Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Top 5 Hardest Bosses Ranked (Community Edition)

Team Cherry, the tiny three-person studio behind the original Hollow Knight, has once again captured the gaming world with Silksong. In fact, the long-awaited sequel was so highly anticipated that its launch briefly crashed online game stores like Steam, PSN, and the Nintendo eShop.

This doesn’t come as a surprise to fans of Hollow Knight; the game was teased and rumored for so long, with many awaiting its brutality and ‘silky’ smooth gameplay.

But now that players are diving into the adventure, a question arises: which bosses are the hardest? To find out, we’ve pulled together community rankings and feedback to showcase the top five hardest bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong!

(Note: Spoilers ahead!)

Top 5 Hardest Bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong

5. Lace – Your First Real Challenge

The first boss that’ll pose you a real challenge in Silksong has to be ‘Lace’.

In our opinion, Lace is one of the most important bosses you’ll encounter in the entire game. Not only story-wise, but also gameplay-wise, as Lace serves as a pretty harsh ‘skill check’ before progressing to later parts of the game.

You’ll meet Lace a few times throughout the game, but your first encounter will happen down in the Deep Docks. You’ll need to master the ‘dash’ skill, since a lot of Lace’s moveset requires you to counter it with the dash.

Lace is incredibly deadly and precise, with her quick attacks sure to catch you off guard a couple of times. The surrounding lava sure doesn’t make the fight any easier, so keep track of your movement lest you fall over into the lava pit.

But defeat her, and you’ll be able to move on to the Far Fields; else you’ll be stuck in purgatory battling a deadly fencer over, and over, and over again. Though it’s not the worst fight to get stuck on, especially on a compact mini LED gaming monitor, to enhance the experience.

4. Last Judge – Judgement is Upon You

Next, we have the ‘Last Judge’, who you’ll find at the Citadel Gate, past the Blasted Steps. Last Judge is the last boss in Act 1, and will prove to be a brutal challenge with a surprisingly quick and devastating moveset.

She swings around a massive ‘flail’-like weapon to devastating effect, giving her an advantage up close and at range. For her size, she’s surprisingly nimble & speedy, so you’ll need to master her combos to best the Last Judge.

To keep track of her troublesome speed, consider a crisp 120Hz gaming monitor so you don’t miss any frames!

Also, Last Judge is a three-phase boss, and in the second phase, she’ll light her flail with fire, adding fire rings, pillars, and AOE fire ground slams.

What makes the Last Judge fight such a pain, though, has to be the runback to her area should you fail to best her on the first try.

It’s unequivocally one of the most brutal runbacks in the game, requiring you to get past scores of enemies, dastardly traps, and brutal platforming, all of which can cost you precious resources before even engaging with Last Judge.

3. Widow – Fun, Until it Isn’t

Widow is the ‘curse’ in Bellhart, the reason why the town is wrapped up in silken threads.

She’s a member of the Weavers and is especially deadly with her crazed behavior and moveset. Fighting Widow doesn’t give you a lot of time to breathe, with her constant barrage of attacks from all directions.

She has a powerful AOE attack that pulls debris to the field, and flings bells at you from every direction, while constantly swiping & charging at you. Players have chimed in to say that Widow has not only been one of the hardest, but also one of the longest fights in the game for them to beat (so far).

But in the challenge, you’ll find pleasure, as the fight is pretty enjoyable overall. She’s got plenty of moves, though, so you’ll probably need a few tries before besting the crazed fanatic.

2. Savage Beastfly – Truly Savage

You first encounter the Savage Beastfly as it’s banging its head on a wall, harkening its ‘savage’ behavior, deep within the Chapel of the Beast in Hunters March. This one is an optional boss, so you don’t need to take on the fight, but if you choose to, be wary of its unhinged charges.

Honestly, the Savage Beastfly isn’t that hard of a fight by itself. It mainly charges at you from up to down, left to right, trying to slam into you. There are plenty of opportunities to stun it and deal some damage. But the trouble arises when it does its ‘screech’.

When it does this move, it will summon a beetle mob (or two) to attack you, and if not managed properly, you’ll be swarmed from all directions, trying to dodge multiple mobs and the Savage Beastfly.

Not the most complex mechanics-wise, but still a burdensome fight for the uninitiated.

1. Grand Mother Silk – A Frustrating ‘Webby’ Encounter

Grand Mother Silk is the final boss of Act 2, and can be found in The Cradle. Before you get to her, though, you’ll need to beat Lace once again in her second encounter.

That said, Grand Mother Silk does prove to be a deadly challenge, effectively so, considering she is the final boss of Act 2.

Her moves have her telepathically flinging 6 needles at you from every direction, and an AOE screen slash attack with her webs. As you enrage her, her attacks will have more instances, making them harder to dodge.

Grand Mother Silk’s is one of the most challenging encounters in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and is a true test of all your skills, especially since you need to keep an eye on your movement effectively to position yourself away from attacks.

It’s quite the looker, too, and is one of the most eye-catching fights in the game, perfect for on-the-go gaming with a portable monitor.

But overall, a frustrating encounter for sure, since it requires refined agility, and faltering even once can open Hornet up to a lot of damage, and death itself.

Honorable Mention – Lost Lace

The bosses we’ve mentioned so far are all confined to Act 2. But players may be surprised (not really) to find that there is an Act 3, and the ‘true’ final boss of the game is none other than your nemesis, Lace.

Well, ‘Lost Lace’, in this case.

Lost Lace is an empowered, ‘dark’ version of Lace, gaining ‘dark’ powers from Grand Mother Silk. From what we’ve seen, these dark powers are simply ‘tentacles’ that sprout out from her attacks. Plus, other abominations, traps, and projectiles swarming at you.

Beating Lost Lace unlocks the ‘True Ending,’ and as the final boss encounter, it’s fittingly regarded by the community as the hardest fight in the game.

The “True” Hardest “Bosses” in Hollow Knight: SilkSong

While bosses are indeed the most challenging part about the whole game, some glaring ‘harder’ aspects of the game could be considered the true ‘bosses’ of Hollow Knight: Silksong:

Runbacks to a Boss

Sure, some bosses will have experienced players flying through them without much challenge. Others will be incredibly hard fights with complex mechanics and movesets to memorize.

However, what the two have in common is that, in most cases, ‘runbacks’ (literally running back to rechallenge a boss after a failed encounter), are far more challenging. Routes are typically filled with hard-hitting mobs, deadly traps, and frustrating platforming.

In most cases, these aspects are far more annoying than bosses themselves, since you can invest a lot of ‘resources’ just getting to challenge a boss.

Frustrating Platforming Mechanics

Aside from all the action, another patented staple of the Hollow Knight is its crisp and smooth platforming. However, in Silksong, players are frustrated with certain aspects of platforming.

Particularly, the new downward dashing aerial strike can be used as an attack, but is also essential to get through certain platforming segments. It’s used to bounce off pods and get up high, but players have lamented that its inaccuracy makes it a frustrating platforming element.

It causes you to lose health, jumping into traps, or straight up dying before even reaching a boss.

Double-Mask Damage; Double the Trouble

Typically, Hollow Knight hasn’t ever been an ‘easy’ game.

However, most mobs in the game can deal ‘double-damage’, costing your two masks instead of one. You’ll end up dying far more frequently, and cause growing frustration when seemingly ‘normal’ encounters turn into death-defying feats.

This is especially prevalent since platforming segments, traps, and the environment can also cause 2 Mask damage, as well as 2 Mask damage for simply coming into contact with an enemy, even when they’re stunned.

This has fans up in arms, making the game ‘needlessly’ unforgiving rather than a challenge.

Will the Developers Make Changes or ‘Nerf’ These Problems?

That said, will the three-man dev team make changes and make the game ‘easier’?

Fans right now are split, with some mentioning the game is far too hard for ‘casual’ players and is ‘tedious’, while others welcome the ‘challenge’ and don’t want sweeping changes.

The good (or bad) news is the team is unlikely to make sweeping changes to the game’s difficulty. It’ll continue to be a challenging title, but the team is addressing community feedback to ‘ease’ certain areas of the game.

In the upcoming round of patches, the devs have made several changes to make the early-mid game a little more forgiving:

• Slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter.
• Reduction in damage from Sandcarvers.
• Slight reduction in mid-game Bellway and Bell Bench prices.

Not drastic changes, considering the amount of feedback on the game’s difficulty, which should be a sign that future patches aren’t going to be much different. But they are welcome, since they make certain parts of the game easier to deal with.

Refinements, but not ‘huge’ changes, are probably the way they’ll handle future updates, since anything drastic like ‘nerfs’ would greatly impact most encounters’ mechanics and balancing.

FAQs

How long has Hollow Knight: Silksong been in development?

According to official reports, Hollow Knight: Silksong has been in development for seven years, starting in 2018. Initially, it was slated as a ‘DLC’, but turned into a full-scale sequel after substantial expansion in story, world, and scope.

What platforms will Hollow Knight: Silksong be on?

Hollow Knight: Silksong is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4/PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series S|X, and Nintendo Switch 1/2 platforms.

Does Silksong take place before or after Hollow Knight?

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a direct sequel, set after the events of the original Hollow Knight. In Silksong, players take on the role of ‘Hornet’, exploring and conquering the new kingdom of Pharloom.

Will the Knight appear in Silksong?

Based on the events of the end of the original Hollow Knight, we don’t think the Knight will appear in Silksong.

The Knight may make an appearance in any DLC that has flashbacks or cutscene cameos, but for now, considering the story events, it’s essentially confirmed that the Knight will not appear in the sequel as a playable character.

How many Hollow Knight games are there?

There are two main Hollow Knight games. Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight: Silksong, not considering DLC content.

Is Hollow Knight: Silksong multiplayer?

No, Hollow Knight: Silksong is not a multiplayer title and is completely a single-player experience. However, on PC, there are mods that enable multiplayer with PvP and co-op gameplay.

Will there be DLC or expansions for Silksong?

Yes, Hollow Knight: Silksong will have DLC and expansion content. For now, they have ‘plans’ to add new content in the coming months/years. We don’t have details on what the DLC entails, but using the original Hollow Knight’s history of an expansive collection of post-launch content, we can expect ongoing support for years to come.

Final Words

Hollow Knight: Silksong delivers some of the toughest bosses yet, and chances are, we haven’t even covered the one that gave you the most trouble.

Beyond bosses, though, the debate around Silksong’s brutal difficulty continues; some see it as core to Hollow Knight’s identity, while others feel it risks pushing away casual fans.

For now, it remains to be seen what Team Cherry will do to address it, but till then, the challenge of Silksong’s bosses and mechanics will keep us battling for a long time to come.