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Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.
Hollow Knight is the only metroidvania I've ever completed all the way. Its good stuff.

I got stuck on my first run after taking a break for a long time and ended up starting all over and then plowing through it. Not that you need to start over, but its natural to feel pretty overwhelmed for the beginning, you keep opening up more areas and directions without crossing off things you've found and its hard to juggle it all. But the game does a pretty good job of directing you indirectly.

Zack Ater posted:

I'm playing through this blind, but on-and-off for a variety of reasons. Between the map being gigantic and me just forgetting places I might be able to go back to with new tools, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed sometimes when I pick it up to play for a bit. Is there any sort of resource I could use to point me in the right direction, like maybe say "hey if you just got the dream nail you might want to poke around areas x, y, and z a bit more"?

If the answer is "just ask the thread" then I can provide some more details as to what I've done so far.


As an aside, I'm usually pretty good about mentally mapping places and navigating them well without needing to use the map and compass, but I got to deepnest earlier today and holy poo poo I was just lost the entire time. That was kind of nice.

Ask the thread is the best way to go to get general advise while also avoiding spoilers, you need human interpretation for that.

Yeah deepnest is a bit mazelike and intentionally very intimidating, I feel so naked without the compass on in that area.

It sounds like you're pretty far?

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Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Zaphod42 posted:

It sounds like you're pretty far?

On one hand, it feels like it, on the other hand I can think of at least four more traversal tools/abilities I need - a higher jump or double jump; a longer air dash or the ability to chain air dashes; something to deal with those black energy columns; and the ability to swim through acid or drain it from some areas or something? - and that feels like a lot of game left to go lol

I'll go more in depth on what I've done so far when I get home in a bit.

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Zack Ater posted:

On one hand, it feels like it, on the other hand I can think of at least four more traversal tools/abilities I need - a higher jump or double jump; a longer air dash or the ability to chain air dashes; something to deal with those black energy columns; and the ability to swim through acid or drain it from some areas or something? - and that feels like a lot of game left to go lol

I'll go more in depth on what I've done so far when I get home in a bit.

Look for spots in the City of Tears where you can head further downwards. Bring a Simple Key if you can.

SirSamVimes
Jul 21, 2008

~* Challenge *~


Zack Ater posted:

On one hand, it feels like it, on the other hand I can think of at least four more traversal tools/abilities I need - a higher jump or double jump; a longer air dash or the ability to chain air dashes; something to deal with those black energy columns; and the ability to swim through acid or drain it from some areas or something? - and that feels like a lot of game left to go lol

I'll go more in depth on what I've done so far when I get home in a bit.

You may find an area of interest if you explore the Forgotten Crossroads more, particularly on the east side. (spoiler has an actual direction)

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Zack Ater posted:

On one hand, it feels like it, on the other hand I can think of at least four more traversal tools/abilities I need - a higher jump or double jump; a longer air dash or the ability to chain air dashes; something to deal with those black energy columns; and the ability to swim through acid or drain it from some areas or something? - and that feels like a lot of game left to go lol

I'll go more in depth on what I've done so far when I get home in a bit.

Its so fun how different people can do things in vastly different order, because I'd already gotten some of those things before I got the thing you mentioned you already have.

Hwurmp and SirSamVimes beat me to it, but let me know if you need additional direction past that. Want to stay vague so we don't give it all up, but will give more hints if you're still stuck.

No Wave
Sep 18, 2005

HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!

Glare Seethe posted:

I've also gone back to P3 in the last couple of days. Zote is a goddamn lunatic, I can beat him maybe 25% of the time right now which is lame. I haven't actually even made it to Sly yet but I'm still in the practice phase in the Hall of Gods. I need to get some consistency down with Zote, then go practice Hornet a few times and then take a crack at unlocking Sly. The others are mostly pushovers.

Zote did remind me of one of the few things I don't like about HK, which is when bosses re-adjust position mid-jump to target you after you've moved. Lost Kin drove me nuts with this before I gave up trying to evade and just tanked him. It just feels bad.

But, crucially, I'm sitting here practicing a boss rush even though I've always known myself as someone who disliked boss fights. HK is so magical that it's made me actually like them, which is insane to me.
Zote just is a suckface. The entire pantheon comes down to not throwing too hard on god tamer and galleon, the one legitimately tough boss Zote, then actually practicing sly enough once he's unlocked to beat him every time (he has some double damage attacks but he's very easy/consistent with enough practice especially once you know to pogo his spin attack)

My only advice is cherish all your time with elder hu he was always fun for me and made repeats bearable.

fractalairduct
Sep 26, 2015

I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream!

Zack Ater posted:

On one hand, it feels like it, on the other hand I can think of at least four more traversal tools/abilities I need - a higher jump or double jump; a longer air dash or the ability to chain air dashes; something to deal with those black energy columns; and the ability to swim through acid or drain it from some areas or something? - and that feels like a lot of game left to go lol

I'll go more in depth on what I've done so far when I get home in a bit.

Do you have the ground pound? If not, you might need to climb to the top of City of Tears before you can do some of the other things people suggested.

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Okay, here's what I've done. I'm just going to use one big spoiler tag for the whole thing. These are in no particular order and I'm just trying to list main stuff and places I've seen that I can't reach yet, not every single wanderer's journal or charm I've found.

General - been seeing Quirrel a lot, and Cornifer. Rescued Zote a couple of times. I have not found any of the masks on my map yet; I don't remember whether or not there was a name for them.

Dirtmouth - Bought all of Sly's stuff, he's talking about a key he's lost. Bought everything from the map shop, most recently the tram pin. Bug girl I rescued is in her house. I used the dream nail on a... gravekeeper ghost? I've opened the house of the guy who'll help you get your spirit back with rancid eggs.

Howling Cliffs - Found the nailmaster and learned the spin attack. Saw a dream tree(? do they have a name?) before I knew what they were, haven't gone back yet to collect red coins essence. I think there was a connection to Greenpath? I don't remember whether there was anything else particularly notable.

Forgotten Crossroads - Found Sly and Salubra. Areas connected so far are Greenpath, Fungal Wastes, City of Tears, Crystal Peak, and Resting Grounds. There was somewhere, I think near the false knight, that I think I need a long dash or something to get through.

Greenpath - Got the dash cloak of course. Found the Hunter. I'm guessing I can do something at the Lake of Unn whenever I can deal with acid. There's a big spiky plant room I don't think I can do anything yet since I don't think I can nail hop on spiky plants. There was another room I think, to the west of the entrance from Fog Canyon, where I got through most of the room and got... a grub or a mask shard or something? But there was an exit in the top left and I couldn't get to it, I think it was one of those hanging platforms that I'd have to cut down from the other side. I might be combining a couple different rooms in my memory, idk. There was a dark building near the Fog Canyon entrance, too, that I'm not actually sure if I ever went back to after I got the lantern...

Fungal Wastes - Met Leg Eater. Met Cloth. Got the wall jump claw. Just today defeated the Mantis Lords. Found Queen's Station. Met.... long-necked bug there? I don't remember her name. Need some way to deal with acid. There was also a room where I need a high/double jump, I think.

Fog Canyon - Do not yet have map! Cornifer seems to be behind a glowy black energy thing. Met a banker; I can manage my money well enough on my own thank you very much :colbert: There was one room to the side where I think I needed either a high/double jump or to deal with acid to progress? Not sure which, it's been a while. It's basically a path between Fungal Wastes and Greenpath for me at the moment.

City of Tears - Met the nailsmith, upgraded my nail twice I think. Met the guy who buys the journals and stuff. Beat the Soul something-or-other, got a downward soul attack to break floors. Unlocked the sewers but I think I needed some more keys for some other stuff. Poked my head out into Kingdom's Edge somewhere, didn't explore at all until much later.

Royal Waterways - Beat Dung Defender, hit a switch. Tried looking for what it did but I'm not sure I ever found it. Bottom-right part had a place where I need a longer airdash or the ability to chain airdash or something along those lines.

Ancient Basin - Explored a bit, both tram rooms, I think this was where I found a fountain to throw money into? Honestly I barely remember this area. I don't even remember whether I hit some sort of traversal wall or if I just left because I hate those crab-ish enemies that shoot lingering puddles of orange and have a surprisingly quick melee attack. I should probably go back here and see if I can keep going, and maybe throw some money in the fountain I guess. I don't remember whether I have this map.

Crystal Peak - Found my way into Resting Grounds from here. I'm pretty sure I even went back to double check, and I didn't see anywhere else to go. I don't think I have the map here yet? I probably just missed some obvious exit or something. I'll go check again next time.

Resting Grounds - Got the dream nail. Fought some ghost boss guy? Just today unlocked a graveyard I guess? from having enough essence so the moth opened the door. I don't remember any places where it looked like I need new traversal tools.

Deepnest - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I should have expected spiders somewhere in this game but for some reason I dind't :cry:
ahem
Cornifer was hiding for once, I don't blame him in the slightest. The noise from being near the big worm things that are timing obstacles puts me on edge. Got a tram pass. I definitely have more to explore here but I had enough for one day so I used my new pass and rode a tram to the...

Kingdom's Edge - Found another nailmaster, learned a charged dash attack. Going up and up and up and up and up an- anyway I found... someone's tail? I think I need a high/double jump to get to his/her/its face. I think there were one or two other places here where I need a high/double jump.

I think that's it? So I have a few places to continue exploring next time. Writing it all out has helped. I've gotten two extra health, and one extra soul container. I don't think I've seen any DLC stuff yet, though, when is that? I also feel like I'm underutilizing the dream nail, I'm just using it on the dream trees so far, and that one ghost boss in the resting grounds, whom I had forgotten about until just now. And the ghost in dirthmouth. I don't know if there's more I can do with it or not?


e: ^ yes I do have the ground pound

Telum fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Jul 25, 2019

Pigbuster
Sep 12, 2010

Fun Shoe
Explore crystal peak more, you missed stuff. It’s a very vertical area so look up.

The DLCs are in areas you’ve been: Howling Cliffs and Waterways. They’re both behind hidden walls. For Howling Cliffs, go down from the spot Cornifer sat, examining the walls. For the one in Waterways, it’s near the crooked bench. There’s a wall/ceiling that needs breaking.

Pigbuster fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Jul 25, 2019

Sway Grunt
May 15, 2004

Tenochtitlan, looking east.

No Wave posted:

Pantheon 3 stuff

(Gonna add some spoiler tags for the bosses that Zack Ater hasn't encountered yet.)

I actually beat it a couple of days after making that post! I think the keys to success for me were:

- With Zote, getting the timing right on dodging his jumps and understanding that I need to pogo when he's flailing around and not try to dodge.
- Get the timing right on dream nailing and healing during Uumuu. It's really easy to whiff on this and take a hit instead.
- Get good enough at Sly's first stage to enter the second with at least five masks so I can just tank it, because screw trying to be elegant about it.

I then started a Godseeker save and Sisters of Battle is amazing. I think it's probably my favorite fight in the game, there is an incredible rhythm to it. I almost wish it was the standard fight in the game but considering how early you can do Mantis Lords it's probably better this way. Just a shame SoB is buried so deep in the DLC.

Sway Grunt fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Jul 25, 2019

Pigbuster
Sep 12, 2010

Fun Shoe

Glare Seethe posted:

I then started a Godseeker save and Sisters of Battle is amazing. I think it's probably my favorite fight in the game, there is an incredible rhythm to it. I almost wish it was the standard fight in the game but considering how early you can do Mantis Lords it's probably better this way. Just a shame SoB is buried so deep in the DLC.

Seriously. It’s heartbreaking how so many people don’t even know that fight exists because they drop the DLC. I love how it feels so intense despite not being gruelingly difficult; it’s more about getting into the flow and never stopping.

No Wave
Sep 18, 2005

HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!
The third trial is much harder than the first two even if it's nothing compared to what follows. That's why new players should be told to let zote die.

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Pigbuster posted:

Explore crystal peak more, you missed stuff. It’s a very vertical area so look up.

The DLCs are in areas you’ve been: Howling Cliffs and Waterways. They’re both behind hidden walls. For Howling Cliffs, go down from the spot Cornifer sat, examining the walls. For the one in Waterways, it’s near the crooked bench. There’s a wall/ceiling that needs breaking.

Fantastic, thanks!

Glare Seethe posted:

(Gonna add some spoiler tags for the bosses that Zack Ater hasn't encountered yet.)

I appreciate it :)

One Hundred Monkeys
Aug 7, 2010

Zack Ater posted:


I think that's it? So I have a few places to continue exploring next time. Writing it all out has helped. I've gotten two extra health, and one extra soul container. I don't think I've seen any DLC stuff yet, though, when is that? I also feel like I'm underutilizing the dream nail, I'm just using it on the dream trees so far, and that one ghost boss in the resting grounds, whom I had forgotten about until just now. And the ghost in dirthmouth. I don't know if there's more I can do with it or not?

Most of your questions have been addressed already, but re: the dream nail:

there are a whole host of mini-boss spirits like the one in the resting grounds. chances are that you've passed a few of their anchors without realising it, because the spirits are invisible until you collect the dream nail. there's one in the upper fungal wastes, for example.

hitting people with it lets you read their minds. very occasionally this will provide you with game hints, but it's mostly just a way to add a bit of extra characterisation to ppl.

some people, or objects, are especially dream-significant and will react in special ways if you dream nail them. if you see something big and/or conspicuous that you can't otherwise interact with, consider hitting it with the dream nail. for an example of what I'm talking about, try going to the room where you fought the false knight and searching the area carefully

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Update: Yeah I just completely passed by a path in the mines I guess :v: Got the superdash and then went back to the sewers and became acid-proof. Oh, and I found the shop key. I feel productive!

One Hundred Monkeys posted:

Dream nail stuff

Thanks! I did think today to use it on the girl bug I rescued, since dream nail and she seemed to be sleeping, but I'll have to keep using it more often!

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Glare Seethe posted:

I then started a Godseeker save and Sisters of Battle is amazing. I think it's probably my favorite fight in the game, there is an incredible rhythm to it. I almost wish it was the standard fight in the game but considering how early you can do Mantis Lords it's probably better this way. Just a shame SoB is buried so deep in the DLC.

I love how in Joseph Anderson's review of Hollow Knight, he specifically called out the Mantis Lords as a cool boss but he was disappointed you only ever fought the 2, and specifically said he wished they'd have another phase with all 3.

And then in his DLC update he was just so happy.

big deal
Sep 10, 2017

You can also hit enemies with the dreamnail to get a bunch of soul, but it’s usually hard without a certain charm.

guppy
Sep 21, 2004

sting like a byob

b_d posted:

You can also hit enemies with the dreamnail to get a bunch of soul, but it’s usually hard without a certain charm.

One good time to do this is when bosses are stunned, if you don't need that time to heal.

No Wave
Sep 18, 2005

HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!
TC pls unlock sisters of battle after boss rush 2!!!! It's a shame so many people don't get to see it. I even bothered beating it on ascended and I'm a pleb!!

fractalairduct
Sep 26, 2015

I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream!

Can anyone give me advice on the back half of pantheon of the sage? I've only been able to get past GPZ with the Dreamshield equipped, so that I don't have to deal with his spawns. Obviously that's terrible for fighting Uumuu, though, so I haven't gotten any further.

No Wave
Sep 18, 2005

HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!
it all comes down to zote and being prepared for sly (meaning you'll lose the first time you meet sly, nbd).

I would never fight zote without mark of pride + longnail because it lets you use your nail at max range on the exploding ghosts without taking damage and taking one out makes that attack slightly more bearable.

Using your hadouken magic to kill summons makes it way more bearable too.

Either way don't bother doing the pantheon until you can beat zote three times in a row in the practice hall, and once you unlock sly the same applies to him. If you can semi-consistently beat zote with more than half health you generally shouldn't have much trouble with the rest of the pantheon.

Arrhythmia
Jul 22, 2011

fractalairduct posted:

Can anyone give me advice on the back half of pantheon of the sage? I've only been able to get past GPZ with the Dreamshield equipped, so that I don't have to deal with his spawns. Obviously that's terrible for fighting Uumuu, though, so I haven't gotten any further.

Get good.

fractalairduct
Sep 26, 2015

I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream!

No Wave posted:

it all comes down to zote and being prepared for sly (meaning you'll lose the first time you meet sly, nbd).

I would never fight zote without mark of pride + longnail because it lets you use your nail at max range on the exploding ghosts without taking damage and taking one out makes that attack slightly more bearable.

Using your hadouken magic to kill summons makes it way more bearable too.

Either way don't bother doing the pantheon until you can beat zote three times in a row in the practice hall, and once you unlock sly the same applies to him. If you can semi-consistently beat zote with more than half health you generally shouldn't have much trouble with the rest of the pantheon.

Yeah, I've been practising in the hall, but I'm still not good enough to beat him consistently. :smith:

I didn't even think of attacking the ghosts, I'll have to give that a try. And yeah, using spells is probably a good idea because there's so little chance to heal in the fight anyway, but it's the complete opposite of how I normally play.

A big stumbling block for me I think is that there's no safe place to attack him from. If you pogo on him he can jump up, and if you attack him front the front he can run straight into you, both without any warning.

Darox
Nov 10, 2012


The best time to attack Zote is when he's summoning minions. The next best is pogoing off his head while he does the sword flail. Otherwise you should be fairly cautious when attacking him and be ready to flee at a moments notice. Mark of Pride makes it much easier to get in hits safely.

The trick to Sly is to always be running away, basically. His attacks in both the first and second phase can be dodged by just walking away from him before he even starts the attack. With his ground combo you can dash underneath him after the jumpspin attack if you're against a wall. Once you're clear you should be free to retaliate with 1-2 slashes before going back to running away. The exceptions are his dash slash and cyclone slash, which have big obvious charge ups and are dealt with by jumping/pogoing over him, or in the second phase when he comes in at a high angle and ends up above you which usually requires a dash to escape.

Sway Grunt
May 15, 2004

Tenochtitlan, looking east.
Killing the zotelings is the absolute first priority, I think. Then it's about sneaking in hits wherever you can. You can usually hit him once from above after he does his big slam attack, for instance, since you should be in the air then anyway (to dodge the shockwaves). Something like jump -> dash -> (Zote lands) -> double-jump back -> down slash -> dash. Don't be tempted to hit him more than once or he'll leap up.

And it's possible to attack right after he's finished the three leaps if you land next to him (although that's risky since he might just run into you, so perhaps better to attack from above instead). I only used Longnail and dropped Mark of Pride for Quick Slash because I found it more useful against Sly and Hornet, and cleared the bombs with Shade Soul instead. Otherwise like Darox said you can get a lot of hits in when he's summoning and when he's flailing.

If you're using Quick Focus you can heal two masks when he's staggered, or three if you take a risk and get lucky / are quick enough, but if you practice healing up during Uumuu you should be okay either way.

Sway Grunt fucked around with this message at 10:03 on Jul 28, 2019

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

One Hundred Monkeys posted:

for an example of what I'm talking about, try going to the room where you fought the false knight and searching the area carefully

Oof

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

My progress - Got a double jump, upgraded my ground pound, found the third nail art (and got a charm for having all three), found a bunch more grubs, found a new way into fog canyon and got the map and got to a Dreamer's place but I haven't gone in yet, fought several more bosses including some ghost ones (but haven't won any rematches yet), hit a corpse of a large bug with the dream nail but I can't tell what it did other than light up the previous room, found a sarcophagus in a junk pit I need a simple key for, found the Queen's garden and Cloth is maybe going to help me out there? I think I have only 9 charms left to get.

Holy poo poo the backtracking I need to do with the double jump. I've been placing map pins but even then I'm sure I've missed some.

Gully Foyle
Feb 29, 2008

Zack Ater posted:

My progress - hit a corpse of a large bug with the dream nail but I can't tell what it did other than light up the previous room

If this is what I think it is, you should go back to the room that lit up, sounds like you missed something important (you'll know you've got it when you return to Dirtmouth).

No Wave
Sep 18, 2005

HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!

fractalairduct posted:

Yeah, I've been practising in the hall, but I'm still not good enough to beat him consistently. :smith:

I didn't even think of attacking the ghosts, I'll have to give that a try. And yeah, using spells is probably a good idea because there's so little chance to heal in the fight anyway, but it's the complete opposite of how I normally play.

A big stumbling block for me I think is that there's no safe place to attack him from. If you pogo on him he can jump up, and if you attack him front the front he can run straight into you, both without any warning.
I hit him once after he does slam attacks (he stops jumping when a big shockwave comes out). Despite how the graphics look you can single jump over the tall shockwave he does which gives you time to land next to him and hit him.

Pogo jumping him when he's doing the sword charge is the most certain way to get good damage on him which is why I get so tilted when he makes the noise like he's going to do it and falls over instead.

When you actually manage to stagger him I use that time to heal twice, I find that way more valuable than getting three hits in.

If you're really stuck watch some videos of people doing speedruns, that tends to help me a lot.

I'll still get cornered by him every so often if he does bombs -> summons -> jumps above me which is why the fight is so annoying.

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

That fight is super hard, don't worry about doing it just now. But be aware that you can do stuff like that to lots of dudes in the game.

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Yeah I figured I'll come back later. I appreciate that you don't actually die, although being right there makes the short trek back a bit more annoying lol
I saw the broken vessel glowing for a rematch but didn't attempt it. I feel like I saw another one or two (which I also didn't try yet) but I don't remember what.

Gully Foyle posted:

If this is what I think it is, you should go back to the room that lit up, sounds like you missed something important (you'll know you've got it when you return to Dirtmouth).

I'll check it out again, then! Thanks.

nrook
Jun 25, 2009

Just let yourself become a worthless person!
Me in Pantheon 3: “Wait when am I supposed to heal against original flavor if he doesn’t have NKG’s easy to avoid pillar move”

Also interesting fact, if you don’t finish Zote’s storyline you don’t have to fight him in the pantheon. I guess he’ll be hanging out down in Hallownest for awhile yet, it takes long enough to get through all these bosses as it is.

Peanut!
May 12, 2019
So I decided to check out Hollow Knight as I've been on a Souls-like binge lately. Here's some of my first impressions from my blind playthrough. I'm pretty early in the game; I think I've beaten two "proper" bosses so far (False Knight and Hornet) but a few mini-bosses.

- Visual design is top notch so far. Really digging the environmental clues like different wall textures near points of interest and signposts.
- Difficulty feels just right so far. Don't have any weapon upgrades so far (I'm assuming they exist), but it feels like each victory is a skill test rather than a numbers/level test. The bosses in particular were quite fun.
- Very surprised that the air/ground dash power was acquired so early. At this rate I'm expecting double jump soon.
- Plot is a bit too vague. I get that it's standard Souls fare with a ruined ancient kingdom, some kind of curse, and a nameless PC, but more context would be nice. What is my goal?
- Are there any questlines I can lock myself out of unintentionally? I met a dude near a lake who didn't introduce himself so I bet that I missed a trigger somewhere.
- When do I fight Bug Artorias?

Alxprit
Feb 7, 2015

<click> <click> What is it with this dancing?! Bouncing around like fools... I would have thought my own kind at least would understand the seriousness of our Adventurer's Guild!

Peanut! posted:

- Plot is a bit too vague. I get that it's standard Souls fare with a ruined ancient kingdom, some kind of curse, and a nameless PC, but more context would be nice. What is my goal?
- Are there any questlines I can lock myself out of unintentionally? I met a dude near a lake who didn't introduce himself so I bet that I missed a trigger somewhere.

It's going to take a long time for you to figure that out, but the world carries itself well until then. As for locked out questlines, there are some that have multiple options, but otherwise you can't miss out on getting A Reward. The only thing that people might get upset about is regarding the ending. To spare any spoilers, once the final boss is open to you, if you don't want to miss ANYTHING you should just go and fight it right away before you find a certain significant item that changes the ending.

Arrhythmia
Jul 22, 2011

Peanut! posted:

- Are there any questlines I can lock myself out of unintentionally? I met a dude near a lake who didn't introduce himself so I bet that I missed a trigger somewhere.

Yes but it happens pretty quick and missing it is harder than triggering it. Did you save a bug by the name of Zote?

quote:

- When do I fight Bug Artorias?

First final boss.

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Peanut! posted:

- Plot is a bit too vague. I get that it's standard Souls fare with a ruined ancient kingdom, some kind of curse, and a nameless PC, but more context would be nice. What is my goal?

Your goal is to follow Hornet around.


Okay, I'll take a more serious crack at it. I'm still on my initial playthrough so I could easily be missing stuff, and this is all obviously spoilers for stuff the game is going to tell you as you go (so I would personally recommend not reading this yet but you do you), but what I've gathered so far is: the kingdom (and some surrounding areas?) fell to the influence of some sort of corruption - all the orangey goop seems to overwrite an individual's thoughts more and more over time until they've lost all free will and wander around attacking uncorrupted people - but I think they managed to seal away the worst of it or the source of it in the temple near the entrance to the forgotten crossroads. Either there was enough left unsealed that it ruined their civilization anyway, or the seal has weakened and stuff is starting to be corrupted again. The three masks you can see in that temple are the masks of the people who sealed it, and they're still around, I assume maintaining the seal. I think my goal at the moment is to shank all three of them and then deal with whatever it is that's sealed inside the temple and end the corruption or seal it better because it's about to fail anyway or something. I tend to put main story off until I've done everything else, though, in stuff like this, so I have yet to find out.

My progress, for anyone interested - Got the shadow cloak thing! Hornet v2 wasn't too bad, most of the damage I took was jumping into her instead of her landing attacks on me :v: I also found the Hive, and I think I'm mostly done with it, but I decided to leave the boss for later. I really, really like the visual design of the area. Other than that I was mostly just doing backtracking today, I think? So nothing too exciting there, except the very top of the crystal mines area was pretty cool. I have one simple key atm, but two places I remember where I can use it - the sarcophagus in the junk heap and a door near king's station (I think there's a hot spring inside based on the sign?) Not sure which I want to unlock yet. I still have to explore Deepnest more, blegh, but I at least finished off the Eastern part of it today. I also need to go check out the arena. Oh, and the queen's garden! I need to go help Cloth. That might be the goal next time I play. I'm really hoping that there's a path in there leading to the last place in greenpath I can see a door leading out on my map.

I also went back to the cliffs and I swear I had tried attacking the brazier the first time but anyway I've started a DLC I guess? Thanks for telling me to go back! Except I gave an NPC one of my fragile charms and now she(?) wants 12k geo jesus

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Zack Ater posted:

Except I gave an NPC one of my fragile charms and now she(?) wants 12k geo jesus

Doing this on accident does kinda suck, although feels true to the spirit of how Hollow Knight is so full of mysteries.

In the long run its worth doing but yeah, it can be awful expensive if you aren't prepared for the cost when you hand one over.

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

To be fair I've never equipped any of those except for when trying to find out what she wanted me to show her. I know they're probably strong but I don't like risking things that can break :v: So it's not really that big of a deal lol

Zaphod42
Sep 13, 2012

If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Zack Ater posted:

To be fair I've never equipped any of those except for when trying to find out what she wanted me to show her. I know they're probably strong but I don't like risking things that can break :v: So it's not really that big of a deal lol

I don't know if you ever discovered, but if they do break you can pay the guy you got them from to repair them

The big thing there though is one of the charms that's fragile gives you more money, and she wants tons and tons of money. So if you didn't give her that one, you can put that one on and get the money faster. But if you already gave her that one, then you can't use it to get money. Oops.

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Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

Zaphod42 posted:

I don't know if you ever discovered, but if they do break you can pay the guy you got them from to repair them

The big thing there though is one of the charms that's fragile gives you more money, and she wants tons and tons of money. So if you didn't give her that one, you can put that one on and get the money faster. But if you already gave her that one, then you can't use it to get money. Oops.

She got the health one, so that is a very good idea! Thanks!

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