Hollow Knight

I love how there is no specific order for the upgrades.

Watcher Knights ugghhhhhhhhhhh I even cheated and looked up where to get a Pale Ore because I hadn’t found any and that helped but not enough. Trying the same boss for two hours is the woooooorst

I finally got the poison water immunity, somehow I missed it (and the map) when I went through its area. Also got the extra jump and the third sword upgrade.

I tried to beat a hard boss but died over 10 times. Think I'll explore some more. Got to remember to use that teleport sword power more often -- I've wasted a lot of time moving back to places I die.

There's a way of preemptively killing one of the Watchers, if you haven't tried that. Otherwise, try to isolate the Watchers because when they do different rolls at the same time from the same direction, it's virtually impossible to dodge. Also, get good at down slammed.

I had Defenders Crest and the thorn charm equipped too to do as much damage as possible.

I don't think I ever got a sword teleporter!

watching this thread has gotten me back into this game! i've put 18 hours into it and i'm way behind everyone else. i definitely haven't gotten a sword teleporter, and i only have the double-jump, not the triple.

I got nowhere with the Watcher Knights for a long time, couldn't even beat one. So I went off and did everything else I could (including looking up a whole not-very-obvious area and getting the reward for finishing it) and came back and then beat them on my second go. The upgrade from the very bottom of the map was the one that made the biggest difference.

Also, get good at down slammed.

This should read down slash.

Thanks for the tips, I didn’t actually get what Defender’s Crest did before. I beat them!

Here’s a fun thing, try having the Womb and Defender’s Crest on at the same time. It buffs your bugs! At least I think that’s what is doing it.

Just found the watcher knights myself. Even with the nail upgrades it was hard.

What charms are you guys using? I use a bunch of cheap ones, the sprint (I think this is DLC), dashmaster and mark of pride (aka really long nail). For bosses I put in quick charge.

I almost always used the map, long nail, quick focus and a couple of the smaller ones I can't remember. the one you get from the bee Knight or whatever is useful for some specific tasks.

If I'm just wandering around I use the compass, Grubsong, Longnail, Soul Catcher, and something else, usually Baldur Shell, though Quick Focus is great and Steady Body is kind of a must in some spots. I recently got a fun one that makes three little spider friends who attack enemies and gather soul for you, but I don't use it much since in certain environments they are useless. Stalwart Shell has been useful in a few specific situations.

I am bad at bosses and often have to use weird charm combos on them. Just beat this dude in Royal Waterways by maxing out my spell power with at least two charms and then just blasting it with Shade Soul. Other times I've used a few passive-damage ones like Defenders Crest and Dreamshield. Shamefully, I accidentally beat the mantis lords posthumously with this technique.

I do wish you got more notches more easily just because it's fun to experiment, but I can't imagine ever sacrificing three slots for, say, Flukenest even though it sounds intriguing

Dreamshield! I used that a lot.

I'd probably use it more but it's a little distracting. def a go-to when trying to crack a boss fight

I used Dreamshield a bit and it fit my play style of moving around rapidly and randomly hitting enemies -- but 3 slots was too much.

For normal wandering, I use Wayward Compass, Gathering Swarm, Longnail, Thorns of Agony pretty much all the time, and I fill out the rest of my notches with stuff like Steady Body (which really helps when you need precision jumping with enemies around).

For bosses, Quick Focus is a must, and if I'm resorting to cheese, Thorns of Agony and Defenders Crest. I might try Dreamshield on the current Warrior Dream that I'm stuck on.

So for the boss that you fight more than once, it's still remarkably hard even despite all the upgrades I've gotten!

It seems I'm way closer to the end than I realized! Is there a point of no return, or can I keep roaming around after beating the game?

I think it's the latter but I'm probably about at the same spot you are

i'm not sure how far i am, but getting the monarch wings reaaaally helped out with exploration. i feel like as soon as i found them i almost doubled the map. it also makes playing the game a lot more fun, imo, control-wise.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/comments/8xdhsg/preend_game_checklist/e23da8i/

When you beat the last boss the game will let you continue to use the save that was created at the last bench you rested at. So you don't really have to stress too much about doing every last thing in the game. You can beat the last boss, then load that save again and keep playing the optional content, and eventually beat the last boss again if you want.

I haven't been playing so I'm way behind you all now. I think it's because I'm not sure where to go next and I just need to explore around the City of Tears, so when I only have a free 20 min I'm unlikely to fire it up (compared to having a clear objective like beating a boss).

well, i beat it. the easy version, not the really hard ending. 77%, 38 hours (i am really slow. also i spent about 5-8 hours mid-game just wandering around, unable to find the double jump or other key abilities and just kind of locked into the same few areas)

question: how hard is it to get the "real" ending? i mean, i know it will be difficult. but is this a 9.5/10 difficulty kind of thing or a 9.9? don't say 10, which may never be used so that there is always the possibility of more difficulty

I got into the Black Egg Temple the last time I played, gave what was inside a shot, and was like "I think I've seen enough of this game". I'll go back to it when I feel like just trying hard bosses repeatedly; the last thing I want to do is go hunting for upgrades

the thing i'm worried about is that the real ending is the classic 'beat every boss you ever fought...but this time, all in a row, without ever healing or changing equipment!' style of 'difficult', and i really don't want to deal with that. if, on the other hand, the ending is kind of interesting and it feels like new stuff rather than a remix, i'm game

"I'll go back to it when I feel like just trying hard bosses repeatedly"

lol I have not beaten this game yet, but I wandered into Godhome and was like, game you don't get me

Yeah, I too have kind of left the game alone after I passed my "this is the hard part" saturation point.

I stopped with the first final boss. But what I've seen of the White Palace level, which comes after the first ending, seems so maddeningly frustrating, like Celeste. The farthest I got in the post-game game, which is a lot different from just replaying bosses afaict, is starting to fight the Grimm Troupe, who were haaaaard. Or maybe they're DLC? Regardless, I never fought them in the first place. I never made it to the coliseum either, for that matter, but that seemed fun.

I also reached a point after the “easy” ending where I realized any additional progress (hard ending, hard version of dlc boss, spirit versions of various bosses) was more effort than it was worth

Ah, I skipped the final round of the coliseum, too

I got to what might be the final boss (what you get to when the masks disappear from the map), but I haven't bothered to beat him yet. Don't know anything about different endings. If there's really a boss rush, I'll lose interest just like I lose interest near the end of Mega Man games.

That's a good question, did I beat all the spirit bosses? I can't remember. I think at some point I realized all the dream nail stuff had nothing really to do with the game, as far as I could tell. It was fun and cool, but I don't know if I finished all the related stuff.

this game is haaaaard and so so gooooooood

not quite sure where to go next. I’m avoiding the brooding mawket (?) for the meantime

dung defender down. second nail upgrade bagged. a couple more locations opened. progress

dung defender is my boyfriend

making good progress now. one dreamer bagged. soul master down. the long dash and vertical smash added to my moveset. just need to find another pale ore (for third nail upgrade) and 7 more charms (for last charm slot off the vendor)

did a dozen or so attempts of the boss inside the black egg last night and was making some progress through the phases, I may yet persevere

omw to the watcher knights ;_;

watcher knights buhbye

19h28m in. two masks done... going for the third next

I took a break from Hollow Knight and beat Yoku's Island Express, which is a fun metroidvania that is much easier.

I finally, finally beat those fuckers the Watcher Knights. I took a break from them for a while to take down The Collector, free a few grubs, & get another nail upgrade. The nail upgrade plus using more of my charge attacks did the trick. Had to restrain myself from triumphantly shouting "EAT IT" in my office cube.

I haven't touched this game in a long time (and Bloodborne for even longer), because I don't think I want to deal with the amount of frustration that I'm sure I'd be courting.

I just beat the first final boss (inside the egg), and got the incomplete ending (95 % of the game completed)... And I gotta say, even though I've loved most of the game, that was quite disappointing. Without having read the Wiki for the game, I would have had no idea what the ending was all about, or how to proceed to get the better ending. I mean...
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SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST ENDING!
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...it looks like the dude was sealed inside the egg for some reason? It seemed like he was the source of the orange light that's infected most of the bugs, but clearly sealing him away didn't make the light disappear, so what was the point of that? So I get egg unsealed, kill the dude, and take his place inside the egg? What did that achieve, aren't we just back to square one? Or is the orange infection now sealed away for good? Who knows?
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SPOILERS END.
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And yeah, I was at complete loss what to do next to get the good ending, so I had to cheat and use the Wiki, and apparently I need to collect way more Essence to get an upgrade that will let me move forward? I'm sure I would've figured it out eventually, but that probably would've taken hours, there's absolutely no hint anywhere you can get an enhanced version of the Dream Nail that lets you do other things.

Despite the obvious freedom of exploration, which I love, I feel like up to this point the game has been pretty good at letting you know what the objective is: find the three dreamers, break the seal on the egg, see what's inside. But here they could've at least given some hint how to move forward.

Also, am I the only one who was surprised that two of the Dreamers were protected by bosses while one wasn't? I had saved that Dreamer the last, because based on the area where it's located I was expecting a really gruesome boss fight. So finally I enter the room with the Dreamer's body, all psyched, and... nothing happens? Where's the boss? Did the developers run out of time to come up with one, or what?

Ok, since my comment above I defeated the Traitor Lord and spoke with the White Lady, and her comments made me understand what the first final boss fight and the incomplete ending were all about. But the fact that you can fight the boss and get the ending without ever having talked with her makes me feel this is the one point where the freedom of exploration (which, like I said, is mostly a good thing) in this game makes its storytelling fail.

nearing the end now I think

beat hornet II. fighting ummuu (?)

completed !

65%

amazing game

the hornet battle music really is something else, soundtrack is soooooo good

Can I play this thing with a keyboard and mouse?