Combat for Hollow Knight: Silksong features information on the basic and advanced mechanics of the game's Combat System. As with its predecessor Hollow Knight, Combat is a central feature in Hollow Knight: Silksong, utilizing elements made popular by the Dark Souls franchise such as the punishing difficulty which demands precision. The game is also a Metroidvania title played from a 2D side-scrolling perspective, and its combat goes hand-in-hand with platforming elements. This page will cover all aspects of Combat in Hollow Knight: Silksong, including the usage of weapons and abilities at the player's disposal, advanced techniques, stats and status effects, and more.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Combat Guide
The Needle and Thread
Hornet is a seasoned warrior and hunter. She wields a needle and a thread which best suits her identity. It is currently unknown what various features she can do with her weapon, but it is known to be a light weapon which allows her to move and dance freely in the battlefield. With her weapon, Hornet can perform certain moves that allow her to dash, block/parry attacks, execute fast strikes, and is also used as a tool for traversal purposes. Currently, it is unknown if she can be able to gain stronger variations of The Needle, but it is most likely possible for a crafting system to be included in the game where she can craft different types of Needles with different stats.
Bind Mechanic
Hollow Knight: Silksong introduces a healing mechanic called "Bind" which is somehow similar to the Hollow Knight. For The Knight, it collects SOUL and uses FOCUS to recover its health. For Hornet, she possesses a similar skill, but what makes her different from The Knight is that Silk and SOUL for Hornet are bound as one and that she uses this mechanic in a more experienced way. In order for Hornet to recover health, she needs to have enough Silk in order to use Bind which allows her to cover her wounds and recover her lost health.
Hornet uses this mechanic in different ways, first, she can use Bind faster than The Knight uses FOCUS. In conjunction with this, she can also use Bind in mid-air which clearly shows how versatile Hornet is, and finally, she has the ability to recover three masks of health with a single use of Bind in exchange of using her full starting spool of silk. In spite of the versatility of her skills, Hornet is also vulnerable in certain situations. She may be fast whenever she uses Bind, but if she takes any damage, her action will be interrupted, the healing effect will not take effect, and the silk will, unfortunately, be consumed and be put to waste. So be mindful of your surroundings especially when you are in a battle with a boss or during enemy encounters
Crests in HK: Silksong
Hornet's Crests can be seen on the hub on the upper left side of the screen beside her health. This is something players can upgrade along with the length of her silk spool. It is still unsure how to upgrade these Crests but upon upgrading them, it will give Hornet different skills, and different skill animations, and the icons itself will change as well. Upgrading the Crest will also allow Hornet to hold more tools to utilize in combat and the needle attached to the crest will appear longer.
Acrobatic Movements
Hornet's movement differs from The Knight in a way where she is moves more faster and fluidly, as she can perform different kinds of aerial movements even while she is attacking. Hornet can perform fast lungee, lunge off of enemies, flips, parries, faster healing as well as using her environment to her advantage such as wall jumping, holding onto ledges to get over them, and using her needle as a grappling hook to get across farther or higher areas. While Hornet faces enemies, players will need to be a little more creative as the enemies in Hollow Knight: Silksong have musical weapons and armor such as bells as helmets and cymbals as shields. However, due to Hornets acrobatic agility, players will enjoy defeating enemies with her set of skills.
Dying in HK: Silksong
In Hollow Knight, whenever The Knight dies, it leaves its shade that carries its Geo and SOUL. For Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hornet, leaves a cocoon at the last location of her death. Currently, it has been revealed in a blog by Team Cherry that players can find a full stock of silk inside the cocoon and players will need to break it open to acquire its content. It was also mentioned at Nintendo Treehouse in E3 2019's gameplay reveal of HK: Silksong that upon death, you will lose Rosaries which is the equivalent of currency or Geo in Hollow Knight that allows you to purchase various items and tools. So, it is safe to assume that you can also find the Rosaries inside the cocoon along with the silk. But then again, this information is under speculation and will be further updated later on.
