Relatively soon into Hollow Knight, players will run into Hornet, the needle-wielding protagonist of the upcoming sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong. She will challenge the Knight to test them, and after you beat Hornet, you will be rewarded with the Mothwing Cloak.
All Hollow Knight Achievements & Trophies
Be prepared to spend a lot of time in Hallownest across multiple playthroughs to get all 63 achievements in Hollow Knight.
This ability gives the Knight a dash, which can be used to cover short distances on the ground or in mid-air. This opens up a lot more of the game to explore, but it can be tough to know where to go after you beat Hornet in Hollow Knight. Follow this guide for tips on what to do after beating Hornet in Hollow Knight in her first appearance as a boss in Greenpath.
Find Quirrel By The Lake of Unn
Left From Hornet's Boss Arena
After you defeat Hornet for the first time in Hollow Knight and collect the Mothwing Cloak, the first thing you should do is continue to the left of her boss arena. Use your new dash ability to travel a little bit faster, and after a short walk, you'll arrive at the Lake of Unn.
Step into the shack by the dock of the Lake of Unn, and you will find a bench to rest on as well as Quirrel, a fellow explorer who wields a nail. He's a friendly chap who wears a mask given to him by the dreamer Monomon as a hat. Talk to him here to start Quirrel's NPC quest.
Get The Hunter's Journal To Track Enemies
Far Right Of Greenpath
If you didn't pick it up on your way into Greenpath, make your way to the far right side of the zone and find the Hunter to get the Hunter's Journal. This useful item opens up a kind of bestiary in the player menu, which displays information about every enemy you kill.
Once you kill a required number of each enemy, you will reveal hidden information (or expanded lore) about that enemy.
From Hornet's boss room, go right, then down, then all the way across to the right to find the Hunter's cave. Approach the cave, and the Hunter will roar in an attempt to intimidate you. Continue forward, then talk to the giant spider to get its journal.
Find The Queen's Station
Between Fog Canyon & Fungal Wastes
After you beat Hornet, your next main goal should be to get the Mantis Claw and continue to progress deeper into Hallownest. Head to Fog Canyon, which is below Greenpath and connects on the far bottom-right side.
Drop in here and avoid hitting the large jellyfish. When hit, they will launch at high speed toward you and explode for two HP's worth of damage. Instead, carefully descend (and avoid touching them) until you reach the Queen's Station area.
Open the Stag Station at the bottom-left of the Queen's Station to allow easier travel in the future.
Get The Mantis Claw
In Mantis Village Below The Fungal Wastes
Once you have unlocked the Queen's Station Stag Station, your next goal is to get the Mantis Claw, found within Mantis Village. Like the Mothwing Cloak, the Mantis Claw unlocks a new movement ability: the ability to jump up walls.
From the Queen's Station, head into the Fungal Wastes via the top-right doorway, then make your way through the zone until you reach the entrance to Mantis Village in the far bottom-right side.
You do not need to kill the Mantis Lords to get the Mantis Claw – simply enter the village and look in one of the huts on the left side of the first large room. This gives the knight the ability to reach several new areas, including the jumping puzzle on the right side of Queen's Station, which leads to a Mask Shard.
Find The City of Tears
From Mantis Village, Head To The Top-Right
The City of Tears was the center of the Pale King's civilization, and once you have the Mantis Claw, you can make your way to its entrance. To get there from Mantis Village, head upward until you exit via the top side. Exit this room via the top-right door, then go upward until you enter the room above and see a giant statue next to a long hallway.
Using the Mantis Claw, carefully jump through the thorny platforming section that leads up to the entrance to the city. Place the City Crest into the statue in front of the gate, and you will unlock the entrance.
Watch out – the gate closes behind you as you enter the City of Tears, so be sure to wrap up anything else you want to get done outside the City, as you won't be returning for a short while.
Upgrade Your Nail
Bottom-Left Of The City of Tears
The City of Tears is an ornately decorated, rain-drenched city that can be a somewhat confusing place to navigate. Upon entering, your first goal should be to get to the Stag Station a few rooms above the hallway you entered at the start. Then, descend downward until you reach the very bottom of the city.
Once you see water at the bottom, go left until you see a sign in the shape of a gigantic nail. This is the calling card of a Nailsmith, and indeed, there is a Nailsmith in the room just to the left of this sign.
Find the Nailsmith in his hut on the far bottom left of the City of Tears and talk to him. The first Nail upgrade costs 250 Geo and almost doubles your damage. After that, you will need increasingly more Geo and a material called Pale Ore to continue upgrading your weapon damage.
Buy A Simple Key & The Lantern From Sly
In Dirtmouth – 2750 Geo Total
The last thing you should do after beating Hornet in Hollow Knight is to head back to Dirtmouth and purchase two items from Sly: the Simple Key and the Lumafly Lantern.
- The Simple Key is required to get into the Royal Waterways, which is one location you could go to after the City of Tears.
- The Lumafly Lantern is necessary to see in extremely dark areas, like the entrance to the Crysal Peak or the entire Deepnest zone.
Both of these items together will set you back quite a lot of Geo, though. The Simple Key costs 950 Geo, while the Lumafly Lantern costs 1800 Geo.
One way you can get Geo quickly is to sell your collected Relics to Relic Seeker Lemm (Wanderer's Journals, Hallownest Seals, etc). Lemm will give hundreds of Geo for these items, so remember to go off the beaten path every now and then so you can hunt down these valuable items.
Relic Seeker Lemm's close proximity to the Nailsmith makes Relics an easy way to quickly afford Nail upgrades – as long as you have enough Pale Ore, too.
Hollow Knight
- Released
- February 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ for Everyone 10+: Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Engine
- Unity
- Franchise
- Hollow Knight
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Linux
