Hollow Knight: Silksong Tasks Before Sea of Sorrow

Hollow Knight: Silksong Players Have Homework Before Sea of Sorrow

Hollow Knight: Silksong is getting a DLC called Sea of Sorrow, and nobody knows exactly when it lands. That uncertainty is the whole point. Pharloom is a sprawling, punishing place, and plenty of players walked away at very different points in the journey. Some stopped after Grandmother Silk. Others hit Lost Lace and quit. A stubborn few made it all the way to the Savage Beastfly and called it done. Now is the moment to finish what you started.

There is a strong case for returning to Hollow Knight: Silksong right now. The game has three Acts, and its offboarding points are scattered in a way that makes "finished" a fuzzy concept. You might think you saw everything. You probably did not. Here are the tasks worth clearing before the new content arrives, in roughly the order that makes sense.

Beat Every Act and See the Real Ending

You want the full campaign. That's the obvious box to tick. Three Acts, all building to a final fight against Lost Lace, a battle that will test even the most battle-hardened Metroidvania fans who think they've seen everything the genre can throw at them. But the three memory bosses stand in your way first. They'll weed out plenty of players on their own. The achievement that follows is worth the pain, and it builds the reflexes you'll need when the DLC inevitably turns the dial up.

If the original Hollow Knight's expansions are any indication, Sea of Sorrow will not be gentle. That alone justifies a full clear.

The Cursed Child Ending Is Brutal but Rewarding

Most players never see it. There's a secret ending hidden inside this game, and it begins when Hornet finds a little bud deep in Bilewater, after which Greyroot implants it in her, a parasite that massively weakens her and leaves you unsure how to proceed, almost like the first time you get cursed in Dark Souls. Push through anyway. Defeat Grandmother Silk while cursed and a whole new ending unlocks. You can have the parasite removed afterward and continue as normal. If you wanted an extra challenge, this is it.

Quests, Secrets, and the Mr Mushroom Detour

You've played Hollow Knight. You know the drill. If you finished the Mr Mushroom quest before, you know exactly what's coming, and it all starts in a small upper nook at the far edge of the Pale Lake, where you read the poem and then head across the map searching for him while playing your Needolin to trigger each encounter. Clear his conversations. Climb the Cradle. That platforming section is tricky, but once you're through it, you'll find him one last time. He blasts into the sky. And a cutscene unlocks when you beat the game again.

One warning. Grab the Surface Memento after speaking with him, or you will repeat that climb. Nobody wants that.

Lost Verdania and Other Places You Missed

Even completionists have blind spots. Collect the three boss hearts and push toward Lost Lace, and you might still never have found Lost Verdania. Unlock it by finishing the Green Prince questline, which starts in Sinner's Road and lets you skip one of the main Heart bosses using the Conjoined Heart. Then there is the Wisp Thicket, reached by using Silk Soar in the Western Tower in Greymoor. Pharloom's map is dotted with hidden spots. Not all of them hide bosses or items, but some carry lore worth the trip.

Money, Power, and the Grind Nobody Escapes

Stockpiling currency sounds dull. It is also smart. Whether you hoard Shell Shards or Rosaries, you do not want to leave the DLC mid-fight to farm enemies because you ran dry on upgrades. Passive income helps. Beat the Crawfather at Craw Lake in Act 3 and grab the Crawbell, which drops free Rosaries every time you check on your house in Bellhart.

Power comes in two flavors. Innate power means Mask Shards, Spool Fragments, and Silk Hearts, the collectables that boost health and silk capacity, and with so many enemies dealing absurd damage, maxing those out is not optional. It's not optional. Memory Lockets matter too. And every Crest should be on standby.

You never know what powers you will need to defeat the horrors in the Sea of Sorrow.

External power means the Needle and Tools. The Needle needs four upgrades to hit maximum power, and the last one is locked behind Act 3 and the Flea Festival. The boost is extremely noticeable, so get it done early. Tools are their own rabbit hole. Some are ridiculously broken in the right hands, and experimenting with different Crests unlocks playstyles that can swing entire boss fights.

The Long Grinds Worth Doing Anyway

Then there is the Hunter's Journal, the most time-consuming task in Hollow Knight: Silksong. Every creature in Pharloom, tracked down and defeated. It is tedious. It is also the best combat training the game offers. Chasing every entry drags you into every corner of the world and teaches you how each area works and how to dodge every attack coming your way. The Hunter's Memento is the proof you became the ultimate fighter, at least until something bigger shows up.

Seth and His Carnival Games

This one hides at the very end. After you defeat Seth, the boss before the Nyleth fight, he sets off on a quest across Pharloom, and you need to meet him in a set number of locations before he heads to the Flea Festival, where he sets a new record in every minigame. Beat all of his high scores. The Guardian's Memento is yours. And if you hated grinding for Pale Oil earlier, take a deep breath, because it's a long road, and don't say we've never warned you.

Steel Soul Mode and the Speedrun Test

For the few who clear everything else, two challenges remain. Steel Soul Mode and a speedrun. Both come with their own achievements. Neither is for the faint of heart. Steel Soul forces such sharp improvement that bosses which once took hours become a cakewalk, and it's not just knowing encounters, it's understanding how the game works and mastering movement. You don't get lucky here. We've all seen what happens when you can't keep up. And they're waiting.

Speedrunning asks the same discipline. Finishing a speedrun means no upgrades, no mistakes, and constant pressure, because every error costs time or forces a restart. It sounds like masochism. It also produces some of the proudest achievements a player can earn.

Clear both, and nothing in Sea of Sorrow should stand in your way.