Hollow Knight Silksong Act 1 Complete Walkthrough & Progression Guide

Complete Hollow Knight Silksong Act 1 walkthrough with optimized progression route, boss strategies, and ability locations. Get from Moss Grotto to The Citadel efficiently.

TL;DR

Act 1 spans from Moss Grotto to defeating The Last Judge at The Citadel entrance. Follow this optimized route: Moss Grotto → The Marrow → Deep Docks → Far Fields → Greymoor → Shellwood → Blasted Steps. Collect 6 key abilities, defeat 7 mandatory bosses, and unlock all Bellway stations for efficient progression.

Starting your journey through Hollow Knight Silksong can feel overwhelming with Pharloom’s vast interconnected world sprawling before you. Act 1 serves as your introduction to this mysterious realm, taking Hornet from her dramatic crash-landing in Moss Grotto all the way to the imposing gates of The Citadel. This comprehensive walkthrough provides the most efficient path through Act 1, ensuring you collect every essential ability, defeat every mandatory boss, and unlock crucial fast travel points.

This guide focuses purely on progression-critical content – the abilities, bosses, and areas you absolutely must complete to finish Act 1. Optional quests, collectibles, and side content are excluded to maintain focus on the core journey.

Understanding Act 1’s Structure: Your Roadmap to The Citadel

Act 1 encompasses Hornet’s quest to discover who captured her and why she was brought to Pharloom as a prisoner. The act concludes when you face The Last Judge, the formidable guardian protecting The Citadel’s entrance.

Key progression milestones:

• 6 essential abilities to collect across various regions
• 7 mandatory boss encounters that gate your progression
• Multiple Bellway stations for efficient fast travel
• Map acquisitions from Shakra in each major region

The beauty of Silksong’s design lies in how each region builds upon the previous one’s abilities, creating a natural progression curve that guides you toward increasingly complex challenges.

Part 1: Moss Grotto to The Marrow – Your Introduction to Pharloom

New Areas: Moss Grotto, The Marrow
New Abilities: Silkspear
Mandatory Bosses: Moss Mother, Bell Beast

Escaping Moss Grotto and Reaching Bone Bottom

Your adventure begins in the atmospheric Moss Grotto, where Hornet must navigate relatively linear pathways toward her first major challenge. The area serves as an extended tutorial, introducing core movement mechanics and combat fundamentals.

Navigation steps:

• Navigate through Moss Grotto’s linear zones
• Rest at the first Bench you encounter
• Continue left to face Moss Mother – your first mandatory boss
• Defeat Moss Mother to progress (she’s straightforward but teaches boss fundamentals)
• Jump up into the next room to meet Chapel Maiden
• Continue right to enter Bone Bottom – Silksong’s first town

Moss Mother strategy: This introductory boss focuses on basic attack patterns and movement. Use it as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with Hornet’s combat rhythm, which differs significantly from the Knight’s moveset in the original Hollow Knight.

Acquiring Essential Tools in The Marrow

Bone Bottom serves as your introduction to Silksong’s town mechanics and NPC interactions, but the real progression happens in The Marrow.

Critical acquisitions:

• Discover the Bellway station (building with three rightward chevrons)
• Meet Sherma at the Bone Gate and create a shortcut
• Find Shakra – Silksong’s cartographer
• Purchase Mosslands and Marrow maps to unlock map functionality
• Buy Quill and Compass for map exploration tracking

Pro tip: While you can’t fast travel yet, discovering Bellway stations early pays dividends once you unlock the ability. Always prioritize finding these locations.

Unlocking Your First Combat Ability

The Silkspear ability transforms Hornet’s combat capabilities, adding a powerful thrust attack that becomes essential for breaking certain barriers and dealing with tougher enemies.

Silkspear acquisition route:

• Go left from Shakra’s location
• Jump up and take the ceiling exit
• Continue left, then enter the top-left exit back to Moss Grotto
• Find the Weaver statue in this room
• Use Bind skill in front of the statue to absorb Silkspear

Bell Beast encounter: After acquiring Silkspear, you’ll face the Bell Beast – not as a traditional boss fight, but as a “subduing” encounter that unlocks fast travel functionality. Use your new Silkspear to break the Bell Beast free, then subdue it to activate The Marrow’s Bellway station.

Part 2: Deep Docks Expedition – Mobility and Combat Evolution

New Areas: Deep Docks
New Abilities: Swift Step
Mandatory Bosses: Lace

Reaching Deep Docks Through The Marrow

Deep Docks represents a significant step up in environmental complexity and enemy variety. The route from The Marrow requires careful navigation through vertical spaces.

Navigation pathway:

• Start from The Marrow Bellway station
• Go all the way right, jumping over the first tall room
• Drop down into the far-right tall room
• Go all the way down this room, then travel right across the wide-open area
• Enter Deep Docks

Immediate priorities upon arrival:

• Meet Shakra in the first right room and buy the Deep Docks map
• Discover Deep Docks Bellway station (left of Shakra)
• Meet Forge Daughter (crucial NPC for tool crafting)

Swift Step: Your First Mobility Upgrade

Swift Step revolutionizes Hornet’s movement capabilities, providing both a quick dodge and the ability to chain into sprints. This ability becomes essential for both combat and traversal.

Swift Step location route:

• From Forge Daughter, return to Shakra’s room
• Go up and to the left
• Travel up the room, then go right for three rooms
• Drop down and loop left to find another Weaver Statue
• Bind in front of the statue to acquire Swift Step

Swift Step mechanics: Press the input for a quick dodge, hold it down to transition into a sprint. This ability is crucial for accessing certain platforms and dodging complex enemy attack patterns.

Lace Boss Fight: Your First Major Challenge

Lace serves as Act 1’s first significant difficulty spike, testing your mastery of Hornet’s basic combat mechanics while introducing more complex boss patterns.

Accessing Lace:

• From the Swift Step Weaver Statue, go left and drop down to Shakra’s room
• Go all the way right from Shakra’s location
• Use Swift Step in mid-air to reach the platform above
• Sprint and jump at the platform’s edge to reach a lever
• Hit the lever to open the gate to Lace’s boss room

Lace strategy: This boss emphasizes mobility and timing over raw damage output. Use your newly acquired Swift Step to dodge her quick attacks and create openings for counterattacks.

Part 3: Far Fields Exploration – Aerial Mastery

New Areas: Far Fields
New Abilities: Drifter’s Cloak
Mandatory Bosses: Fourth Chorus

Navigating Far Fields’ Unique Terrain

Far Fields introduces vertical air current mechanics that fundamentally change how you approach traversal. The area’s wind-based puzzles require patience and observation.

Finding essential locations:

• From Lace boss fight, go right through several rooms
• Look for rooms with upward-pointing air vents
• Cross over and find two exits on the right side
• Meet Shakra for the Far Fields map
• Discover Far Fields Bellway station

Drifter’s Cloak: Mastering Aerial Movement

The Drifter’s Cloak grants Hornet limited flight capabilities, opening up entirely new traversal possibilities and making certain platforming challenges achievable.

Acquisition quest – Flexile Spines:

• From Bellway station, drop down and take the right exit
• Navigate around the floating building to meet the Seamstress
• Accept the Flexile Spines quest
• Hunt Hoker enemies (flying enemies with side spikes)
• Collect 25 Flexile Spines from defeated Hokers
• Return to Seamstress to receive Drifter’s Cloak

Fourth Chorus encounter: This boss fight occurs immediately after receiving the Drifter’s Cloak, testing your ability to use the new ability under pressure. The automaton boss requires both aerial maneuvering and precise combat timing.

Breaking Through to Greymoor

The Drifter’s Cloak’s first major application involves literally breaking through Far Fields’ ceiling to reach the next region.

Ceiling breakthrough sequence:

• Take the exit left of Fourth Chorus boss
• Use Drifter’s Cloak to float upward
• Land on explosive rocks and hit them quickly
• Escape quickly as rocks create new air vents
• Break multiple vents to reach the top
• Find exit right to Pilgrim’s Rest
• Use top-left exit and continue floating upward
• Break through Far Fields’ ceiling to enter Greymoor

Part 4: Greymoor to Shellwood – Advanced Combat and Exploration

New Areas: Greymoor, Bellhart, Shellwood
New Abilities: Hunter’s Journal, Cling Grip
Mandatory Bosses: Moorwing, Sister Splinter, Widow

Establishing Your Greymoor Base

Greymoor presents a more complex layout with multiple interconnected buildings and vertical challenges. Establishing your bearings early prevents confusion later.

Initial setup:

• Head right immediately from Far Fields entrance to find Shakra
• Purchase Greymoor map
• Go left to the large building with locked door
• Platform around to left side to enter Halfway Home
• Jump to attic to meet Nuu and receive Hunter’s Journal
• Continue left to find Greymoor Bellway (through interior rat-enemy area)

Moorwing and Accessing Haunted Bellhart

Moorwing guards the entrance to Bellhart, requiring you to prove your combat competency before accessing the cursed town.

Moorwing route:

• From Halfway House, run all the way left
• Jump across both enemies in your path
• Drop down below the cage
• Go right to air vent, but take left path this time
• Fight Moorwing on far left side of Greymoor

Bellhart’s curse creates an eerie atmosphere with floating residents, setting up the dramatic encounters ahead in Shellwood.

Shellwood: Wall-Jumping and Boss Mastery

Shellwood introduces wall-jumping mechanics through the Cling Grip ability while testing your combat skills against two challenging bosses.

Shellwood navigation:

• Enter from Haunted Bellhart going left
• Platform up first room to top-left exit
• Drop down to bottom-left of marshy area
• Find Shakra on the left for map purchase
• Use white flowers and ledges to ascend tall room
• Reach Shellwood Bellway going left at the top

Sister Splinter and Cling Grip Acquisition

Sister Splinter serves as the gatekeeper to one of Act 1’s most important abilities.

Boss route and ability:

• From Bellway, go directly right using white flowers
• Use elevator to reach central Bench
• Take elevator up, loop around to top-left exit
• Continue left to Sister Splinter boss
• After victory, continue left to large room
• Navigate to Weaver Statue
• Bind for Cling Grip – enables wall jumping

Widow Fight and Needle Upgrade

The Widow represents Act 1’s penultimate challenge, requiring mastery of all abilities learned so far.

Widow access and rewards:

• From central Bench, get to top-right room
• Use Cling Grip to reach top-right instead of top-left
• Go right, drop down, then left
• Jump over drop-down and continue left for shortcut
• Drop down to Widow boss room

Victory rewards:

• Needolin ability – crucial for Citadel progression
• Bellhart curse lifted – NPCs return to normal
• Free needle upgrade from Pinmaster Plinney

Part 5: The Final Ascent – Blasted Steps to The Citadel

New Areas: Blasted Steps, The Citadel
New Abilities: None
Mandatory Bosses: The Last Judge

Preparing for The Citadel

The final stretch of Act 1 focuses on navigation challenges and preparing for the climactic boss encounter.

Blasted Steps setup:

• Travel to Shellwood Bellway from Bellhart
• Go left to enter Blasted Steps
• Jump up at first ceiling entrance
• Find Shakra above the initial path for map purchase
• Discover Blasted Steps Bellway and Bench

Surviving the Route to The Last Judge

The runback to The Last Judge is notoriously difficult, featuring dangerous enemies and environmental hazards. However, a shortcut significantly improves the experience.

Critical shortcut location:

• About halfway through the dangerous route
• Look for breakable wall on safe platform between large rooms
• Loop back to create shortcut before proceeding
• This dramatically reduces future runback difficulty

The Last Judge: Act 1’s Final Challenge

The Last Judge serves as the climactic test of everything you’ve learned throughout Act 1.

Boss encounter setup:

• Get to Citadel entrance
• Talk to pilgrims next to gate
• Play Needolin to ring bells on gate
• Wait for Last Judge to appear

Victory and progression:

• Defeating Last Judge unlocks Act 2
• Gain entrance to The Citadel
• Watch progression cutscene
• Enter Grand Gate area to begin Act 2

Essential Tips for Act 1 Success

Prioritize exploration over speed. Each area contains secrets and shortcuts that make future navigation significantly easier. The time invested in thorough exploration pays dividends throughout your journey.

Master each ability as you acquire it. Don’t rush to the next objective without understanding how your new capabilities change your approach to both combat and traversal.

Manage your resources carefully. Rosary Beads become increasingly important as boss fights grow more challenging. Invest in healing upgrades and essential tools.

Use Bellways strategically. Once fast travel unlocks, efficient movement between regions becomes crucial for completing quests and accessing previously unreachable areas.

Available across Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox, Silksong’s Act 1 provides the perfect introduction to Pharloom’s mysteries while building toward the greater challenges ahead.

Beyond Act 1: What Awaits in The Citadel

With The Last Judge defeated and The Citadel’s gates opened, Hornet’s true journey begins. Act 1 serves as comprehensive preparation for the greater mysteries and challenges that await in Act 2 and beyond.

The abilities you’ve mastered, the combat skills you’ve developed, and the exploration techniques you’ve learned all become essential tools for conquering Pharloom’s deeper secrets. Act 1’s conclusion isn’t an ending – it’s your graduation into Silksong’s most challenging and rewarding content.

Take pride in reaching The Citadel, but remember that your adventure through Pharloom has only just begun. The skills learned in Act 1 form the foundation for everything that follows in this masterfully crafted metroidvania experience.