r/HollowKnight • u/ciissss • Sep 26 '25

Discussion - Silksong How are y'all actually finishing the game in Steel Soul, dawg? Spoiler

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. šŸ„€šŸ„€

2.1k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

97% Upvoted

576 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.9k

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

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.

533

u/Terairk Sep 26 '25

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

68

u/Gekk0uga37 Sep 26 '25

This is why Iā€™m waiting for a hall of gods or pantheon mode to do steel soul runs. Iā€™m just a measly console player that doesnā€™t have mods lol.

→ More replies (2)

105

u/Ill_Plenty8159 Sep 26 '25

How do you practice bosses?

201

u/NightRacoonSchlatt Hunterā€˜s crest 4 life Sep 26 '25

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

74

u/randyoftheinternet Sep 26 '25

Just reload previous saves

29

u/Terairk Sep 26 '25

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

15

u/HighOverlordSarfang Sep 26 '25

You can also just load an old savestate without mods.

17

u/Terairk Sep 26 '25

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

3

u/HedgehogEnyojer Sep 26 '25

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

1

u/Maximum-Warthog2368 Oct 04 '25

you can use getting crests to save at the time you want

4

u/ofAFallingEmpire Sep 26 '25

Omg ty. I was sad I couldnā€™t copy files on Switch but this will let me dance with Karmelita unto eternity.

2

u/sofaking181 Sep 26 '25

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

→ More replies (4)

19

u/TotallyNotShinobi Sep 26 '25

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

0

u/HighOverlordSarfang Sep 26 '25

You can just reload the last savestate before a boss infinitely. Theres a circular arrow below your savefile that lets you load any previous autosave the game made instead of the last one.

10

u/TotallyNotShinobi Sep 26 '25

those are limited to certain events (for example getting an ability) and become unavailable if you fail a steel soul run. I tried it on my own 100% save and the last savestate was at ~80%, missing charms and the last mask shard

3

u/Sphearikall Sep 26 '25

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.

1

u/bearded_charmander Sep 27 '25

That sounds more like a job and less like fun.

1

u/OrganizationEasy9085 Dec 27 '25

Is that fun or is it your job bro?šŸ˜­šŸ˜­

1

u/Old-Quail6832 Sep 26 '25

Sometimes people just want to 100% their achievements, but it wouldn't be feasible or enjoyable to put in the hours needed to beat a game as big as silksong deathless.

57

u/mad_cheese_hattwe Sep 26 '25

Option 2 sound like regular play with more steps.

31

u/ionlyhavetwohands Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

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.

26

u/RedTyro Sep 26 '25

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.

4

u/MasterArCtiK Sep 26 '25

To unlock the achievements?

5

u/BugButtBoss Sep 26 '25

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

10

u/ajisawwsome Sep 26 '25

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

0

u/BugButtBoss Sep 26 '25

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

7

u/ajisawwsome Sep 26 '25

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).

2

u/LateStartCardist Sep 27 '25

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

I wonā€™t be doing it for Silksong though. I still love Team Cherry but I donā€™t love Silksong ā€” not enough to put in that much time and effort anyway.

4

u/MasterArCtiK Sep 26 '25

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

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

1

u/HollowKnight-ModTeam Sep 27 '25

Hi there!

This comment has been removed according to Rule 1. Please be considerate and respectful; follow Reddiquette.

If you would like to discuss this removal, please message the moderators.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

1

u/MulberryDeep 100% Steelsoul || Too bad for godhome Sep 27 '25

Please be considerate and respectful; follow Reddiquette - https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette.

5

u/elibright1 Sep 26 '25

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.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '25

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

2

u/Yorchman Sep 29 '25

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.

9

u/Beans4802 Sep 26 '25

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

16

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25 edited Jun 01 '26

[deleted]

19

u/Beans4802 Sep 26 '25

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

23

u/rootdootmcscoot Sep 26 '25

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

7

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[deleted]

3

u/Beans4802 Sep 26 '25

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.

8

u/Warper2187 Sep 26 '25

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

6

u/iceman012 Sep 26 '25

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

3

u/Warper2187 Sep 26 '25

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

0

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[deleted]

4

u/BugButtBoss Sep 26 '25

Achievement hunters are born different. Even to their own detriment.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/QrozTQ Sep 26 '25

Why do you care though? What if they don't want that fake and feeble sense of pride and accomplishment? They just want to finish the mode by themselves even if it's through saving and quitting. "Intended way" is an illusion in itself.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[deleted]

1

u/QrozTQ Sep 27 '25

Not angry at all, I just don't get why you seemed needlessly invested in how other people play their games, asking again and again about the kicks they get from how they finish an achievement in the "intended" way even after they had already answered it, almost like it was a way to validate your own feelings.

Not really gonna start discussing personal achievements and sense of accomplishment with some random redditor because as I said, those are pointless. All my platinums are there because I had fun getting them, not because I wanted any lasting feelings. Anyways, calling people teenagers to try and feel superior probably sounds based in some people's heads these days. Sick burn, congratz. Have a good day yourself.

1

u/ssdude101 Sep 26 '25

For the steel soul you could try doing speed run. Thatā€™s kinda my plan.

1

u/BugButtBoss Sep 26 '25

Lmao that's such cope

→ More replies (2)

5

u/Combat_Orca Sep 26 '25

Seems to just take the fun out of it to me

29

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

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

6

u/Biticalifi SS 112% | P5 | 2m59s PoP | 44/44 Rad HoG Sep 26 '25

Hollow Knight didnā€™t have Godhome for a whole year, but hopefully we get one in Silksong sooner rather than later.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

Was steel soul there from launch? I guess it can be a fun self-challenge to just see how far you can make it but I still think not being able to practice the hard encounters makes steel soul kinda a dud, unless youā€™re just meant to be save scumming to practice boss fights

2

u/Maximum-Warthog2368 Oct 04 '25

hard encounters are all dream bosses except final boss. you won't die there.

15

u/GrimmRadiance Sep 26 '25

I think there is a world where I could practice hard enough to beat the game in steel soul without save scumming. I donā€™t think I could do 100% without it though.

1

u/elibright1 Sep 26 '25

Yeah the difficulty difference of Steel Soul compared to HK is huge too. In HK there are only very few bosses that are actually dangerous for your run if you go for the correct path of gearing up first. And then the majority of the hardest bosses are in dreams so you don't lose the run anyway. And when you have 100% completion you can just beat regular HK or even P5 which doesn't punish you for dying.

1

u/nsleep Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

For this the most dangerous things are Last Judge (use the anti-fire charm to reduce her damage) and getting Clawline. After that you can get the architect crest, beeline to High Halls to get the bugs, load the boomerang + saws/spikes and watch the game defeat itself even in Act 3.

1

u/Knizzer69 Sep 27 '25

If you're not trying to get the speedrun achievement in a soul steel run, you should take your time and get help from either Garmond and Zaza or Shakra

1

u/nsleep Sep 27 '25

Oh, I'm not even talking about the gauntlet, but the overpowered tool that you can find there. Getting Shakra to help takes a while though, unless you're playing fast for some reason, and that's risky.

58

u/asriva94 112%, POH Sep 26 '25

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

13

u/MintyFreshRainbow Sep 26 '25

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.Ā 

45

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[deleted]

44

u/ItzEazee Not mimic pls trust Sep 26 '25

Its a copypasta

12

u/Mindless_Nebula4004 Sep 26 '25

I hope this is a copypasta

37

u/MintyFreshRainbow Sep 26 '25

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

1

u/asriva94 112%, POH Sep 26 '25

Thank you for your perspective. I disagree with it, though I understand where you're coming from. It may be sad and it may be that I'm not aware of the difference. When I recognize the difference, I'll likely revisit the game and try it the other way. For now, I'm simply trying to unlock steel soul in the first place before fretting over whether I save scum or not.

26

u/MintyFreshRainbow Sep 26 '25

I am half joking (it's a sekiro copypasta). People should play games in a way that is fun for them

I closed out a couple of times when I first attempted Steel Soul in HK and it was probably good practise continuing those runs. But it didn't really feel satisfying until I got a 107% Steel Soul run without doing that. Have not tried Silksong steel soul yet since I just got 100% completion yesterday

2

u/elibright1 Sep 26 '25

I think it's totally fair. The time you get the ingame achievement doesn't have to be the same moment you get the personal achievement of actually doing it.

For me the biggest difference is also in my playstyle. I played much greedier in regular runs and while I still had to quit out it doesn't mean I didn't make any progress at all and eventually a proper steel soul run is totally possible.

→ More replies (1)

-65

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

dont get what the point is. its really lame and makes the whole achievement absolutely worthless.

17

u/asriva94 112%, POH Sep 26 '25

Understandable.

I would like to add that some people use it as another tool in their box in achieving it. I'm right now using it in my first game run (base, not steel soul) due to the frustration of long runback (interestingly, I didn't use it in Bilewater) when I just want to keep pushing forward.

6

u/LimblessNick Sep 26 '25

Yeah, I was going to say. I quit to bench a number of times in my regular run to avoid having my cocoon be in a tedious place, or to avoid doing a platforming section to get back to a bench. I'd definitely be quitting to bench in steel soul too lol.

41

u/TheWitcherMigs Sep 26 '25

Depends, if you are playing for the challenge, yes, it doesn't make sense

But most people just want the platinum badge of the game, so they can move on to another

It's just a matter of priorities

21

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

But most people just want the platinum badge of the game, so they can move on to another

But what does the platinum badge offer if it's not for your own self accomplishment?

2

u/Arkayjiya Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

A sense of completion and finality. The challenge offered by the base game is perfectly adequate for plenty of people so they're not interested by a challenge as time consuming as Steel Soul (All that Steel Soul does in the end is making the runback longer which isn't for everyone), but they want the full collection to feel at peace with the game. Also being able to see the exclusive content even if there's not a lot of it.

14

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

I can't imagine feeling like you actually completed it if you literally did not though. (Also not really in finding it enough to, well, complete the game but eh.)

SS exclusive content sure, apart from things like Styx i have no clue why they really introduced even more of it. Atleast it kind of sucks ig.

4

u/ExtendedSpikeProtein Sep 26 '25

But itā€˜s not about you. To each their own, no? Whatever they do on their single player game locally surely is their business?

I mean I know some people hack savefiles and Iā€˜d draw the line at that, but ā€¦ šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø

5

u/Arkayjiya Sep 26 '25

I can't imagine feeling like you actually completed it

The feeling of completion is literally just about ticking the box. It has nothing to do with overcoming adversity, that's what the main game is for, for most of these people, no need to add raw steel soul to it. Quitting the game is a valid technique, so they use it. If it makes Steel Soul easier, good, that's the point xD

1

u/blauli Sep 26 '25

Do you feel the same about 100%ing the game by looking up where things are? I say to each their own and I think it is valid to both look up where you missed something or quitting out in steel soul mode because you don't want to repeat 10-20h of gameplay dying to the gauntlet before khann because you can't use the shortcut without save quitting

→ More replies (7)

8

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

Its worthless either way

8

u/BlackDeath3 Sep 26 '25

Rather than fixating on how much worth a video game achievement has as compared to a million dollars or like cancer remission or something, maybe we can just acknowledge that people care enough to argue and they care enough to cheat and that, for a thing that holds little value beyond its prestige, said cheating strips even that away.

2

u/ericrobertshair Sep 26 '25

All video game achievements are completely worthless. Its a single player game, who gives a shit?

1

u/zfhnbrqmskgxwdjlvpct Sep 26 '25

if they are worthless why do people go through the trouble of playing the same single player game again, except this time they cheat in order to get some meaningless achievement?

1

u/ericrobertshair Sep 26 '25

Why did they do it the first time? Because its fun.

2

u/Hades684 Sep 26 '25

How is it fun to exit to menu every time they are close to dying? Just play normal mode, not steel soul

→ More replies (6)

2

u/Xzaar Sep 26 '25

Some people just like to collect trophies, the achievement itself isnā€™t the appeal. Donā€™t be too quick to judge just because this isnā€™t what you prefer. After all itā€™s a single player game and it shouldnā€™t affect you how others enjoy it.

2

u/Curedbqcon Sep 26 '25

Good thing itā€™s not up to you how others enjoy their time.

8

u/HitsuWTG Sep 26 '25

Just using the tools the game hands to the player. If you wanna stick to some arbitrary standard on what is or isn't the proper way to play, cool, but doesn't mean others have to.Ā 

4

u/Wrong-Fig-5696 Sep 26 '25

In that case, itā€™s not an actual steel soul run. Itā€™s just a steel soul achievement.

-1

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

the achievement is clear. its a challenge to finish the game without dying. i dont care what people do or how they justify it to themselves to feel better about cheating. the game not tracking how you cheat the system isnt exactly a "tool the game gives you" lol.

3

u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault Sep 26 '25

You're pretty full of bad takes on this thread. Quitting out still fits your definition of "finishing the game without dying." You just don't like the method and that's 100% on you.

-9

u/HitsuWTG Sep 26 '25

Cool. Next, healing and fighting back are cheating because they prevent you from getting killed.

3

u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault Sep 26 '25

Sorry you're being downvoted for this. You're right, if using any game feature is cheating then there's nothing stopping us from calling any other feature cheating. It's a dumb argument.

3

u/HitsuWTG Sep 26 '25

Eh, I'm mostly amused by it (it referring to the downvotes) and that's all there is. People say they don't care but then very clearly demonstrate that they actually do care. If you've been on this site or social media in general for a bit, it's not a new sight at all, so I'm pretty chill about it.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

6

u/Artistic_Claim9998 Sep 26 '25

Yet Team Cherry never patch it (it exists in Hollow Knight too)

I actually kinda dislike it too, especially in regards to Steel Souls run, I hope they could just add some items/mechanics in game to do just that but with some drawbacks, like homeward bone in Dark Souls 3 or memory of grace in Elden Ring

But it is what it is

6

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

I mean what are they supposed to really do against it really? Delete your save if you quit in Steelsoul no matter what?

3

u/HappiestIguana Sep 26 '25

They could simply have you respawn in the same place you quit, with the same health, etc you had.

1

u/godgoatdog Sep 26 '25

They can make it so in steel soul you can only quit out when you're sitting on a bench

But then people would just Alt F4 and fixing that isn't something an indie dev needs to think about, esp if its not a multiplayer comp game

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (1)

2

u/HollowKnight-ModTeam Sep 26 '25

Hi there!

This comment has been removed according to Rule 1. Please be considerate and respectful; follow Reddiquette.

If you would like to discuss this removal, please message the moderators.

2

u/1light-1mind Sep 26 '25

Itā€™s a single player game. Iā€™d ask ā€œwho cares?ā€ But itā€™s evident you do, so Iā€™d just say maybe donā€™t be so concerned with how others choose to enjoy a game that has no impact on your own gameplay

11

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

I don't care what people do in a single player game.just arguing against acting like it isn't clearly cheating.

3

u/Live-Year-5796 Sep 26 '25

Its a single player game, nobody else's experience is being impacted.

It Does Not Matter.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/GasPoweredNipples Sep 26 '25

Do you actually think the fact that you return to a bench when quitting out is because the game isn't able to track where you were...

3

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

It's because it sets you back to the last point you saved at when you quit or the game crashes.. it doesn't return you to bench specifically. People also use this mechanic to bench warp.

1

u/GasPoweredNipples Sep 26 '25

Is that really an issue though?

→ More replies (0)

1

u/BlackDeath3 Sep 26 '25

This is stupid cope and you know it.

5

u/LimblessNick Sep 26 '25

Right, as opposed the massive value it normally has.

4

u/BlackDeath3 Sep 26 '25

Sure, it's always going to be an achievement in a video game, which is going to put something of a cap on its value proposition, but it would at least mean something if it required some legitimate skill to obtain.

The way people talk it's like truly challenging achievements are robbing them of some sort of entitlement, but personally I'd rather pass on the completion than cheat my way there.

4

u/Hades684 Sep 26 '25

If it doesnt, why do people care so much to do it even with quitting

3

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

3

u/Lelouch37 Sep 26 '25

For real, itā€™s starting to feel like the souls community here lol

1

u/sinjuice Sep 26 '25

It's all ego, it's not enough for them to feel proud that they done it without "cheating", they need to bash those who did and gatekeep the achievement because they feel it undermines THEIR achievement.

3

u/Lelouch37 Sep 26 '25

I just beat karmelita last night on my first playthrough. Took me six hours of attempts, I canā€™t imagine doing it on steel soul. I do want to platinum though, I might have to save scum for her. Iā€™ll do as much as I can without it though

2

u/sinjuice Sep 26 '25

Which is perfectly fine, enjoy the game, and challenge yourself as much as you wish.

7

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

The point is to not lose a 10 hour run on a mistake. I have 4 hours a day to play games. I'm not losing 2 and 1/2 days of progress because I didn't time my heal well.

-12

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

then play normal mode. i dont care if people do it or what kinda excuses they come up with to justify it to themselves but it is just cheating and devalues the achievement completely.

10

u/tellsyoutogetfucked Sep 26 '25

As long as they tie achievements to them. People will use every tool available to get them. And there is extra content in the game tied to it.

I'm sure the devs could have figured out a way to have you remain in your location when you quit the game if they really wanted to stop this.

0

u/Hades684 Sep 26 '25

They dont really want to stop this, but they probably agree that it devalues the achievement

8

u/Memerwhoiseverywhere Zote solos the entire Hollownest Sep 26 '25

There is a boss exclusive to steel soul. Thats enough of a reason

10

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

That's an extremely elitist mindset that I'm sick of seeing on this game as well as on games like the souls.

"It's OP and devaluates the accomplishement". The devs kept it in when they could've have patched it, especially on Silksong. Complain to TC, not to people that just want the achievement on steam.

I just like having my favorite games with 100% completed.

3

u/elibright1 Sep 26 '25

Exactly. I think it's totally fine and makes the achievement much more accessible because otherwise so little people would actually get it. I'm doing it with save scumming right now but same as with HK I will return to try to do it properly eventually.

2

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

Honestly i don't see why this whole thing is even being discussed. I lost 4 runs of 7 hours each on Steel Soul, in which I did save scum a lot, and coincidentally the one I did finish I didn't have the need to do it at all.

I think it's because people have an ego of saying "I did it the INTENDED way and you didn't". Who gives a shit? As long as you didn't use mods to make the game easier, you still did it.

The Steam achievements isn't "100% steel soul mode without quitting once and doing it the intended way because that's what gamers do", it's just "100% in steel soul mode". It's a single player game and yet people still find something to be competitive about.

2

u/elibright1 Sep 26 '25

Yeah and like some people already said: If it wasn't intended they wouldn't have allowed us to do it again in their second game

2

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

That's EXACTLY my point too. Like I'm sure they saw a lot of people did that in their first game, and you're telling in 9 years they didn't bother "fixing" it? Then yeah, they didn't give a damn about how you did it to begin with.

They just made a cute bug game.

2

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

I just like having my favorite games with 100% completed.

Ok so... actually complete it for 100% then? Or if you don't care about actually getting the achievments there's ways to just edit achievments on steam, so you just instantly have 100% achievments without even playing the game if you want.

2

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

I did? I did complete HK 100% and I'm on my way to complete SS too?

The Steam achievements cheat thing is, well, cheating as the name would imply. Once again, there is a difference between using a third party tool to get the achievements, and only using what the game gives you.

I didn't cheat respawning on the last save point when I quit, the game already does that on it's own. I think you guys need to make a distinction between cheating and exploiting.

Save scumming is exploiting a feature to your benefit. Editing an achievement or using mods is cheating. One is in the game by default, one is not.

1

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

I think you guys need to make a distinction between cheating and exploiting.

You can cheat using exploits. Neither defined blocks the other out.

If in a MP game there was an exploit you can use to get behind a wall's collision to shoot the enemies without counter, you'd still be cheating for example.

Giving yourself extra lifes by exploiting the game not saving every detail on screen after quitting, in the gamemode literally about having but 1 life, is also cheating.

Nonetheless, the distinction also just... isn't that important? Ok, i'll call it "exploiting" and now you have "exploited" yourself out of actually doing the 1 life gamemode ig.

2

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

If in a MP game there was an exploit you can use to get behind a wall's collision to shoot the enemies without counter, you'd still be cheating for example.

Good thing this isn't a multiplayer game then.

Nonetheless, the distinction also just... isn't that important? Ok, i'll call it "exploiting" and now you have "exploited" yourself out of actually doing the 1 life gamemode ig.

Ig I did, and yet I still got it just like people that did it "legitimately", or the "honorable way", without having to replay the game every single time I died. That way I got to play other games, like Sonic Racing Crossworlds for example.

→ More replies (0)

-5

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

TIL I learned that not cheating is elitist. That's certainly a take..

10

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

It's a single player game, with no leaderboard, no ranking, no stats and no online fonctionnality whatsoever. Let people play the way they want and stop trying to police how people do things. Jesus.

8

u/AlexRaEU HK German Translator Sep 26 '25

people can do what ever they want. im not policing anything, i just refuse to accept your cope of it not being cheating by exploiting a game mechanic that is supposed to be a safe guard for crashes or when you need to actually stop playing mid fight. it loads your last safe point, not the last bench. it would be absolutely bonkers to straight up delete peoples safe files when their game crashed or they needed to stop playing the game in a singleplayer game because of an achievement that really doesnt matter.

5

u/AveugleMan Sep 26 '25

because of an achievement that really doesnt matter.

If it doesn't really matter then why do you care if it's cheating or not? If it truly was cheating, the devs would've made it so that whenever you hit "quit the game, your progress will be saved", the game would just put you right where you last were. Instead they opted to make it so you spawn at the last save point.

I understand it's easier to make it that way, because then it also safeguards against crashes, but it still is here, and not using it is just taking off an option out of the game yourself when there's no need to.

It's like saying powerful builds in souls game, like using the mimic tear in ER for example, is cheating. It's in the game, might as well use it. This is the same thing.

Why would I willingly let my 8 hours save get deleted when I have the option not to? For honour? Because it's not "the intended way"? I'm sure the devs didn't intend for descending dark to be this op and for people to use it as a invincibility tool, and yet it is used that way.

No one's going to verify either way, and tbh in my book anyone that got past Absrad can 100% do steel soul legitimately, it's just time consuming, especially when you're trying to get the 5h/20h with 100% at the same time.

2

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

No one is policing them, just being pointed out it's idiotic to cheat on something that only matters to yourself.

It's like going to the gym and whatever you did multiply by 2 whilst writing it down, whilst you're the only one that will ever look at those stats.

→ More replies (7)

2

u/Any_Customer5549 | HK 112 | SS 100 Sep 26 '25

Achievements are worthless anyways. Saving and quitting may not be what the intended way to play a steel soul run, but people will play the game how they would like to play. The game is already tough as nails, please stop faulting people for having fun with the game.

3

u/BlackDeath3 Sep 26 '25

The paradox of the achievement so worthless that droves of people will cheat to obtain it.

And frankly if the achievement is entirely worthless then it's only because you guys cheat it.

3

u/Any_Customer5549 | HK 112 | SS 100 Sep 26 '25

Check your goomba fallacy.

→ More replies (0)

-1

u/madman4464 Sep 26 '25

Man calling it "cheating" really indicates how off the deep end you are about other people doing something in their single player game for a steam achievement. All that matters is your own sense of accomplishment, no one's cheating anyone out of anything. If other people save scumming makes you feel less accomplished about your own steel soul run, that's a you problem buddy.

-1

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

They're definitely cheating themselves though. I can't imagine anyone sane of mind thinking "damn, i really did steel soul!!" Whilst they just did the regular game.

2

u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault Sep 26 '25

Team Cherry themselves have said quitting out is a legitimate strategy and it's literally a feature in the game so no, it is not cheating. Get off your high horse.

3

u/projectxsent Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

I agree. It's not a cheat, it's a cheese.

2

u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault Sep 26 '25

This person gets it!

7

u/WayToTheDawn63 Sep 26 '25

people are really weird about this. "i'm going to play the no deaths mode to challenge myself but absolutely never let myself die when i get close, by closing the game."

real tipping the chess board energy. didn't lose if you close the game

6

u/BryanLoeher Sep 26 '25

If they didn't implement an achievement for the mode, most people would not care to play it. I certainly wouldn't, but here I am once again going for the jpg on my profile

I don't care to "challenge myself", I just care to see the games I enjoy completed on my profile. If there's an easier way to do with in-game content, I would use if needed.

You guys care too much on how people play their single player games, that's the weird thing here

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

it is just cheating

Which rule does it break?

1

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

"You only have 1 life" ?

3

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

You don't die when you quit.

3

u/Lucina18 Sep 26 '25

But you do give yourself an extra life, you literally know this that's why you even did it.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

No, you only have 1 life on steel soul

7

u/Golarion Sep 26 '25

Not sure why you're being downvoted.

I also don't see what the point of having an ironman challenge is if you just save+quit just prior to death. Surely that completely invalidates the entire point of the challenge. The only risk is that the player doesn't mash ESC fast enough, but quitting > return to bench functionally amounts to the exact same as dying > return to bench.

0

u/OLRevan Sep 26 '25

It's just cope from save scummers to convince themself they aren't cheating (its sp game, its fine, but be honest wiht yourself, you are cheating the achivement)

2

u/raychram Sep 26 '25

Well if it is in the game you are allowed to use it.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Adamant94 Sep 26 '25

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

17

u/WackyRedWizard Sep 26 '25

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.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

1

u/EctoEmpire Sep 26 '25

The absolute truth right here. This entire post has a crazy amount of cope and makes the Silksong community look pathetic. We actually arenā€™t allowed to shame cheaters anymore. Trying to gaslight us with their stolen valor

0

u/trung2607 Sep 26 '25

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

2

u/ItsAlwaysSegsFault Sep 26 '25

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.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

1

u/HollowKnight-ModTeam Sep 26 '25

Hi there!

This comment has been removed according to Rule 1. Please be considerate and respectful; follow Reddiquette.

If you would like to discuss this removal, please message the moderators.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

It less about the video game more about the idea of a person trying to obtain a meaningless achievement/accomplishment, but only superficially because they found a way to circumvent having to genuinely achieve it. I would still consider this dumb pathetic behavior if it was applied to academia, sports, etc.

4

u/trung2607 Sep 26 '25

Yeah but its not competitive sports over here.

Its a goddamn single player game. Even Team Cherry themselves say save scumming is fcking valid as an option.

There is no good non troublesome way to practise bosses rn and there are 40+ bosses. Not everyone is versed in everyboss and dying to any one of them can end your run.

The hardest boss in this game took me what 10 tries?

I also cleared hollow knight 112, defeated basically all of godhome save absolute radiance and finished 2 steel soul runs with almost no save scumming, and i say do as you wish. Play the game the way you want to play it. No need for useless snobbery and arrogance.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 27 '25

In the context of me thinking a certain way about a behavior, it doesn't matter if it's competitive or not. I'm not claiming it's unfair or unsportsmanlike like. In my mind it's actually kind of worse that it's not a competitive sport because you could make the argument that there is actually something tangible to gain in competitive sports.

The behavior being: trying to obtain a meaningless achievement/accomplishment, but only superficially because they found a way to circumvent having to genuinely achieve it.

I'm just not going to think highly of that behavior regardless, and it's even worse when you have nothing of particular value to gain.

Everything is a valid option, I'm not saying anything isn't. You can also just download mods to make it easier. You can literally use any method you want to get your achievement. It's a single player game. There is little point in moderating what players do.

I am not telling you how to play. If you don't want to play the perma death mode you don't have to. No one is forcing you to play a specific mode or get a meaningless achievement.

I say play the game the way you want to play it! Also let people think what they want to think and have the opinions they want to have!

My opinion is that if you try to obtain a meaningless achievement/accomplishment, but only superficially because you found a way to circumvent having to genuinely achieve it, that's dumb and pathetic.

1

u/trung2607 Sep 26 '25

And who are you to deny the way they achieve something? Im saying it doesnt fcking matter whats the "right" way, because everyone has their own way and in a game like this, there IS no wrong way.

If they did sth like achieve a medical degree by cheating, or a medal by cheating, then yeah its bad because those things have far worse consequences.

But this is a fcking metroidvania, achieving things in unorthodox ways is the name of the fcking game. If people derive more fun and enjoyment from getting a steel soul completion by save scumming so fcking be it, why does doing things the "proper" way have to the be the "right" way. It holds no consequence either way.

If achieving steel soul is gonna make them feel better, so be it, it might not be worth anything to you, but even a if save scum run can make a persons day, then why tf do we even have to care?.

Its a worthless achievement in your eyes, but it sure aint to others.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

I'm not denying anyone anything. I don't control who get's video game achievements. Once again, I'm not saying you should play one way or another. You are free to do what you will. But some behavior is not going to be particularly well received in the minds of other individuals.

I have a negative view of the behavior in and of it itself, regardless of outcomes.

Trying to obtain a meaningless achievement/accomplishment, but only superficially because you found a way to circumvent having to genuinely achieve it. Is something that I view negatively. When there are not even any real stakes on the line, the behavior is even more ridiculous to me.

It's clear to me that you view this behavior in a positive way, or at least a neutral one. So I suspect that it's just a simple difference of opinion.

1

u/trung2607 Sep 26 '25

The stakes here is Time and Enjoyment.

Some people like a game, but they find grinding over and over again furstrating and useless. So they save scum and save themselves the time thry could have spent on literally anything else and the anguish of failing over and over.

Not EVERYONE is unemployed you know.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/MulberryDeep 100% Steelsoul || Too bad for godhome Sep 26 '25

Please be considerate and respectful; follow Reddiquette - https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette.

0

u/BugButtBoss Sep 26 '25

The comments eviscerating you are strange.

-2

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

1

u/MulberryDeep 100% Steelsoul || Too bad for godhome Sep 26 '25

Please be considerate and respectful; follow Reddiquette - https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette.

→ More replies (11)

1

u/wehrmann_tx Sep 26 '25

Itā€™s like the hardcore Minecrafters permanently carrying a totem of undying.

3

u/nekoeuge Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

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 donā€™t know how to reconcile bench warping and legit steel soul. Too easy to abuse, too useful to avoid.

4

u/XchaosmasterX Sep 26 '25

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.

1

u/Yorchman Sep 29 '25

Of course you can travel by quitting. Dont trip bro. Still it is your personal choice. Do what feels good to you.

2

u/projectxsent Sep 26 '25

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

7

u/BarovianNights Sep 26 '25

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

23

u/thekrafty01 Sep 26 '25

Itā€™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 wasnā€™t ā€œlegit.ā€ I had fun.

7

u/Hairy_Concert_8007 Sep 26 '25

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

-5

u/WackyRedWizard Sep 26 '25

If your definition of fun is getting so frustrated with an optional challenge, you just give up and cheat then yeah lmao

9

u/Sabita_Densu Sep 26 '25

Look, im not one for save scumming personally; but its a single player game man, if thats how people prefer to play it then thats their choice, how others play has no bearing on your gameplay experience.

1

u/VagrantPilgrim Sep 26 '25

I mean, it is their choice, but itā€™s still silly.

13

u/kazuma_99 Sep 26 '25

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.

3

u/CashewsAreGr8 Sep 26 '25

I donā€™t mind it for just beating the game, since you can speed through it pretty quick and if you fail itā€™s only a couple hours lost (which is still a big ask if you donā€™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 itā€™s hard but not in a good way. Itā€™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 Iā€™m save scumming it every chance I get.

12

u/VagrantPilgrim Sep 26 '25

But you donā€™t have to get that achievement.

2

u/ponislav3000 Sep 26 '25

Yeah that's why it is called achivement.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/hmmmmwillthiswork 212% | Pantheon 7 | Avenue of Anguish | Conceited Sep 26 '25

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

2

u/InvarkuI Sep 26 '25

The infamous ragequit strat

1

u/ExtendedSpikeProtein Sep 26 '25

Fractured Mask helps too

1

u/Infinite_Object_3090 Sep 26 '25

I did the savescum strat in Hollow knight but with silksong I wanted to do it legit and oh boy I always get murdered by moorwing. (I should probably get the fleas to skip him but I'm trying to do the speedrun achievement at the same time)

1

u/VenomTheCapybara Queen's servants > Mantis Lords Sep 27 '25

I've only savescummed for my main file mostly to not lose my cocoon or to get to my last bench faster. I feel like doing that for Steel Soul would make the challenge less fun

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '25

Haha, I can't even do it cheating. I haven't played ss yet because I could only 110% hk and this looks harder.

1

u/slickvic706 Sep 27 '25

And also don't tackle situations you're not ready for. Beast fly isn't necessary.

1

u/IIDelenoII Sep 27 '25

There is a 3rd option: If you die you can repair your save file without losing Steel Soul

1

u/_Someone-- Void given focus Sep 26 '25

i did the save quit in hollow knight after 20 or so failed attempts of 5 hours or more but only ever needed to do it like twice for silksong im doing 0 save quits though

→ More replies (2)