WayOfLoci

A guide/commentary on how to beat The Hollow Knight – Radiant, meaning taking no hits/no damage in Hollow Knight.

The Hollow Knight tips

Phase 1

– Dash attack 0:20, horizontal quick dash. Couple methods to deal with, the easiest would be a jump over whilst pogo-ing the attack, although can also jump over and fire a shade soul for damage or shadow dashing through the attack.

– Jump 0:25, the jump Hollow Knight does can be quite random so would recommend dashing once you see where he is going to land, as opposed to dashing the moment he jumps as is easy to dash under where he is going to land.

– 3-strike combo 0:30, three strikes whilst moving to the left or right. Would recommend jumping the first swing to avoid then parrying/pogo-ing the second strike and then dropping on the opposite side of THK. If needed you can also shadow dash through just make sure you’re close enough to him to get some range after the shadow dash i-frames run out.

– Parry stance 0:48, goes into a parry stance where if you strike will do a quick horizontal counterattack. If you hit this, immediately shadow dash through. Be especially careful to avoid if you don’t have shade cloak. You can get hits in just as he goes out of the stance, but he may go back into the stance immediately after the hit so be careful, although is also a good spot for damage.

Phase 2

– Pillars 1:01, does a dive attack which then causes pillars to rise from the floor. Easiest method is to dash or move out the way of the dive and into a gap, or if needed using a desolate dive using the i-frames to avoid any damage (Example 1:48). Whilst you are in a gap you can also fire off some shade souls for damage whilst the attack is going on.

– Horizontal spitting 1:18, fires a spray of orange projectiles that start at the floor rising up.

+ If you have Shade Cloak, shadow dash through the attacks and get some damage in whilst the attack is going on.

+ If you don’t have Shade Cloak, if you’re close jump dash and pogo THK dropping on the other side 1:34.

+ If you’re far away, then get more distance allowing the projectiles to separate move and then being able to dash in that gap. 2:58

– Positioning, for this fight I’d recommend trying to stay near the centre of the arena as the edges create a greater chance for getting hit, either by getting trapped during the pillars or spitting move. But especially the dodgy jumps that can happen both to you and THK (Example 1:25)

Phase 3

– Phase transition 2:05, during the transition THK only takes 1 damage point per strike so would not waste spells here, instead use nail hits to build up soul for the next phase. Would also be careful not to get too close as you can get hit when he drops down as his head positions slightly further forward than his body.

– Slams 2:14, flies around and slams your last position on the ground. You can either walk back and forth underneath THK in order to avoid the attacks (you can dash but would be cautious as is easy to dash into him when he stops on the ground at the end of the attack), or you can also deal damage to him as he drops through mid-air nail hits (Example 2:45)

– Mass spitting 2:31, focus should be on staying on the ground and avoiding the projectiles. You can get damage in on the bottom left & right reasonably safely w/ nail hits or shade souls, but isn’t really necessary so would only recommend if doing a speedrun or similar (Example 3:09)

Final Phase

– Nail strike 3:28, does a single nail strike then falls to the ground. Very slow so would just make sure you’re out of range with a dash back.