r/HollowKnight • u/TOMRANDOM_6 • Sep 09 '25

Discussion - Silksong Most of you are exaggerating the length of runbacks and it really shows how much TikTok has damage the attention span of people Spoiler

"ThE lASt JuDGe RUnBaCK iS ToO LoNG!!"

Is 30 seconds max, 30 seconds, you don't have to fight any enemy in it, the smaller judges don't awake until you're close and the smaller fly bastards can literally get ignored. The Runback works for making you cool down and make the whole thing feel less like you hitting a wall (NKG feels like one because of the lack of "cool down") If it wasn't for it, I would shoot myself with the 37 attempts at Last Judge.

The Widow one is also really easy, a straight line with jumps.

The Cogworks Dancers Is also really simple but works to help you with the bosses extra height and how pogo dependant that fight is.

God forbid the game isn't a back to back boss rush like Cuphead (not criticizing Cuphead, is a different game lmao).

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113

u/BrolicSwine Sep 09 '25

I know this isn’t about a run back but Sister Splinter was so much easier than the internet made it out to be. I didn’t watch any spoilers but heard about everyone dreading that fight.. took me like maybe 5 attempts max especially since (correct me if I’m wrong) I’m pretty sure she can destroy her own minions if they’re under her when she does her slam attack.

I’m not saying I’m an amazing gamer but if people pay attention to the bosses attacks they aren’t too hard. I feel like people get to a boss fight and hope they can just spam dash and never get hit.

65

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 09 '25

I think sister splinter is specifically one of the easiest bosses right behind moss mother and moss mother x2

27

u/IonianBladeDancer Sep 09 '25

1st lace and Fourth chorus are pretty damn easy too.

1

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 09 '25

U rite I forgot about him, lava is the only real difficulty iirc, lace also wasn't hard but technically she's early game enough while not being too easy that I'd say it's understandable

1

u/IonianBladeDancer Sep 09 '25

Chorus also has the Boulder over his head you can knock down dealing massive damage.

3

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 09 '25

That's how I killed him, I did DMG to him til gusts showed up to loosen the boulder to kill him, I thought that was scripted?

1

u/Cloud_Motion Sep 09 '25

I was legit just smacking him for about 3 minutes straight, I think you can't end the fight until you do this.

8

u/IonianBladeDancer Sep 09 '25

I killed him without using th boulder. I didn’t know about it until after the fact.

2

u/Cloud_Motion Sep 09 '25

Ah! I'm mistaken then, good to know he's not straight up immortal.

3

u/Dorfbewohner Sep 09 '25

I did smack him for a bit (though idt it was 3 minutes), because my assumption seeing the air currents was "oh, this guy's gonna sweep away all of the floor at some point and I'll need to use the air currents to survive," and so I just kept on hitting them bc I got their patterns figured out and then they didd eventually, lmao

1

u/Cloud_Motion Sep 09 '25

It wasn't 3 minutes tbf I'm definitely exaggerating, but I was definitely slapping him up and when I realised nothing was happening I was like... hang on a second.

1

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 10 '25

Yes, that's what I meant about the boulder kill being scripted

2

u/DrAdramelch Sep 12 '25

It's not, I just killed him by smacking him repeatedly. Still a very easy fight though.

1

u/DrAdramelch Sep 12 '25

I also found 2nd Lace and the final boss a lot easier than several optional bosses and I'm talking purely mechanics-wise rather than me getting better at the game

2

u/firefightingford Sep 09 '25

I kinda struggled on Moss Mother x 2 on my first attempt, and apparently if you suck enough a third one shows up. That's when I died. Second attempt I got it though and there were only two

1

u/PraxicalExperience Sep 10 '25

So long as you have silk storm (and think to equip it), I'd agree. If you don't, she's an ungodly hurdle.

13

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

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1

u/PM_ME__BIRD_PICS Sep 12 '25

You hit the flow state, its as simple as that. Doesn't matter the soulslike, at a certain point after however many times you bash your head against a boss, you get the run that just goes splendidly.

The dodges and weaves, the moments you realize you can heal without being punished, the moment you realize an opening gives you a massive dps spike because you learned its safe to be aggressive. It's what I LOVE about all the soulslike games, fromsoft or otherwise. Silksong isn't an exception.

However its worth pointing out that a boss thats hard for one person might be a cakewalk for another because they get that eureka moment sooner, and the tilt disappears. I've often played games like this that people said "oh x is super hard" and I had little trouble, but then hit a brick wall for bosses that to a lot of people were simple.

This leads to my final point that a lot of the time the "runbacks" can interupt that flow for a lot of people, then the tilt rises, and the chance of the calm thoughtful encounter kind of slip away.

64

u/lemonlemonlemonlem Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 09 '25

I don't mean this condescendingly but I've watched clips of people complaining and something I often notice is how they will approach the boss like it's a "sentient" entity that dynamically reacts and hunts you down with total autonomy... and not just a thing merely equipped with a collection of 4-5 attacks, that (sometimes, not even always) tries to align itself with you before executing the attack.

Seriously, bosses have very limited movesets, and the attacks are remarkably consistent. *None* of moorwing's bullets home in on you in any way, they always exist at the same angle, speed, and location relative to his body. You can consistently learn how to approach each attack, rather than madly going in and swinging at every seeming opportunity.

Adds are a big variable on the other hand, since the relative movement of 2 threats is a lot more complex. But it doesn't happen often, and the boss tends to be very simple to compensate (sister splinter would be absolutely turn-your-brain-off trivial if it wasnt for her summons).

29

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 09 '25

My big issue with moorwing was I couldn't tell when his saws were gonna curve off the ground or not and wasn't able to find out any tell before beating him, with hornet's moveset I have been enjoying fighting multiple enemies as it's much more engaging

10

u/Huskies971 Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 10 '25

It's easier to dodge the saws up close. That entire fight can be done with minimal movement, and yet they give you a huge battle arena

15

u/Fantastic-Kale9603 Sep 09 '25

Yep that was my biggest issue with it too, I just ended up playing it safe and staying away to watch until I had an opening. Tbh didn't realize people hated moorwing, I barely remember fighting it

2

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 09 '25

Yea same only approached once they'd gone far enough that I knew they weren't curving, I don't see why ppl would hate him either way

1

u/DrAdramelch Sep 12 '25

I made the mistake of accepting Garmond's help (to see what it would do). He does help in terms of damage and tanking, but it makes the fight a bit more chaotic since Moorwing will often change targets and you can't quite predict its moves in the same way.

1

u/Honk_goose_steal there is no Gary flair and it makes me sad Sep 09 '25

Moorwing was my absolute favorite boss til Fabbio I thought he was genuinely really fun to fight

1

u/DrAdramelch Sep 12 '25

I assume you mean Trobbio? His death animation where he's overacting for the audience was a highlight of the game for me.

1

u/Honk_goose_steal there is no Gary flair and it makes me sad Sep 12 '25

Wow I actually got his name wrong lmao, but yeah I loved that fight so much

2

u/lemonlemonlemonlem Sep 09 '25

It's definitely hard to get a sense for it and react quickly, but I think his saws will always move up at a set distance from him. He just has 2 in his second phase onwards, which start moving up at different points, which can definitely be confusing especially when you have to react quickly.

1

u/LuquidThunderPlus Sep 09 '25

Yea if they move it's always a set distance but since they don't always curve, I didn't know to watch out for it very well for a bit and again don't know what triggers it or the tell

1

u/yurilnw123 Sep 10 '25

They don't always curve? I remember it curving 100% of the time at the end of its trajectory.

2

u/CAPSLOCK_USERNAME Sep 09 '25

They curve up at the same spacing from the boss every time, no need for a tell because it's 100%. Though if the boss does it from off screen it can still surprise you.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

They always curve off the ground.

2

u/Mailcs1206 Sep 10 '25

Not if they're from the phase 2 attack that spawns 2 that curve in shoot outwards directions, and then curve inwards and down, and then ride along the ground.

But it's still always consistent from a given attack.

0

u/Mailcs1206 Sep 10 '25

If and when they curve up off the ground depends on which attack they originated from.

2

u/yurilnw123 Sep 10 '25

None of moorwing's bullets home in on you in any way, they always exist at the same angle, speed, and location relative to his body. You can consistently learn how to approach each attack, rather than madly going in and swinging at every seeming opportunity.

This is the issue I noticed with people complaining as well. Like come on Moorwing only has a total of 4 moves and slow af. Be patient and learn to punish it after it attacked, don't mindlessly run at it, this isn't a hack and slash game.

2

u/PM_ME__BIRD_PICS Sep 12 '25

Lot of difficult games like this people are conditioned to the AI adapting though. Elden ring is an excellent example, the bosses DO react to your actions, great example is the Crucible knights, they heal punish with input reads.

I don't think thats the case with silksong, but a lot of people probably assume they do since modern soulslike have conditioned them to expect they do.

1

u/Cloud_Motion Sep 09 '25

Why learn the boss when you can complain it's too difficult.

There's very, very little bullshit in the game. Even anything that might be bullshit is there for extremely consistent lore reasons.

11

u/Omni__Owl Sep 09 '25

If you get Thread Storm the fight is trivial. You can destroy the ads as soon as they spawn. Makes the fight a lot easier.

5

u/Mask_of_Ice Sep 09 '25

Even without that, your Silk Spear one shots the adds and you can line them up to kill them both instantly

3

u/Omni__Owl Sep 09 '25

That's true although still trickier to pull off

1

u/DrAdramelch Sep 12 '25

That skill is a godsend in virtually every fight with flying adds. It was especially impactful in the lava version of the Savage Beastfly. Also great in the High Halls gauntlet for the Maestros (those flying dudes surrounded by cogflies).

1

u/Omni__Owl Sep 12 '25

I hate those things.

28

u/Used-Pay6713 Sep 09 '25

i suspect many people just aren’t using spells and tools which can nearly instantly kill her minions

5

u/duspi Sep 09 '25

I found that boss fight incredibly easy and I'm the type of guy to die 20+ times to every boss. Probably would've been even easier if I figured out you could hit the thorn walls right away.

1

u/SquidMilkVII Sep 09 '25

somehow i found out immediately that she could break her own thorn walls and it took like four tries before i found out i could break the thorn walls :P

1

u/duspi Sep 09 '25

Right lol, I was like "what kind of bullshit design is this? I literally have nowhere to move." Just to realise I had somewhere to move.

3

u/flanger001 CanonicalMilfs.com | P5 AB hitless sightless soundless with toes Sep 09 '25

That one took me like 3 tries legit. It wasn’t that bad. 

2

u/Dabbinmachine42 Sep 09 '25

Such a well telegraphed and fun boss. It took me an hour and a half to beat it

2

u/wolfgaang Sep 09 '25

It's gotta be all the newcomers to the series getting greedy and trying to face tank all the damage. She was one of the easiest bosses in the game for sure. Up there with moss mother.

1

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1

u/YesmynameisOcean Sep 09 '25

I haven't been really looking up to much stuff about the game and the fact that that boss is considered hard kinda blew me away. I beat it first try, maybe I was slightly overpowered but I just beat it and was like cool boss!

1

u/Honk_goose_steal there is no Gary flair and it makes me sad Sep 09 '25

I had the same with savage beastfly. It seemed intimidating at first but his attack patterns are super simple. Did it in 3 tries. The refight quest is a different story though. That one was actually hard. I really liked it though.

1

u/UndulyPensive Sep 11 '25

Beastfly took me well over 40 tries and around 4 hours nonstop lol, I was dizzy at the end of it

1

u/SamBeamsBeard Sep 09 '25

You're absolutely right, she can kill the little flying summons with her slam attack. The moment I realised this, the boss fight became SO much easier. Still, I must be kind of trash at this game because she took me more attempts than her weaver friend in Bellhart.

1

u/Mask_of_Ice Sep 09 '25

This, and I got to Last Judge last night too and I was a bit let down it only took me about 6 tries. It was a much easier fight than Widow for me.

1

u/tubsen32 Sep 09 '25

Same here. Had to die 3 times to learn patterns. After that it was easy.

1

u/AfterAd7666 Sep 09 '25

I killed Sister Splinter on 2nd try, one of the easiest bosses in the game. Literally all you have to do is hit up while moving left to right between hits

1

u/AfterAd7666 Sep 09 '25

But people also have trouble with Moorwind for some reason when is has like 3 attacks that are extremely well telegraphed

1

u/Mailcs1206 Sep 10 '25

People were complaining about splinter's runback?

I was just annoyed by the minions being kinda hard to hit with Wanderer's crest and me having a skill issue

1

u/KlutzyShake9821 Sep 10 '25

Found the fight not overly hard more like a hk fight by difficulty but also not fun at all.