One can only hope that you’re reading this from a time whenHollow Knight: Silksonghas been released, so you’re deciding to replayHollow Knightfor nostalgia. Of course, nostalgia is not nearly powerful enough to hide the fact that it’s a challenging game. Despite being a hardened and determined warrior, you’re still one of the minor things in the underground kingdom of Hallownest.
You have to earn the feelings of empowerment, and even after you get them, the weakest enemies can still knock you around. Of course, no other opponents make you work harder than the bosses. Don’t be embarrassed that these guys scored more retries off of you than you’d like to admit.
This list covers bosses that are included in the base game that most players are almost guaranteed to encounter.
8Mantis Lords
A Trio Of Slayers
Many of us consider the Mantis Lords to be the firstreal challengein Hollow Knight. After fighting your way through their kingdom, filled with fairly tough and tricky mantis enemies, you have to face their leaders. They start fair enough, sending just one of them to face you in an honorable one-on-one duel.
They utilize a combination of quick movements, long-range slashes, and projectiles with a wide area of effect. To make matters worse, after you defeat the first, the next two fight dirty by teaming up and coordinating their attacks. However, upon defeat, they show respect and give you an all-access pass to their kingdom.
7Watcher Knight
An Army Of Husks
A common consensus is thathorde battlesare among the least popular, as their strategy involves overwhelming the opponent with numbers. The Watcher Knight is one such boss, but it has two things that give it an advantage: it’s big, and the arena is small.
This boss takes the form of an energy source that moves between different husks of large warriors with big attacks, jumps, and can roll quickly across the arena. If you’re not fast enough, you’ll end up fighting three at once, and your small size can only help you evade them for so long. Once you clear out the husks, you’ve earned a break.
6Traitor Lord
The Brutal Betrayer
One of the more isolated bosses, the Traitor Lord, employs a variety of intimidation tactics to his advantage. He’s got the scary name, the large size, the giant slicing weapon, and access to Soul power. Upon reaching him, he’ll waste no time with pleasantries and charge right into battle.
He keeps you on the defense as he continuously closes the distance, requiring you to make exact jumps to avoid damage. He also uses ranged Soul attacks to keep you from getting too comfortable, and will take to the air if necessary.Hit-and-runtactics are an acceptable and perhaps essential strategy to slay this monster.
5God Tamer
Tamed The Colosseum
In a world where even the most peaceful characters need to know some form of combat, it’s no surprise thatthere’s an arenato participate in. Named the Colosseum Of Fools, you get the chance to fight through three trials consisting of many waves of easy-to-difficult enemies in ever-changing environments.
The God Tamer is the champion of this place, and for good reason, too, since you’ll have to fight through tens of waves of enemies to get the chance to fight her. Riding a large beast and then facing her in a duel, the pressure and exhaustion are on to reach her and be in good enough shape to take her down. Now we know the reason behind the Colosseum’s name, because only a fool would try this.
4Broken Vessel
This Could Be You
If the dark and melancholic tones of Hollownest didn’t tip you off, there are going to besome creepy encounters. Among them is the Broken Vessel, one of the more mysterious and haunting bosses that you’ll encounter. The lore suggests that this boss is a fallen warrior who failed to complete the quest that you find yourself on and is now just another puppet of the infection.
Aside from its appearance, its small size makes it a challenging target to hit, especially given its mobility. However, its most significant threat is the sheer number of attacks it can launch against you. This is an endurance battle where you need to learn to ebb and weave so that you can land those precious strikes.
3Nosk
A Twisted Trap
Even creepier than the Broken Vessel is a creature known only as Nosk that lures you in by taking the form of the Knight. After giving chase througha dark and desolate maze, you confront the impostor, only to watch it transform into something straight out of Silent Hill.
Its long limbs allow for large and awkward movements, which can take some getting used to. While not being the strongest boss out there, Nosk will play with you as it leaps around the stage with a variety of strikes and projectiles to keep you on the move.
2Uumuu
Squishy And Shocking
One of the more interesting areas in Hollownest is the Teacher’s Archives, which is a combination of a library and a research lab. Among the various experiments and hazards you’ll have to deal with, the Inner Chamber is protected by Uumuu. While nothing too special, being a giant jellyfish-like creature, Uumuu doesn’t mess around.
Constantly generating electricity,seeming invincible, and floating around the tight arena space, this boss will have you jumping around and taking hits back-to-back as you try to find a safe spot to regroup and counterattack. You need to drop its shield to make it vulnerable while taking care not to fall into the acid below or touch any of the many energy orbs.
1Hollow Knight
The Beast Unleashed
Sometimes what makes a boss truly difficult is the buildup, which causes tension to rise and prompts us to put uncomfortable amounts of pressure on ourselves. The Hollow Knight is just that, plaguing our minds before we even boot up the game. Whenwe finally meet it, we get the sense that we’re truly trapped by a terrible force that only wants to cause pain.
We have no idea what to expect and can only hope that all the enemies and bosses we’ve fought until now have prepared us for this moment. You must take risks, analyzing how the boss moves and attacks, so that you can gather enough confidence to take the fight to them.
