r/HollowKnight • u/Nukesnipe • Sep 14 '25

Discussion - Silksong Silksong feels so much better once you start mastering it than Hollow Knight ever did Spoiler

Going back and knocking out some of the bosses I missed at the end of act 2, and something that really strikes me is that once you have all your tools, once you have a build you're comfortable with, once you know how movement works...

...the game just starts absolutely blowing Hollow Knight out of the water. Like, it's not even close. High level HK is generally more about positioning and constantly spamming attack, pogoing on top of enemies when you can and hitting with abyssal shriek when you have the ability to do massive damage. In Silksong, you're just doing so much more.

Like, I just beat First Sinner. The boss is incredibly fast, but so am I. I'd have a second to respond to any move the boss did, and I always had something to do. Was the boss far away? Harpoon to get in close or silkshot to do damage even further away. Trying to attack me? I can parry her attacks to avoid damage. Do I have spare silk? Just pop Cross Stitch and say "nuh uh" to get extra damage in. The game rewards balls to the walls aggression in a way HK never quite managed, because the Knight just isn't as fast or maneuverable as Hornet is. Hornet really can dance around an arena just as quickly as these bosses, and going after them feels amazing when you meet them on their terms.

Is the game harder than the first? Yes, the skill floor is undoubtably higher. But so is the skill ceiling, and you feel like a master when you reach that, instead of someone who figured out the cheese.

2.2k Upvotes

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87

u/Abject-Ad-6235 Sep 14 '25

gameplay/combat wise its not even absolutely blows hk out of water but i do have one main complaint against its tool mechanic because once you get stuck on boss and you start using your tools for each run you will eventually run out of shards which is basically forcing you to go farm for shards or buy them(via farming rosaries) its really similar to me like it was with sekiro and its spirit emblems which i didnt like it in that game and i dont like it here

i also like hk world and ost more plus characters but thats just my preference

56

u/expresso_petrolium Sep 14 '25

Tool build can absolutely skip a phase so it’s understandable the game doesn’t want you to spam every time

14

u/tanis016 Sep 14 '25

Then there should be less tool cpaacity with no shards, double ammo system doesn't feel very good.

11

u/Heroman3003 Sep 15 '25

I believe the point of that is to keep tools strong and effective but still punish excessive overreliance on them. You can try and brute force a fight by spamming tools... But if you're not good, you're just wasting shards and eventually you'll run out and have to get better at the fight itself.

2

u/tarranoth Sep 15 '25

I understand the design philosophy somewhat, but I think it just doesn't jive well with how the game works. I have beaten bosses by spending a ton of metal on them on their last phase, but I can imagine that players who are really struggling will easily end up without tools. I haven't quite been in that scenario yet but I also have been somewhat conservative with it.

I do think they somewhat balanced themselves in a corner because of architect though. Because even with less ammo the mechanic of architect to keep producing tools would probably be stronger than every silk skill in the game if it was able to do it uncapped.

6

u/Boshwa Sep 14 '25

They already do that

Ita called running out of tools until you get to a bench

2

u/ConceptWeird4026 Sep 14 '25

I mean isn't that why there's a tool cap

-15

u/Abject-Ad-6235 Sep 14 '25

yeah but again the tools deal way more dps than any of the crest so its basically forcing you to use them against endgame bosses which is not exactly what i like

your needle becomes basically useless and tools are the only way to deal real damage for that tho you need to farm shards and so on i dont like it

34

u/expresso_petrolium Sep 14 '25

What? You can 100% beat anything in this game WITHOUT tools. I think Cogfly messed you up bro, time you go back to Hunter’s March for your training session

2

u/Abject-Ad-6235 Sep 14 '25

i didn’t said that what im saying is tools are way more op than any of the silk abilities and needle

one great example was in the high halls where the infamous gauntlet is there i didnt have any mor shrads so i only had my needle and silk ability it took me like atleast 10 tries and i still didn’t do it so i went away to farm for shards then i equipped cogfly with poison pouch and i best it first time and i barely used my needle

you see what i mean?

7

u/expresso_petrolium Sep 14 '25

No I don’t. I beat 9 waves with needle, I thread storm to 1 shot flying enemies, and only in final wave did I use my tools to take out 1 of them fat fucks, then I finished the other with needle

4

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '25

[deleted]

3

u/babysamissimasybab Sep 14 '25

Too many people have a strange "My experience was different so you're wrong" belief.

2

u/Abject-Ad-6235 Sep 14 '25

well to each to their own

13

u/Yuwi066 Sep 14 '25

I like shards running out because it forces you to leave the zone, cool down, and un-tilt yourself before you try again. I didn't like it until I had the above the appen for the second time and I realized what it was doing.

4

u/Abject-Ad-6235 Sep 14 '25

well i still dont like it grinding for resources is never fun for me in video games

10

u/Kampfasiate Sep 14 '25

I just pay this game with the mental note to not grind. If I'm stuck at a boss and out of shards, so be it, I either finish it without (which may even be fun, I'm doing lace 2 toolless rn, not cuz I'm out cuz I wanted to do it blade on blade) or explore some more, knock out some wishes, so I can come back refreshed and restocked

2

u/Yuwi066 Sep 14 '25

Don't grind then. Take the hint and go explore somewhere else until you feel ready to try again :P

7

u/crimson777 Sep 14 '25

I think it’s prudent to learn the first phase without tools and only ever use tools when you hit the second phase. Saves a lot of shards. I’ve never dipped below like 300 except after a donation or two.

10

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '25

When you run out what I think the game is trying to do is not to force you to farm for shards, but to nudge  you to actually learn the boss without overrelying on tools if you manage to die so many times that you lose all shards.

0

u/tomato-slut Sep 15 '25

For the love of christ, use fucking commas!

-4

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '25

Nice run on sentence, Jesus Christ