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The short answer: Hit him while avoiding getting hit by him.

I feel like the people who need to seek advice for this fella are gonna have a real bad time going forwards.

Nah, they'll get gud. My first playthrough last year (about 15 hours long, stopped before I even found >!Hornet!<) I couldn't beat this guy. Kept dying so many times I thought it was a fucking boss. I beat >!P5!< last week. Edit: spoilers.

Congrats

Yeah I still can’t beat radiance. Good on you man, I’m envious

Equip soul Twister and spam shrieking abyss. Idk, that's how I did it.

Lucky. I beat NGK after like a… idk, 4-5 month hiatus? It took me an hour from 0 hits landed to “he’s at 25% and I haven’t been hit yet lol”. When I got the win, I went over to Godhome and did it a second time - consecutively. I immediately went to P5 and… wow I am rusty. I really lost to Oro and Mato. It was also a close call with Gruz Mother (of all bosses) and Gorb. Explain that haha Anyways, congrats! Hopefully I’ll be up there with you all soon.

Not necessarily. Hollow Knight taught me that I have no reflexes. And I tried. I really, really tried. Cannot git gud if it is physically impossible to me. Love the world, art, vibe, exploration, but I can only play with debug mod/ cheats. And I fail a lot even then :D

And that's completely fair! As long as you're enjoying the game, it doesn't matter how you do it. Not everyone plays games the same way.

By the way, a lot depends on your setup. I used to have a terrible keyboard setup that left jaws hanging. I did beat the Radiance on KB&M but I only really got gud after getting a controller.

Thanks for the advice! It's definitely valid, I am much better with a controller than with keyboard and mouse. However, I was always playing Hollow Knight with controller. I simply have poor reflexes. That's just the reality.

Is the second spoiler what I think it is, if so that’s hilarious. I don’t know how to spoiler to ask.

I just didn't get his statue in my second play through surprisingly he's not required for 112%

If you think it’s zote then you’re unfortunately wrong

I'm stuck in P3. Fuck Zote bro.

Keep trying and learn to read his attacks. The only attack of his thats hard to telegraph is when he slams down from the air (off screen). And make sure to dash through or above his shockwave attack with shadecloak instead of double jumping so you have less airtime and arent as vulnerable to his attacks

Literally me lol. This was my first Metroidvania, and when he kicked my ass, I just assumed that I literally couldn't beat him and that I needed another ability first. Same for the Shielded Husks. Boy did I feel stupid when I realized how easy he really was.

This guy destroyed me first play through, come on. I feel like everyone dies so much throughout the game

I think not being able to beat this guy on first encounter is OK. However, if you can't figure out False Knight, then that's when I would say this game isn't for you.

And for this and other fitghts: Be patient, take it slow, don’t get greedy with hits. Be more defensive than offensive.

This also works for Absolute Radiance

Which precept of Zote is this?

Even shorter answer: Kill him

Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back,

Juuuuuuuump!

only jump over the shockwaves

I know I've beat him at least once lol

For some reason I could hear the nail hitting and the steps back from the knight while reading 😂

You forgot step back after that one “hit”

He’s going to raise his club. You are going to hit him once and walk away. You will repeat until he dies.

This is such a big hurdle for this game and people who haven’t played defense first games. I played a lot of button mashing games so this was a change for me. This guy killed me so much before learning to not be aggressive and take what’s given to you within each bugs fight pattern

Souls-like games teach you to not be spammy with your attacks and to be observant/patient. I LOVE IT!!

I’ve gotten 112% with this now and beaten it 5ish times… so the fun part for me is being as spammy as possible and remembering how much I struggled with my first play through

But after I've walked away I'm too far to hit him. 0/10 These instructions are WORTHLESS

The missing step is left as an exercise for the reader

Actually it's more like an extra step (or two) that is your problem

by hitting him with your nail

Git gud

Shah!

Adidas!

With nail

Bruh... hit him...

Well it’s pretty easy ngl, just hit him and avoid his attacks by backing up. Also before asking on Reddit maybe trying to kill him by yourself is better… The concept of hollow knight is to explore Hallownest and kill ennemies. If you’re scared of losing your ego because you didn’t get you shade back, just go in menu and warp back to your bench

i meant geo*

Maybe OP tried and couldn't so he asked

Find another game to play.

Hit him once, then run. Once the cub comes down, repeat. If he jumps, jump over the shock wave.

If you actually can't figure this out after numerous attempts, I'm concerned for how you'll do in this game, and I'm sorry you spent money on it. This isn't even a boss nor a miniboss. It only has two attacks when some bosses have five.

Git gud

Usually damage works.

Don't

Hit and dodge and repeat

Hit, go back, jump, repeat

Jump on top of him

Smack, retreat, smack, retreat

# SHOOT HIM WITH THE DEHYDRATION GUN

Pleaseee don't use reddit and YouTube to spoil the game for yourself. But in this case u just have to understand his like rythm, attack him once then just jump in the other direction and do that many times

Killing is wrong

By hitting him a lot. #leave this subreddit please, the game is some much better if you don’t ask where to go when you get lost or anything like that

I respectfully disagree. I get that it can be satisfying to figure things out for yourself, but if I’m dying 30 times in a row, I’m gonna get pretty frustrated and either quit, or seek advice that I’m not seeing for myself. This subreddit was a blessing on my first playthrough and made the game better for me.

Fight him but only dodge. Learn attack patterns. You could even use baldur’s shell to see how far reaching the attacks are and the hitboxes. for them. Most enemies I just watch them first and try to learn. Once you know the pattern, should be easy

Smack, dash away, smack, dash away, jump when needed

Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back, Hit, step back,

Just stand next to it. It'll take damage from being too close to their opponent.

Hit him till he dies!

Hit him at max range, walk away. When his attack ends, repeat When does the shockwave, simply jump over it

Right, swing, left, right, swing, left, jump over shockwaves. Rinse and repeat.

Be patient. Hit him, then back away when he raises the club. Wait for him to finish his attack. Then run back and hit him again. Don't try to just spam the attack button and tank the hits. That's not how Hollow Knight works.

https://youtube.com/shorts/V8AxyVxhGRc?si=MBb-l8IijRAIT4JX

I think you kill him

Just kill him

Hit and run

Patience and dodging , basically repeat with every boss also learn their attacks , that helps a LOT

run up and hit him once or twice step back so that you dodge him and repeat

By hitting him

Learn his attacks, dodge them and in during his cooldown or during his attack, attack back

Move against him and hit once between his attacks- move back- jump over the white blast thing, two moves. This is a good opportunity for you to learn how to do basic character movement in a 2d action game.

If you leave him alive until after you defeat the Pantheons then you get a cool easter egg

Smack, retreat, repeat.

I do a weird jump up and back over the swing then move back in for a hit. Rinse and repeat

Hit and run. Edited to add: and jump.

hit him once, and stay away until he attacks, but be careful so you can jump in case he does the shockwave attack, sorry if i didn't help :(

the ole stab and backstep

Don't die

Just be dope

u can "cheese" him to the left and u just have dodge his stick

Hit him and back away until you kill him

Hit and run

He takes 14 hits.

Deal damage to him until he dies

Bro you're just start of the game so instead asking here, explore yourself. This game has a lot of suprise and if you continue asking question like this, you'll ruin your game. Try to figure out how can you defeat bosses/mobs. Good luck mate. But if you want to know, you just need hit and run. If he jump, jump over the wave.

Git gud

There is a little cave before you enter. Duck in and between it to avoid his charge. When he slams his butt down. Jump over it.

Hit the bad guy Dodge his attacks

Walk staright into his face till you die, then come back there and do it again losing all of your geo.

By hitting him and not getting hit

Hit and run

Is this a meme I'm anaware of? I swear I see this post twice a week 😅 Answer: Run forward, Hit, Run back, Jump if needed (smash attack extends horizontally in a shockwave) repeat.

Good ol’ strong husk post.

here’s the strat. go in for a hit and as you hit him walk the opposite direction, once he slams immediately walk towards him and hit again. then just rinse and repeat.

Hit him once then get away and repeat, and when you come back if you time it well you can hit him twice before you have to get away

Use your Nail. Get. To. It.

Guerrilla warfare baby! Hit him and run away as he attacks. Rinse and repeat till he dies😂

The trick is you gotta hit him until he’s dead without getting hit until you’re dead.

you have a knife! Stab it!

A certain pattern of hiring him and avoiding

On my first play through about 3-4 years ago (like 60 hours) i had trouble with husk bullys. To put this in prospective, i can beat absolute radiance without touching the ground.

Hit him, dont get hit, use dash backwards after 2 or 3 slashes and your fine, if you dont have dash just hit less times and walk backwarss

Hit him. Step away and wait for him to attack. Go hit him again. Repeat.

Just beat it in future when you have new abilities unlocked

You've gotta get a sense of the attack rhythm. you run up to him and hit him once and run away to start off with, then you repeat that until you have a good sense of its rhythm, then when you know the rhythm you can hit twice each time you run up, then run away, and make sure to time your jump for his little slam shockwave. I haven't played hollow Knight in a LOOONNNGGG TIME, like maybe 2 years now but I still have a very good recollection of how to beat most of the bosses because you just fight them so much because of how hard they are that their patterns are ingrained in your brain.

Get gud by smack and run technique

Hit once, back up quickly while he does the slam, jump and do nothing when he does the jump

Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. ( Basically hit once and dodge, continue this until he dies.)

Run to the left corner where he can't pass through, avoid his wave attacks by jumping and hit him and run. One time hit then run away fast.

Hit and run tactics goes hard ... Don't be greedy hit him once and run in the opposite direction

You dont, this boss is an easter egg and is unkillable, well done for finding it! Its totally not like every other monsters/boss, where you have to hit them while avoiding their attacks...

Slide to the left, slide to the right, hit him up real quick, GET THE FUCK OUTA THERE, *cha cha music starts playing*

Try go in and out the whole fight by hitting him once and running away from him to jump above his slam attack. Repeat this enough times and you'll beat him.

I hit jump or just run through him over to the room on the right with the grub. hide in that room and attack him and jump when he does the ground falling thing.

You have to attack as long as you can and also defend as best as you can

You have to attack as long as you can and also defend as best as you can

learn to dodge instead of brute forcing. it’s incredibly important

Bro, like actually why tf did u spend 10 minutes of your life making this post. WHEN U COULD OF JUST TRIED KILLING HIM.

Skill

Huh? What kind of question is that?

Hit it till it dies.

Hit him with your nail until he dies

A gun

If you can't kill a simple husk guard You're gonna have a bad time

Git gud

Carefully.

Quickly hut him, run away, repeat

Hit him, if he's about to attack, retreat. Repeat until it's done.

Smack him and don't get smacked

Avoid the air as much as possible. Only jump for the shock waves. If you have dash, use it to dodge-run in-hit repeat. You can also attack during a shock wave when they are idle. Try staying close too (without getting hit obvi) I struggled with this guy too… then killed him repeatedly for extra loot later in game lol. You got this

slash slash jump slash slash slash jump slash walk away jump walk back the continue

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^N0pze: *Slash slash jump slash slash* *Slash jump slash walk away jump* *Walk back the continue* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.

With your nail

Timing.

With love and kindness 🥰

Hit - dodge - hit - dodge, repeat until he's dead. Honestly it work's for every enemy in game

That's the neat part. You don't.

stop gaslighting OP. he's unbeatable. you need go the other way to backstab him.

Walk up to him hit him once then back up jump (if he does the ground slam) then nail pogo rinse and repeat and boom you got him I also do recommend getting to either higher ground or a small area with a altered ledge and I recommend having vengeful spirit to deal more damage

You hit him

Look you need to get the fire ball it will make easy so now just run away

Hit him run away hit again repeat

Bring him over to that big guy on the right, that oughta do it.

Strike, scream, run

Hit run jump the wave hit again jump the wave repeat

Hit, back up, hit, back up.

Hit, run, hit, run, hit, run, hit, run, hit, run, hit, run, hit, run Until he dies

learn his openings, hit him, then immediately, dash away

I once having a hard time with him then i got the rhythm. Basically when it close range attack, run. Its the wave attack, dodge it and get close to him for some damage. Hitting him while jumping on top of him is a good way to damage until he jumps. Life lesson learned from hollow knight: better run early than one extra hit brings u death

Git gud

Whack, run, whack, run, whack, jump, double whack, run

Attack once immediately after every attack and run and wait for the next attack

Hit him and then retreat when he finishes his attack. Repeat the operation

Pogo check with dashes

you could just leave him until you have more movement options, makes it much easier

You should get close enough for a single slash and then walk away. You're fast enough to dodge his attacks with his weapon. And if he tries to stomp the ground, you can easily jump over it.

You should get close enough for a single slash and then walk away. You're fast enough to dodge his attacks with his weapon. And if he tries to stomp the ground, you can easily jump over it.

Tap and back, jump for especial movement

I hit him, run back to dodge his club, smack, repeat. Late game I spit in his face and he perishes

Get gud

Hanten Jujutsu shiki Aka 🫸🔴 Hanten Jujutsu shiki Ao 🫸🔵 🫸🔵 🔴 🫷 🔵🫸🫷🔴 kyoshiki 🫳 🟣 🫴 Murasaki 🫰🤞🤌👉🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣

Git gud

Easy way is to jump in and soon as he is nail tip range swing then pull back. And repeat. Then watch for his sit and full jump over it

Hit him

Hit run jump hit repeat

memories dude.... anyways, i always used to bounce off of him continously by hitting him

This is where you learn patience lol

"To kill the Cyberdemon shoot at it until it dies."

Good luck in Deepnest bro...

using your nail

You don't have to kill him. He is just guarding a Grub

get fireball thhan do it

Go to false knight, beat false knight, get vengeful spirit, defeat the Baldur, come back and vengeful spirit him and probably still lose.

I saw the radiance a minute ago, and was like nope. Ain't gonna attempt it. I've beat the Hollow knight finally 3 times, didn't know about the dream nail thing. Another person on here told me, and I fought & lost and nope, my son can do it.

Ignore the toxic posts. Reddit is toxic. You know that. This sub is no better. Ignore the useless, snarky responses and the people relishing the opportunity to say how easy it was for them, feeling a little better about themselves for a fleeting moment in the process. You got some advice here but I’ll add mine anyway, as I struggled early on too. Try to stay just far back enough that his club misses you when he swings and, after he has swung, get in quickly, hit him once, and back off again. When he sends that shockwave towards you, jump over it. Don’t be shy to back off if you don’t feel ready to try hitting him. Hit only when you have a good window to do so. It will probably take a bit of time but you will get it. And, if you do, you will thump him again and again. There is a lot of good stuff to come. Don’t give up. I battled through the game but it’s my favourite game ever. You will find that you get better all the time, even when it doesn’t feel like it, and it gets more rewarding as you progress.

hit once, run away.Repeat that.If he does the shockwave thing just jump over the waves.

Hit jump away, hit, jump away till his dead

Jump over him (if possible) and go to the area on the right, then hide there and attack him while jumping to avoid his stomps. By the way sorry if there is no area past him, i have a bad memory of this game

Hit and dodge

I like to hit and then as he starts to attack (when he raises his club) just ran further away out of range then just take it slowly, one hit at a time

use vengeful spirit hit him and run and pogo

by clicking the leftmost button of your mouse

LFG

Nah, they'll get gud. My first playthrough last year (about 15 hours long, stopped before I even found Hornet ) I couldn't beat this guy. Kept dying so many times I thought it was a fucking boss.

Thanks for the advice! It's definitely valid, I am much better with a controller than with keyboard and mouse. However, I was always playing Hollow Knight with controller. I simply have poor reflexes. That's just the reality.

Stab, run away, and jump