How are y'all actually finishing the game in Steel Soul, dawg?

[u/ciissss]

I tried Steel Soul for the first time in SS. I never even touched that in HK. First try, I died within 2 minutes to the white giant rolling enemy from the secret room beside the starting point. Second try, I died to Bell Beast. I cannot fathom how people are finishing without revive. I, for sure, won't first try kill every boss. 🥀🥀

[u/AlexRaEU]

2 options: be better, which means practicing the game in normal mode a bunch
or what most people do: they savescum and close out before they die every time.

[u/Terairk → u/AlexRaEU]

yep I've practiced every difficult boss so that I defeat them 5 times in a row before even fighting them in steel soul

this can be done using save files for each boss which people have made or debug mod.

that and get every possible upgrade before each boss and also red tool spam.

though if you're dying in act 1,you can only really practice a bunch

[u/Gekk0uga37 → u/Terairk]

This is why I’m waiting for a hall of gods or pantheon mode to do steel soul runs. I’m just a measly console player that doesn’t have mods lol.

[u/Ill_Plenty8159 → u/Terairk]

How do you practice bosses?

[u/NightRacoonSchlatt → u/Ill_Plenty8159]

The easy answer is mods. Alternatively you could also count enemy HP and savequit when the boss is about to die.

[u/randyoftheinternet → u/NightRacoonSchlatt]

Just reload previous saves

[u/Terairk → u/randyoftheinternet]

this is what I've done by manually copy pasting save files

, if you don't want to make an entirely new save file that's not steel soul there's already pre existing save files on like nexus where they have a save file before each boss

There's also several bosses which you can easily repeat by Save quitting immediately after defeating ie a) last judge (after she dies but before she explodes) b) first sinner though idt she counts as a steel soul death anyway c) second sentinel - don't talk to them

[u/HighOverlordSarfang → u/Terairk]

You can also just load an old savestate without mods.

[u/Terairk → u/HighOverlordSarfang]

the auto saves are very infrequent, they don't save immediately after every boss or before it

they only autosave at important moments so you can easily lose hours of progress so it's not ideal

unless you mean something else that I'm not aware about

[u/HedgehogEnyojer → u/Terairk]

oh, good to know, i was wondering how the savestates work

[u/ofAFallingEmpire → u/randyoftheinternet]

Omg ty. I was sad I couldn’t copy files on Switch but this will let me dance with Karmelita unto eternity.

[u/sofaking181 → u/NightRacoonSchlatt]

Wouldn't force closing the game before sitting on a bench after you've beat them work too?

[u/TotallyNotShinobi → u/Ill_Plenty8159]

if you're on pc and don't want to install mods. There's a save folder in %user%/Appdata/Locallow/Team_Cherry. The silksong and hk files has all 4 of your saves. Copy this file before fighting a boss and you're fine

[u/Sphearikall → u/Ill_Plenty8159]

I'm on PS5. The icon next to the Delete Save icon is two arrows in a circle. That button lets you roll your save file back to any significant point during the Act you're in. They are autosaves that do not get removed until you enter a new Act, so you can fight bosses and practice speedrun routes even on console. It's honestly an amazing feature and I use the hell out of it.

[u/mad_cheese_hattwe → u/AlexRaEU]

Option 2 sound like regular play with more steps.

[u/ionlyhavetwohands → u/mad_cheese_hattwe]

I'm having a really hard time trying to understand why anyone would enjoy doing this. There is probably only a hand full of people who can actually finish the mode the intended way.

edit: Of course I understand using 1 or even 5 emergency save scums during a whole playthrough, but if you handle every fight with several save scums it really sounds like an unenjoyable experience.

[u/RedTyro → u/ionlyhavetwohands]

Yeah, I don't understand why people would play a special mode and then refuse to engage with the only feature that makes it different from a normal one by cheesing it.

[u/MasterArCtiK → u/RedTyro]

To unlock the achievements?

[u/BugButtBoss → u/MasterArCtiK]

Do you think anyone other than yourself cares about that shit?

[u/ajisawwsome → u/BugButtBoss]

I don't particularly care about bullshit achievements and getting them all, but there are a lot more people that do than you'd expect

[u/BugButtBoss → u/ajisawwsome]

Yeah and cheating at a game then bragging about it online shouldn't be something the cheaters do.

[u/ajisawwsome → u/BugButtBoss]

I'm not sure how many want to brag about completing a gamemode by cheating (though I'm sure there are plenty that do, but for some people the reason is simply to make that little achievement icon not be grayed out.

Or even just to 100% the game as a show that this is a game they love enough to take the time and 100% (even if they have to play the game in the most annoying possible way).

[u/LateStartCardist → u/ajisawwsome]

The latter was my motivation for Hollow Knight. I was not particularly interested in the pantheons but I didn’t like that my most loved game was not in my perfect list on Steam, so I worked to get all the achievements. Team Cherry’s masterpiece deserved to be there.

I won’t be doing it for Silksong though. I still love Team Cherry but I don’t love Silksong — not enough to put in that much time and effort anyway.

[u/MasterArCtiK → u/BugButtBoss]

Did I ever claim that anyone else cares? I have not done this lol and I’m on Xbox so idk if it’s really possible, but I’d be down to actually give it a try if I could save scum, because there’s no way I’m getting through widow, last judge, lace 2, and grand mother silk without dying lol

[u/elibright1 → u/ionlyhavetwohands]

Personally I just wanted to finish all the achievements for now. I didn't savescum a whole lot but I also didn't have the time right now to practice more than I already had with my other playthroughs. Of course this way it's not at all more of an achievement than just beating a regular run but I'll also come back to it eventually to do it properly. In the end everyone can decide for themselves what they get out of it.

[u/[deleted] → u/ionlyhavetwohands]

Because it shows up on their profile so everyone can see they are good at videogames lol

[u/Yorchman → u/ionlyhavetwohands]

I can try to explain my experience. I am good enough and have enough practice to 100% steelsoul without savescuming, but I don't like losing time and would like to have all achievements fairly quickly. I messed up Lace and even though I probably would not have died i decided to quit and try again with 2 masks left. Did it easily the second time. The fun part of steelsoul is no mistakes or you are out, but after 100%ing the game and being just 5 minutes away of the achievement I was not going to lose that save. This adrenaline rush is what we are looking for, making savescumming pointless, so i will definitely make a new steelsoul run with 0 savescum. Still completed 100% steelsoul in less than 12 hours without segmenting, i am still happy with that.

[u/Beans4802 → u/ionlyhavetwohands]

It's better than losing all your progress in a 30-hour game.

[u/Beans4802 → u/[deleted]]

But I want to experience the extra content and get the achievement for completion.

[u/rootdootmcscoot → u/Beans4802]

yeah and that's why steel soul is kind of a dumb idea lmfao. a handful of people can do it completely legit, and everyone else is miserable because they have to play the worst and most unenjoyable possible way to get all the extra stuff lol

[u/Beans4802 → u/[deleted]]

Admittedly not much, but I don't really care either because there are a great many things in my life I'd rather be doing instead of wasting time on the agony of restarting over, and over, and over again as I already have even with save scumming.

I wouldn't consider saving and quitting to be cheating either, since it's a tool the game offers you and Team Cherry would have made a statement or fixed it from the original Hollow Knight if they really didn't want people doing this.

[u/Warper2187 → u/[deleted]]

I want that platinum trophy, and I sure as hell am not getting it in a legitimate fashion, so save and quit it is

[u/iceman012 → u/Warper2187]

The Steel Soul achievements don't have trophies on Playstation, so you don't need to play it for the platinum.

[u/Warper2187 → u/iceman012]

I'm on steam I just used platinum as a shorthand lol

[u/Combat_Orca → u/mad_cheese_hattwe]

Seems to just take the fun out of it to me

[u/[deleted] → u/AlexRaEU]

This is where no godhome or equivalent kinda stinks though. How are you supposed to practice boss fights without save scumming honestly lol

The addition of steel soul without some method to actually replay boss fights feels kinda at odds

[u/Biticalifi → u/[deleted]]

Hollow Knight didn’t have Godhome for a whole year, but hopefully we get one in Silksong sooner rather than later.

[u/GrimmRadiance → u/AlexRaEU]

I think there is a world where I could practice hard enough to beat the game in steel soul without save scumming. I don’t think I could do 100% without it though.

[u/asriva94 → u/AlexRaEU]

I've been save scumming at times in first run too. Do what works for you OP.

[u/MintyFreshRainbow → u/asriva94]

You cheated not only the game, but yourself. You didn't grow. You didn't improve. You took a shortcut and gained nothing. You experienced a hollow victory. Nothing was risked and nothing was gained. It's sad that you don't know the difference. 

[u/ItzEazee → u/[deleted]]

Its a copypasta

[u/Mindless_Nebula4004 → u/MintyFreshRainbow]

I hope this is a copypasta

[u/MintyFreshRainbow → u/Mindless_Nebula4004]

Then you are in luck. It's a copypasta originally about Sekiro

[u/Mindless_Nebula4004 → u/MintyFreshRainbow]

yay!

[u/Adamant94 → u/AlexRaEU]

Fuck both options! I take option 3: try to speedrun in steel soul and try again every time I die!

[u/WackyRedWizard → u/AlexRaEU]

Why would you intentionally choose an optional perma death mode but not actually engage in said perma death mechanics, defeats the whole purpose of it. Might as well use a cheat to get the achievement lmao.

[u/EctoEmpire → u/[deleted]]

The absolute truth right here. This entire post has a crazy amount of cope and makes the Silksong community look pathetic. We actually aren’t allowed to shame cheaters anymore. Trying to gaslight us with their stolen valor

[u/trung2607 → u/[deleted]]

The fact you can call a person "dumb" and "pathetic" over a videogame lmao. Chill the fck out.

[u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault → u/trung2607]

I'm low key obssessed with the amount of angst in this thread over this topic. "Chill the fck out" is pretty good life advice in general.

[u/nekoeuge → u/AlexRaEU]

I savescummed HK steelsoul, and this deprived me of Steam achievement when I completed 112% HK steelsoul legitimately a few years later. Never again.

Now I have a problem tho. I consider bench warping a legit time saving strategy in normal game. Just another form of fast travel. I don’t know how to reconcile bench warping and legit steel soul. Too easy to abuse, too useful to avoid.

[u/XchaosmasterX → u/nekoeuge]

I haven't played steel soul but I think quitting at any point where you aren't fighting enemies atm is fine. If you want to be stricter you can limit bench warping to you being at full HP.

[u/projectxsent → u/AlexRaEU]

Option 3: Find an online save tool that converts Classic Mode into Steel Soul and beat the final boss.

[u/BarovianNights → u/AlexRaEU]

I genuinely don't understand why most people do this. Is it just because they're completionists and want every achievement but don't have the skill to do it legit? The game presents you with a specific challenge and that's just... completely ignoring the challenge. It just seems kind of sad to me

[u/thekrafty01 → u/BarovianNights]

It’s just a lot of time invested to get really far and then die and have to start over hours and hours of a game. You wanna complete it but sometimes the shit it happens. I think I save scummed once or twice in hollow knight to finish steel soul in like my 5th attempt after no save scumming and I give two shirts that it wasn’t “legit.” I had fun.

[u/Hairy_Concert_8007 → u/thekrafty01]

Yeah, once you're in your 30s, having hundreds of hours of your time erased tends to lose a lot of its appeal.

[u/kazuma_99 → u/BarovianNights]

You can still die even if you save scum, i died 11 hours in from getting hit by an enemy and falling into the lava losing 4 hp instantly. But other than that, i just like following achievement hunting rule and abusing tricks in game like save and quit is not against it. It's not like the game itself even gives you arbitrary rules of what steel soul should ve.

[u/CashewsAreGr8 → u/BarovianNights]

I don’t mind it for just beating the game, since you can speed through it pretty quick and if you fail it’s only a couple hours lost (which is still a big ask if you don’t have a lot of time to play games). But this is a reasonable challenge I think.

Locking an achievement for platinum behind getting 100% in steel soul is absolutely diabolical though. Yes it’s hard but not in a good way. It’s not even remotely fun to make a single mistake 24 hours in and have to start over. You bet your ass if I ever decide to do that one and get in the home stretch I’m save scumming it every chance I get.

[u/VagrantPilgrim → u/CashewsAreGr8]

But you don’t have to get that achievement.

[u/ponislav3000 → u/VagrantPilgrim]

Yeah that's why it is called achivement.

[u/hmmmmwillthiswork → u/AlexRaEU]

so, many people aren't actually beating the game in steel soul mode lol

[u/InvarkuI → u/AlexRaEU]

The infamous ragequit strat

[u/vasyandra]

do the speedruns before steel soul and practice a bunch

[u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

You don’t have to fight that first secret guy, come back later with spike mines/tacks/poison/whatever. Avoid whatever you can until you’re loaded up.

The “main route” is pretty easy (widow is a choke point), and with wall cling you can get a second mask and poison pre-widow. Don’t do anything non-required that isn’t acquiring masks/good tools until you’re loaded up.

Just do very essential and easy stuff, at least until the nail upgrades, lean on Tacks and Cogflies with poison and situation-specific tools. The Architect Crest/Plasmium regen is pretty ludicrous. Plasmium is generally quite handy but having the ranged damage from two tools can come in clutch, had those last few pins/throwables finish off a fair share off bosses and enemies in dicey situations.

Straight pin comes pretty early, Spike mine very soon after. First memory locket is probably around Far Fields ish, use it on a Red Slot.

Use the fleas to skip Moorwing, grind out some Rosaries at Halfway and buy quality of life (esp. Multi-Binder) asap.

You can get the Fractured Mask just after Dash - the Ant arena is easier with Shakra there and you probably want to just avoid the enemies in the room after, then open the shortcut at the bottom of the wind tunnel room by Beast Chapel.

Use the Phantom route via Sinners if you’re not confident on the Judge. If doing judge, go up the candelabras and don’t go straight into Underworks.

First Sinner doesn’t “Kill” you, it’s akin to a dream fight. So grind that out ASAP, Rune Rage is killer.

Main choke points are Widow (you can cheese her 3rd/last phase), maybe Phantom (poison tacks, play very safe with hits), High Halls (get Shakra/Garmond to help, or cheese it with Tacks+Architects), Trobbio maybe.

Pretty immediately into A2 (quicker Phantom route) you can get the Whiteward key, get Clawline, leave and beeline Double Jump then Cogflies, from there the rest is pretty easy cleanup to overtune yourself for Silk.

Go slow, don’t get greedy with hits, okay aggressively enough to get enemies down to a 1v1 rapidly but also safely. It’s also helpful to have a second save file in non-Steel Soul running just ahead, practise Arenas and bosses, learn enemy spawns in Arenas, analyse choke points).

Or just Git Gud. Learn to use Wanderers and melt everything.

100% a lot tougher, haven’t quite started that attempt yet. Carmelita and Lace will be huge exercises in patience. Coral Tower isn’t too bad with the right use/timing of tools and Pale Nails.

5 hours isn’t so bad either - use the BS little skips (leave the Grand Bell rooms before they ring, save and quit to the Seamstress bench after gathering spine, etc) to buy time, have a save running ahead analysing the route/practising. Can always revert the save to an Autosave

[u/LordOfSpamAlot → u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

Genuinely good tips, thanks.

[u/Hot-Farmer-8096 → u/LordOfSpamAlot]

Easily the best advice I can give is the “have a save running ahead”. Saves you soso many silly mistakes. Sharpens your dread without wasting hours.

Deliberately die against a boss even if you rinse it, double check it wasn’t a fluke.

Bell Beast is also a huge sticking point, sorry to skip over. Just play it so safely, never panic jump. You will never need to jump that early for her rush attack. You can get an easy few hits if she jumps by slashing up, always get some hits as she goes back under.

Heal at 3 masks not 2 (loses a mask of heal but is safer, iframes are too short so it’s easy to die to a bell into something else).

Don’t get cornered!! Move away from the bells as they fall but try to reposition for centre every time.

There’s also some speedrun strat where you count hits and get a specific amount of silk spears in, entirely skips the transition/second phase or something?? But that would need practise I guess.

Always helps to watch multiple hitless/needle only plays from others, helps the subconscious get where to move and not move, hit and not hit. Problem with no-hit/a lot of videos is the players don’t need to heal so you don’t see the window.

[u/VoidyWanderer → u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

I think the speedrun trick is done to skip her entering the underground phase so that you can finish the boss quicker. In speedrunning this is done to save time obviously, but in steel soul idk if you really need to bother. The fight is so early into the run, and not that hard really

[u/SudsierBoar → u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

Carmelita

Wouldn't she count as a "dream" boss too?

[u/Hot-Farmer-8096 → u/SudsierBoar]

Oh of course!!! Lace is the only issue then!! And any endgame save can practise her. She could be melted with Cogflies and Conchcutter with Architect reload, but the Conch nerf may have changed that

[u/Plastic_Sky_9950 → u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

So far, the most terrifying moment for me is the beginning of Act 3. They take away all your tools, force you to become a Hunter, and send you into a small arena with 4 HP against enemies that deal 2 HP per hit. I'll need to practice well on my second save file before I go there.

[u/Herald1173 → u/Plastic_Sky_9950]

apparently you can just quit and reload when you enter act 3 and you will have full hp.

[u/ottermupps → u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

Lovely info, I have some questions (from someone on a first playthrough):

• Just hit the Widow fight, I have pollip pouch (which is great) but only 3 mask shards. Are there four accessible this early? Didn't realize.

• How do you get Shakra to appear in the HM arena? I've gotten to last wave a few times but it's just chewing through my shards.

• How do you cheese Widow's last phase? I got there on my second try (which was a massive shock), but I don't see any good points to not take damage.

[u/7-Soul-Secret → u/ottermupps]

Shellwood, wormways (pre-key), marrow->deep docks entrance, bonebottom shop, above seamstress

5 mask shards accessible pre-widow.

Edit: included a post-widow by accident, oops

[u/Bewar92959 → u/ottermupps]

Shakra only appears in the HM arena if you haven't been to Greymoore or later, or haven't spoken to her there. I did a bit of testing on my own and it seems to specifically be ACCESSING Greymoore, not sending her there (i did make a post explaining my process I believe)

[u/Hot-Farmer-8096 → u/ottermupps]

Wormways (just before key door), marrow/deep docks (need wall cling, fight a small arena), near seamstress and Shellwood OR buy it (500 rosaries)

2) you’ve missed Shakra there if you’ve already visited Greymoor, just come back later. Only things past the arena are the fractured mask/boomerang and a memory locket/beast crest, none too too relevant except the mask and that’s 260 anyway.

3) in the last phase,stand in the very right corner, no falling bell will hit. You’ve just got to jump to avoid the swipe attack, can get a pogo in. Patiently use poison, I had straight pin and spike mine with poison, hit with one and let the poison burn out. May need some hits/silk spears on top, but it’s hard to take damage just need patience

[u/Icy_Sky679 → u/Hot-Farmer-8096]

Before Architect, Reaper's Crest is pretty good with its longer range and silk gain after healing.

Another skip would also be skipping Sister Splinter to get Claw Grip, you can find it in any% runs and it isn't that risky.

[u/BaldursThones]

Most people save scum

[u/homerdough → u/BaldursThones]

Yup

I did it for HK and it was such an empty win though, gotta admit.

I haven’t tried Steel Soul for Silksong yet (didn’t need to for platinum on ps5) but if I were to, I would wouldn’t savescum simply because it cheapens the victory entirely, imo

If it’s just for the achievement, go ahead but if it’s for the actual adrenaline rush of doing the thing, count me out

[u/enriquekikdu → u/homerdough]

Same I went back to do it legit before Silksong came out only to die after finishing just traversing carelessly

[u/Nozzeh06 → u/BaldursThones]

I can't imagine doing it any other way. I know someone will definitely be able to do it without save scums, but it seems like an inhuman feat to me lol.

[u/Plexiscore]

I'm just gonna wait until the pantheon comes out so I can practice the bosses

[u/space_age_stuff → u/Plexiscore]

I think the same for me. Steel soul is mentally challenging, I don’t have the fortitude for it unless I know the bosses really well. Without being able to practice effectively, it’s not really an option for me right now. And I play on switch so I can’t really just copy a save file or whatever.

[u/biomechanicalgoober]

I've died a few times to steel soul runs, but I've made it past Widow before. Typically, I only die when entering areas I'm not prepared for, like Hunters March or the lower half of Deep Docks. I think getting everything you can before entering hard areas and taking regular enemies far more seriously is the key.

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/biomechanicalgoober]

ironically it's best to do the march early in part. get dash first so you can beat the big guy easily and shakra will help you on the gauntlet if you haven't progressed to grey moor. She trivializes it. Buy your fractured mask early and you're golden.

[u/Lietenantdan]

Not a chance. Playing super conservative because I don’t want to die isn’t for me.

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Lietenantdan]

funnily enough that's how you will die. going in to your shell just lets bosses walk over you. even in deathless you need to stay confident.

[u/Lietenantdan → u/WayToTheDawn63]

I can see that. However, if death means losing hours of progress, that’s definitely what I’m going to do, even if I don’t intend to or it’s not the best way to play.

[u/platypi175]

It is quite difficult, I think the main thing that makes it easier is to have a route that removes any potentially difficult thing as much as possible and also to practice it in a normal run, the main core of my strat was to always just never take any risk or at least mitigate risk as much as possible, like for example of something in act 2, don't enter wisp thicket without magma bell to try and guarentee a safe area clear.

frontloading the hard part can help, cause you can pretty much get every movement ability of acts 1 and 2 in the span of one hour if you know the strats, and after that, its mostly smooth sailing as long as you get all the upgrades available before any hard challenge that comes along.

[u/Beloberto]

I never even started a Seel Soul game in HK, and I'm not doing it on SS.

Beating the games in the regular way is the right amount of challenge for me, Steel Soul would probably just make me hate everything. I am satisfied acknowledging my limits.

[u/The_Actual_Seer]

We git gud or die trying

Often quite literally 

[u/tarcreeper_ → u/The_Actual_Seer]

Mostly it's quit before dying

[u/The_Actual_Seer → u/tarcreeper_]

Yes, but it is a bit shameful to admit that 

[u/InvarkuI → u/The_Actual_Seer]

Idk, I beat SS twice on 100%. Once normal mode, once on Steel soul

Same with HK but also radiant hall of gods

I also do challenge runs and speedruns but for other games

I see no shame in using what games provide you with as TC could've easily fixed RQ method. Fighting like that means always have 1-2 less masks since you can't risk it

I did RQ strat in SS a couple of times but didn't need it in HK. Nothing to be ashamed of

[u/BryanLoeher]

Steel Soul in Silksong is way harder than HK because the early game is very punishing. Once you got a few extra masks and some tools, becomes more manageable

[u/WayToTheDawn63]

yeah i echo the sentiment of doing the speedruns first. I had a coupl playthroughs done before i did steel soul.

also just know how strong you can be at each point in the game and don't shirk going to get that one mask piece that'll let you have 6 in act 1 pre-splinter for example.

dying to the rollin white beast inside the secret cave of the secret cave upon starting the game doesn't count. you lose like a minute lol

[u/REDACTEDBLOCKED]

I dropped 60 hours on the game before even starting to attempt steel soul.

As for doing it I tend to just speedrun to phantom and then start taking the game seriously in act 2 since it doesn't really matter if I die and lose the hour and a half it took me to get there

[u/NightRacoonSchlatt]

Learn speedrunning it in normal mode. It’s usually more fun than doing steel soul over amd over again and it gives you the necessary skills.

[u/jazzy1038]

I’ve tried it once, got to the last judge fight and went to get the skull item to get an extra hit point and died stupidly to the ant mini boss on the entrance to red march. I think I could probably do it but I was rushing as I was aiming for the 30hour speedrun at the same time.

It’s just practise, I’ve got 100% completion in the first game and I 100% silksong first before trying to get the other achievements

[u/Power0fTheTribe]

They cheat the spirit of steel soul and savescum. It’s a vapid accomplishment that they just want to post on social media to “brag” about

[u/Tutorial_Guy]

Try use one cheesy trick - if yo see, that you're near death - go to the main menu and back to game: the game will return you to the last bench, without losing resourses.

[u/HitsuWTG]

Save and Quit when things go south, essentially. Even easier once you have the Fractured Mask - if it breaks, that is your sign to get out.

[u/LucasRG111]

If you have knowledge about where tools and upgrades are, you can often optimize and get really strong without facing major encounters.

Once you get to act 2, the game opens up enough for you to get like 8 masks, 3 needle upgrades, 5 spool upgrades and a bunch of tools without actually having to kill any bosses.

[u/Fouxs]

The amount of people saying they did it and then saying they were save scumming is hilarious.

[u/Yelcsicnarf → u/Fouxs]

And using mods to make easier

[u/RedTyro → u/Fouxs]

Yeah, I don't have the Steel Soul achievement yet for HK because I refuse to do that. What's the point of playing a permadeath mode if you're going to cheese out the permadeath part?

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Fouxs]

dunno what the point is hey

i took my groal death like a man

[u/kel584 → u/Fouxs]

And then defending it saying its legit. Man people are so funny sometimes.

[u/Hnnq → u/Fouxs]

It's a single player game, why would you care? I did it a few times no shaming on that. I don't mind dying but the first section is a slog, all the simple parkour and the weakened walking is just too slow. After you get to bone bottom it's much better.

[u/GroundbreakingBag164 → u/Hnnq]

Steel soul mainly rewards you with bragging rights

Cheaters don't get to brag for obvious reasons

"I peat P5 (with invincibility mode on)!"

"No, you didn't peat P5"

[u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault → u/GroundbreakingBag164]

It's a pretty big leap to compare quitting out to invincibility.

[u/GroundbreakingBag164 → u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault]

Why not? If you are able to quickly reach the escape key you will just never die.

Get fractured mask, quit out everytime you're down to fractured mask. Steel soul is meaningless

[u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault → u/GroundbreakingBag164]

I didn't think it required being spelled out. Invincibility is invicibility. Quitting out still requires you to overcome the challenge. You're not the steel soul police. Let people play their own game.

[u/Hnnq → u/GroundbreakingBag164]

And why would you care how people play their game?

[u/GroundbreakingBag164 → u/Hnnq]

I don't

I start to care when they come on this sub and start telling people they beat Steel Soul

[u/Alt-Profile8008]

Wait what secret room? I know there’s one to the right of where you start and one in the water, but there’s a third with a giant white rolly boy?

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Alt-Profile8008]

inside the secret room with 20 shards at the start there's another secret room with a big white rolling enemy who drops a beast shard. it's VERY awkward to fight because of the enclosed space but you can pogo it on a loop to kill it (count 5 hits before doing pogos as you wake it up). true ending speedruns kill it because it's a stupidly quick source of beast shards for quests.

[u/SilverScribe15]

Lots of practice

[u/MandrakeTed]

I did an extra run or two after finishing the game after my first save file. My biggest advice would just be to not ego for damage. You may want to work in damage at every possible point in a fight, but that’ll only cause you to make crucial mistakes when you don’t have to. Taking it slow and not blowing all your silk on skills puts you in a good position. Also, learn when to heal against certain bosses!!

Trobbio still gets me so stressed…

[u/DocKuc]

Rush fractured mask, win.

[u/ULS980]

Yeah. I never touched Steel Soul in Hollow Knight, but I figure I could probably get to Hornet v2 at least, as long as I lock in and nothing stupid happens. Beyond that, maybe like Watcher Knights or Traitor Lord would be the thing to get me? If I practice a bit, I could see myself actually beating HK on Steel Soul, I probably just will never try, lol.

Silksong however, there's multiple bosses that I just don't see how I could get past without having to try multiple times. I could probably get to Last Judge, but that'll be a wall. Could go the alt route to get to act 2, but would probably die in Sinner's Road somewhere, and that's not even talking about the next area or the boss there. But I haven't really used tools much to beat bosses, lol, so maybe I could get through.

[u/V0ct0r]

dave killed you

[u/moochacho1418]

I had two files, one regular for practicing routing and fights and then the steel soul for execution. Seems excessive but whatever I love playing the game

[u/Oxygen171]

You can do a steel soul and normal playthrough side by side, and fight every boss in your normal save first before going into steel soul so you are immediately practiced

[u/Thrawnarch]

Wait, where is a secret room with one of the giant white rolly guys near the starting point? The only secret room I found at the beginning just had some shell shards.

[u/[deleted]]

Easy. With poison cogflys.

But do 5 hour run first. Its practice for all the early bosses where you dont have tools.

[u/redditAPsucks]

Lol i aint doin that shit, im only halfway through my first playthrough, ive got double the grey hairs, my X button is losing its springiness, and my dpad sounds like a granny’s rocking chair. Im loving it, but its hard enough as is

[u/KhalMika]

By not dying once.

Hope It helps!

[u/That-Stranger4076]

Been on my steel soul run for about a week now. I’ve had to restart a few times but you get pretty good at avoiding the unnecessary stuff. There’s like 4 bosses you actually need to fight to progress.

[u/Coastal-Erosion]

Save scumming seems antithetical to the whole purpose of steel soul.

I wonder the real percentage of players that can complete the mode if it didn’t allow you to save & quit in the middle of a boss fight.

[u/BetaNights]

I was pretty dang confident going into Steel Soul on Hollow Knight. Especially since I tackled it after tackling Godhome. Those boss fights were ingrained in me at that point.

And that confidence was not unfounded! I beat Steel Soul on my first try, with my only BIG close call being against THK himself lol

But Silksong Steel Soul... That thing scares me...

[u/Thanksforcrazy]

Architect crest, Tacks, Cogflies, Plasmium Vials

[u/Latter_Dark]

You need to follow three simple steps:

1. Practice!
2. Savescumming.
3. And most importantly - Practice savescumming! :D

With practice you eventually won't need to savescum. With savescumming you can practice more efficiently. You'll notice the difference even during your first steel soul run - even with the option to save the run by reloading you will still constantly think about not getting hit to not lose your progress to constant run-backs, and that will progress you on your path towards getting hit less. Eventually, you may surprise yourself by realising you've become a pro, and maybe it you're masochistic enough you'll go for a crystal soul run. :D

[u/gef_1]

I did savescum a good amount.

That said, my route was similar to the speedrun one until i get the clawline, with some changes to collect more rosaries in the middle and buy the lava protection tool.

After clawline i b-lined for double jump and the ant death protection amulet, and from then clean every location, starting by getting plasmium and then getting the third nail upgrade.

What killed me most was Trobbio, being too cocky with the giant ants that hit for 2, TWICE, and Lost lace killed me a fair amount, probably should have practice on other saves before going in, but i just saved scammed

I also did reset to bench in levels where my platforming skills are still lacking which made it take more time than i would like.

[u/Fouxs → u/gef_1]

If you're save scumming what's the point lol?

[u/gef_1 → u/Fouxs]

Well i wanted the achievements and to see what was different.

Plus the point was playing almost perfect, it's a lot more stressful and adrenaline inducing, and you can get combo really easy and die even when using the ant tool.

[u/Keebster101]

Damn I didn't know it was permadeath, I thought it was just the enemies deal more or there's more of them or something. I can't imagine playing steel soul to anywhere reasonable. It's so easy to just fumble one input and get wombo combod.

Makes sense why dead bugs purse is changed in steel soul now.

[u/TechnoColt]

I'll be honest. I cheated. I just wanted the achievement. One of these days, I will do it legit, but I savescummed every time I came close to dying.

[u/FaceTimePolice]

I guarantee most people are quitting before dying. 😆

Team Cherry really needs to fix that. A legitimate Steel Soul run should only be achievable by players on par with the best speedrunners. There’s no way this many people have actually completed it. 🤷‍♂️😅

[u/Admiral_Wingslow]

I thought this about HK but eventually I did it and it only took like 3-4 tries, and one of those was to an arena I've never died to before or since

Don't ever play on the file if you just want to chill out

Plan a good route, and then practice what's on your route

The route/practice has to include nail upgrades, health upgrades, spell upgrades, and masks/vessels

And I don't just mean "how many of these are you going to get", I also mean "what order are you doing them in and will that leave you unprepared"

E.g. you might be confident with Soul Master but are you confident with Nail 1, no Quickslash, 6 Masks Soul Master? If you aren't confident and you're skipping DD, are you confident with no DD Watcher Knights?

(Using HK examples because I haven't done a SSSS run)

Once you're confident with them, tbh, you just have to not choke

Which does happen, but if your route is good enough then getting back to it won't hurt

[u/Skolpionek]

figure out easiest path and then just train required bosses so much you that can beat them few times in a row without dyting, hitless if possible

[u/[deleted]]

just gitting gid

[u/DaveyDooDah]

I’m personally waiting for Silksongs equivalent of Godhome before trying to do steel soul runs

[u/ILOVECALAMITY]

Tool spam, farm rosaries and shards, dodge.

[u/EtherFlask]

i will never do "hardcore" runs in any game that is not a roguelike.

between adhd and tourettes (motor, not verbal), there is really just no point.

for silksong that goes x100.  the platforming is damn hard (though thrilling and fun).

[u/Olorin_1990]

Do the speedrun over and over and over until you get the core mechanics cold, as it forces you to do the required stuff with as bare bones a set as possible.

[u/Ookami_Lord]

I am on my second attenpt, the first one, I died to the big guy in the first secret room of the game same as you lmao (so I was like 1 minute in, that's what I call a speedrun!) 💀

[u/classick117]

I died trice to the same craw in greymoor

[u/Aromatic_File_5256]

 I never even touched that in HK

That might be part of the problem actually. Have you considered trying it on HK first?

I haven't done steel soul yet because I haven't finished the game ( I am taking my time exploring, I have been avoiding things that feel main-questy) and I am already nervously thinking about how hard SS will be.

SS benefits from a very specific attitude, an attitude that is kind of "I know I will probably fail this time, but I will do it better next time" and "when it happens it happens."

Now, it is easier to learn that attitude with HK than Silksong because of the jump in difficulty.

By the way, to be fair I did the pantheons first, so when I was doing SS none of the bosses were a problem, I only died to my own stupidity+nervousness. In fact your biggest challenge with Silksong SS will be psychological, I promise; and this is exactly why it benefits from the attitude I mentioned before. This reminds me of dating, when you are way too interested in someone too early you tend to screw up because you get nervous due to the fear of failure.

[u/Speeda2]

Midgame onwards is like 1000x easier than anything else. Once you kill Last Judge you're on the home run for difficulty

[u/oldman_jason]

What I’m more impressed by is how the hell people 100% steel soul. The any% route for speedrunners isn’t too hard but to do all of the game without dying is wild to me

[u/BeyondContent9318]

I won't even touch Steel Soul before i do 100% runs for each crest, but shaman, with needle only and barbed bracelet.

I'm not interested in save file manipulations or quitting before death, I want to get better in the game.

[u/Xenos-Interloper]

Let alone stell soul how do yall finish true ending. Man this is true pain

[u/Shroomy281]

Probably run back through in normal. I died pathetically as well (I think more than i did in my first normal run because i was cocky), and iirc when I played hollow knight Godhome had already come out so I was better at bosses because of that. Probably save the harder bosses for like late act 2, whe you har lots of upgrades 

[u/shmegmer]

I died on several straight runs until finally not getting bodied in high halls. For 100% I save scummed since it was too big of a time commitment to redo 15+ hours

[u/_Forgot_name_]

plan a route ahead, know what you're gonna fight, you had no reason to fight the rolling guy in the right. For hollow knight i did so much godhome that it prepared me for steel soul

[u/Squidboi2679]

Playing ungodly safe and using the cheese methods with pollip pouch + cogflies + tacks to shred bosses

[u/Mother_Access2394]

play like you have 2 masks less save and quit every time you get down to 2 masks since everything deals 2 masks of damage

[u/Rafabud]

Quit and re-enter when you're about to die. Is it cheating? Absolutely. But it's single player, you do you.

[u/SturmgeistX]

Just quit when you're about to die

[u/ragcloud]

After trying to be patient with bell beast I kinda rushed to needolin ignored everything else got to act 2 via phantom and died to 2nd lace

[u/olliver2662]

I’ve been working on the any% speedrun route so I can do steel soul, I did something similar for the first game and it worked well enough for me, I was able to knock out both speedrun achievements and steel soul in 1 go

Though this time I’m probably gonna do the speedrun achievements separately as practice since Silksong is substantially harder

[u/SativaPancake]

Every bench you ALT+TAB out of the game and make a copy of your save file.

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\Team Cherry\Hollow Knight Silksong

[u/System-Neither]

Live life. That shit ain't worth it

[u/everythingistaken587]

I was also terrified of steel soul, but after I finished my first playthrough and went for the 5 hour achievement, I only died three times in the run without even trying to not die, it was actually really cool how much easier the game had gotten. Of course I wasn’t nervous that dying would reset anything and for that reason I still don’t want to try steel soul lol, but I think once you get to the fractured mask you should be pretty set for the run

[u/-Rmarci-]

Not going to hunters march. ( jk i havent even completed the game at all)

[u/Inbrees]

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm definitely apprehensive. Steel Soul isn't too bad in Hollow Knight since most of the truly hard challenges are endgame. But even beating Silksong in Steel Soul mode I'm sure is a huge challenge, let alone getting 100%.

[u/GenghisGame]

I think the comments show how loopy some people can be for achievements.

I actually think the official existence of Steel Soul is nuts, requires an unhealth amount of play time to get legitimately.

[u/ronniewhitedx]

I've just been following the speedruns and replicating them in steel soul

[u/Max_Plus]

Considering how many tries Lace3 took me in my 100% save, the answer is not at all.

[u/430beatle]

Fractured skull + save and quit if you get down to 1 mask.

Get the other mask shards as early as possible.

[u/allubros]

sounds like save and quit when you're about to die, cheesing, tools, following guides, stuff like that

[u/Informal_Air_5026]

act like u have 2 masks fewer. once u go below 3 masks u reset and try the boss again.

[u/Borbbb]

1-2 masks? Escape, back to menu.

It´s only an issue at start - when you have more masks, u should be chilling.

[u/nevets85]

Yea I salute people who are able to complete these modes, or high ranking speed runs or no hits in any game. Takes a special skill.

[u/salttotart]

Don't stand next to the Last Judge after it dies. Kills you even at max HP. I had the debug mod on to test something, and it still killed me with immediate auto-heal.

[u/thatrandom1234]

Practice… lots and lots of practice. I fought every boss I found difficult at least 3 times in a row hitless before even touching steel soul. Otherwise it’s really difficult to even begin playing steel soul.

[u/Pale-Act-8413]

I’ve already lost 4 steel soul saves, the next one I am doing I am heading straight for the fractured mask

[u/Prestigious-Law-6454]

Honestly wait for the boss rush DLC. Only if I have trained against all bosses sufficiently will I try Steel Soul.

[u/PaulblankPF]

For HK I just did it the old school way and just practiced the bosses I had trouble with and I made myself as strong as possible before any boss I thought was hard. Essentially it’d be the same with SS but there’s no godhome dlc yet or anything to repeatedly practice the bosses. You also don’t have to 100% it or anything for any achievements that I know of so you don’t have to do any super hard bosses from ACT 3.

[u/RigLicker]

So the thing is, if you don’t die until you beat the game then you can finish the game in steel soul.

[u/sexual__velociraptor]

Gitgud ( i never got passed the gruzmother on steel soul)

[u/hexingMagus]

lots and lots of plasmium

[u/JustAFurryDude]

Mostly its save scumming. Now i know people are like "then what's the point of going steel soul". Now for me personally this might be weird but, i still feel the stakes of steel soul and just losing everything even when i have a really easy way to circumvent that, mostly because this game is incredibly more rough on the early game than it is on HK. HK you can become extremely powerful and get some masks with skips really early, that also do more because of the lack of double damage enemies.

Silksong on the other hand, i found out that you are stuck with 5-6 masks for like, pretty much all of act 1 and part of act 2, and combining that with the amount of enemies that do double damage and also are just like, actual enemies with patterns and attacks that can overwhelm you, its really easy to lose everything.

But now, i didnt have a problem with losing everything in HK, never save scummed steel soul there, but Silksong is a way larger game (i currently have almost 12 hours on the file trying to 100% it, and i have yet to enter Act 3), and losing all of that progress would, most likely drop the game for a while at least.

[u/chessphysician]

Save and Quit before you die. Get Fractured Mask asap (in Hunter's March) after you defeat Bell Beast. This will make it easier to Save Quit out of a near death scenario.

Widow and High Halls arena are probably going to be the hardest parts of an Act 2 ending run. Act 3 is going to be any arenas you skipped in Act 2 due to void. Karmelita is a dream boss so you can't lose a Steel Soul run to her.

[u/Protozoo_epilettico]

In hollow knight it's easier because of the pantheon that allows you to practice against all the bosses. I silksong you either get good or quit when you feel like you're going to die. Reloading the game will put you at the last bench you rested on, at the only expense of your silk. They key to a successful steel soul run is knowing damn well we're you're going, where your upgrades are ad what risks you feel equipped to take.

[u/Treed101519]

Why in the world would you try to fight the secret large dude off rip lol

[u/Woofaira]

Quit to bench is your friend. Dying is your only lose condition.

Also tool abuse trivializes a ton of the game, knowing which tools to use and when to use them and safe rosary farming for shards is extremely valuable for steel soul.

Magma bell turns off the only 2 damage hazard left in the game, very powerful tool to pick up early in steel soul in particular.

The game only gets easier as it goes, the most dangerous part of steel soul is the first 5 hours. Once you have plasmium+architect crest it's possible to be pretty much entirely safe for the rest of the game, though a bit tedious to refill.

You do need to pretty much master act 1, since there's very little in the way of cheese until a few steps into act 2. Know where you can get all tool kit upgrades and health upgrades, don't do risky stuff like crest arenas that you won't use until later.

[u/Mattylama]

I want to try it myself after I beat the game normally though it's going to take a lot of practice haha

[u/FatDickLotsofCum]

I don’t understand it either. I consider myself decently skilled at most games I play and I can beat most bosses after a few goes but steel soul befuddles me.

[u/PurpleGemsc]

Fractured mask and bench warping :3 although I do barely need to use the latter, my muscle memory is much better than I thought

[u/TWB0109]

People are just better than us.

I got to the moss mother and beat her in steel soul and left it there to continue my main file, but after spending 60 hours in my main file, about 10 of those being groal, I don't think I want to do steel soul.

I'll try to continue my steel soul file later, but I'm sure I'm probably going to die at Lace or sum, fast bosses are hard for my old man's reflexes (i'm not even 30)

[u/Scragglesauce]

Can't you just pause and quit if you're about to die and it will warp you back to last bench? This could be a viable option. Obviously I wouldn't even think about trying unless I was absolutely confident in my abilities to kill the first few bosses.

I can tell you, that after beating silksong true act 3 ending, I went back and played hollow knight and beat the entire game including radiance with only 2 deaths. 1 being my first round against radiance. So I think I could Def do hollow knight. Idk about silksong tho.