Hollow Knight Walkthrough

VGKAMI’s Hollow Knight walkthrough will take you through your journeys in Hallownest. Our complete Hollow Knight walkthrough guide will also detail how to find, enter, and beat every area of the game, as well as much more.

Hollow Knight Walkthrough

Hallownest, the world Hollow Knight is set in, is a massive place. And you’re going to have to explore almost every single one of its levels if you’re to finish this game, some more than once. Click any of the levels below to read its full walkthrough.

• Dirtmouth
• Forgotten Crossroads
• Greenpath
• Fog Canyon
• Fungal Waste
• City of Tears
• Crystal Peak
• Resting Grounds
• Royal Waterways
• Ancient Basin
• Kingdom’s Edge
• The Abyss
• Deepnest and The Beast
• Returning to the Fog Canyon for The Teacher
• Returning to the City of Tears for The Watcher
• Entering the Temple of the Black Egg
• Endings
• Acquiring The Void Heart
• Queen’s Garden
• The White Palace
• Seeking Out the Birthplace
• Returning to the Hollow Knight
• The Godmaster DLC

Dirtmouth

Dirtmouth functions as the central hub of Hallownest. The first area you arrive in, King’s Pass, is a subsection of Dirtmouth. You must first navigate your way through King’s Pass before you can reach the central area of the level, where most NPCs converge.

In Dirtmouth, you should be able to find multiple Geo deposits, a charm, and two shops, among others.

Forgotten Crossroads

The Forgotten Crossroads is your first official entry point into the underground world of Hallownest. It is here you’ll encounter many “firsts” in Hollow Knight, including your first boss, first Stag Station, and first Grub, among a few others.

On your first run of this area, you’ll already encounter multiple items and things of interest in the Forgotten Crossroads, including charms and Grubs.

Greenpath

Blocked by an Elder Baldur, which can now be defeated with your newly acquired Vengeful Spirit Spell, Greenpath provides a change in scenery and atmosphere. The level contains new enemies and it is where you’ll first meet Hornet, a powerful combatant, and an interesting NPC.

Greenpath houses multiple charms, Grubs, Geo deposits, and other useful items. It is also here where you’ll find Mothwing Cloak, the ability that allows you to dash.

Fog Canyon

On your first journey through Fog Canyon, you won’t really have to stick around for now. We’ll only use this as a passage point on our way to the next level.

Fungal Wastes

A place rich in mushrooms in terms of environment and hostile enemies, the Fungal Wastes is a challenging level when it comes to combat and traversal. Hollow Knight’s verticality is made a tad more apparent at this level. Fungal Wastes also houses the Mantis Village, a place filled with hard-hitting enemies but also hides the Mantis Claw, an ability that will allow you to cling on walls and bounce away from them.

City of Tears

At the very heart of Hallownest rests the City of Tears, known as the capital of the kingdom. It is here you begin to learn more about the game’s titular character, the Hollow Knight. It is a massive place that houses enemies both easy to manage and incredibly tough to defeat. There are also bosses in this area that are sure to give you a run for your money. One of them is called Soul Master. Defeating this boss will reward you with Desolate Dive, a powerful spell that allows you to slam the ground, damaging enemies and breaking environmental obstacles.

You’ll also find the Shade Soul here. This is an upgrade for your Vengeful Spirit spell, making it more powerful than it already is for the same amount of Soul.

The Nailsmith is found in this level. He’s the NPC you’re going to seek out to make your Nail become even more powerful. Charms, opportunities for acquiring Geos, items, and Grubs are also very abundant at this level.

Crystal Peak

You only have a couple of purposes here: to acquire the Crystal Heart, an ability that will allow you to fly horizontally, get the Descending Dark spell, an upgrade to your Desolate Dive, and to get to the Resting Grounds.

During which, exploring this level also gives you a myriad of items including Grubs and Charms.

Resting Grounds

The Resting Grounds is a predominant level in Hollow Knight because of two things. One, this is where you truly figure out the sole purpose in the game, thus letting you know what you should do to reach the end game. Two, this is where you acquire the Dream Nail. The Dream Nail gives you the ability to collect essence and enter dreams, the latter being essential in finishing this entire game.

Royal Waterways

The Royal Waterways is located beneath the City of Tears. You’ll need to be extra careful while traversing this dark, murky pipe network. The enemies here are small but they’re extremely agile. While you’re only passing through here to get to the level beneath it, we’ll also sidetrack for a little bit to visit Isma’s Grove to acquire Isma’s Tear. This item will give you the ability to swim in acidic waters, which is plentiful in Hollow Knight.

Ancient Basin

The majority of the Ancient Basin’s inhabitants are merely Shadow Creepers, but the level’s nooks and crannies hide very formidable enemies. You’ll need to visit these areas while you’re here so be sure to be prepared for that.

On this level, you’ll acquire the Mothwing Cloak. This will give you the ability to double jump, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible places.

Kingdom’s Edge

Once your business in the Ancient Basin is done, your next area of interest is Kingdom’s Edge. It should be noted that your purpose of being here isn’t necessary for facing the three Dreamers and reaching Hollow Knight’s first ending. However, we’ll journey through this place first as the area you can access after this contains boosts to two of your spells and abilities, making your journey moving forward much easier.

This level is located in the most eastern part of Hallownest. Here, you’ll traverse through its towering cliffs and fight through tough and pesky enemies to face Hornet once more. Defeating her here will give you an item that’ll give you access to The Abyss. Before that, though, there are a number of Grubs, Charms, and a number of items you can stumble upon while you’re here.

The Abyss

The Abyss lies at the very bottom of Hallownest. This place is the reason why you went to Kingdom’s Edge and fought Hornet for the second time. In this level, you’ll find the Abyss Shriek and the Shade Cloak, an upgrade for your Howling Wraiths and Mothwing Cloak, respectively.

Deepnest and The Beast

Deepnest is one, if not the most horrifying place in Hollow Knight. It is dark, gloomy, and it is filled with enemies that can send you back to the bench if you’re not careful.

While this level is one of the game’s toughest ones, it also contains a lot of very useful items such as a Pale Ore, a Mask Shard, and a Vessel Fragment, among many others.

At the far end of Deepnest is the Beast’s Den. This is where you face your first Dreamer.

Returning to the Fog Canyon for The Teacher

While you simply used the Fog Canyon as a passage in your previous visit, you now get to explore it more as you revisit it to get to the Teacher’s Archives. While items aren’t as abundant in this level compared to others, there’s a Charm Notch and a Grub here, both of which are well worth your trouble.

Returning to the City of Tears for The Watcher

For your third Dreamer, you must return to the City of Tears to ascend the Watcher’s Spire. This area is located in the middle of the City of Tears, and ascending it will force you to face powerful enemies.

Entering the Temple of the Black Egg

The Temple of the Black Egg is sort of like the game’s last stand. It is here that you face a tough enemy to finally rid Hallownest of the infection that plagues it.

Endings

After you complete the game for the first time, loading your save file will bring you back to the bench you last rested on before the final boss fight. This gives you the opportunity to unlock the other endings of the game.

Acquiring The Void Heart

The Void Heart charm is the item you’ll need to unlock the rest of the game’s endings. Acquiring this item can be just as complicated as everything you’ve done thus far. In this section, we’ll talk about the steps you need to take to acquire this charm.

Queen’s Garden

For the first piece of the puzzle that is the Void Heart charm, you must first go to a place you may haven’t explored yet in your earlier playthrough. The Queen’s Garden is a place that places heavy emphasis on platforming even more so than the previous levels you’ll have visited.

Your goal here is to seek out the White Lady, an NPC who’ll give you a White Fragment.

The White Palace

The White Palace is undoubtedly the most difficult place to traverse in Hollow Knight. This platforming-extensive level will force you to master the game’s traversal mechanics. If you can get through this level, and you should if you want to acquire the Void Heart, you’ll pretty much become skilled enough to traverse any other level in Hollow Knight.

In this level, you’ll find another White Fragment which will form the Kingsoul.

Seeking Out the Birthplace

Once you’ve acquired the Kingsoul, you must now seek out the Birthplace. It is here you’ll finally acquire the Void Heart charm, allowing you to access the other endings of Hollow Knight.

Returning to the Hollow Knight

You’ve acquired the Void Heart, it’s time to head back to the Black Egg to face an enemy you’ve already defeated. If you meet a particular requirement, though, you’ll unlock one more boss fight, highly considered to be the game’s “true” antagonist, and one of the game’s most difficult challenges.

The Godmaster DLC

The Godmaster DLC is a whole new section of Hollow Knight. This DLC allows you to fight bosses in succession. If you manage to beat the final pantheon of this DLC, you’ll have the chance to see two more endings.