Mastering Pharloom’s Foes: Your Complete Guide to Every Hollow Knight: Silksong Boss

Curious about all the bosses in Silksong? Pharloom, a vibrant world buzzing with insect life, also hides some truly formidable foes. Much like its acclaimed predecessor, Hollow Knight, Silksong’s combat presents a deceptively challenging experience. But don’t fret – our guide arms you with the boss strategies necessary to defeat every main and optional boss without losing your precious life!

Boss encounters are a hallmark of Metroidvania adventures, and Hollow Knight: Silksong certainly delivers its own array of daunting trials for Hornet. In total, you’ll face 46 unique bosses across the game’s expansive map – 17 mandatory main bosses and 29 optional ones (including rematches). While some foes can be bypassed or approached via alternative paths, be warned: significant spoilers for Silksong’s boss lineup lie ahead!

Every Silksong Boss: Locations, Rewards, and How to Find Them

Our definitive list of all Silksong bosses is carefully categorized into main and optional encounters. This way, you can easily distinguish between the formidable foes you must defeat to advance your journey and those challenging adversaries you can choose to face at your leisure – or even skip entirely.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of every Silksong boss you’ll encounter, presented in order of appearance:

The Main Bosses of Silksong

Optional Bosses: Extra Challenges in Silksong

Strategies for Conquering Silksong Bosses

Discovering every boss in Silksong is a feat in itself, but defeating them often proves to be an even more demanding task. To aid you on your quest, we’ve compiled a selection of invaluable strategies to help you overcome some of Pharloom’s most fearsome adversaries.

Moss Mother

The Moss Mother stands as your very first boss encounter in Silksong, acting as a foundational test of your basic platforming skills. This creature often hovers at the edges of the arena, conveniently within reach of Hornet’s needle during the peak of her jump. Be vigilant for her swift stinger attacks, easily dodged with a well-timed leap. She also has a habit of striking the ceiling, causing rocks to shower down from above.

Land enough consecutive hits, and you can stun the Moss Mother. Keep an eye out for the spinning halo above her head – that’s your cue to unleash a few extra strikes. As the fight progresses, she’ll escalate her tactics, replacing falling rocks with her offspring (tough love, apparently!). Mercifully, these smaller, crawling foes fall quickly to two precise needle strikes, clearing the path for you to deliver the final blow to the Moss Mother without distraction.

Bell Beast

You’ll find the Bell Beast ensnared in a web of silk, but don’t expect gratitude once you liberate her with your Silkspear. Instead, she’ll unleash all her pent-up frustration directly on you! She dives into the sea of bells that blanket the battlefield, erupting from the ground to charge or leap at Hornet with alarming speed.

Though the Bell Beast’s attack patterns are relatively simple, her relentless aggression can quickly overwhelm you, particularly when she starts hurling bells across the arena. Taming this furious foe might seem like a chaotic dance through a field of bells, but with the right approach, it’s entirely manageable. Once defeated, the Bell Beast graciously transforms into your Silksong fast travel mount, echoing the role of The Last Stag from Hollow Knight.

Lace

Lace serves as another crucial skill-check boss, specifically testing your command over Hornet’s dash ability. This nimble and prideful fencer utilizes her pin with lethal accuracy, executing a series of precise forward thrusts, sweeping attacks, and a stationary flurry.

Hornet’s confrontation with Lace intentionally mirrors the Knight’s early encounters with Hornet in the original Hollow Knight, even including anticipated rematches. Navigating this initial battle unscathed, despite the lava flanking the boss room’s single platform, requires careful movement and timing.

Expect to face Lace several more times on your journey through Pharloom, each encounter growing in intensity.

Fourth Chorus

The Fourth Chorus ranks among the largest adversaries seen in the Hollow Knight universe, a multi-limbed behemoth that necessitates a defensive strategy to overcome. You might notice him in a dormant state on your way to the Seamstress, but he won’t awaken until you’ve gathered enough Silksong Hokers and acquired the Drifter’s Cloak. To deal damage, you must strike his face, a target conveniently reachable by Hornet at the peak of her jump.

Like Lace, this boss battle unfolds on a platform surrounded by lava, but this one is far less stable. The Fourth Chorus spends most of the fight plunging his numerous limbs into the lava pool, obliterating any section of the platform in his path. He also executes a sweeping horizontal attack across the entire room, often demanding a jump-dash maneuver to avoid both the attack and a fiery demise.

If platforms become scarce, you can cleverly use the Drifter’s Cloak to catch wind currents on either side of the boss room, though this situation is thankfully rare. Deeper into the fight, the Fourth Chorus will strike the ceiling, dislodging a cascade of molten rocks. These are generally easy to evade, but remain focused on the boss – he won’t pause his standard attacks just because debris is falling.

Moorwing

Moorwing is a secret boss, easily overlooked even by the most thorough explorers of Pharloom. However, that’s perhaps the simplest aspect of him; if you *do* stumble upon Moorwing, you might find yourself wishing you hadn’t. This unpleasant, not-so-small moth is a creature of blades and sheer malice, capable of putting you on the defensive before the fight truly begins.

Between the sharp blades on his feet and his incessant barrage of boomerang-like projectiles, maintaining a defensive posture and carefully weighing every opportunity to strike Moorwing is crucial. Turning the tide against him requires precision, especially if you’re open to utilizing some ‘cheesier’ tactics against this buggy adversary.

Sister Splinter

Sister Splinter, the area boss of Shellwood, can become a real nuisance without a solid strategy. Unlike other bosses, she remains tethered to the ceiling throughout the entire battle, using her enormous claws to swipe at Hornet. If left unchecked, she can rapidly ensnare you with a cascade of prickly vines, leaving you trapped and vulnerable to the swarms of spinning leaf insects she summons. Thankfully, our tactics will help you cut through the chaos and bring this tricky boss crashing down to earth.

Skull Tyrant

The Skull Tyrant is a gargantuan variant of the skull scuttlers and brutes that roam the Marrow. Don’t let his intimidating size fool you – he’s not significantly tougher to handle than his smaller kin. Our strategies will guide you through the perilous depths of this skeletal brute’s underground lair.

While the Skull Tyrant dwells in one of the earliest regions, you can only access him once you’ve mastered the Silksong wall jump. Remember to revisit Bone Bottom later to fulfill the Terrible Tyrant wish, which grants you a hefty amount of rosaries. However, be forewarned: after you defeat the Skull Tyrant, one of his vengeful brethren will eventually appear in Bone Bottom, seeking retribution.

Widow

The Widow has held Silksong’s Bellhart townsfolk captive in her intricate silken web, and she won’t release them without a fierce struggle. This is where Hornet and her trusty Needle step in! As the next main boss, Widow represents a significant leap in difficulty from the Fourth Chorus. Her relentless barrage of deadly fury swipes and continuously falling bells leaves you little room to breathe, let alone land a hit. Fortunately, we can help you survive her fatal final phase with our Widow strategies. There’s no easy way out here – just a need for immense patience and precise execution.

Savage Beastfly

The Savage Beastfly is an optional boss, hidden within the Chapel of the Beast and only reachable by riding a wind current with Hornet’s Drifter’s Cloak. Much like the smaller flies found throughout Pharloom, the Savage Beastfly charges horizontally at Hornet the moment she enters its line of sight.

The most demanding aspect of this boss battle is managing the sheer number of smaller flies the Savage Beastfly summons with a piercing scream. If you’re struggling to see the main threat amidst the swarm, our strategies will help you squash this troublesome bug with efficiency.

Great Conchflies

The Great Conchflies act as a stepping-stone boss, bringing you closer to the formidable Citadel Gate. These enormous coneflies drill tirelessly through the floor, ceiling, and walls, maintaining their trajectory across the boss room. Their rapid and unpredictable movements make them elusive, but you can anticipate their emergence by observing the telltale dust clouds.

This encounter isn’t overly challenging, especially with good positioning. Be wary when they momentarily cease their drilling to spit a projectile dart that travels diagonally, bouncing off the room’s boundaries. This boss battle concludes once you defeat one of them and the other retreats – but is it truly the end of their threat?

Last Judge

The Last Judge serves as the climactic boss of Act 1, a true crucible where your muscle memory will be pushed to its limits. She belongs to that rare class of Silksong bosses that are both lightning-fast and imposing, making her incredibly tough to overcome. She wields a war thurible with deadly proficiency – tossing, spinning, and dragging it around the arena. Evading it demands a nimble player. In the later stages of the fight, the Last Judge ignites her thurible, unleashing deadly waves of fire that engulf the room. Our strategies will help you master your positioning for this intense boss battle.

Cogwork Dancers

While most Silksong bosses test your strategic prowess, the Cogwork Dancers challenge you emotionally. This identical pair of automaton performers glide across the boss room in perfect synchronicity, making their movements quite predictable. They telegraph their actions just before performing them, and occasionally converge at center stage for a powerful, embracing attack.

This fight features four phases, which progressively grow faster and more out of sync until you ultimately dismantle one of them at the end of the third phase. What follows is a final phase that is as heartbreaking as it is straightforward, as the last dancer mournfully continues their performance alone. Prepare for a poignant moment.

Trobbio

Known as the “Master of the Stage, the Brush, and the Voice,” Trobbio is a theatrical, fame-hungry bug who roams Pharloom in search of a new audience. 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 stay low when he launches them across the stage.

Don’t underestimate Trobbio’s spin attack either; his initial charge is easily avoided, but the twin cyclones that emanate outwards from his position once he slows down can inflict serious damage. As challenging as Trobbio may be, he’s one of the few Silksong bosses who feels more like a friendly rival than a deadly foe. Maintain pressure on him, and you should bring his show to a swift conclusion.

Seth

Seth is an ancient guardian who claims to have been chosen by the Voice. He is imbued with incredible strength and stamina, allowing him to absorb attacks with his shield before lunging forward to strike with his pin. This makes him particularly dangerous in close quarters. It’s often better to dodge his aggressive assaults than to try and break his guard; simply wait for him to finish his animation before retaliating.

Occasionally, Seth will position himself to one side of Hornet, leap into the air, and hurl his shield at her, then swiftly zip to the other side to catch it after it bounces. He also tosses his shield across the boss room and can even teleport to its position to quickly close distance. However, his most perilous attack is the Area of Effect (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 designed by Seth Goldman, a Hollow Knight fan who sadly passed away several years ago from Ewing Sarcoma. In Goldman’s own words, “[Seth’s] really cool.” After you defeat 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, so interrupt her at your peril. She twirls her twin dual-bladed daggers and flips through the air, making her incredibly difficult 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 you can even face Karmelita, 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 abilities to dispatch them quickly. Thankfully, Karmelita’s attack sequence only becomes a true problem in her second phase, when she cycles through them at breakneck speed. It’s not the first time we’ve battled deadly bosses before an audience in Hollow Knight, and Hornet’s dance with Karmelita is a performance you won’t soon forget. Don’t let stage fright get the better of you!

Sharpe

Steel Assassin Sharpe is not present in the base game, but he is strongly anticipated to make an appearance in future Silksong DLC. Sharpe is a seasoned bug hunter, and Hornet is his next designated target. He is expected to play a significant role in Pharloom’s intricate lore. Furthermore, he is believed to bring two allies to aid him in subduing Hornet during their encounters. One of Sharpe’s companions bears a striking resemblance to Steel Soul Jinn, a merchant from Dirtmouth with unknown allegiances. Undoubtedly, we will 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 for battle. We highly recommend seeking out the best Silksong Mask Shards and Silksong Pale Oil during your travels to secure invaluable health and damage upgrades. Additionally, our selection of the most effective Silksong Tools can provide crucial assistance in even the stickiest situations.