Gaming Hollow Knight - GOAT Metroidvania

Moby

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And if I do manage to get through there I either can't get through the spikes or fail at pogoing on the wingmoulds and drop down. I did see a way I hadn't tried before in a walkthrough so hopefully I'll manage to get through it that way.
Yeah once you get past the first two bugs you can take a breather by clinging on that wall, time that jump well, and you don't actually have to pogo off those bugs on the other left side. Once you jump past the third bug, you can make one jump, dash to the left and make the second jump and you are done.

I dunno why I avoided pogoing throughout the game, you can practice it and it's not that tough usually, probably just a mental thing for me. But having seen a few white palace videos after I did it you can actually make your way through most of it without pogoing. But it's definitely easier and a bit more fun probably if you are good at it and can just jump around from all the obstacles.
 

Ainu

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@)_( Relya is an excellent Youtuber for Hollow Knight tips. I relied on his video to get through Path of Pain but he also has one for White Palace:

.

I've put the time marker where you are. Unfortunately there isn't really a good tip for the first part, you just need to be precise to jump between the saws and the wingmoulds. He hits the third wingmould and then jumps through it, that might be useful.

A good habit to get into is to use your double jump every time you down pogo. It buys you that little bit of extra time to plan your next move and makes your entire movement more controlled.
 

Moby

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@)_( Relya is an excellent Youtuber for Hollow Knight tips.
Absolute agree on you with Relya's content being fantastic for 'normal' gamers in terms of explaining every single thing in the game in a really simple fashion, he's a great guide on pretty much everything.... except white palace. :lol:

Definitely depends on your playing style but he is someone who is addicted to downstriking/pogo and goes for that even when there are other alternatives. I was stuck around the same place @)_( is and a few points after that and I had a look at his content and took me ages to follow that. So I found another one which relied less on downstriking and more on claw and wings, which suited me more.


Like for the point we are talking about he does it pretty much without touching any of the bugs. That wasn't where I got stuck, it was a bit later where you have those massive long spikes jumping in and out of a wall horizontally and Relya again went for the pogo on them followed by a double jump, when you can just literally wall cling, wait for spikes to go back, another cling, and then dash and double jump and done. In fact, for that point I recently saw a speedrunner taking a totally different route from the right that was as easy as any normal cling/jump in the actual game and it pissed me right off. :lol:

But definitely the palace gives you a lot of options to play the way you want, even when it seems there's only one way to do a lot of things. Not to mention a couple of hidden routes that let you bypass entire treks. There's especially one breakable wall around the end that I again discovered later on and thought, alright that would have saved a few minutes!
 

Moby

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I just watched that video a bit again on that same area we are talking about and this guy surely hates downstriking more than I do. :lol: You can literally compare him with Relya's guide and he pretty much finds an alternative to more or less every tough pogo jump especially when it comes to doing it off moving spikes and stuff. That's pretty much how I'd go about it. Just so much safer and consistent.
 

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Relya was a great source of help for me in certain parts... the one thing that he does that I simply CANNOT do was down pogo off of a vertically moving spike to get a little extra boost and reach something that seems just out of reach.

This luckily happens only once in White Palace. I tried for ages trying to do this then realised there is another platform on the right you can just jump off and then did it in one go... its probably the way the designers intended it :lol:

This is why I didn't try finish Path of Pain as this technique is used a fair few times and I can't see another way to do these bits.

I dunno, I was really intimidated by White Palace but except that one bit mentioned above, I cruised through it very quickly.

Nightmare Grimm on the other hand has given me PTSD to this very day :lol:
 

Moby

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Relya was a great source of help for me in certain parts... the one thing that he does that I simply CANNOT do was down pogo off of a vertically moving spike to get a little extra boost and reach something that seems just out of reach.

This luckily happens only once in White Palace. I tried for ages trying to do this then realised there is another platform on the right you can just jump off and then did it in one go... its probably the way the designers intended it
Damn you got lucky! :mad:

I got stuck there, looked at Relya's guide, he went for the pogo off that vertical spike shooting out of the ground and I went for that. I managed that after a few tries, which I think was pure luck but the failed attempts felt like someone literally shoving up a spike up the knight's ass. :lol: It was because of this I thought I am just getting past based on pure luck and thought of leaving the remaining part, when there were always easier ways! Relya is deceptively hardcore.
 

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The devs play with our minds in the white palace when you think there's a massive spike shooting out and think that would surely be needed to be used to get past, when if you carefully analyze the whole place there are a lot of deceptions and you can just easily bypass a lot of stuff taking down the difficulty far lower than it actually is. I doubt that applies to PoP in a similar way though. Devs are trolls.
 

Ainu

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Relya was a great source of help for me in certain parts... the one thing that he does that I simply CANNOT do was down pogo off of a vertically moving spike to get a little extra boost and reach something that seems just out of reach.

This luckily happens only once in White Palace. I tried for ages trying to do this then realised there is another platform on the right you can just jump off and then did it in one go... its probably the way the designers intended it :lol:

This is why I didn't try finish Path of Pain as this technique is used a fair few times and I can't see another way to do these bits.

I dunno, I was really intimidated by White Palace but except that one bit mentioned above, I cruised through it very quickly.

Nightmare Grimm on the other hand has given me PTSD to this very day :lol:
I got through Path of Pain twice and there are only a couple of sawblades with vertical movement you need to down pogo on, and these are all slow moving so not too difficult. There's one segment that's heavy with fast moving ones but I never down pogoed on those.
 

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Damn you got lucky! :mad:

I got stuck there, looked at Relya's guide, he went for the pogo off that vertical spike shooting out of the ground and I went for that. I managed that after a few tries, which I think was pure luck but the failed attempts felt like someone literally shoving up a spike up the knight's ass. :lol: It was because of this I thought I am just getting past based on pure luck and thought of leaving the remaining part, when there were always easier ways! Relya is deceptively hardcore.
:lol:

I think we're thinking of different bits. I was meant to say vertically moving saw, not spike. The spikes weren't that hard for me.

I got through Path of Pain twice and there are only a couple of sawblades with vertical movement you need to down pogo on, and these are all slow moving so not too difficult. There's one segment that's heavy with fast moving ones but I never down pogoed on those.
Well playing Celeste has really improved my platforming skills (I've only been playing Fifa, Tekken and Street Fighter since after PS2 :lol:)so I plan to try take on the Path Of Pain after I finish Celeste.
 

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That reminds me I really need to try Celeste as well. I've sort of given up on Cuphead because I just don't enjoy the gameplay.
 

)_(

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Yeah once you get past the first two bugs you can take a breather by clinging on that wall, time that jump well, and you don't actually have to pogo off those bugs on the other left side. Once you jump past the third bug, you can make one jump, dash to the left and make the second jump and you are done.

I dunno why I avoided pogoing throughout the game, you can practice it and it's not that tough usually, probably just a mental thing for me. But having seen a few white palace videos after I did it you can actually make your way through most of it without pogoing. But it's definitely easier and a bit more fun probably if you are good at it and can just jump around from all the obstacles.
Somehow I managed it in 5 mins when I spent 45 mins on it yesterday and didn't manage it.

And yea did it that way, clung to the wall with the spikes dashed through, doublejumped and clung to the wall. Then I decided to do the whole rest of it too and managed to finish it in just over an hour. I'm sure some people managed to do this in less than even half that but considering I'm shit, I'm pretty happy. Also went to the pale king's workshop.

I was traumatised from pogoing in the greenpath very early on after I died several times, trying to get my shade back and since then I've tried to avoid it as much as possible. It's one of those super finicky things where you're a fraction of a milimeter away from faceplanting on whatever you're pogoing off of if you don't get the balance between down pogoing and moving right. But it's definitely a useful skill to practise and maybe go back in after and try and do it that way, assuming you can re do it?

@Dirty Schwein i did manage to do the vertical pogo a few times but I didn't actually get anywhere with it so don't know what I was doing wrong. In the end I just gave up on trying it that way.

@)_( Relya is an excellent Youtuber for Hollow Knight tips. I relied on his video to get through Path of Pain but he also has one for White Palace:

.

I've put the time marker where you are. Unfortunately there isn't really a good tip for the first part, you just need to be precise to jump between the saws and the wingmoulds. He hits the third wingmould and then jumps through it, that might be useful.

A good habit to get into is to use your double jump every time you down pogo. It buys you that little bit of extra time to plan your next move and makes your entire movement more controlled.
Relyae has been a great help with a ton of things but this is definitely one where his technique doesn't work for me at all. I did manage to pogo a few times on the spikes but I wasn't able to get anywhere with it and like @Moby said, felt mostly as if you're just shoving spikes up his ass or if faceplanting against saws :') did manage to get through it after watching another video from someone who didn't really pogo either which helped cause it shows you that its actually possible to do it another way. Honestly, it's just one of those things where it's hard to strategise. Just use hiveblood and grubsong and try things out. It does help watching different walkthrough because it shows you what's possible and you can try out and see what works best for you.

Took longer than it needed to be cause I was braindead for a second and jumped down to an area I hadn't seen before which was an area I had already done so was great to have to do that over again...
One of the worst things is when you're at a difficult bit and there's no moment of respite so if you fail you have to do it all over again.

Don't think I've been as relieved and satisfied at any point in the game as when I was only a crystal dash away from the throne room. I sat the knight's ass down on that throne and just sat there for a few minutes enjoying my victory.
 

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Relyae has been a great help with a ton of things but this is definitely one where his technique doesn't work for me at all. I did manage to pogo a few times on the spikes but I wasn't able to get anywhere with it and like @Moby said, felt mostly as if you're just shoving spikes up his ass or if faceplanting against saws :') did manage to get through it after watching another video from someone who didn't really pogo either which helped cause it shows you that its actually possible to do it another way. Honestly, it's just one of those things where it's hard to strategise. Just use hiveblood and grubsong and try things out. It does help watching different walkthrough because it shows you what's possible and you can try out and see what works best for you.

Took longer than it needed to be cause I was braindead for a second and jumped down to an area I hadn't seen before which was an area I had already done so was great to have to do that over again...
One of the worst things is when you're at a difficult bit and there's no moment of respite so if you fail you have to do it all over again.

Don't think I've been as relieved and satisfied at any point in the game as when I was only a crystal dash away from the throne room. I sat the knight's ass down on that throne and just sat there for a few minutes enjoying my victory.
There is a post by me somewhere in this thread just after I'd done the exact same thing. I was not amused. :lol: It was a struggle for most of us.

Edit: this one

Fecking white palace. I just missed a platform and instead of dying I actually landed on another platform lower down, replacing my spawn point. That's at least an hour of hard fought progress wiped out. This isn't even path of pain. I could kill right now.
See, if a shitty player like me can do Path of Pain, anyone can. :)
 

)_(

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There is a post by me somewhere in this thread just after I'd done the exact same thing. I was not amused. :lol: It was a struggle for most of us.

Edit: this one



See, if a shitty player like me can do Path of Pain, anyone can. :)
Ha, glad to know others suffered through the same thing.

I might finish the game this weekend, I don't want to play because I don't want to finish the game but I also want to play the game.
 

Moby

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Ha, glad to know others suffered through the same thing.

I might finish the game this weekend, I don't want to play because I don't want to finish the game but I also want to play the game.
Im not sure if you can see your percentage yet but probably best to get it up to as much as possible before taking down the final bosses. and of course there's Godhome and pantheons as your post game fix. I pretty much beat the first pantheon in first try as thats all the kiddy bosses. Second also should be doable in a few tries. All that contributes to percentage as well.

Talking of percentage and achievements it sucks that ps4 trophies are far less than xbox or pc. I didn't get Sealed Siblings or Dream No More, but they made sure to add fecking Passing of the Age. :mad:
 

)_(

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Im not sure if you can see your percentage yet but probably best to get it up to as much as possible before taking down the final bosses. and of course there's Godhome and pantheons as your post game fix. I pretty much beat the first pantheon in first try as thats all the kiddy bosses. Second also should be doable in a few tries. All that contributes to percentage as well.

Talking of percentage and achievements it sucks that ps4 trophies are far less than xbox or pc. I didn't get Sealed Siblings or Dream No More, but they made sure to add fecking Passing of the Age. :mad:
The ps4 says I'm at 41% but that's bs because I've beaten all the bosses, collected all charms, shards and fragments and have all the spell and nail upgrades.
The only thing I've got left to do, to get my affairs in order before the end, is to get 2400 essence and speak to the seer and banish the troupe or fight nkg.
 

Ainu

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The ps4 says I'm at 41% but that's bs because I've beaten all the bosses, collected all charms, shards and fragments and have all the spell and nail upgrades.
The only thing I've got left to do, to get my affairs in order before the end, is to get 2400 essence and speak to the seer and banish the troupe or fight nkg.
That can't be your completion. Maybe you're referring to your trophy percentage, but that's unrelated. You can view your completion in the game once you've opened the black egg and inspected a tablet there.
 

Moby

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The ps4 says I'm at 41% but that's bs because I've beaten all the bosses, collected all charms, shards and fragments and have all the spell and nail upgrades.
The only thing I've got left to do, to get my affairs in order before the end, is to get 2400 essence and speak to the seer and banish the troupe or fight nkg.
That's a garbage value, which I think refers to trophy completion. You'll see the actual completion inside the game but it only happens once you reach the final bosses.
 

)_(

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That can't be your completion. Maybe you're referring to your trophy percentage, but that's unrelated. You can view your completion in the game once you've opened the black egg and inspected a tablet there.
That's a garbage value, which I think refers to trophy completion. You'll see the actual completion inside the game but it only happens once you reach the final bosses.
oh okay, good to know.

Calculated it and I think I'm only missing 1% which is getting 2400 essence and talking to the seer.
 
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dumbo

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I think that's about the best I can do without micro managing the run. I spent too long with multiple tries on False Knight and Lost Kin and the flower quest took me 4 tries (including one in which I went all the way but had forgot to accept the flower:o). These probably added about an hour to the run but the rest was fairly plain sailing. I don't think under 5 hours is possibly for me without some advanced speed strats and a lot more practise. It's becoming a bit tedious too, so that's it for now. I'm seriously fiending for Silksong.
 

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Nice. Mon stah Lar on YouTube is famous for long speedruns so maybe you can check his stats. His 9 hour run of all achievements including hunters journal etc is my favorite.
 

Dirty Schwein

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I think that's about the best I can do without micro managing the run. I spent too long with multiple tries on False Knight and Lost Kin and the flower quest took me 4 tries (including one in which I went all the way but had forgot to accept the flower:o). These probably added about an hour to the run but the rest was fairly plain sailing. I don't think under 5 hours is possibly for me without some advanced speed strats and a lot more practise. It's becoming a bit tedious too, so that's it for now. I'm seriously fiending for Silksong.
Congrats man. It took me that long to get to Soul Sanctum :lol:
 

)_(

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I think that's about the best I can do without micro managing the run. I spent too long with multiple tries on False Knight and Lost Kin and the flower quest took me 4 tries (including one in which I went all the way but had forgot to accept the flower:o). These probably added about an hour to the run but the rest was fairly plain sailing. I don't think under 5 hours is possibly for me without some advanced speed strats and a lot more practise. It's becoming a bit tedious too, so that's it for now. I'm seriously fiending for Silksong.
Honestly, that's pretty amazing. I know people do some crazy speedsruns but under 8 hours for 112% is great! Something always has to go wrong on the flowerquest, lbr!

I'm on 107%, tried trial of the fools two times but just can't be arsed cause I don't really care. I'm glad that you don't have to repeat the whole game to get the different endings because I was not happy with locking the siblings up together. I attacked the dude with my nail and only then dreamnailed him because I didn't know that was the end of the fight so I just wanted to damage him as much as possible. Then went back in and dreamnailed him when I had to and of course got fecked by the sunbeams. I can already tell this fight will take a while.
 

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A few thoughts now at the end of the journey:
  • The best p4p charms are 1. Unbreakable Heart 2. Shaman Stone 3. Quick Slash 4. Nailmaster's Glory 5. Grubsong
  • Shade Dash isn't worth the notches. I thought it was the best charm for most of the game. It's not, it's a crutch, and it ruins your spacing. Going through an enemy means you have to take an extra step just to get back in range.
  • Nail Arts are brilliant and overpowered. Without them I think I'd still be trying to defeat The Collector and Markoth in the final Pantheon. Combined with Sly's charm, taking up 1 measly notch, they wreak havoc on the bosses.
  • Spells are brilliant. With the Shaman Stone, from early to late game they will clear everything out. Add in Spell Twister and the rest may as well be ornamentation.
  • Always Quick Slash over Unbreakable Strength, except for against Pure Vessel, the Grimms, Markoth: bosses that often leave you only a single hit window. Quick Slash's main advantage over Strength is the soul replenishment.
  • Grey Prince Zote was completely mastered and he holds no fear for me. Late in a Pantheon, I knew if I had at least 3 masks of health going into his fight, I would have little trouble. Now I see him as a soul dispenser.
  • Failed Champion. I never mastered this guy. He has two attacks, he's stupid and slow and easy to read. But when he hits me, with his considerable hitbox, I always go into a panic. Going into his fight without full health remains a pain.
  • Nightmare King Grimm is a pussycat. The rhythm of the fight is so tight that once I got in the groove I could defeat him hitless more often than not. Interestingly, normal Grimm would tag me far more often in a Hallownest Pantheon run.
  • Obblobles are horrible.
  • Godhome is like an entire separate game. If I could have only the Metroidvania adventure or Godhome I would have to take Godhome.
  • You can dreamnail certain bosses at specific times. Learn to do that.
  • The game is too hard on the flip-side. It's only cartoon bugs ya'll. Getting the Weathered mask was as tough a challenge I've had in a game (with the exception of Maxing out Tetris). Doing the no bonfire-death run in Demon Souls 2 was easier.
  • Winged Nosk is much easier than Nosk. I think they put them around the wrong way.
  • Choose the correct charm set-up for The White Palace, don't be a fecking lifeblood hero.
  • I hope Silksong lives up to the promise and I hope they do something similar to Godhome with it.
  • Always save Zote.
Always.
 

Dirty Schwein

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A few thoughts now at the end of the journey:
  • The best p4p charms are 1. Unbreakable Heart 2. Shaman Stone 3. Quick Slash 4. Nailmaster's Glory 5. Grubsong
  • Shade Dash isn't worth the notches. I thought it was the best charm for most of the game. It's not, it's a crutch, and it ruins your spacing. Going through an enemy means you have to take an extra step just to get back in range.
  • Nail Arts are brilliant and overpowered. Without them I think I'd still be trying to defeat The Collector and Markoth in the final Pantheon. Combined with Sly's charm, taking up 1 measly notch, they wreak havoc on the bosses.
  • Spells are brilliant. With the Shaman Stone, from early to late game they will clear everything out. Add in Spell Twister and the rest may as well be ornamentation.
  • Always Quick Slash over Unbreakable Strength, except for against Pure Vessel, the Grimms, Markoth: bosses that often leave you only a single hit window. Quick Slash's main advantage over Strength is the soul replenishment.
  • Grey Prince Zote was completely mastered and he holds no fear for me. Late in a Pantheon, I knew if I had at least 3 masks of health going into his fight, I would have little trouble. Now I see him as a soul dispenser.
  • Failed Champion. I never mastered this guy. He has two attacks, he's stupid and slow and easy to read. But when he hits me, with his considerable hitbox, I always go into a panic. Going into his fight without full health remains a pain.
  • Nightmare King Grimm is a pussycat. The rhythm of the fight is so tight that once I got in the groove I could defeat him hitless more often than not. Interestingly, normal Grimm would tag me far more often in a Hallownest Pantheon run.
  • Obblobles are horrible.
  • Godhome is like an entire separate game. If I could have only the Metroidvania adventure or Godhome I would have to take Godhome.
  • You can dreamnail certain bosses at specific times. Learn to do that.
  • The game is too hard on the flip-side. It's only cartoon bugs ya'll. Getting the Weathered mask was as tough a challenge I've had in a game (with the exception of Maxing out Tetris). Doing the no bonfire-death run in Demon Souls 2 was easier.
  • Winged Nosk is much easier than Nosk. I think they put them around the wrong way.
  • Choose the correct charm set-up for The White Palace, don't be a fecking lifeblood hero.
  • I hope Silksong lives up to the promise and I hope they do something similar to Godhome with it.
  • Always save Zote.
Always.
I think you're my hero :lol:

I tried picking this up yesterday to have a go at trial of fools but my skills have gone to shits.
 

Ainu

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Interesting that you also hate Oblobbles. I couldn't stand them. Weirdly enough I never struggled with them in the second trial (which I did over and over at one point to get enough cash to upgrade all charms) but I started hating them in Godhome. They must be a lot easier in the trial or something.

One thing I certainly don't agree with (well, aside from the last line obviously :lol:), is taking the Godhome content over the actual Metroidvania part of the game. You clearly enjoyed that but I do hope they keep that type of content separate from the main game again in Silksong.
 

dumbo

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The ceiling is about 20% lower in the trial which might actually make dodging slightly harder but they are easier to hit and you don't have to wait and wait for them to come into range. It's the impatience that'll kill you in that fight. Far from the hardest but the least fun.
 

dumbo

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I think you're my hero :lol:

I tried picking this up yesterday to have a go at trial of fools but my skills have gone to shits.
I was sad to see my Pure Vessel game had seriously started to rust over in the last playthrough. A shame, but all things must die.
 

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A few thoughts now at the end of the journey:
  • The best p4p charms are 1. Unbreakable Heart 2. Shaman Stone 3. Quick Slash 4. Nailmaster's Glory 5. Grubsong
  • Shade Dash isn't worth the notches. I thought it was the best charm for most of the game. It's not, it's a crutch, and it ruins your spacing. Going through an enemy means you have to take an extra step just to get back in range.
  • Nail Arts are brilliant and overpowered. Without them I think I'd still be trying to defeat The Collector and Markoth in the final Pantheon. Combined with Sly's charm, taking up 1 measly notch, they wreak havoc on the bosses.
  • Spells are brilliant. With the Shaman Stone, from early to late game they will clear everything out. Add in Spell Twister and the rest may as well be ornamentation.
  • Always Quick Slash over Unbreakable Strength, except for against Pure Vessel, the Grimms, Markoth: bosses that often leave you only a single hit window. Quick Slash's main advantage over Strength is the soul replenishment.
  • Grey Prince Zote was completely mastered and he holds no fear for me. Late in a Pantheon, I knew if I had at least 3 masks of health going into his fight, I would have little trouble. Now I see him as a soul dispenser.
  • Failed Champion. I never mastered this guy. He has two attacks, he's stupid and slow and easy to read. But when he hits me, with his considerable hitbox, I always go into a panic. Going into his fight without full health remains a pain.
  • Nightmare King Grimm is a pussycat. The rhythm of the fight is so tight that once I got in the groove I could defeat him hitless more often than not. Interestingly, normal Grimm would tag me far more often in a Hallownest Pantheon run.
  • Obblobles are horrible.
  • Godhome is like an entire separate game. If I could have only the Metroidvania adventure or Godhome I would have to take Godhome.
  • You can dreamnail certain bosses at specific times. Learn to do that.
  • The game is too hard on the flip-side. It's only cartoon bugs ya'll. Getting the Weathered mask was as tough a challenge I've had in a game (with the exception of Maxing out Tetris). Doing the no bonfire-death run in Demon Souls 2 was easier.
  • Winged Nosk is much easier than Nosk. I think they put them around the wrong way.
  • Choose the correct charm set-up for The White Palace, don't be a fecking lifeblood hero.
  • I hope Silksong lives up to the promise and I hope they do something similar to Godhome with it.
  • Always save Zote.
Always.
The 57 precepts of dumbo!
 

)_(

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What's up? Finding her tough?
Yea, I have sht reflexes and even when I do manage to dash through the nails I somehow still get hit sometimes. I've been trying different charm combinations to see what works. The annoying thing is that I now sometimes stupidly die to THK because I'm trying to rush through the fight. My technique so far has just been to get as many abyss shrieks in asap with the radiance with the idea that I can get through the fight sooner and get less damage but that doesn't seem to be working. I need to get better at dodging and waiting for the best time.

And I just watched fireb0rn kill some moded nightmare version of the radiance in one go.
 

Dirty Schwein

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Yea, I have sht reflexes and even when I do manage to dash through the nails I somehow still get hit sometimes. I've been trying different charm combinations to see what works. The annoying thing is that I now sometimes stupidly die to THK because I'm trying to rush through the fight. My technique so far has just been to get as many abyss shrieks in asap with the radiance with the idea that I can get through the fight sooner and get less damage but that doesn't seem to be working. I need to get better at dodging and waiting for the best time.

And I just watched fireb0rn kill some moded nightmare version of the radiance in one go.
I used the unbreakable Strength and then a combination of all the spell charms. Abyss shrieked the hell out of her. Make sure you go into that fight with full spell meter (I hope you got that fat lady's blessing). Then at the start abyss shriek 3 times really fast and radiance goes straight to next phase. Then it's all about bidding your time and getting in hits where you can, eventually she will hover above you, you know what to do... Abyss shriek!

Once you get to final stage (the climb), her moves are telegraphed so just take it nice and slow.

This is what worked for me. Good luck!
 

)_(

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I used the unbreakable Strength and then a combination of all the spell charms. Abyss shrieked the hell out of her. Make sure you go into that fight with full spell meter (I hope you got that fat lady's blessing). Then at the start abyss shriek 3 times really fast and radiance goes straight to next phase. Then it's all about bidding your time and getting in hits where you can, eventually she will hover above you, you know what to do... Abyss shriek!

Once you get to final stage (the climb), her moves are telegraphed so just take it nice and slow.

This is what worked for me. Good luck!
Thanks! I've been using the spell charm combinations too. I need to get better at dodging and timing my shadow dashes. And like you said, bidding my time because I'm too busy trying to get hits in that I see things I need to dodge too late. It's just frustrating that you need to get through THK every time so you can't really get into the flow of things with the radiance.
 

Moby

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Thanks! I've been using the spell charm combinations too. I need to get better at dodging and timing my shadow dashes. And like you said, bidding my time because I'm too busy trying to get hits in that I see things I need to dodge too late. It's just frustrating that you need to get through THK every time so you can't really get into the flow of things with the radiance.
When I did it the only charm I had useful for THK was unbreakable strength and that was enough to pound him. I ranted about it here on how easy it was to brush him aside even without nail heavy charms. Just make sure you dodge his dash and parry attacks and the rest is fecking bog standard. Plus so many healing windows in case you get careless so it was a mere formality that needed a few seconds.

For Radiance I only used shadow dash for massive sunbeam as it's the only way to beat that but otherwise I used other methods. I always prayed for sword rain from top as it's the easiest to dodge. You can easily stand between the swords. The three sunbeam were OK too unless you are too close to underneath spikes. You just have to make little motions in that and remember that first and third beams are always at similar locations. The radial swords were pretty easy as well as it gives you a lot of time to prepare and given the distance there's a lot of space in between them. It's basically how you fight fecking Gorb.

The two that hit me most were side sword rain as I didn't use shadow dash there and always used double jump to time it in the big space. And the other being the fecking orbs. feck the fecking orbs. Those are probably the only real bad RNG that can feck up a run. Sometimes they spawned under the ass of the player. The trick to that is waiting till the end before moving so that they smash in the ground. Little panic there can feck it up. The whole fight was definitely a long grind for me which made me even pissed off when seeing that you don't get any trophy on ps4 for beating it!

Anyway if you are frustrated by having to face THK in this one imagine how it's gonna be when you have to beat the entire pantheon of hallownest fighting for like an hour everytime while facing Absolute Radiance. :)
 

Ainu

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I remember when I was going for The Radiance, I got so angry with myself if I played poorly against The Hollow Knight. Getting impatient was my worst enemy in that fight. :) In any case, your charms should be 100% set up for The Radiance, just ignore THK.

Anyway if you are frustrated by having to face THK in this one imagine how it's gonna be when you have to beat the entire pantheon of hallownest fighting for like an hour everytime while facing Absolute Radiance. :)
After reaching her once you can fight Absolute Radiance over and over again in the Hall of Gods. I obviously haven't tried it, but if I did I wouldn't even attempt the whole thing again at that point unless I could beat her 9 times out of 10.
 

Dirty Schwein

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For some reason, I found Radiance easier than:

Nightmare Grimm
Hornet 2
Lost Kin
Failed Champion
Traitor Lord
 

dumbo

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Might help:

On Hollow Knight when he starts stabbing himself he is essentially invulnerable to damage (he takes only 1 hit point max). So use that period to either get soul by whacking him or heal. Don't waste any soul with spells during this period. The moment he starts spewing magma from his body then you want to either jump then dash behind him or dash through him (which is harder to do).

On The Radiance when I reach the platforming section I never chase her but wait on the lowest platform for her to spawn. If she spawns on one of the bottom 3 platforms then I try to get there before she attacks and descending dark her. Any of the further out platforms and it's usually not worth going after her because she'll be gone before you reach her and you'll be less focused on dodging the attacks. If she lands on the platform you are on then quick slash 3 or 4 times then cast descending dark. On the final climb take it easy. There is a rhythm to it. A slightly advanced strat but when the spiked begin to light up on the first section if you jump in to the area and Descending Dark over them they will disappear.

Unbreakable Strength>Quick Slash>Unbreakable Strength>Shaman Stone (or if you don't have the final notch then use Spell Twister).

With these two bosses you can mitigate a lack of skill and reaction with good soul management. I just tried them again myself and took a lot of hits (I'm so used to the patterns of the Pantheon alternatives that I couldn't read them at all) and was able to survive through strategic healing.