Conquer Pharloom: Your Complete Guide to Every Hollow Knight Silksong Boss

Pharloom, the captivating world of Hollow Knight Silksong, is swarming with creatures both fascinating and fearsome. Just like its predecessor, Silksong throws players into deceptively challenging combat encounters. To help you conquer every formidable foe, we’ve compiled essential strategies for all main and optional bosses, ensuring you emerge victorious and keep Hornet’s life intact.

A cornerstone of any great Metroidvania, boss battles in Hollow Knight Silksong present Hornet with numerous trials. This sprawling adventure features an impressive total of 48 bosses: 18 essential for progression and 30 optional encounters scattered across the expansive Silksong map. While some can be bypassed or approached via alternative paths, be warned: significant spoilers for the game’s challenging encounters lie ahead.

To guide you through Pharloom, our comprehensive list categorizes every Silksong boss, clearly distinguishing between the mandatory encounters vital for advancing the story and the optional foes you can tackle at your leisure—or even choose to skip.

All Silksong bosses, locations, and rewards

Here is every Silksong boss in order:

All main Silksong bosses

All optional Silksong bosses

How to beat Silksong bosses

Tracking down every Silksong boss can be difficult enough, but beating them is an even greater challenge. We’ve included a selection of boss strategies to help you get past the main bosses, plus some of the fiercest optional foes that Pharloom has to offer.

Moss Mother

The Moss Mother marks your introduction to Silksong’s boss encounters, acting as a gentle tutorial for fundamental platforming and combat. This formidable matriarch typically hovers at the edges of the arena, remaining vulnerable to Hornet’s needle at the peak of a jump. Be wary of her swift stinger dives, easily dodged with a well-timed jump. She also occasionally slams the ceiling, sending a shower of rocks cascading down. Landing multiple hits can stun the Moss Mother, indicated by a glowing halo above her head—a perfect opening for extra damage. As the battle progresses, she replaces falling debris with her offspring. These smaller, crawling adversaries are quickly dispatched with two strikes of your needle, clearing the way to deal the final blows to the Moss Mother.

Bell Beast

The Bell Beast is initially ensnared in a silk web, but freeing her with your Silkspear won’t earn you gratitude. Instead, she unleashes her fury directly upon you, burrowing through the bell-strewn battlefield. She bursts from the ground with surprising speed, charging or leaping at Hornet. While her moveset is straightforward, her relentless aggression can quickly overwhelm, especially when she begins to hurl bells around the arena. Our detailed boss strategy can help you tame this feisty creature. Upon defeat, the Bell Beast transforms into the Silksong fast travel mount, reminiscent of The Last Stag from Hollow Knight.

Lace

Lace presents another crucial skill check, specifically demanding your mastery of the Silksong dash ability. This agile and somewhat arrogant fencer wields her pin with lethal precision, executing a series of forward thrusts, sweeping attacks, and a stationary flurry. Hornet’s confrontations with Lace echo the Knight’s encounters with Hornet in the original Hollow Knight, complete with multiple rematches. Our dedicated Lace boss strategy guide will assist you in emerging from this initial encounter unscathed, despite the peril of lava on either side of the boss room’s solitary platform.

Fourth Chorus

The Fourth Chorus stands out as one of the largest bosses in the Hollow Knight universe, its multiple limbs necessitating a cautious, defensive approach. You’ll first spot him seemingly dormant en route to the Seamstress, but he awakens once you’ve farmed enough Silksong Hokers and acquired the Drifter’s Cloak. To damage Fourth Chorus, you must strike his face, which Hornet can comfortably reach with a well-timed jump. This boss battle unfolds on a platform above lava, though unlike Lace’s arena, this one is far less stable. Fourth Chorus frequently plunges his limbs into the lava, obliterating sections of the platform. He also unleashes a wide horizontal swipe across the room, often requiring a jump-dash to avoid both the attack and a fiery demise. The Drifter’s Cloak can be used to ride wind currents if platforms are scarce, though this is a rare necessity. Later in the fight, Fourth Chorus strikes the ceiling, dislodging molten rocks that are easily dodged, but remain focused as he maintains his regular attack patterns.

Moorwing

Moorwing is a hidden boss that’s surprisingly easy to overlook, even for the most diligent explorers of Pharloom. However, that’s perhaps the simplest aspect of this encounter. If you stumble upon Moorwing, you might find yourself wishing you hadn’t. This unpleasant moth is a whirlwind of blades and malice, launching relentless assaults that can leave you on the defensive from the outset. Between the sharp edges on his feet and his incessant boomerang blades, a defensive posture is crucial. Carefully weigh every opportunity to inflict damage. Our Moorwing strategies offer insights on how to turn the tide, even if it involves a little “cheese” to conquer this winged menace.

Sister Splinter

As Shellwood’s area boss, Sister Splinter can be incredibly frustrating without a solid plan. Unlike most bosses, she remains suspended from the ceiling throughout the battle, using her enormous claws to swipe at Hornet. If unchecked, she’ll quickly ensnare you with a barrage of prickly vines, leaving little room to escape the swarms of spinning leaf insects she commands. Thankfully, our Sister Splinter strategies will help you cut through the chaos and bring this challenging foe crashing to the ground.

Skull Tyrant

The Skull Tyrant is a gigantic variant of the skull scuttlers and brutes found in the Marrow. Despite its imposing size, it’s not significantly harder to defeat than its smaller kin. Our Skull Tyrant strategies will guide you safely through the perils of this skeletal brute’s subterranean lair. While Skull Tyrant appears in one of the game’s earliest regions, you can only access this boss after acquiring the Silksong wall jump. Remember to return to Bone Bottom later to fulfill the Terrible Tyrant wish for a generous supply of rosaries. Be warned, however: after your victory, another of its kind will eventually emerge in Bone Bottom, seeking vengeance.

Widow

The Widow has the townsfolk of Silksong’s Bellhart entangled in her silken web, and she won’t release them without a fierce struggle. This is where Hornet and her trusty Needle come in. As the next main boss, Widow represents a significant leap in difficulty from Fourth Chorus. Her relentless combination of deadly fury swipes and constantly falling bells leaves very little breathing room, let alone opportunities to land a hit. Fortunately, our Widow strategies can help you survive her perilous final phase. Success here relies on patience and precise execution, not cheap tricks.

Savage Beastfly

The Savage Beastfly is an optional boss lurking within the Chapel of the Beast, accessible only by riding a wind current with Hornet’s Drifter’s Cloak. Much like the smaller flies encountered throughout Pharloom, the Savage Beastfly charges horizontally at Hornet once she enters its line of sight. The primary challenge of this battle lies in managing the sheer number of smaller flies that the Savage Beastfly summons with its piercing screams. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the swarm, our Savage Beastfly strategies can provide the guidance needed to squash this troublesome foe.

Great Conchflies

The Great Conchflies serve as a pivotal stepping-stone boss, bringing you closer to the Citadel Gate. These enormous coneflies relentlessly drill through the floor, ceiling, and walls, traversing the boss room from one side to the other. Their speed and unpredictable movements make them challenging to track, but you can anticipate their emergence by observing the dust clouds they kick up. This fight isn’t overly difficult, especially with good positioning. Be mindful when they briefly pause their drilling to spit a projectile dart that travels diagonally and bounces off the arena boundaries. This encounter concludes once you defeat one of them and the other flees – but is it truly the end of their threat?

Last Judge

The Last Judge stands as the formidable final boss of Act 1, a true test of your accumulated muscle memory and combat prowess. She is a rare blend of speed and immense size, making her exceptionally difficult to overcome. Wielding a war thurible with deadly effectiveness, she tosses, spins, and drags it across the arena, requiring a nimble player to consistently evade its wrath. In the later stages, the Last Judge ignites her thurible, engulfing the room in waves of scorching fire. Our Last Judge strategies will help you master your positioning and survive this intense boss fight.

Cogwork Dancers

While many Silksong bosses demand strategic thinking, the Cogwork Dancers offer an emotionally taxing experience. This identical pair of automaton performers glide across the boss room in perfect, predictable synchronicity. They clearly telegraph their movements, occasionally coming together for a powerful embrace at center stage. The fight unfolds in four phases, gradually increasing in speed and desynchronization until one dancer is destroyed at the end of the third phase. What follows is a final phase as heartbreaking as it is straightforward, as the surviving dancer continues their mournful performance alone. Prepare yourself for tears.

Lace (rematch)

Your rematch with Lace in the Citadel is a heightened version of your initial encounter in Deep Docks. Her moveset includes the same attacks, but she cycles through them with considerably greater speed. Eventually, her somersault dash leaves behind a trail of three large orbs that detonate a moment after appearing. Though not immediately obvious, vertical walls on either side of the platform allow for quick repositioning and opportunistic hits. The true challenge emerges in Lace’s final phase, where she reprises her AoE flurry and forward thrusts. Her assault during this phase is incredibly fast and relentless, so we highly recommend relying on passive damage tools like cogflies and tacks. Lace can rapidly deplete your health if left unchecked; if you’re struggling to survive, a Fractured Mask can grant you the crucial extra time needed to finally defeat Hornet’s rival.

Grand Mother Silk

Grand Mother Silk takes her place alongside the Pale King, the White Lady, and the Radiance in the pantheon of Hollow Knight’s higher beings. She also serves as the final boss that unlocks the Silksong ending… or so it seems. While you can trigger the credits after her defeat, it’s far from the conclusion of Hornet’s story. Instead, she holds the key to unlocking Silksong’s third act – but first, you must overcome her.

Grand Mother Silk dominates the battlefield with a full sewing kit’s worth of needles, launching them horizontally and vertically with deadly accuracy. The Silksong clawline is indispensable for avoiding these attacks, though you can also pogo off the needles in a pinch. Tacks are highly effective during the first phase; scatter them across the floor, then focus on dodging until Grand Mother Silk collapses, taking substantial poison damage.

The needles are a nuisance, but her silk attacks pose the real threat. Grand Mother Silk’s web is a variation of the AoE seen in the Cogwork Dancers fight, inflicting three pips of damage on contact. You have only a split second to find a safe position when these silk threads begin to form, so react decisively. Double jump and glide are essential, but you can also use your heal or silkspear to temporarily suspend yourself in one spot.

Grand Mother Silk’s second phase forces you to evade silk and needles simultaneously, all while rocks fall from the ceiling and spikes emerge from the floor. These additional hazards can easily box you into the corners of the arena. Patience is paramount to avoid unnecessary damage, as healing windows are significantly reduced. We recommend relying on tools that inflict passive damage, such as cogflies. Fortunately, this phase is much shorter than the first, so it shouldn’t take too many hits to defeat her for good.

Trobbio

Known as the “Master of the Stage, the Brush, and the Voice,” Trobbio is a fame-hungry theatrical bug who roams Pharloom in search of new audiences. Hornet gets a front-row seat to his performance as he summons a line of fireworks with an explosive flap of his butterfly wings. His projectiles detonate into vertical and diagonal crosses, so try to remain low on the stage when he deploys them. Don’t underestimate Trobbio’s spin attack; his initial charge is simple to evade, but the twin cyclones that emanate outwards from his position as he slows down can inflict serious damage. As challenging as Trobbio might be, he’s one of the few Silksong bosses who feels more like a friendly rival than a deadly foe. Maintain pressure, and you should bring his show to a swift conclusion.

Shrine Guardian Seth

Seth is an ancient guardian who claims to be chosen by the Voice, imbued with incredible strength and stamina. He effectively absorbs attacks with his shield before lunging forward with his pin, making him particularly dangerous in close quarters. It’s wiser to dodge his aggressive assaults than to attempt breaking his guard; wait for him to complete his attack animation before retaliating. Occasionally, Seth will position himself to one side of Hornet, leap into the air, throw his shield, then swiftly zip to the other side to catch it after it bounces. He can also toss his shield across the boss room and even teleport to its location to quickly close distance. However, his most perilous attack is the AoE shockwave he emits after plunging his shield into the floor. Seth carries a heartfelt backstory outside of Silksong; he is a fan-created character by Seth Goldman, a Hollow Knight fan who sadly passed away from Ewing Sarcoma. In Goldman’s own words, “[Seth’s] really cool.” After defeating him, you can encounter Seth as a wandering NPC throughout Pharloom.

Skarrsinger Karmelita

Skarrsinger Karmelita is a graceful ant monarch who dances to her own rhythm – interrupt it at your peril. She twirls her twin dual-bladed daggers and flips through the air, making her elusive and challenging to pin down. When she leaps to either side of the stage, a line of sharp spikes erupts from the earth directly in front of her position, so resist the urge to dash in for a quick hit. Before facing Karmelita herself, prepare to contend with her horde of red ant minions. This gauntlet can significantly deplete your health before the main fight even begins, so bring ample close-range AoE to dispatch them quickly. Karmelita’s attack sequence becomes a true problem in her second phase, where she cycles through her moves at a breakneck pace. This isn’t the first time we’ve battled deadly bosses before an audience in Hollow Knight, and Hornet’s dance with Karmelita is a performance to remember. Don’t let stage fright get the better of you!

Sharpe

The Steel Assassin Sharpe is not present in the base game, but he is anticipated to be a star in the Silksong DLC. Sharpe is a seasoned bug hunter, and Hornet is slated to be his next quarry. He is expected to play a significant role in Pharloom’s intricate lore. Furthermore, he brings two allies to assist him in subduing Hornet, who are also likely to appear during his encounters. One of Sharpe’s companions bears a striking resemblance to Steel Soul Jinn, a Dirtmouth merchant serving unknown masters. No doubt we’ll uncover Sharpe’s true motivations as Hornet progresses on her quest.

Now that you’re familiar with the Silksong bosses, it’s time to prepare to face them. We recommend picking up the best Silksong Mask Shards and Silksong Pale Oil on your travels for free health and damage upgrades. Our selection of the best Silksong tools can also help you survive the stickiest situations.