If you’ve been experimenting with different combat styles in Hollow Knight Silksong, the Reaper Crest is going to completely change how you approach fights. This isn’t just another equipment piece – it fundamentally transforms Hornet’s attack patterns, giving you heavy, sweeping strikes that feel incredibly satisfying to land.
The Reaper Crest is perfect for players who prefer deliberate, powerful attacks over rapid-fire combos. Plus, it has this awesome bonus where you reap additional silk from enemies, which means more resources for your abilities. But getting to it requires navigating one of Greymoor’s trickier areas.
What Makes the Reaper Crest Special
Before we dive into the location guide, let’s talk about why you’d want this crest. The Reaper Crest completely changes your combat rhythm – instead of quick, precise strikes, you’re swinging heavy, arcing slashes that cover more area and deal serious damage.
This makes it fantastic for:
- Crowd control against multiple enemies
- High-damage single strikes when you have clear openings
- Resource management thanks to the extra silk generation
- Defensive play where each hit needs to count
The trade-off is speed – your attacks are slower and more deliberate, which means timing becomes even more crucial. If you’ve been struggling with faster combat styles, the Reaper Crest might be exactly what you need.
Getting to Greymoor: Your Starting Point
The Reaper Crest is located in Greymoor, which is a main story area you’ll reach naturally through progression. If you haven’t made it there yet, you’ll need to work through the Far Fields first and use the Drifter’s Cloak to break through the ceiling in the top-right corner.
For players who need help with area progression, our Greymoor progression guide covers all the details about reaching and navigating this snowy region.
Step-by-Step Route to the Chapel of the Reaper
Step 1: Find the Halfway Home Bench Once you’re in Greymoor, head left toward the Halfway Home Bench. This is crucial – interact with this bench because you’ll be using it a lot. Trust me, having this checkpoint activated will save you significant frustration if things go wrong.
Step 2: Continue Left Through Combat From the Halfway Home bench, keep heading left. You’ll encounter some enemies here – deal with them quickly so you can continue. There are more enemies outside, but you can actually ignore them and head straight into the tower on the left.
Step 3: The Tower Shortcut Here’s where many players get confused. You want to go further left, but the door is locked. Don’t worry – this is intentional. Instead, go up the tower, stick to the left side to exit, and drop all the way down to a lever. Pulling this lever opens the gate below.
This creates a permanent shortcut, which means you won’t have to climb the tower again if you need to revisit this area later. It’s one of those smart design touches that makes subsequent trips much more convenient.
Step 4: Navigate to the Chapel Entrance Now that the gate is open, you’ll see the large room has several options. There’s a hole at the bottom left that leads to the Moorwing boss arena (ignore that for now), but your target is the middle section on the left.
Climb up the platforms here until you can head inside. You’ve found the Chapel of the Reaper.
Surviving the Chapel of the Reaper
The Chapel itself isn’t particularly long, but it has some tricky sections that can catch you off-guard if you’re not prepared.
The Spiked Cog Section First, drop down and head right until you spot a moving wheel with spiked cogs. This is classic Silksong platforming – you need to time your jumps and dashes to avoid the spinning death traps.
You can actually pogo on these spiky cogs if you’re feeling confident, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re comfortable with the risk. The timing windows are tight, and taking damage here can make the rest of the chapel more challenging.
The Enemy Gauntlet Once you reach the platform above the cogs, prepare for a combat encounter. Enemies will spawn in waves of one or two at a time. The good news is that these are all enemy types you’ve encountered before, so you should know their patterns.
The key here is patience. Don’t rush into groups – let them come to you and deal with them methodically. If you’re struggling with combat fundamentals, practicing parrying techniques can make encounters like this much more manageable.
Claiming Your Prize After clearing the enemies, head up to find a body that you can interact with using the Bind button. This rewards you with the Reaper Crest along with its description: “allows you to attack with heavy, arcing slashes and reap additional Silk from enemies.”
Understanding Crest Tool Slots
Here’s something important to understand about crests in Silksong: when you switch to a new crest, you’ll need to unlock all the tool slots again, even if you had them unlocked on your previous crest.
The Reaper Crest comes with the same slot configuration as the starting crest:
- Two Red tool slots
- Two Yellow tool slots
- Two Blue tool slots
This means you’ll need to invest in unlocking these slots if you want to use your tools effectively. Plan your progression accordingly.
Combat Strategies with the Reaper Crest
Once you’ve got the Reaper Crest equipped, you’ll need to adjust your combat approach:
Timing Over Speed Your attacks are now slower but more powerful. Focus on finding clear openings rather than trying to overwhelm enemies with rapid strikes.
Area Control The heavy, arcing slashes cover more ground, making this crest excellent for controlling space and hitting multiple enemies.
Resource Management Take advantage of the extra silk generation. This crest essentially pays for itself by giving you more resources to work with.
Defensive Play The slower attack speed means you’ll need to be more careful about when you commit to strikes. Learn enemy patterns and attack during clear openings.
When to Use the Reaper Crest
The Reaper Crest excels in certain situations:
- Multiple enemy encounters where area damage is valuable
- High-health enemies where each hit needs maximum impact
- Resource-intensive areas where the extra silk generation helps
- Defensive playstyles where patience and timing matter more than speed
Building Your Crest Collection
The Reaper Crest is just one of several crests available in Silksong. Each one offers a different approach to combat and exploration. If you’re interested in collecting them all, our Wanderer Crest guide can help you unlock another powerful combat option.
The key is experimenting with different crests to find what works best for your playstyle. Some players love the Reaper’s heavy hits, while others prefer faster alternatives.
Final Tips for Success
Practice the New Timing Spend some time in easier areas getting used to the Reaper Crest’s attack rhythm before tackling challenging content.
Experiment with Tool Combinations Once you unlock the tool slots, try different combinations to see what synergizes well with the heavy attack style.
Don’t Force It If the Reaper Crest doesn’t feel right, that’s okay. Silksong gives you options for a reason – use what works for you.
Ready to claim your Reaper Crest? You can start your journey through Greymoor by getting Hollow Knight: Silksong on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, or Xbox.
The Reaper Crest represents a completely different approach to combat in Silksong. Whether it becomes your main crest or just another tool in your arsenal, having access to its heavy, sweeping attacks adds valuable versatility to your combat options.
