phase 2, waves of pure darkness will move sideways along the ground. Make sure you double jump and stay afloat to avoid taking damage.

The biggest problem you'll have in this bout is that Lace moves too fast that some of your tools won't be as useful. Even your traps could be prematurely triggered by her mid-range abilities, rendering them useless. As such, the most effective options here are the Cogfly (tool) and Pale Nails (skill). Basically, anything that can be summoned that also attacks nearby enemies should suffice. If Lace's speed and erratic movements create issues, then you've got minions that beeline for her whenever she's out of reach.

In any case, these are just some of the bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong. We'll keep you posted about other challenges later on, so stay tuned.