All Charms in Hollow Knight: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding the Power of Charms

In the sprawling, interconnected world of Hollow Knight, you’ll encounter numerous dangers and challenges. Your survival and success hinge upon your skills, reflexes, and, crucially, the equipment you choose to wield. Charms are integral to this equation. They are equippable items that fundamentally alter your abilities. Each charm grants a unique effect, often synergizing with other charms or combat styles to offer diverse approaches to overcoming obstacles. These effects can range from enhancing your attack power and survivability to modifying how you use your spells or traverse the environment.

Charms are equipped through the in-game charm inventory, accessible via the main menu. Players can only equip a limited number of charms at any given time, dictated by the number of charm notches they possess. This limitation adds a layer of strategy, compelling you to carefully consider which charms best complement your preferred playstyle and the specific challenges you anticipate facing.

Understanding how these charms function is crucial for mastering Hollow Knight. You’ll need to gather them, experiment with them, and build the perfect combination of charms. The benefits are plentiful; they provide crucial enhancements, from increased damage output to improved mobility and powerful defensive capabilities.

Charm Notches: Managing Your Arsenal

Charm notches represent the slots you can equip your charms into. Initially, you start with a limited number, and as the game progresses, you’ll need to find more to increase your options. Charm notches are obtained through specific actions, such as progressing through the main story or discovering secret areas.
* How to Increase Charm Notches: Exploring the diverse landscapes of Hallownest will often lead you to these essential upgrades. Discovering specific NPCs or hidden areas usually leads to these.

Categories of Charms: A Quick Overview

To simplify the navigation and understanding of the diverse collection of charms, we can categorize them into a system that streamlines the process:

* Damage Charms: These charms amplify your damage output in various ways, boosting nail attacks, improving spell effectiveness, or creating damaging auras.
* Defense Charms: These focus on enhancing your survivability, from bolstering your health to shielding you from enemy attacks.
* Utility Charms: These charms provide a range of benefits beyond direct damage or defense, such as improving movement, gathering resources, or enhancing Focus.
* Soul/Focus Charms: Focusing on the management of your SOUL, the game’s energy source.
* Gathering Charms: These offer advantages regarding currency collection.
* Movement Charms: These significantly enhance your mobility and traversal capabilities.
* Spell-related Charms: These modify the abilities of your Spells.

A Deep Dive into Each Charm

Let’s now examine each charm in detail, encompassing its description, effect, location, and ideal uses.

Damage Charms

Fury of the Fallen:

* *Description*: A charm emanating with raw emotion and power.
* *Effect*: When the Knight is at low health (one mask), your nail attacks become significantly stronger.
* *Location*: Found in the Forgotten Crossroads, accessed via the Stag Station.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Excellent for aggressive playstyles and risky encounters. Combine with Quick Focus for efficient healing in low-health situations.

Fragile Strength/Unbreakable Strength:

* *Description*: The Fragile Strength charm, a powerful offensive boon.
* *Effect*: Significantly boosts the damage dealt by your nail attacks.
* *Location*: Purchased from Leg Eater in Fungal Wastes. Can be upgraded to Unbreakable Strength (which does not break) by visiting the shop in the City of Tears.
* *Uses/Strategy*: A staple for offensive builds, maximizing damage output in all combat situations. The Unbreakable version is preferable to avoid losing the bonus.

Quick Slash:

* *Description*: Focuses on enhancing nail combat efficiency.
* *Effect*: Increases the attack speed of your nail.
* *Location*: Found in the Kingdom’s Edge.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Improves attack speed, allowing for quicker strikes in combat and increasing the rate at which you generate soul.

Mark of Pride:

* *Description*: Extends the reach of your nail, allowing for greater range.
* *Effect*: Lengthens the range of your nail attacks.
* *Location*: Found in the Resting Grounds.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Provides a significant advantage in combat, offering greater reach for safe hits and for hitting enemies at a distance.

Longnail:

* *Description*: A less potent version of the Mark of Pride.
* *Effect*: Extends the range of your nail attacks.
* *Location*: Purchased from the Salubra.
* *Uses/Strategy*: It functions similar to the Mark of Pride, but with a shorter reach. It is more accessible and a good choice early in the game.

Defense Charms

Flukenest:

* *Description*: Grants a unique and potent defensive mechanism.
* *Effect*: Transforms your Vengeful Spirit spell into a spread of homing flukes.
* *Location*: Found in the Royal Waterways.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Useful for close-range combat, dealing damage to numerous enemies.

Thorns of Agony:

* *Description*: A defensive charm.
* *Effect*: When hit, emits a ring of thorns around the Knight, damaging nearby enemies.
* *Location*: Found in Greenpath.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Provides a reactive defense, punishing enemies that get too close when hit.

Defender’s Crest:

* *Description*: Defends against threats.
* *Effect*: Emits a foul odor, damaging nearby enemies over time.
* *Location*: Found in the Royal Waterways.
* *Uses/Strategy*: A passive charm that can deal consistent damage and provide area denial, though the odor can also disrupt certain interactions.

Spore Shroom:

* *Description*: A defensive charm that has a unique impact.
* *Effect*: When Focus is used, emits a cloud of poisonous spores, damaging nearby enemies.
* *Location*: Found in Fungal Wastes.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Best for defensive situations.

Utility Charms

Dashmaster:

* *Description*: Enhances your Dashing abilities.
* *Effect*: Reduces the cooldown of the dash and allows for a dash downwards.
* *Location*: Located in the Kingdom’s Edge.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Great for both combat and mobility, providing more frequent and versatile dashes.

Sprintmaster:

* *Description*: Enhances the movement speed.
* *Effect*: Increases the Knight’s ground speed.
* *Location*: Located in the Kingdom’s Edge.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Great for both combat and mobility, providing more frequent and versatile dashes.

Stalwart Shell:

* *Description*: Enhances the invincibility frames.
* *Effect*: Extends the invincibility frames after taking damage.
* *Location*: Sold by Salubra.
* *Uses/Strategy*: An excellent charm for surviving difficult hits.

Baldur Shell:

* *Description*: Protects you when focusing.
* *Effect*: Allows you to cast focus while taking damage, the Knight is protected by a shell.
* *Location*: Found in the Queen’s Gardens.
* *Uses/Strategy*: The combination of this charm with Quick Focus allows for better heals in combat.

Soul/Focus Charms

Shaman Stone:

* *Description*: Enhances spells.
* *Effect*: Increases the damage dealt by spells.
* *Location*: Found in the Forgotten Crossroads.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Great for players who enjoy using spells.

Soul Catcher:

* *Description*: Increases the soul gained.
* *Effect*: Increases the amount of Soul gained from attacking enemies.
* *Location*: Found in the Spirit’s Glade.
* *Uses/Strategy*: For those who use spells more often.

Soul Eater:

* *Description*: Enhances your soul.
* *Effect*: Significantly increases the amount of Soul gained from attacking enemies.
* *Location*: Found in the Soul Sanctum.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Great to focus more frequently.

Gathering Charms

Gathering Swarm:

* *Description*: Helpful for collecting resources.
* *Effect*: Collects geo automatically from defeated enemies.
* *Location*: Found in the Forgotten Crossroads.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Helps save time and is useful for players who want to focus less on gathering geo.

Fragile Greed/Unbreakable Greed:

* *Description*: Enhances your geo collection.
* *Effect*: Increases the amount of geo gained from defeated enemies.
* *Location*: Purchased from Leg Eater in Fungal Wastes. Can be upgraded to Unbreakable Greed.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Great for geo collection.

Heavy Blow:

* *Description*: Affects how enemies react when hit.
* *Effect*: Increases the knockback distance of the nail.
* *Location*: Found in the City of Tears.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Useful for controlling the positioning of enemies.

Movement Charms

Weaversong:

* *Description*: Summon companions.
* *Effect*: Summons Weaverlings to aid in combat.
* *Location*: Found in the Deepnest.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Provides additional damage and distraction in combat.

Grubsong:

* *Description*: Grants Soul upon striking enemies.
* *Effect*: Generates Soul when hitting enemies with the nail.
* *Location*: Found in the Forgotten Crossroads.
* *Uses/Strategy*: A basic charm that provides a basic boost to SOUL generation.

Spell-related Charms

Shaman Stone:

* *Description*: Enhances spells.
* *Effect*: Increases the damage dealt by spells.
* *Location*: Found in the Forgotten Crossroads.
* *Uses/Strategy*: Great for players who enjoy using spells.

Spell Twister:

* *Description*: Enhances spell usage.
* *Effect*: Reduces the amount of SOUL required to cast spells.
* *Location*: Found in the Soul Sanctum.
* *Uses/Strategy*: A great charm for spell users.

Combining Charms and Tailoring Your Build

The true potential of all charms Hollow Knight offers lies in their synergy. Experimenting with different combinations is key to finding the perfect build that suits your play style and the challenges you face. For example:

* Offensive Builds: Combine Fragile Strength/Unbreakable Strength, Quick Slash, and Mark of Pride/Longnail for maximum damage output.
* Defensive Builds: Combine Quick Focus, Baldur Shell, and Stalwart Shell to increase survivability and healing efficiency.
* Spellcasting Builds: Utilize Shaman Stone, Spell Twister, and Soul Catcher/Soul Eater for devastating spell barrages.

Finding All Charms and Notches

Finding the charms is part of the joy of Hollow Knight. These are some general tips:

* Exploration is Key: Explore every nook and cranny of Hallownest.
* Listen to NPCs: Interact with all the NPCs.
* Complete Challenges: Some charms are rewards.

In conclusion

Charms are fundamental to your success in Hollow Knight. By understanding the effects of all charms Hollow Knight features, you can tailor your build and overcome the challenges. Experiment with different charm combinations, adapting your strategy to the dangers. We hope this guide assists you on your journey through Hallownest.

If you are looking for further help, look at guides on combat, exploration, etc.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

* Q: Where can I find all the Charm Notches?
* A: Charm Notches are obtained by exploring and completing different challenges. The locations are often well-hidden.

* Q: Are the Fragile Charms worth the cost?
* A: Yes, especially if you are consistent with how you play.

* Q: What are the best charms for a beginner?
* A: Quick Focus and Gathering Swarm can be helpful for beginners.