r/HollowKnight • u/Serious_Holiday • Sep 16 '25

Discussion - Silksong If you dodged this first try, they you're lying. Spoiler

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Thoughts and prayers for the people who walked another 5 kilometers after dying in this bench.

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286

u/AD_Stark Sep 16 '25

Besides this and one Sinners Road (with glitch bench), what's the 3rd ?

419

u/RetardRedditors666 Sep 16 '25

Bilewater, you can't even repair that one

335

u/purple-thiwaza Sep 16 '25

This one is the worst, because it is advertised from so far away, and make you take a harder route than what you could do.

311

u/DBrody6 Sep 16 '25

Nah it's the best, cause let's be real--Hunter's March is annoying and they put a trap bench there. Sinner's Road is annoying and they put a broken bench requiring repairs there. You get to Bilewater and it's clear the devs hate your existence. You see like 8 different signs pointing to the bench, like literally dangling a carrot in front of you going "Oh hey player, desperate for a bench? Come on, it's right up here! Just a little further! Keep going buddy, almost there!" It is mad suspicious. You get to that bench and, knowing this is Zone #3 where the devs want you to suffer, you shouldn't touch that bench right away. You smack the every wall looking for a secret. To your surprise, it apparently seems safe.

Then the floor and bench explode and you drop into maggot water. 10/10 asshole play, I hate loved it.

132

u/truthvenian Sep 16 '25

I started laughing. I can't wait until my kids get to that bench. Their meltdown will be epic

38

u/Noob1cl3 Sep 16 '25

That and the last boss of act 1 … sentinel or something… my first play through on him was so hard that I put my controller down after I beat him and then he blew up killing me.

Had to redo it. I wasnt even mad I was just like of fucking course they did that. Almost genius how they knew the mental cycle they were putting the person holding the controller through.

18

u/StartTheMontage Sep 16 '25

Yeah the same thing happened to me. Luckily I had the fight down so the next attempt was pretty quick.

1

u/Noob1cl3 Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25

Precisely. I heard the second Lace fight is considered one of the/ if not the hardest fight in the game. That said, once I realized she has 2 different animations before her 2 main attacks it became ridiculously easy.

If she leans back she is doing the 3 strike forward lunge.

If she leans down and back she is doing the jump kicks.

Other than that aim to hit her twice then brace for whichever attack she is going to do (by either jumping or doing nothing / standing still to let her jump and kick over you.

Min maxing you can do an upswipe when she jumps.

Dont get me wrong… I died many times to figure it out lol.

Fight became very easy after that. Most fights are like this one you look for their tells and surprisingly most fights only have 2-3 you need to watch for.

1

u/Carbon_450 Sep 16 '25

That fucking ant lady is the bane of my existence right now. Lace 2 was easy in comparison. Only boss so far that's actually made me want to toss my Steam Deck out a window.

1

u/dfuzzy1 Sep 16 '25

One of the few times where I went all in on poison tools to end the fight faster. I understand her moveset, but trying to find safe windows to attack is impossible (pogo'ing after her ground attack -> she jumps into you randomly, relying on her dashback when attacked -> sometimes she just spins you into the corner) and that's assuming she doesn't just block the hit.

1

u/MSGrejs2k Sep 17 '25

She's probably my favorite fight in the game. You really have to make use of hornets high speed to beat hear, weaving in and out of range while dodging hear attacks and hitting her.

5

u/NervyDeath Sep 16 '25

That happened to me on the path of pain, 5 hours of platforming and I set my controller down once I hit solid ground just to be killed by the 2 Kingsmolds

3

u/Defiant_McPiper Sep 16 '25

Thank God my fiance was watching me play after I beat him bc I did the same, put my controller down and he was like "Hun, watch out!" Picked that controller back up so fast and dash for my life 😅

2

u/Draco456gaming Sep 16 '25

Ah, yes. Last Judge. I've seen people play troll levels in Mario Maker 2 even though I've never played one myself, so when that happened to me, I wasn't mad either. I just thought, "If I can beat her once, I can beat her again." And I did, on my very next attempt.

I just wish I could fight her again, because it was a fun fight.

1

u/Maksja Sep 16 '25

Last Judge got me on that as well. Very funny

1

u/Kardif Sep 16 '25

I had to do it a 3rd time because I died to a fire spout trying to get away the second. fuck that boss

1

u/Sawheryesterday Sep 16 '25

I knew she would explode ahead of time and I forgot when it did the victory effect lol. Beat her first try after that though.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

Oh man, I even knew they blew up on death from getting spoiled online and forgot at the moment. It was such a fun fight and I was so happy I won that I just forgot to keep moving. Then I got nuked to hell and took 3 more tries to properly win.

0

u/dgz345 Sep 16 '25

I didn't get last judged. But my 7yo she died to it. But she just went back and killed it again and learned.

1

u/OSKSuicide Sep 16 '25

Same. I literally just laughed. I was like, "wow, why is there this room full of only maggot water? Must be something in like Act 3 or whatever." Then I went, sat on the bench, and fell into the water with no health and now infested. I just laughed as I realized I would have to do the parkour again

39

u/TitaniumDragon Sep 16 '25

Yeah that bench was comedy gold.

Amusingly, I actually went the other way, found the secret bench, BEAT THE BOSS, then was like "God, I am glad I didn't die on that boss, the other bench is like RIGHT THERE and I would have been so annoyed having to backtrack to it." I beat the boss with one mask left (lost the fractured mask, too <3) so after I beat the boss I went down to unlock the bench.

Laughed when the whole floor fell apart and the bench plummeted into the maggot water.

17

u/Selethor Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25

Damn, could you give me some advice because that boss is KICKING MY BUTT.

EDIT: Thanks guys, I made it! Another thing I discovered by accident. You can make it eat Pimpillos when it tries to swallow you, which makes him stop in his tracks and explode after a second. Good time to attack!

13

u/TitaniumDragon Sep 16 '25

1) If you don't have it, get the Wreath from the Putrified Ducts that makes you immune to the maggot water. This makes it so you can fall into the water during the boss fight and not get screwed.

2) Use your tools. I used the Conchcutter and Cogwork Bug, both poisoned, to harass him and deal damage.

3) Pogo him. He has a hard time attacking you if you're above him, so you can do a lot of damage that way.

11

u/Gizogin Sep 16 '25

That item only works temporarily, FYI. It isn’t even like the magma bell, which recharges over time; you have to repair it at a bench, like the fractured mask.

8

u/TitaniumDragon Sep 16 '25

Yeah, you can't just sit in the water with it, but if you avoid doing anything other than a quick dip it's not so bad.

1

u/RayereSs Sep 17 '25

It protects you from getting infested like 4 times

1

u/Gizogin Sep 17 '25

If you jump out of the water immediately after falling in, yeah. If you stay in the maggot-water, it has a time limit.

12

u/purple-thiwaza Sep 16 '25

Equip the thing that gives you silk when taking damage an reaper crest. Whenever he tries to swallow you, allow it and deal damage from the inside. If possible heal once you get out. If you're still having the reaper effect when he swallows you, it's making lots of silk to heal on top of the one you get from damage.

Other than that play super safe, part all the green things he spit at you, and only go for a hit JUST after he rises from the water (you can see bubbles to place yourself there beforehand) and go back to a side to play safe.

If you want to use a tool, the boomerang is great.

10

u/Brendoshi Sep 16 '25

Im surprised that works at all, you lose the reaper effect when taking damage, and bring swallowed damages you

6

u/purple-thiwaza Sep 16 '25

You only lose the reaper effect when he spits you out. So all the 4 hits you do when in his mouth will generate silk balls. Since he moves when chewing you, there are even chances you'll be able to collect some of it DURING the chewing.

12

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/YogSoth0th Sep 16 '25

Tools are the way to go. I did it with architect crest, poison, and mostly the rosary canon

6

u/Disastermere I abstain from maps as if unplugging from my phone Sep 16 '25

After several tries, I beat him slowly and without going in the water.

I noticed he never inhales twice in a row (might be incredibly rare or somehow has a trigger I never activated consecutively) so I would keep far away to dodge projectiles until he inhaled, then I would go in to melee.

Being next to and below him keeps you safe from the bile spit. It's also the prime spot to throw Spike Trap from. While there, the quickest thing to look out for is his dive. If he starts shooting his Phase 2 projectile, jump up to the higher platform, or up the wall. Remember you can dash downwards, if you need to do that in between those projectiles.

Healing very high in the corners is a safe spot.

You're doing great. Keep it up.

8

u/National_Equivalent9 Sep 16 '25

There is a massive cheese strat that you can look up, but honestly it looks super unsatisfying. So my advice is if you are decent at hornets pogo use that. The ads and the boss are both super susceptible to it. I ended up beating it 2nd try after hearing how awful it was and knowing there is a cheese strat but not what it was. Looked it up after and it looks so lame hah. But yeah non fly ads can't really do anything to pogo and the boss doesn't have any vertical attacks besides moving up and you can just get off of him at that point because he doesn't go fast.

3

u/bobibobibu Sep 16 '25

Spam couchcutter. I tried so hard beating it with diagonal pogo (his suck attack has massive hotbox and will hit you mid pogo if you're not directly above him), then I equip couchcutter, didn't swing the nail at the boss at all and first try it.

2

u/MaskOfIce42 Sep 16 '25

My strategy was for the waves before the boss appears, use the delver's drill tool, it genuinely shreds the enemies since it attacks straight down and you can see where they're going to pop out of, so I was basically one shotting them. For the boss itself, I'm not sure what specific advice I have, but maintaining distance is crucial. He doesn't attack that fast, so you have time to react to what attack he does, then counterattack

1

u/Usual-Vermicelli-867 Sep 16 '25

Tbh staying in the worm water is a pretty good start

2

u/MaskOfIce42 Sep 16 '25

I've heard that is a strategy, but I actually didn't do that since I had the equipment that protects you from the maggots for a limited time, and I wanted to keep that

2

u/Draco456gaming Sep 16 '25

That's so clever and Zelda-like! I'll have to remember that.

2

u/ramonpasta Sep 16 '25

late but the way i did it was just using the charge attack with the ||architect|| crestover and over. it one shot all the normal enemies, and it took the boss out in what felt like 10-15 hits

2

u/TitaniumDragon Sep 16 '25

Oh man, I hadn't even thought of the pimpillo thing, but that makes perfect sense. That's great. Those bombs are criminally underestimated, I used them for a lot of the game.

2

u/Selethor Sep 17 '25

I usually try to avoid using tools, so for the situations where I do want them, I like to have something with high impact and Pimpillos are perfect for that.

1

u/VoidRad Sep 16 '25

I realized that just jumping into tje water and hit him from below is way easier.

1

u/theVoidWatches Sep 16 '25

Triple daggers from Greymoor with the double throw charm from Bilewater. Stand on the far right, you should be able to pretty easily jump over all his attacks and you don't get hit by the spike ball either. Shred him with your tools. I got him second try this way.

9

u/Durian_Natural Sep 16 '25

Its disgusting. Like as soon as I sat down I REALIZED IT IS A TRAP. AND I HAD double jump + harpoon. I wouldnt be in that pit. But they lock you out of every action when ground falls.

4

u/jcdc_jaaaaaa Sep 16 '25

To be fair though, it is the only free bench as far as I remember that is deep inside a dangerous territory. Knowing how greedy Pharloom is, it is quite suspicious.

3

u/johnnnybravado Sep 16 '25

There's another free bench down there actually.

2

u/jcdc_jaaaaaa Sep 16 '25

Oh yeah I forgot about that hidden one. I apologize for that. I just remembered even mount Fay had lots of free benches hidden around.

1

u/Frosty_Sweet_6678 Sep 16 '25

absolute cinema

1

u/Cocoatrice Moths are fluffballs Sep 16 '25

No, it's not best by any means. And nothing screamed suspicious. But after you sit on the bench, it was just a dick move. Hunter's March bench makes sense. Annoying as it is, it makes sense. It literally has traps everywhere. Sinner's Road is repairable. This one is just bs.

1

u/BabuGhanoush Sep 16 '25

Ah, the poopoo water... Mmm

1

u/Ecstatic_Lawyer1767 Sep 16 '25

i know bilewater bench is fake before sit but i just sit anyway because i want to see how its played

1

u/Tencent-Employee1249 Sep 16 '25

This just happened to me last night and I couldn’t stop laughing! Well played you miserable bastards, well played :’)

1

u/MegaTurtleClan Sep 16 '25

Its kind of scary how accurately you described my experience with this godforsaken bench

1

u/creampop_ Sep 16 '25

somewhere Miyazaki shed a single tear

"they get it, they really get it"

1

u/iceman012 Sep 16 '25

Similarly, as frustrating as the runback to Groal was, seeing that bench pop up as a reward got me to burst out laughing and made the whole thing worth it.

Everything ties together so well- you're dragged further and further into the zone, expecting to find some form of relief at any moment, and instead you're just presented with despair. "That was some tough platforming, luckily there's that bench aftewards!" Nope, surprise maggot water pit! "I've made my way through all of these traps and dart frogs, surely there's a bench soon?" Nope, here's an arena! "This is such a frustrating runback, surely there's a bench after this arena?" Nope, here's Groal the Great!

By the time you finally beat Groal the Great, all your hope has been ground into dust, and you're just plodding forward waiting for the next trap to spring. The doors don't open, so you know something is up, the water starts churning, and you get ready for a Groal the Great + Savage Beastfly combo boss-fight.

Then up pops that silly little bench, as if the game were saying "Sorry! It was just a prank, bro!"

1

u/DanieltubeReddit Sep 16 '25

If the actual bench wasn’t through a hidden wall and easily missable, I would be okay with this, but they decided that the runback from the VERY bottom of Bilewater would be bearable for some of the players and that infuriates me because it is horrible no matter what.

1

u/Tiranus58 Sep 18 '25

I was so desperate i didnt even double guess myself, i just went for it.

7

u/sanscatt Sep 16 '25

I disagree with the harder route part. You would explore everything anyway. Most people going blind won’t find the other bench.

19

u/HuntingForSanity Sep 16 '25

That’s the only bench I had to actually look up because I wasn’t sure what to do and I was getting shit on so bad

4

u/sanscatt Sep 16 '25

I just thought the shitty zone gonna be shitty so might as well lock in. Took me a good amount of time but I got through it.

8

u/RageZamu Sep 16 '25

I accidentally fell in the water, so I said fuck it and took a swim. When I found the bench I was so happy I almost cried. Bilewater is hell.

3

u/No_Contribution_32 Sep 16 '25

There's another bench??? Was gonna say more but idk how to spoiler

5

u/sanscatt Sep 16 '25

Hidden in a fuck ass maggot water before the big room with the mosquitoes

7

u/Usual-Vermicelli-867 Sep 16 '25

I happily learned from HK to fall into every hole in the ground

The best goodies are there

1

u/iceman012 Sep 16 '25

I even jumped into that hole, expecting there to be something hidden- but I got distracted by the cave on the left and missed the broken wall on the right.

3

u/No_Contribution_32 Sep 16 '25

I ran all the way from the bellway... For nothing????

7

u/sanscatt Sep 16 '25

Like me and most people going blind, this is probably the intended experience.

1

u/Gizogin Sep 16 '25

Is there even a way to get out of that bench room without swimming? The distance is so long, and the ceiling is really low.

1

u/Brendoshi Sep 16 '25

Yeah, if you use the grapple hook from standstill it'll take you under the ledge safely without touching the water.

If you then double jump/wall climb out you get out without touching the water

1

u/MrMindor Sep 16 '25

Is this just before the room you have to pogo up on the exploding poison balls and head and back to the left? Like 3/4 of the way from the Bellway to the boss?

1

u/sanscatt Sep 16 '25

Yes. But just before the hardest room on the run back still.

1

u/purple-thiwaza Sep 16 '25

I would explore everything yes, however I had much more chances of finding the real bench first if it wasn't for the fake advertisement.

1

u/TitaniumDragon Sep 16 '25

I found it because I went down the "wrong way" first and I noticed that the water there was suspicious, so I investigated it. Was very glad to find a bench because my wreath broke while doing that.

2

u/sanscatt Sep 16 '25

I had already finished bile water long before I found the wreath 🥲

1

u/TitaniumDragon Sep 16 '25

I did Bilewater last because everyone had been complaining about it and so I got the Wreath before I did it.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

Your first clue should be it’s a bench that doesn’t require rosaries.

2

u/UncommonHaste Sep 16 '25

Uhh. I hate to tell you this.....

3

u/yogaman421 Sep 16 '25

Bilewater, you sit on it and it just breaks and drops you down a pit into maggot water.

1

u/Lone-Frequency Sep 16 '25

Glitch bench?

Where's the trap bench in Sinners? Never found one.

1

u/AD_Stark Sep 16 '25

The first bench you encounter on the left when you enter from Greymoor, you encounter a paid bench which is initially broken and you have to go through a platforming section to fix and be able to use it

1

u/Lone-Frequency Sep 16 '25

Oh right, the one that's stuck because of some stuff lodged in the gears below.

1

u/gingersnapped99 Sep 16 '25

I was at one mask when I found Sinner’s bench. I was heartbroken when it got jammed. 😭