Hollow Knight - Soulsvania platformer

[John0]

Cheers for the reply Cyhwuhx, but not going to click on spoilers just yet. May well come back to these posts soon though.

 

Hornet Pt. 2 and Lost Kin are down. I've got RSI and it took me about 60 goes combined. But they are down

 

Could not have done Lost Kin without...

 

Spoiler

The Dung/Defender Charm. Meant I barely had to worry about the fire ghosts and could get into a rhythm with the actual boss. Once I started being more aggressive then I started making progress. Couldn't believe how many times it got back up again!

 

[John0]

I'm sitting here at work listening to the soundtrack . The sound in this game is so good. Not just the music but the voices and made up language (I assume!). I keep saying "Patawa Geo?" to myself! (I've no idea if I've even got that right). Also the humming of the map maker. And the Dung Defender's booming shouts. Just perfect.

[Cyhwuhx]

4 minutes ago, John0 said:

I'm sitting here at work listening to the soundtrack . The sound in this game is so good. Not just the music but the voices and made up language (I assume!). I keep saying "Patawa Geo?" to myself! (I've no idea if I've even got that right). Also the humming of the map maker. And the Dung Defender's booming shouts. Just perfect.

 

*sigh* Bapa nada....

[DC]

Is this coming out on the PS4 or Xbox? Or, ahem, Vita?

[John0]

Still trying to avoid spoilers, of course, buuuuut, in one word, could someone tell me whether the Watcher Knights are non-optional? I'm wandering the map finding stuff I missed (ie. avoiding them). But feels like thats what I need to do in order to progress the main quest, so to speak.

[Cyhwuhx]

10 hours ago, John0 said:

Still trying to avoid spoilers, of course, buuuuut, in one word, could someone tell me whether the Watcher Knights are non-optional? I'm wandering the map finding stuff I missed (ie. avoiding them). But feels like thats what I need to do in order to progress the main quest, so to speak.

 

They are part of the main arc.

[Cyhwuhx]

12 hours ago, DC said:

Is this coming out on the PS4 or Xbox? Or, ahem, Vita?

 

PS4 should be released later this year, no word about the rest.

[John0]

5 hours ago, Cyhwuhx said:

They are part of the main arc.

 

Oof. Ok. Interesting. I had a good go at them for about half an hour last night before giving up, never getting past the first two or really managing to come up with a sustainable strategy that involves not getting hit much. I wondered round and managed to level up a bit though, so could have another go. Got a bit of a sinking feeling I may have reached my limit though. Might have to sneak onto a couple of youtube vids for some idea of how to go about it.

[Cyhwuhx]

18 minutes ago, John0 said:

 

Oof. Ok. Interesting. I had a good go at them for about half an hour last night before giving up, never getting past the first two or really managing to come up with a sustainable strategy that involves not getting hit much. I wondered round and managed to level up a bit though, so could have another go. Got a bit of a sinking feeling I may have reached my limit though. Might have to sneak onto a couple of youtube vids for some idea of how to go about it.

 

Now I'm confused that I might have switched some characters around....

I was talking about the three masks on the map...

[John0]

33 minutes ago, Cyhwuhx said:

 

Now I'm confused that I might have switched some characters around....

I was talking about the three masks on the map...

 

 I'm talking about the Knight guys that fight you 2 v 1. Not sure how to get to the masks on the map yet.

 

Perhaps I'll keep exploring around and see what happens for a bit longer . The way the game has seemed to work so far is that anything that I find reeeeallly tough seems to be optional.

[Cyhwuhx]

7 minutes ago, John0 said:

 

 I'm talking about the Knight guys that fight you 2 v 1. Not sure how to get to the masks on the map yet.

 

Perhaps I'll keep exploring around and see what happens for a bit longer . The way the game has seemed to work so far is that anything that I find reeeeallly tough seems to be optional.

 

You can reach the final boss without too many problems. (Beating him might require some "training" though...)

[robdood]

46 minutes ago, John0 said:

 

 I'm talking about the Knight guys that fight you 2 v 1. Not sure how to get to the masks on the map yet.

 

Perhaps I'll keep exploring around and see what happens for a bit longer . The way the game has seemed to work so far is that anything that I find reeeeallly tough seems to be optional.

I've reached my first mask and have not stumbled across these knights you talk of. 

 

What a game.

[Fr Chewy Louie]

1 hour ago, John0 said:

 

Oof. Ok. Interesting. I had a good go at them for about half an hour last night before giving up, never getting past the first two or really managing to come up with a sustainable strategy that involves not getting hit much. I wondered round and managed to level up a bit though, so could have another go. Got a bit of a sinking feeling I may have reached my limit though. Might have to sneak onto a couple of youtube vids for some idea of how to go about it.

 

Watcher Knights are not optional. I came across them last night and like you found them a real struggle.

 

Tips in spoiler for what it's worth. I managed to do them after about an hour of frustration and when I managed it I felt like I just got lucky.

 

Spoiler

When the 1st one generates get in there and try and get rid as quickly as possible. Dealing with 1 at a time is much easier if you can avoid them overlapping.

Use the downtime between them spawning to heal.

There's a small gap after the jumping roll to heal.

Try to keep both on the same side of the screen. Much easier to attack both, they're more predictable in terms of behaviour (much less rolling and jumping rolling) and you don't need to be wary of things coming at you off screen.

You can attack them from above, but this often leads to them doing the jumping roll.

I had a charm which provides protection when healing but can break if used too much. This was essential. Have a look at what other charms you have too. I had ones that charge soul when attacked and do damage when attacked.

The spell isn't that useful.

You can get two swipes of the nail in after they do their own sword attack. Quite big HP so worth maximising those windows.

 

It's by far the hardest boss I've faced so far but it is doable!

[Cyhwuhx]

Oh wait... those guys!

 

Oh crap, yes, they are main arc.

 

Spoiler

Use Charms to enlarge your reach and regain soul quicker. Use your Vengeful Spirit whenever you can (preferably hitting multiple of them) and try to get hits/pogos in to regain soul. The rolling attacks are the worst part of it. Try to kill one ASAP as it'll take a while for the new one to arrive, giving you wiggle room to get the second down. Speed and Vengeful Spirit were my lifesavers here.

 

[dug]

Watcher Knights are tough. I first attempted them pretty much as soon as I gained the ability that lets you climb the tower to fight them, but I couldn't do it. Gave up in the end and only came back after doing (a lot) more exploring and gaining new abilities, health, charms, powering up my nail etc. In fact, they were one of the last things I did before taking on the final boss. So don't worry about doing them now if you're finding them too difficult at the moment.

 

There is a secret which makes the fight (slightly) easier. I didn't discover this myself, but found out about it from a video on yt:

 

Spoiler

Just to the left of the entrance to the room containing the watcher Knights is a secret path going up. It leads to a room above the boss room, where you can cut a chain holding a chandelier, which drops down, killing one of the Knights before you even start the fight!

 

[robdood]

Man, just started exploring after doing the first of the three masks I stumbled across.. it was the spidery one, fact fans!

 

Spoiler

First of all, I was a bit surprised there wasn't an actual fight!! 

 

And OMG EVERYWHERE IS ORANGE BLOBBY now!  Some paths are blocked!! Weird 'super' enemies?! Shit, man!!  I totally wasn't expecting something like this to happen. 

 

I'm hoping this blobby stuff is going to let me cross all those spikes that have been bothering me in Greenpath...

 

Best fucking game.  Easily my GOTY so far. 

[joeplus]

107% completion. It's been an absolute joy. All I've got left to do is

Spoiler

The Radiance, for the proper ending - tricky so far. I've tried a strategy based around Abyss Shriek but I think it's doing me no favours - might switch to Unbreakable Strength and Sharp Shadow next time I have a crack. Given up for the night!

 

Once I've done that, pretty sure it'll be straight onto a second playthrough. I imagine it's a markedly different experience having the enemy and map knowledge right from the start. What a treat of a game this is. And DLC to come next month!!

 

Some thoughts on assorted hard challenges:

Spoiler

Path of Pain. Does what it says on the tin. Celeste has helped me fall in love with hardcore platforming again; HK's movement controls and gauntlet design aren't quite as perfect, but they're close. Two frustrating deaths: the game froze for three seconds the first time I reached the very final platforming stretch, the only time it's done that to me: ARGH! Then I had an embarrassing panic when I first faced the (relatively easy) fight at the end. Sweaty!

 

Nightmare King Grimm. Absolute belter of a battle, lots of fun. Completely impossible at first, but once I'd settled on a charm loadout, practice turned into rapid improvement. Only took about 15-20 tries, quite pleased with that. Great music.

 

Trial of the Fool. A real bastard. It feels like there's more luck involved here than any other hard challenge, even though smart play mitigates a lot of it, and I don't think I died in the exact same place twice. Failed first time against God Tamer due to trying a terrible run-away strat with Hiveblood (don't bother). Second time I got roughed up early, then spent the whole fight on minimal health, softly and constantly keening swear words, until I somehow put them down.

 

Steel Heart achievement? Oh god I'm really tempted to try it.

 

[John0]

Good to know I can leave the Watcher Knights for now, thanks all. I also noped the hell out of the Crystal Guardian fight too! More exploring to be done.

[Stanley]

I think I'll be playing this for months, it's massive.

[OllieCJBowen]

99% through this (around 50 hours). Gaming gold. It's been challenging and often infuriating with some bosses but always doable. I suspect these last few challenges will test me considerably more.

[John0]

Watcher Knights are down! And I finally, FINALLY found a way to the last Dreamer mask thing...

 

Spoiler

I was stuck for hours and hours but resisted googling, eventually found the Abyss and got the power up to skip past the black smokey gate things. I spent so long looking for another way into the gated Fog Canyon bits (that wasn't the black smokey gate) hitting every wall/floor/ceiling I could find. So long  

 

On the Watcher Knights. I'd basically powered up my nail so that I could down the first one before the second one spawned. And I found the secret to take one out (whilst trying to do absolutely anything at all except fight the Watcher Knights) which made it doable. I found that standing closer too them worked a lot better than trying to back off, so again, being more aggressive rather than defensive was the key I think. Still very much felt like I'd muddled through it cause of power ups rather than actually besting them. But maybe I'll save that for another play though

 

[Don Wiskerando]

After 43 hours I finally found my way to the first Dreamer.

 

Spoiler

The jellyfish one.

 

[Mogster]

I started this yesterday, beat the first proper boss and it's clearly already brilliant. It looks great, the music's excellent and it's really enjoyable to explore. I spent ages trying to find a place to go after the boss, found all sorts of intriguing things for the future, unlocked a shortcut or two and finally found a new are I could get to.

 

It's ace.

[Cyhwuhx]

4 hours ago, Don Wiskerando said:

After 43 hours I finally found my way to the first Dreamer.

 

  Hide contents

The Metroid one.

 

 

Fixed. 

[Adrock]

I've been playing for a while and whilst I'm enjoying it I think I might be finished with it soon. I haven't killed any of the dreamer bosses yet.

 

I get this way with most games for some reason, but this is definitely GOTY for me so far.

[Kos Mos]

I'm trying to like this but I feel a bit lost.  I've restarted a couple of times with the same result (jump around a bit and get killed) with no real idea of what I'm doing or where I'm going.

 

I know it's not the done thing with these types of game but any tips to really get started would be appreciated.

 

Many thanks. 

[Hello Goaty ♥]

loving this,  but can anyone tell me what graphical style it is?? so many other similar looking good games like this.

[joeplus]

3 hours ago, Kos Mos said:

I'm trying to like this but I feel a bit lost.  I've restarted a couple of times with the same result (jump around a bit and get killed) with no real idea of what I'm doing or where I'm going.

 

I know it's not the done thing with these types of game but any tips to really get started would be appreciated.

 

Many thanks. 

 

I've heard other people say it starts slowly, so you're not alone! I'll do my best to give tips.

• You haven't said where you got to, but it sounds like you're still in the tutorial area. You do have to navigate this without a map, but it's pretty small, so keep exploring and you'll find a big door you can break down - beyond it lies the "hub" village.
• After that - or if you reached Dirtmouth and still don't know where to go - down the well, head left, down through a big room with some platforms, and down again. There you can meet a map-maker! Talk to all the NPCs you see for hints.
• Getting killed - the combat takes some practice. Landing a hit on an enemy knocks you back a little, so be careful if you're on a thin platform. Remember you can slash upwards, and slashing down in the air while you jump is very useful. In the early game, try to stay on max health: heal whenever you get the chance.
• By exploring, you will unlock so much awesome stuff, but you will have to work for it by beating some tough enemies. However, you can always walk away from a fight and explore elsewhere to try and get stronger.

[joeplus]

I'm pretty obsessed with this now. On my main file I've done almost* everything there is to do in Hallownest, and I'm on a second file to get the quests you can't get in one playthrough. Having the knowledge is a blessing and a curse: you know what you can do next, there's just too many things to do at once!

 

*

Spoiler

107%, all endings, all NPC quests, all Hunter's Journal entries, all dream bosses. Only done 3 Grey Prince Zote fights and 1 White Defender. Not found every secret room with a collectable trinket - there's a lot.

 

[Lovelyman]

I found guy that taught me 

Spoiler

Spinny nail move. It says you need to be holding up or down to execute it, but holding either direction doesn't seem to do anything. Am I missing something? He still spins, just on the spot.