Incline Hollow Knight

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Gods & Glory, the final free DLC of Hollow Knight, will be released on August 23rd.

The team is working on another DLC, with playable Hornet, but the release date is unknown, and it won't be free.

 

[Okagron]

What? Combat evolves with abilities you unlock like shadow dash, double jump, charged attacks, various spells and exotic charm combinations.

This.

And even when you git gud with the nail, there are several encounters where using spells and other abilities is much more effective than using the nail. Specially in the more difficult areas and bosses where using a combination of all your abilities can make short work of whatever you are fighting.

Gods & Glory, the final free DLC of Hollow Knight, will be released on August 23th.

The team is working on another DLC, with playable Hornet, but the release date is unknown, and it won't be free.

Nice, looking forward to the boss rush mode. I like they are tying it to the world and not just some mode you pick on the main menu screen.

 

[Sigourn]

It sucks that from beginning to end, my Knight just basically got stronger but was essentially doing the same shit he was doing since the beginning of the game: slash at the enemy.

What? Combat evolves with abilities you unlock like shadow dash, double jump, charged attacks, various spells and exotic charm combinations.

The charms are the only thing worth mentioning, really. Because combat, essentially, stays the same: use Square. This is because there are no different weapons to use in the game, so you are just relying on the same weapon, but stronger. The only charged attack I remember which is actually cool is that wicked spinning attack. The others are just "power attacks", which is funny considering they are the standard in different action RPGs like Morrowind.

sullynathan sort of got it right. I never said it myself, but I really didn't bother to use spells at all besides those fights with the Baldur enemies that REQUIRE you to use spells. So in essence, fights for me were very repetitive. They only get interesting when they are complicated, which is usually reserved to boss fights and the arena. This isn't surprising considering the game IS a 2D platformer where you have much more mobility than the enemies, as opposed to Dark Souls where your only big advantage (when it comes to movement) is rolling around, and that requires far more timing than simply double jumping over an enemy and striking its ass in order to get fights done.

Again, Metroidvanias may just not be my thing, and I'm asking for something (combat) that isn't really the focus of the genre.

Yeah, the same thing applies to the benefits of exploring. You don't just get to see new areas, you get totally new abilities.

But the point of getting new abilities is to be able to see new areas. Because that's all abilities are useful for: allowing you to get farther into the game. Optional areas consists of new charms and a bit of lore, not much more outside the sporadical bonus boss fight.

 

[HansDampf]

what he's saying is that when you git gud you stop using shit like spells, charged attacks, and mostly focus on hitting the attack button and mixing in jumps here and there

When you git gud you spam spells to kill bosses faster because you won't need soul to heal.
It's true that with a fully upgraded nail + Fragile Strength most regular enemies become a joke. But it's a long way to get there, and it's the optional completionist route which he didn't take. The endgame content expects you to be well equipped, like White Palace, Trial of the Fool, or Radiance, none of which can be beaten by mindlessly hitting the attack button, no matter how gud you are.

 

[Sigourn]

It's true that with a fully upgraded nail + Fragile Strength most regular enemies become a joke. But it's a long way to get there, and it's the optional completionist route which he didn't take. The endgame content expects you to be well equipped, like White Palace, Trial of the Fool, or Radiance, none of which can be beaten by mindlessly hitting the attack button, no matter how gud you are.

Yes, but as you said yourself

The endgame content

is just the endgame content, as opposed to the norm for the entirety of the game. I hate comparing it to Dark Souls, but everyone does (and the game is clearly inspired by it) so I may as well do it: in Dark Souls, the average player who is first playing through the game has many problems over the course of a playthrough, with bosses being especifically annoying. In Hollow Knight, the only time I came close to anything resembling Dark Souls in terms of difficulty (and ensuing frustration) were the Watcher Knights. Actually, they were the only thing. The rest of the game, minus endgame content (which I didn't do, apart from The Hollow Knight which is meant to be an easy fight from what I've read) is not hard at all, even for a complete newcomer to the genre and someone who isn't used to playing action games at all (Gothic and Dark Souls really are my only experience, and I didn't even finish Dark Souls).

 

[Sigourn]

My favorite part is the hot wife who lives in the small house.

Bretta and Myla are the best bugs.

 

[Ivan]

one of the few games I would willingly tip the devs for being sooooooooo goooooooooood

 

[HansDampf]

Did anyone beat 100% Steel Soul mode? I've made another attempt now after the Life Blood update. Risky, but I didn't want to go through the entire game again just to see what's new. And guess what, about 10 hours in I died to the Hive Knight, a new boss. The embarrassing bit is that he isn't even difficult. I'm just retadred and overestimated him, expected his attacks to be faster and kept dashing into him. He also spawns hivelings which would normally die in one hit. But these are invincible for some reason and you are supposed to dodge them. Cheap... Then I got nervous and couldn't find a good spot to heal. The End.

I don't know if I'm going to try again. More content updates mean more potential surprises that could kill me. Otherwise, with my route I'm confident I could make it to Radiance every time now.
1) Buy Quick Focus from Salubra as soon as possible.
2) Buy Fragile Heart (2 extra hit points) from the dude in Fungal Wastes. Come back later for Fragile Strength. You won't have enough notches at this stage anyway unless you want to play risky.
3) After defeating the Soul Master in City of Tears the game opens up a lot. Next you can get Crystal Heart without even having to fight Crystal Guardian.
4) In the lower right corner of Royal Waterways use the Crystal Heart to fly to Isma's Grove and get Isma's Tear. There is no real boss there, just an arena with normal enemies.
5) With Isma's Tear you can get Shape of Unn in Greenpath, a charm that lets you move while healing. Combined with Quick Focus you move even faster than normal walking speed.
6) Next boss would be Broken Vessel to get the double jump. But this is the perfect time to go on a collectathon and get up to 3 more hitpoints and 3 (out of 4 possible) nail upgrades! Then fight the pushover Broken Vessel.
7) With the double jump you can reach the Castoff Shell in Kingdom's Edge where you will fight Hornet again.
8) This opens The Abyss in Ancient Basin where you get the Shadow Dash.
9) etc. Doesn't matter now. The point is to get Shadow Dash for some of the more difficult bosses like Crystal Guardian.

A few more things to consider:
The third trial in the colosseum gives no reward except Geo and isn't required for 100%.
A warp point at a Stag Station can get you out of trouble.
Each nail upgrade adds 4 points of damage, up to 21. Fragile Strength further increases damage by 50%.
The shades in The Abyss can easily overwhelm you if you can't kill them in one hit. Fragile Strength is recommended.
Same goes for the Flukemarm boss and her flukeflies.
In the White Palace equip the Hiveblood charm. It slowly restores one hit point after you took damage.
I haven't tried it, but before you go fight a difficult boss you could technically stack up on those blue butterfly hearts. They are marked on the map. But you'd have to get back to the boss without getting hit. I don't know if they stay after warping. Sitting on a bench removes them.
I've also read that Hollow Knight's attacks now deal 2 points of damage per hit. Might not be a trivial boss anymore.

 

[Okagron]

Oh god, Nightmare King Grimm is in the Boss Rush mode.

The third trial in the colosseum gives no reward except Geo and isn't required for 100%.

Now you can reach 107%, meaning you can skip 7 things if you just want 100%. But if you want full completion, as in everything, you have to do it.

I've also read that Hollow Knight's attacks now deal 2 points of damage per hit. Might not be a trivial boss anymore.

Only his Divine Flame Pillar deals two masks of damage. His other attacks still only deal one.

 

[sullynathan]

When you git gud you spam spells to kill bosses faster because you won't need soul to heal.
It's true that with a fully upgraded nail + Fragile Strength most regular enemies become a joke. But it's a long way to get there, and it's the optional completionist route which he didn't take. The endgame content expects you to be well equipped, like White Palace, Trial of the Fool, or Radiance, none of which can be beaten by mindlessly hitting the attack button, no matter how gud you are.

I can't speak for others, but I did get my nail maxed as early as I reached that area and used my nail a lot more than other abilities.

sullynathan sort of got it right. I never said it myself, but I really didn't bother to use spells at all besides those fights with the Baldur enemies that REQUIRE you to use spells. So in essence, fights for me were very repetitive. They only get interesting when they are complicated, which is usually reserved to boss fights and the arena. This isn't surprising considering the game IS a 2D platformer where you have much more mobility than the enemies, as opposed to Dark Souls where your only big advantage (when it comes to movement) is rolling around, and that requires far more timing than simply double jumping over an enemy and striking its ass in order to get fights done.

Again, Metroidvanias may just not be my thing, and I'm asking for something (combat) that isn't really the focus of the genre.

You should play the Castlevania games.

 

[Valky]

My favorite part is the hot wife who lives in the small house.

You wouldn't fuck a bug.

 

[Volrath]

This is on sale now.

 

[Projas]

They also just released the new free content update today. I think this is supposed to be the last one, they should be working on the paid Hornet DLC now. So if you were waiting for the definitive version of the game to replay this like me, now's probably the time.

 

[axx]

Last played this about a year ago. Have they added anything to get rid of the excess geo?

 

[Ivan]

They also just released the new free content update today. I think this is supposed to be the last one, they should be working on the paid Hornet DLC now. So if you were waiting for the definitive version of the game to replay this like me, now's probably the time.

this is news to me, isn't this being released next Thursday?


edit: damn, it was released today!

time for my 2nd playthrough :D

I love this.

 

[Okagron]

Oh shit, forgot it was today. Time to download it.

 

[Teut Busnet]

This always seemed far too hectic, gameplay-wise. But otherwise it looks pretty great.

Do you get used to it, or do you have to be some kind of reflex god to play? How does it compare to Salt & Sanctuary, for example?

 

[Projas]

It's not really that hectic and the game does a p. good job at easing you into it. Idk what you've seen from the game, but the hardest content is usually optional, so even if something is beyond your abilities it probably won't impede your progress. Like I've seen what the Path of Pain looks like and I'm p. sure I'm never gonna be able to do that in a million years. I think it's great there's something like that in the game though. The main path isn't that hard.

 

[Ivan]

The only section of the game that requires god-like precision is completely optional (Path of Pain) and isn't reflective of the critical path at all.

This is the best metroidvania I've played. Check it out.

I'm actually shocked they aren't charging for this. I would definitely pay for this, reaching out to the cherries now.

 

[Teut Busnet]

Thanks guys, I'll get it!

 

[Valky]

It's insane that a game this good with such fantastic customer friendly practices (NO drm, free updates of actual value on top of what feels like a FINISHED game) is possible in current year.

 

[HansDampf]

Path of Pain = White Palace?
That's required to get the Good Ending, but it's not as hard as it looks. Just equip the Hiveblood Charm and it's impossible to die. Long Nail/Mark of Pride can also help if you have trouble with pogojumps.

 

[Wunderbar]

New dlc is insanely hard. Beat all of the game's bosses (buffed) in one sitting? No, thank you.

Path of Pain = White Palace?

no, Path of Pain is a harder level inside White Palace.

 

[HansDampf]

Oops, you're right. I skipped that during my last playthrough. Still, Hiveblood Charm. It just sucks that you have to wait a few seconds to heal.

 

[Vagiel]

The game was serious incline. I remember playing on release and really enjoienj it. Very long for it's genre, great controls, nice upgrades and a real sense of discovery.

I am thinking of starting it again or continuing my previous save to see the new content.

What do you guys think? It warrants a new playthrough with all the added things.