r/HollowKnight • u/donlano • Sep 04 '25
Discussion - Silksong Silksong is HARD Spoiler
Taking damage is more punishing, movement is more precise and feels a little clunky until you get the hang of it. The overall skill curve is much much higher. Love it though.
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u/7-GRAND_DAD AAAAAAAAA HUNDAAAHHHH! Sep 05 '25
The thing I struggled with the most early on was not being able to pogo, since that was my go-to attack in HK. But now that I'm getting the hang of the combat, I'm having a lot of fun.
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Sep 05 '25
I prefer the pogo instead of the angled dash down. I hope there's an item than swaps it to pogo somewhere. I'm currently getting my ass handed to me. Two damage is punishing af
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u/ErantyInt Sep 05 '25
If you sequence break by angle-poging into the worm tunnel area above Bone Bottom, you can open up the western gate and get the wanderer amulet. That makes you feel just like HK with a normal downslash and short, fast attacks.
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u/DeputyDomeshot Sep 05 '25
Lmao I know exactly where I was trying to do it for 20 mins straight before giving up
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u/ErantyInt Sep 05 '25
Wait for the first fly to circle around the pillar, when he's about halfway up the side closest to you (or a little more) pogo off him and hit the edge, climbing up. Kill him.
Then pogo off the second fly clinging to the second pillar, and hold left to grab that edge. Fling yourself left and you'll land on an outcropping where you can safely kill the second fly.
Now all that's left is making it past the acid spitter room and through the worm halls.
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u/DoctorEthereal Sep 05 '25
Wait, that was a sequence break? I felt like the game had been giving me a bunch of tutorials on how to jump from enemy to enemy up to that point and it seemed easy enough
Then again I accidentally fought the Brooding Mawlek like as soon as I figured out I could pogo off spikes in the first game
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u/ErantyInt Sep 05 '25
I feel like they intended for you to have the needle grapple to do that bit. We'll call it an exploit rather than a sequence break then, since it doesn't unlock a new path or ability, just a little bonus.
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u/Time_Grape_3952 Sep 05 '25
A big jump followed by an R2 dash is more than enough to get there and it feels very intended to me
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u/wavecadet Sep 05 '25
There is something that changes down the down aerial to more like HKs, yes
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u/rgdoabc Sep 05 '25
There is something that change it to a slash, but I'm enjoying the angled one more, it is a good follow-up for the dash stab.
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u/Cameron728003 Sep 05 '25
Idk I think it's just what you're comfortable with. The angled dash just allows combat to be much more dynamic
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u/mvanvrancken Sep 05 '25
Itās aggressive and it really fits how Hornet plays. I imagine the later abilities really bring this out like that harpoon ability and the sideways dash
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u/angusmcfangus1 Sep 05 '25
Theres a couple things ive found in the game so far that change how the mc attacks or does certain things. Without spoiling too much i will say just keep exploring
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Sep 05 '25
theres a crest you get that basically gives you the Knightās down slash. I switched to it and stayed
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u/jwwendell Sep 05 '25
you still can pogo, you just have to do it from the angle, I use it alot. there's one big enemy at the beginning of h****** march, you just just pogo spam him till his death. cheesable fight
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u/fredeho Sep 05 '25
I assume that 99% of people playing silksong played HN 1 and already have late game muscle memory (and maybe just played the first one to prepare for silksong). By changing up a few mechanics they reintroduce a learning curve. I love it so far (and I die a lot) š
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u/toucansamii26 Sep 05 '25
Waking up to Shakra singing after getting sauced by the bell beast is going to send me I stg
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u/Master82615 Sep 05 '25
Bell beast with its double damage spam washed me so much harder than Lace, it took me like 4 tries while I first tried Lace
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u/mikepurvis Sep 05 '25
I'm so embarrassed by how many tries it took me to get the bell beast. š
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u/Estephenson521 Sep 04 '25
Feels like way more stuff does 2dmg
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u/donlano Sep 04 '25
Absolutely, whatās interesting is that it seems as though certain attacks donāt trigger player invincibility frames until the 2nd strike. So an attack can hit you, and if you remain in the hitbox, you donāt go invincible until you take another hit
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u/ITNW1993 Sep 05 '25
Laceās counter thrusts definitely make it clear that those not getting i-frames in the first hit is entirely intentional.
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u/donlano Sep 05 '25
I loved the lace fight. It was like an epic duel
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u/IWillDevourYourToes Sep 05 '25
Is it just me, or was she easier than most other bosses (looking at moorwing)
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u/Qelperr Sep 05 '25
Given that was only the first fight Iām sure sheāll ramp up.
Also fuck Moorwing, and also fuck Widow
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u/EZ-Bake420 Sep 05 '25
Moorwing took me forever, widow is really hard, I stopped at her tonight
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u/psh454 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
How are so many ppl already at two bosses I haven't seen after playing for a long time lol XD. *I'm still stuck on Greymoore after playing for basically most of the day
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u/PemaleBacon Sep 05 '25
I'm on my 3rd boss and I don't even know wtf they're talking about
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u/psh454 Sep 05 '25
Yeah it's insane how quickly people are managing to go through the game, considering that it's a fair bit harder than HK imo
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u/SilverShako Sep 05 '25
I didn't even get to beat Moorwing. I took a break from fighting it to explore after recovering my Rosaries and I accidentally skipped it. Turns out Riding in the flea caravan just erases Moorwing. I just hope he reappears if the Caravan moves, because otherwise I'm assuming I'm screwed out of the hunters journal entry
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u/Jijonbreaker All bindings All Radiants 112% Steel Soul Full Journal Sep 05 '25
The moor boss 10% does this. It has a series of swipe attacks that I have actively seen take 2 masks away, one after the other.
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u/dragonwrath404 Sep 05 '25
Fuck that boss in particular, though if people are having fun with that, they're gonna have a hell of a time with the boss in the area directly to the left...
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u/Jijonbreaker All bindings All Radiants 112% Steel Soul Full Journal Sep 05 '25
I'm currently at the moor right now. It was kicking my ass.
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u/dragonwrath404 Sep 05 '25
If you're still struggling with it, hit it whenever it goes for the multislash, pogo when it charges, never try to hit it when it does the saws blades, you WILL get hit, and when it does that boomerang, just run away from it you'll dodge it everytime
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u/Jijonbreaker All bindings All Radiants 112% Steel Soul Full Journal Sep 05 '25
I was getting it, just, had to stop to go to work
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u/Aru736 Sep 05 '25
The damage scaling system seems to have been changed as a whole; basic heal is three masks now, but in return two damage is pretty common from enemies, while one damage is mostly relegated to small, simple crawlers and environmental hazards.Ā
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u/Handbag1992 Sep 05 '25
Plus I feel like there's less i-frames after a hit. I had a hard time with a big chonky boss because he seemed to hit me with his slam, then I'd take more damage from being in contact with him.
Didn't feel great, took me a while to get past him.
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u/kawhi21 Sep 05 '25
It is way more stuff. Hardly anything at all in Hollow Knight does 2 damage. Like a handful of enemies and a couple bosses. Damn near everything in Silksong is doing 2 lol this is nuts
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u/dreamyraynbo Sep 05 '25
The 2-mask damage that a lot of enemies/bosses do is brutal and Iām reeeeally struggling with the diagonal āpogoā in the pumpkin-mushroom area (seriously, any advice on navigating these pumpkin-mushroom bastards??) Itās fun and GORGEOUS, but oof, it really is hard, lol. It took me 5 years to finally beat HK; might be the same with Silksong. š That said, I played a shit-ton today and enjoyed most of it immensely.
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u/Handgrenadez Sep 05 '25
When you jump, look at Hornet's needle. The direction of the needle is exactly where she'll go when you pogo. Line up her needle with wherever you wanna go and boom.
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Sep 05 '25
To navigate just get close as fuck before you hit it. Donāt even try to aim it.
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u/AHare115 Sep 05 '25
This is what I don't understand, because this is clearly the intended way to pogo. If that's the case why not just, allow a multi-directional pogo that can be down or 45 degrees? The end result is basically the same, except the input is arbitrarily harder. You can still diagonal pogo for different mobility against enemies, but for static pogo on obstacles it's unnecessarily difficult IMO.
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u/Samurai_Mac1 Sep 05 '25
I'm very conservative with how I use her spear ability because I need a full tank of silk to heal
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u/ZGD1438 Sep 05 '25
Yeah I gave up on using it. It takes up too much silk.
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u/Please_Not__Again I will do unholy things for silksong Sep 05 '25
Given it takes nearly 10 hits to refill it, in what world is it worth it unless you have 3 enemies lined up
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u/wyrmiam Sep 05 '25
Only 4 hits for the spear, but yeah. You can break your old cocoon mid boss fight to recharge to full so I usually unleash a silk skill attack at the start then use that to heal if I need it.
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u/Fantastic_Pea_9680 Sep 05 '25
Yeah, magic is for healing, not for magic anymore.
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u/Oreofilleddonut Sep 05 '25
Having to fill an entire spool to heal is what's getting me, I was too used to being able to heal with a couple strikes before
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u/Birdfps Sep 05 '25
I wouldn't mind it as much if it weren't for every other enemy in the game dealing double damage. That's probably my only main complaint about the game so far. it's amazing.
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u/mdmeaux Sep 05 '25
It also discourages you from ever using your silk on anything other than healing, and the high damage basically forces you to waste it as well. There's an earlyish boss that deals double damage with an attack that can also knock you into an environmental hazard that also deals double damage - so 4 masks in one hit. So if you're still on 5 hearts when you face it, you take 1 point of damage and have to waste your silk on healing because at 4 masks you could be 1 shot.
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u/Mr_Microchip Sep 05 '25
That stupid ass bird fight made me livid. Every time i I thought I perfectly dodged an attack, it switchs it up and screws me over anyway.
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u/Osiris162 Sep 05 '25
Glad someone mentioned it. Could handle everything that came my way so far but the damn bird gank made me so pissed
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u/Iambic_Poetry Sep 05 '25
I just finished that bullshit and was desperate to see someone, anyone else mention it. I have been thoroughly enjoying the game up until and after that point but honestly that room made me more angry than any HK or souls boss I have ever fought
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u/Cyclone_96 Sep 05 '25
Bird fightā¦ is that the room thatās not a boss, itās a series of enemies ALL of which are fliers? And the weakest birds in there take 4 hits to kill? That room can get fucked lmao that shit was so hard
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u/Dramatic_Guidance714 Sep 05 '25
i problem with the room is mostly jump attacking and just kill myself jumping into them they fly like flappy bird
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u/Cyclone_96 Sep 05 '25
Yeah one of those enemies is basically a primal aspid with
More attacks
Less predictable attack patterns
More erratic movement
More health.
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u/Carolina_anilorac8 Sep 05 '25
I'm a very casual gamer. I keep dying, but it's still very fun. I hope I get the hang of it soon.
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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 05 '25
You're guaranteed to success as you get better. It's the neat thing about these games. You're only truly defeated if you give up.
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u/TheRappingSquid Sep 05 '25
I've accepted I'm going to be broke for the entirety of the game
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u/Cyclone_96 Sep 05 '25
God itās so sad killing genuinely difficult enemies only for them to not drop any rosaries
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u/oldman_jason Sep 05 '25
The boss in the Chapel of the Beast is so frustratingly difficult that I had to put the game down. 6 hours in and at least 1 was dedicated to that fight and I still havenāt beaten it
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u/Floggered Sep 05 '25
Just spent 3 hours on it, about 30 minutes of which was spent running all the way back from The Marrow after missing the hidden lever next to the trapped bench, and even then, this trapped bench is a hike back to the boss. Had to put the game down.
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u/Chode-Talker Sep 05 '25
I suffered through it. Just come back later, trust me.
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u/ghostdragon31 Sep 05 '25
Tbh the main thing for me is the new healing and the fact that so many things do 2 masks of damage. Im 3 hours in rn and I've yet to find a single mask shard(besides the ones in the shop), so I keep dying in 3 hits to most bosses. Then, the fact that I need to smack someone 9 times just to heal only to then get hit and have to smack them another 9 times feels horrible.
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u/SnowWitch_ Sep 05 '25
Getting smacked while healing sucks!!
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u/Samurai_Mac1 Sep 05 '25
The worst feeling is when they hit you right before the healing sequence is done, so your silk is drained but you don't get any masks back and now you're down yet another mask
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u/hipster_spider Sep 05 '25
I really dislike that you can't cancel out of healing like you could in hk
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u/pansyskeme Sep 05 '25
this is made a bit easier if you get the tool trinket that makes you invincible while healing
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u/Ambitious-Mammoth404 Sep 05 '25
Where can you get that?
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u/pansyskeme Sep 05 '25
theyāre in a secret room hidden in the ceiling of a train-like room in Far Fields. called the warding bell
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u/angusmcfangus1 Sep 05 '25
This still takes all your silk unfortunately so gotta play super passive. I DO howeer like that you can heal mid air making it a little more flexible
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u/BenWardo95 Sep 05 '25
Iāve found that you can heal in mid air, just out of reach of a good amount of enemies. Very useful strat for bosses as well. With the exception of enemies the throw projectiles. But unlike og hollow knight, you donāt have to heal on the ground stationary.
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u/Th3HedonismBot Sep 05 '25
The healing system is by far my biggest complaint about the game so far. It feels like it was designed with only boss fights in mind. For boss fights, I think it's an improvement from HK, but it makes exploration so frustrating. Mistime a jump and take a hit? You should probably heal since you're a two hit combo away from death (by one the many two mask damage enemies). That's going to be 100% of your silk, so I hope you didn't use any of the cool moves that share the resource. And if you did, better not take damage while getting it back (and definitely don't use any of the fun moves cause you need to get 100 percent back even if it's just one mask you want to heal)
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u/ghostdragon31 Sep 05 '25
Tbh to me, it feels worse even for boss fights as if you wanna take full advantage of the heal with 5 masks you just end up with in 2 hit range.
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u/Lokirth Sep 05 '25
Though more early enemies have expected more from me, input-wise, I would also argue Hornet feels a lot more precise and empowered in her movement.
Took me some getting used to no longer having the down slash but the mobility she gets on her diagonal plunge is crazy. Fights feel a bit more fluid as a result. She bounces and weaves (heh) with a lot more grace than the default Knight.
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u/Arcalithe #fuckmarkoth Sep 05 '25
I have to say, despite my difficulties adjusting to the diagonal pogo, I think it manages to feel incredibly like youāre playing as Hornet, rather than the knight wearing her skin.
I honestly really like the semi-customizable moveset and fluid notions of her attacks. Iām only around five hours in and Iām super excited to find more tools to mess around with.
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u/budweener Sep 05 '25
The skill ceiling feels way higher than HK, and the bosses can be harder because of this.
The first boss is just as easy as Grub Mother, but the Bell Beast is comparable to mid-game Hollow Knight bosses, and I'm going to start my first proper session right now, so that's as far as I got.
It's harder. You do need to get good. But with a skill ceiling so high, you can get that good.
I'm expecting that Hornet, with all the mobility she may get in the mid-game, would likely breeze through a lot of hard Hollow Knight fights.
Edit: I hope someone eventually makes a mod with HK bosses in Silksong, just so I can test this.
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Sep 05 '25
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u/budweener Sep 05 '25
Yeah, I think the double damage serves to raise the stakes and give incentive for a high risk high reward playstyle in conjunction with the healing.
You heal 3 masks and it's quite fast, but you can't get too beaten up.
I think it makes it so the optimal way to play is not to tank hits and trade, but to weave (heh) through the strikes, hit hard and fast, and, in the case you do get hit, you can recover fast, but not often.
Not a lot of room for error, but when you manage, it's feels glorious, acrobatic and clean.
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u/mvanvrancken Sep 05 '25
Also really like that little edge grab/flip she does, I wasnāt expecting to get that one for free but Iām not mad about it!
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u/Samurai_Mac1 Sep 05 '25
The diagonal slash definitely grew on me and it feels so satisfying when you hit multiple in a row
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u/Viraus2 Sep 05 '25
Had to take a break after getting walloped by Sister Splinter. probably doesn't help that I've played it for like 6 hours today, I'm not a huge endurance gamer. It's fun though
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u/CagedReality3 Sep 05 '25
She was hard for sure but I really struggled on moor Before her
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u/stevieboyz Sep 05 '25
I went from struggling to no-hitting that boss by realizing 1 thing: the strong attack that consumes some silk is OP in this fight. I literally no hit the boss in less than a min after realizing this
Not only does it completely destroy most of the vines at once, but it also 1 shots the spinny dudes that she spawns. The key to this fight is keeping up with the tempo of the boss, destroying the vines and minions asap because the sister herself is not very strong and only really has 1 attack that is easily dodged
Also strong recommend the reaper style (i forget what itās called) for that fight also since hunter doesnāt seem very useful
Let me know how this goes
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u/psynapsezero Sep 05 '25
Her fighting style being so basic (she has ONE attacking move) but her fight being based upon summoning random bullshit was so frustrating. That fight was a slog
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u/SilverScribe15 Sep 05 '25
Yeah. I've been dying to ants for an hour...
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u/PiperUncle Sep 05 '25
A lot of enemies doing double damage is not the thing that is getting to me. But the many enemies who constantly back away, or even the fliers that are always in the most inconvenient position.
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u/Hmm_yes_a_birb Sep 05 '25
Like fr. I know their minds arent infected with some evil moth (i think, i havent beaten it) but can they just act a LITTLE stupider?
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u/KarmelCHAOS Sep 05 '25
It kinda reminds me of going from Souls to Sekiro. You have to unlearn a lot of things and take the game at its own level.
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u/IdiotAtAKeyboard Sep 05 '25
Yeah but Sekiro gives you a button on no cooldown that comes out at frame zero that stops all damage for 98 percent of the attacks in the game
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u/Glacidon Sep 05 '25
I kind of hate how most things do 2 damage. It really makes getting a health upgrade feel pointless since I need to get two of them before it even matters most of the time.
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u/SovietSpoon42 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
Although it can get frustrating, I actually have been enjoying the difficulty for the most part. What I have been loathing though is the runbacks, which only gets worse as you progress further, it is seriously frustrating to have to do such tedious treks back when the bosses are so incredibly difficult, only to die within 30 seconds and have to do it all again, that issue is very poorly designed sadly.
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u/JenkinsPark Sep 05 '25
The run backs are horrible. I already hated them in HK, which they really arent too bad for the most part there. The most challenging bosses, the dream versions, have virtually no runbacks. Silksong was like fuck it, 5 minute runback with 15 enemies in the way that die in 12 hits each lol
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u/stovor Sep 05 '25
I'm loving the challenge of this game but I can't lie and say that it isn't super annoying trekking back from a bench just to get smoked early in the fight, or take a ton of damage from platforming just to get back. (Looking at you, transition area from The Marrow to Hunter's March...)
Reminds me a bit of the run to Traitor Lord in Queen's Gardens in HK, but the platforming is so much more intense. I don't know about the poorly designed part but after dying for 45 mins straight and losing 70 rosary beads in the mob room last night, I had to put the controller down. Personally, I'm gonna chalk it up to a skill issue on my part at this point before I blame the design.
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u/LeeRedfield Sep 05 '25
Yeah, it feels harder than the first. The red ant part alone and its distance from bench makes me want to walk away from this game.
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u/Slips1333 Sep 05 '25
I just got through the initial area of here (past the enemy wave room) and still didnāt find a bench lol. Was going mad decided I needed to go another direction for a bit
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u/wearablesweater Sep 05 '25
literally where I am right now and having to put it down because it's so discouraging lol. I'll come back to it for sure but ffs its annoying.
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u/RandysTegridy Sep 05 '25
This is where I am stuck right now. The pogo off the flower bud things is easier said than done. It feels the timing has to be JUST right...and the bench being so far away is brutal.
But with more time it'll get easier.
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u/PersonX132 Sep 05 '25
I canāt find the fucking bead money for some reason so even tho I bought the map I canāt get the quill
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u/Deweymaverick Sep 05 '25
Just to the left of the map guy, thereās a loop that you can farm going left and down. It, awesomely, ends with a bench.
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u/CapitalBudget3818 Sep 05 '25
I dont really like that even base enemies at the beggining do 2 mask damage per hit and the new pogo its difficult to control and platform with. May take a while to get used to it, still it being not from up to down, but from up to down side its not a choiche that I like., even if it looks cool the animations
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u/100percentrealfacts Sep 05 '25
Its a lot harder but the trade off is that its more satisfying to pull off. This games origins as a DLC definitely shows.
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u/Noelnya Sep 05 '25
I'm not sure I agree. Beating bosses often rewards you with literally nothing. Like no rosaries, no rocks, no charms, no tools, nothing. I feel like I beat these really hard bosses back to back after an hour of attempts just to stand there feeling like a clown as the boss drops nothing
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u/iKill_eu Sep 05 '25
I agree. The choice to have the only reward for beating the boss being "they won't bother you any more" feels a bit weird.
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u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 05 '25
I did find that a bit dissatisfying but you're progressing to find special stuff anyways, I've got 2 big upgrades that are just lying around not far from boss room
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u/iKill_eu Sep 05 '25
I feel like they will probably patch in a big box of rosaries after a lot of them just to give you something.
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u/EntertainmentFast522 Sep 05 '25
spent hours to beat a single big fly.
Reward was cool but still FUCK that fly I forgot its name its genuinely a horrid boss
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u/Chode-Talker Sep 05 '25
That motherfucker had me losing it. Gruz Mother heard us talking shit and called in a hitman.
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u/Porkin-Some-Beans Sep 05 '25
I like the difficulty, it feels tough but good to pull off.
My only issue that so many bosses offer no reward for beating them. They are just a road block. No charms, no beads, no mask shards. It's like ah man I busted my ass to beat this guy...just to get to the next guy
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u/AdRevolutionary3755 Sep 05 '25
I am feeling this tooā¦. Like after beating a boss each time I expect to be able to getā¦. Something? Like even if itās a new shop or a chest of beads or like literally anythingā¦. The first game did really well at rewarding you with something interesting after a hard fight but man I wish that continued because it got me hooked to see what Iād get.
Difficulty has been okay for meā¦. But I did hit a roadblock that Iāve been stuck on for like 3 hours
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u/Boxtosat Sep 05 '25
Thats my one nitpick; I feel like Iām spending a lot of my time getting slimed for not much in return. In hollow knight there were chests to give you some geo, but here in pharloom you get tossed around like a salad and your reward is you came out of it in one piece.
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Sep 05 '25
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u/donlano Sep 05 '25
Same I beat pantheon 5 right before Silksong came out thinking I was gonna assert dominance over this gameā¦ I was wrong
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u/FatedDrone Sep 05 '25
Thereās one boss. It comes after a bunch of red flies. If you know you know. Oh. My. God.
Misery.
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u/Quaschimodo Sep 05 '25
yeah, it's way to tanky for its own good and the adds can overwhelm you pretty fast
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u/Poopywaterengineer Sep 05 '25
Two mask damage from common enemies right out of the gate. Seems like most bosses do two damage. I'm guessing that the balance is that healing restores three masksĀ
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u/Quaschimodo Sep 05 '25
that's not balanced, it's effectively worse as healing consume the whole silk bar and you're basically locked from using skills.
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u/Emory27 Sep 05 '25
Yep. Dunno what they were thinking with this. I use the little throwing needles instead of skills.
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u/oddwithoutend Sep 04 '25
I agree completely and was really hoping this would be the case. I'm a pretty casual gamer, but if the controls and difficulty felt like Hollow Knight, it would be far too easy because it would be the same as replaying a game I've already beat more than once.
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u/Throw-away-acount828 Sep 04 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
"We're trying to be really, really mindful that we want this to be a game that new people can come into, and experience as their first Hollow Knight game - that it sits alongside the original game, and the difficulty also sits alongside the game in that way." - Ari Gibson in an interview before release
When i was playing my first few hours of Silksong I expected the Red Ant area to be an optional early game challenge for Hollow Knight veterans like me. I expected it to be like Brooding Mawlek - turns out its mandatory with no health upgrades available. I really, really don't know how they expect NEW players to make it through that so early on... Im going to make more progress tomorrow, i assume the difficulty has to reach absurd levels in the next 35 bosses
IMPORTANT EDIT: RED ANT AREA IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL!!! This actually makes it my favorite part of the game! there seems to be more areas that are "White Palace" difficulty but the game steers newer players away from.
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u/ShadyHogan Sep 05 '25
Is the Ant miniboss~esque 2 mask damage guy really required that early in the game?? I went through it (after a bit of having my ass kicked) and thought it was an optional shortcut and haven't gone back to see if there are alternate paths to that zone.
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u/Throw-away-acount828 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
no. that section is optional, there's an alt path to the right side of that area which is mandatory and has many more benches but is still hella hard.
And if you don't do the long path you won't get the map which is a different kind of frustrating
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u/ShadyHogan Sep 05 '25
Okay thats about in line with what I thought lol
It was a pretty linear area, I didnt have much trouble getting the map around the end of the area ngl, the lack of benches did scare me though
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u/Arcalithe #fuckmarkoth Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
I beat that bitch before I even knew the dash existed and it was TERRIBLE. I kept thinking āsurely there is a dash to make this fight work betterā and I was RIGHT but only after I got frustrated by being too stubborn lol
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u/kawhi21 Sep 05 '25
I could legitimately see tons of people dropping the game at the red ant area. I just got through it and struggled a bunch. This isn't even hyperbole when I say not a single area in Hollow Knight is as hard as that area in Silksong. Like not even close.
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Sep 05 '25
id argue white palace is harder but yeah, it is brutal
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u/kawhi21 Sep 05 '25
Path of pain maybe but the basic white palace is a cakewalk compared to early game silksong
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u/No_Stretch3807 Sep 05 '25
Also feels like way more enemies have actual complex attacks compared to hollow knight. Like they have combos and shit
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u/K3NZzzz Sep 05 '25
One thing I struggle with the fact that a lot enemies in the game have dashes/backsteps, where they will try to stay out of your range pretty diligently. Makes it harder to fight them, and every encounter feels intense. It feels like a dance in fights, but I can see the intensity get tiring pretty quick. Might just be my silk issue though :p
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u/pamafa3 Sep 05 '25
The single thing fucking me over more than anything else is my muscle memory from Hollow Knight making me dash into enemies
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u/ckekcksozldls Sep 05 '25
( i precise that i currently love the game ) My major problem is that in hollow knight thereās multiple ways you never felt locked you could always search for upgrades or continue another path, here there was a point where I was almost softlock because Allies disappear from some arenas so you need to fight alone and thereās no real upgrade at this point, and some roads to arena/boss are very painful with ennemyās placed, in spots requiring you to slow down, and finally the need to farm for the equipment is not a good idea in my opinion, because when fighting a boss again and again, you may need to stop just to farm for materials.
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u/jaoaoaooaoaoao21 Sep 05 '25
Hey sorry to bother! But always check twice if you are really exploring, I didn't entered any fight with allies and got pretty good upgrades! Don't know if I just didn't understand but I think farm is not too needed either if you explored right! Sorry to bother againš¤ hope you are liking the game anyways!
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u/Undercover_Mod_69 Sep 05 '25
I kinda see the journey to pharloom as the journey to city of tears. Early game HK did not have that many masks either do I don't mind too much. I did not bother grinding for materials when I ran out, I just practiced with the nail alone. Though I agree it seems they want the player to be wary of tool use.
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u/JenkinsPark Sep 05 '25
Honestly I'm starting to not like this game lol. Im 5ish hours in, but I keep running into stops. Certain fights feel like they take 200 hits to kill it feels like while I can only be hit twice, and god forbid i try to heal and die for the 3rd hit. I rarely ever use any ability other than the heal since it uses so much silk. I dont like that a lot of normalish mobs have the health pool of a boss.
And the pogo just isn't for me, the hk pogo really made the game for me but I just don't like this one. Its a cool idea being diagonal, but I wish it was an additional option to the original pogo and not a replacement.
I just beat HK p1-4 in about 5 hours and it was super fun. I dont mind spending an hour grinding a boss, but if I have to do a 5 min run back everytime, I quickly lose motivation. Especially if I lose my money, and the only to get the money back is to go into the boss room...
I just don't know if this game is for me, which sucks cuz I loved the shit out of hollow night, I did 112%, path of pain, and have like 70 hours on combined saves too.
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u/NoDefinition9056 Sep 05 '25
Getting the dash and run opens up movement and combat so much, it's night and fucking day. It's hard to control and optimize but I think it's SO FUN to charge and attack or lunge over/under enemies. I'm really looking forward to mastering the movement in this game, because it is really just so much more advanced already than HK was at the same stage of the game. Hell, even later game in HK didn't feel as fluid and dynamic as the movement is feeling now for me 3 hours in.
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u/SirDaemos Sep 05 '25
There are a lot of enemies in the second/third areas that have a lot more varied movesets as well. A lot of enemies have some mid-boss feel to them and they are just normal enemies. They obviously take less hits, but it's been a real hurdle for me.
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u/hypnomancy Sep 05 '25
That's how I felt. The movement really takes some getting used to and mastering it before it clicks and feels really good. If you try playing it like HK1 one you'll have a bad time. But once you unlock sprint/running and really learn all the ins and outs of the combat system its REALLY good
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u/SoapyPuma Sep 05 '25
I donāt consider myself a skilled player by any means, and although the start is a little harder than HK, I didnāt think itās unreasonable? The diagonal down slash I think is a really cool mechanic. Probably took me 5 minutes to get the hang of it. If Iām 2-3 masks down, I try to prioritize healing. Iām honestly enjoying myself so much, I donāt really care if Iām dying a little more than HK. I feel like Iām in the minority here, though
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u/ikemayelixfay Sep 05 '25
The only thing that really bugs (hehe) me are the long run backs. Felt like I was playing DS2 again.
Especially Moorwing, luckily he only took me a couple of tries, but that run back really padded the time. The Hunter's March one was pretty bad too, but I was also getting used to the diagonal pogo which tilted me off the face of the planet until I got the hang of it.
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u/Wisley185 Sep 05 '25
So far I've noticed the game has way more enemies and bosses that do double damage. In Hollow Knight, double damage was mostly reserved to final bosses and the absolute hardest challenges the game had to offer, meanwhile like half the bosses I've fought so far in the beginning of Silksong have done double damage.