As I'm sure many of you have seen online already, the World Record for the Act 2 Credits Speedrun is already comfortably under 1 hour. When I watched the video proof, I thought to myself, "Hey, I can totally do that!" And as it turns out, I totally cannot do that.

So I took a look at the map and cataloged some item locations, and I've crafted a route for the Under 5 Hour Achievement that is nowhere near as miserable as the Any% route. This guide assumes you've already beaten the final boss at the top of the Citadel at least once and are comfortable with the controls of the game.

I've provided a strong baseline route with detours for extra items, but if you really want a specific item or Tool that I do not mention, go ahead and go get it. I'm not in charge of you.

Using this guide, you'll not only have 6 Masks before Widow, you'll also have 7 Masks and 2 Needle upgrades before Trobbio! And believe it or not, if you follow my guide, you will have plenty of time at the end to waste dying to the High Halls Arena, like me.

And best of all, I've routed in Garmond and Zaza for their timely assistance in both the Moorwing and High Halls Arena fights! They are an especially big help in the High Halls Arena, which was my major bottleneck when attempting to follow the Any% route. Of course, recruiting Garmond and Zaza is not required, but how can you say no to such a glorious bug and his noble companion?

I will be featuring edited screenshots of the Silksong Map available on http://mapgenie.io/hollow-knight-silksong/maps/pharloom as well as screenshots both from my original run as well as from a completed save file for any sections I did not screenshot on my run file.

This will be my first guide that I've ever written, so please let me know if I can clarify or add more info to any section that you think needs help. The easier my guide is to understand, the better!

We will be playing through Act 1 relatively normally, only avoiding unnecessary rooms and combats, and picking up 4 Mask Shards before Widow. G&Z are available to help with Moorwing. Once we have Cling Grip, defeat Widow, and get the first Needle upgrade, we grab 2 more Mask Shards from lower Pharloom and then head straight to Act 2 and to Songclave either through the Last Judge or Phantom.

After the Cogwork Dancers, we do Whispering Vaults first, then High Halls, then upper Cogwork Core. We pick up our last 2 Mask Shards and second Needle upgrade right before Trobbio and the Vaultkeeper's Melody. G&Z will be available for the High Halls Arena if you progress their quest and fight them in outer Songclave beforehand. After upper Cog Core and the Architect's Melody, we take the elevator up to defeat Lace and GMS.

1. Moss Grotto, The Marrow, Silk Spear, & Bell Beast
2. Deep Docks, Swift Step, & Lace
3. Bone Bottom and Wormways Mask Shards, & Rosary Farming Spot
4. Drifter's Cloak, Far Fields Mask Shard, & Fourth Chorus
5. Greymoor, Garmond and Zaza, & Moorwing
6. Shellwood Mask Shard (6 Masks), Cling Grip, Widow, Bellhart, & Needle Upgrade
7. Weavenest Atla Mask Shard, Wanderer Crest, & Deep Docks Mask Shard

1. Blasted Steps, The Last Judge, Choral Chambers, & Grand Bellway Transports

1. Sinner's Road, The Mist, Phantom, & Grand Bellway Transports

1. Songclave, Cogwork Dancers, Lower Cog Mask Shard, WV Arena, & Songclave Shortcut
2. WV Mask Shard (7 Masks), Pale Oil, Needle Upgrade, & Trobbio
3. Clawline, Melody #1, & Outer Songclave
4. High Halls, Garmond and Zaza, High Halls Arena, & Melody #2
5. Upper Cogwork Core, Melody #3, Lace 2, & Grand Mother Silk

End
This is a slightly simplified look at the overall journey taken in this guide, with the Bells leading up to the Grand Gate marked in the order we ring them in. Please note that the big pink route in the middle is the split route mentioned above, and that the pink route in East Greymoor is only required if you plan to go through the Grand Gate to the Citadel.
Please excuse my spotty line work.

This run fortunately features under 800 rosaries of suggested purchases, with the only "big" purchase being the Mask Shard in Bone Bottom for 300 Rosaries. You can buy it any time after Lace 1 and before Widow to ensure that you have 6 Masks in time for the Widow fight, though I bought it right away in my run.

This rosary total does NOT include maps, optional Bell Beasts or toll Benches that cost 30 to 80 rosaries each, but any that we come across in the guide will be mentioned. Assuming you are not losing your Cocoon often, you should have plenty of Rosaries in Act 2 to spend them how you want to. A few notable Vendors and Rosary farming spots will also be mentioned in the guide, including one before the Mask Shard purchase.

• Pebb (Bone Bottom): Mask Shard (300, Required)
  
• Deep Docks Bellway: 40
  
• Bellhart Bellway: 60
  
• Grand Bellway Transports: 80 + 80
  
• Songclave Ventrica: 80
  
• High Halls Ventrica: 80

Total: 780 Rosaries

In this guide, I mention or show directions to the following items, abilities, and tools:

• 2 Extra Masks (Total of 7)
  
• 2 Needle Upgrades
  
• 4-5 Memory Lockets
  
• 5-6 Craftmetals
  
• Abilities: Swift Step, Drifter's Cloak, Cling Grip, Needolin, Clawline
  
• Silk Skills: Silk Spear, Thread Storm, Cross Stitch
  
• Crests: Hunter Upgrade 1, Reaper, Wanderer
  
• Red Tools: Straight Pin, Three-fold Pin, Sting Shard, Cogwork Wheel, Cogfly
  
• Blue Tools: Warding Bell, Magma Bell, Claw Mirror, Injector Band
  
• Yellow Tools: Shard Pendant, Magnetite Dice
  
• Additional Tools: Any you want to go get! (within reason)
  
• and of course... Garmond and Zaza!

I do not pick up any Spool upgrades in this guide. Of the 18 total Spool Fragments, 10 of them are accessible to us on the main path. But most of those 10 are locked behind enemy Arenas, parkour puzzles, or are unavailable on your first trip through an area.

Only about 6 Spool fragments, which is a total of 3 extra Silk, are available to pick up on your first trip by them. I personally don't think the extra time spent getting these Spool fragments is worth it.

Of course, you can ignore me and pick up any that you want. Just note that I do not mark where they are on any of my maps. I suggest using the Silksong map available at http://mapgenie.io/hollow-knight-silksong/maps/pharloom to find their locations.

On my maps, I've color-coded different sections of the route to help with clarity when the route loops on itself. The color changes are marked by a white line. All Yellow lines are Detours that will be mentioned in order of appearance.

The beginning of the route is as simple as it gets. Cross through Moss Grotto while picking up any Shell Shards and Rosaries you want, and complete The Marrow as shown above. You should also open the door for Sherma after the Marrow Arena because he is so cute.

Note: You will need 300 Rosaries for the Mask Shard in Bone Bottom when you come back after defeating Lace 1. So if you see easy Rosaries on your path, grab them!

Instead of going up, right, and down into the Marrow Arena, you can instead coax a small Beastfly from the lower section of the room to the top of the room. If you can get the Beastfly in the right position, you can Pogo off it to grab the ledge at the top of the room and skip straight to Shakra. I did not do this skip because I wanted the Shard Pendant.

Grab the free Yellow Tool Shard Pendant on your way up the vertical room after the Marrow Arena and toll Bench, as Shell Shards will not be as abundant in this route as a casual playthrough.


Tip: Silk Spear does 3x your Needle Damage, so use it often. Flying enemies are especially satisfying to use Silk Spear on.

Pick up the Frayed Rosary String from underneath the left Silk Wall, the Choral Commandment from the hidden top-left exit of Mosshome (breakable wall by the up/down room transition), and then activate the elevator for a return trip to Mosshome later.

Grab the Bench near Shakra on your way to the Bell Beast.


After taming the Bell Beast, continue right to Bell #1 and further right towards Deep Docks.

From the Marrow Bell, continue right and then down into the Jail to pick up the optional Red Tool Straight Pin from Grindle's cell.

You can get a free Craftmetal here by completing the explosive wall puzzle/trap.

Then, continue down and to the right to enter Deep Docks.

Purchasing this Bench for 30 Rosaries can quicken your runback to the upcoming fights. The Far Fields Bench by the Ant Arena is also 30 Rosaries, but it's in an awkward location.

Take the top right exit of the room with Shakra and continue right to the end of the room. Take the explosive wall top exit and continue up.


Unfortunately, Shakra won't be here to help us with this Arena. So focus on avoiding taking damage and use Silk Spear to get multi-hits on enemies.


This Bell Beast Station (40 Rosaries) will be a crucial return point to pick up a currently unavailable Mask Shard in Deep Docks later. This Station is also how we will be getting to Bone Bottom right after Lace. You can choose to run all the way to Bone Bottom and back if you want to save your Rosaries.


Tip: Silk Spear's range can be incredibly useful for poking at Lace when she dashes away during the fight. It's unwise to rush Lace down with Needle hits since she has a super quick parry, but if you do a full-height jump right as she parries, you can avoid the counter.

Tip: Lace takes 40 damage if she falls into the lava in her battle. Given that your Needle does 5 damage right now, that's a huge deal. Pressure Lace towards the edges of the platform and use Silk Spear or stuns to knock her into the lava.

After Lace, you can activate Bell #2 and continue right to Far Fields, but I highly suggest that you take the Bell Beast back to The Marrow if you have close to 300 Rosaries to buy the Mask Shard.

After taking the Bell Beast back to The Marrow, you should first head across the big gap above Bone Bottom and get the free Mask Shard in the water beneath the Simple Key door in the Wormways. Then, continue to Bone Bottom for the next Mask Shard.

Instead of continuing through Mosshome, you can rest at the Bench near Shakra to begin rosary farming. The two enemies to the left of the Bench drop 5 Rosasies each, with the loop being about 10 seconds. This can be a quick way to get enough Rosaries for the upcoming purchase.



Note: You can also purchase a Craftmetal from Pebb for 60 Rosaries. We pass by 5 of the 8 total Craftmetal during this guide, so purchasing this one is not crucial.

Lastly, use the Bone Bottom or Marrow Bell Beast to return to Deep Docks and continue onward to Far Fields. I chose to farm some extra Rosaries before leaving to prepare for an optional purchase in Pilgrim's Rest in Far Fields, and then I went to the Marrow Bell Beast Station.

Once back in Deep Docks, bee-line it to the tall room in Far Fields.

Once in the tall room, drop to the bottom and enter the bronze pipe to get access to the Blue Tool Warding Bell.

From the Warding Bell room, break a hidden wall on the left-side to enter a small section of Deep Docks. At the very left side of the room, there is a free Craftmetal in a chest guarded by several flying fire enemies. Personally, I hate this room and got the previous two Craftmetals instead, but it is free and only takes about 60 seconds to retrieve if you don't die.

Take the lowest right-side exit from the tall room and run past the Fourth Chorus.


Make sure to get the quest from the Seamstress for the Drifter's Cloak before leaving.


Note: I did not include the right-side of Far Fields in my photo because the only thing we need from those rooms is the Spines for the Quest. There isn't anything else worth mentioning in those rooms. However, there is a 60 Rosary String behind a hidden wall at the bottom of the air stream in the bottom right corner of the room with the Seamstress.

Once you've collected the Spines, Quit to Menu and respawn at the Seamstress Bench to turn in the quest. With Drifter's Cloak, you can now go to the right and all the way to the top of the room. From the top right, glide to the left, activating the wind currents on your way, and enter the top left room. Solve the simple wind current puzzle for your 3rd Mask Shard.


Finally, Quit to Menu to respawn at the Seamstress Bench again, and leave back the way you entered to fight Fourth Chorus.


Note: There is a skip in this fight that entirely dodges having to fight Fourth Chorus. With full Silk, if you perfectly time a Dash Jump off the left-most platform, Bind at the peak of your jump, then Glide left, you can barely grab the ledge on the other side of the room and leave the fight entirely. I didn't do it, and I don't think that Fourth Chorus takes long enough to defeat for the skip to be worth dying a few times attempting.

Once you've made it back into the tall room, take the intended path all the way up into Greymoor.

Tip: If you have Rosaries to spare, you can buy the Memory Stone from Mort in Pilgrim's Rest for 150 Rosaries. He also sells a Tool Pouch Upgrade for 220 Rosaries, but we will have a chance to get one for cheaper after Widow. You can break the toll door from the inside once you pay the toll once, in case you want to come back later.

From your entrance into Greymoor, bee-line it left to the Halfway Home and sit at the Bench there. The enemies between the Halfway Home and the Far Fields entrance make for a fantastic rosary farming spot if you need it.


Continue left through the Greymoor Arena, take the bottom left exit of the next room (past the centipede enemy), then go up through the tower and take the first available left. Descend through the scissor enemies, open the shortcut back to Halfway Home on the right, and then head down towards Moorwing.

Head into the Bell Beast Station and break the hidden wall along the steps down to grab a quick Memory Locket from the dark room filled with Mites. If you plan to enter the Citadel through the Mist, you can buy the Station now for 60 Rosaries and come back here when it's time to go to the Citadel, though I chose to run from Bellhart.

Make sure to talk to Garmond and Zaza here and fully exhaust their dialogue if you want their assistance against Moorwing! I will discuss the finer details in the Moorwing section.

The Reaper Crest can be found here after an Arena with mostly scissor enemies. If you like it, grab it!


Moorwing can be a very annoying fight without some serious firepower and focus, but hopefully the items that we've collected on our journey so far will help you do your best!

Garmond and Zaza will be available to help, but they will not appear in their usual spot right away. It seems you must encounter Moorwing at it's boss arena at least once (even if you run away) for them to appear and offer aid. Reports are inconsistent, but for me they appeared after speaking to them in the tower, using the Halfway Home Bench, then dying to Moorwing.

Garmond and Zaza will appear where the pink star is on the map above. Accept their aid, and then head back down to Moorwing.

That being said, Garmond and Zaza don't truly shine in this fight like they do in the High Halls Arena fight. Moorwing is a little too mobile for Garmond and Zaza to unleash their true strength on, but any extra damage is a plus!

The entire right side of Greymoor can be skipped if you are (A) Not interested in Thread Storm and/or (B) Going through the Mist to get to the Citadel instead of the Grand Gate.

But if you want Thread Storm like I did, then you can head over to Craw Lake at any time before you leave for the Citadel to collect the goodies over there.


Tip: If you skipped going to Craw Lake during your first time in Greymoor, then Shakra should still be there with her temporary Bench for a quick runback. Additionally, the Craw Lake Arena rewards you with a ton of Rosaries, which are always helpful!

If you are intimidated by the Craw Lake Arena and can wait on Thread Storm, you can come back here any time before the Last Judge fight to claim Thread Storm as well as Bell #3.


Pogo up the balloons to the top exit of the room, making sure to flip the lever on the left that opens the way up to grab Thread Storm.

Tip: Thread Storm is the best "get away from me" attack in the game. Mash the cast button to extend the duration and damage. The threads will also push back enemies slightly and deflect most projectiles.

Grab Three-fold Pin on your way down from Thread Storm by Gliding to the right from the top-most platform. There is a Tallcraw standing guard in front of it. Finally, take the top-most left exit marked with the Bell sign and continue left to Bell #3.


After you've done everything that you want to do in Greymoor, continue left to Bellhart.

Sit at the Bench at Bellhart and open the Bellhart Bell Beast Station for 60 Rosaries. You can delay this purchase until after defeating Widow if needed.

Head straight through to Shellwood and take the intended path through the first half of the area. Start by jumping up the platforms by the lower left wall, and working your way up the room in a general Z-ish shape as shown above. Try your best to avoid taking damage on your way up to prepare for the upcoming Shellwood Arena.

After the Arena, grab the bench for 40 Rosaries, then continue left and take the elevator down.

At the bottom of the elevator, first go to the right to open the shortcut door. Especially important if you plan to get to the Citadel through the Judge route.

Continue left to the room with the bench sign and white rose parkour. Climb up the roses to the top of the room and take the lower right exit of the two. Complete the parkour puzzle to finally receive your 4th Mask Shard!


After the Mask Shard room, you can choose to Quit to Menu to avoid the enemies that spawned into the room after you acquired the Mask Shard (very easy to die on the return), or you can exit left and then take the top-most right exit into the Cling Grip room.


Sister Splinter skip is surprisingly simple, and it almost seems like the game allows it on purpose!


The first step is getting this Phacia enemy under this wall and above the inner platform by using the Challenge button (V on PC, and pressing R Stick on all controllers). Every time you press Challenge, the Phacia will inch a little closer. Your Challenge has a range, so if it stops responding, try getting closer.


Once the Phacia has made it above the inner platform, it will float up on its own to be in the perfect spot to pogo off of to reach the platform above. Doing this skip saves running the entire distance marked with a dashed yellow line on my map above, as well as the Sister Splinter fight!

The Phacia dies in 4 Needle hits. If it dies while you're trying the skip, exit and reenter the room and lure the Phacia back over. Once you make it to the top platform, jump left and Glide down to the other Phacia floating in the room and pogo off it to reach the left platform, fully finishing the skip.

If you can't be bothered to do the skip, or really want to fight Sister Splinter for some reason, take the Yellow dashed line through upper Shellwood to reach the same spot as through the skip.

Once on the top left side of the Cling Grip room, go left into the Gahlia (long neck flower) room and exit out the top right to claim Cling Grip.


After Cling Grip, continue right and head through Upper Bellhart towards Widow and Bell #4.

Before heading down to fight Widow, break the left wall and travel back to the Bench to open a shortcut to the boss.


Tip: Having an extra Mask for the Widow fight helps more than you might think, but ultimately the fight is best won by adopting a mindset of "dodge first, attack second."

The diagonal-shooting bells can be annoying to dodge, but you might notice that there is a sweet spot in-between the two bouncing bells. If you stand just underneath the flight path of the bell that spawns higher up, it should pass above you and bounce beside you and away, and the other bell should bounce beside you and go over your head. The bells DO rebound off of walls, so try to stay away from the opposite wall.

Once Widow has been defeated, you've acquired the Needolin, and you've rung Bell #4, head back down to Bellhart and get your hard-earned Needle Upgrade! If you picked up any relics on your journey this far, this is a great time to cash them in. We will return here in about an hour for the next Needle upgrade if you want to hold onto your relics until then.


This point in the run is where I took my first break. Stand up, get a drink of water, stretch your wrists and fingers! The next big stretch of content has a few troublesome bosses and tricky parkour, and having a clear mind will make them look effortless.

After the Needle Upgrade, take the Bell Beast back to Bone Bottom for our final major detour.

We are taking our final trip to Bone Bottom now to collect some things from Weavenest Atla. The Wanderer's Crest is also nearby, which I will be grabbing out of personal preference and using 2 Memory Stones on it to get both Blue Tool slots.

From Bone Bottom, head left to the Moss Grotto drop. If you want the Wanderer Crest, continue all the way to the left and climb up the wall to the top left exit. Continue down and left to Bonegrave, collect the Crest, and then exit out the bottom right door.


Tip: Wanderer Crest's range leaves much to be desired, but the burst damage is worth it. You can very easily get an extra hit or two during each attack opportunity on a boss with the faster attack speed, which can quicken some of the harder boss fights in this guide.

Back in Bone Bottom, drop into Moss Grotto and hug the right wall to take the first right-side exit. Continue right to the Weavenest door and power on and use the elevator inside.


The Hunter Crest upgrade is the only thing currently available to us from Eva. If you are using the Hunter Crest and want the extra buff, go for it!

Once at the bottom of the elevator shaft, climb the right wall and up into the shaft to access a breakable wall on the right side. Continue through another breakable wall and complete the parkour puzzle for a Mask Shard. This should be the first Shard of your next Mask.


Then continue outside back to Bone Bottom and take the Bell Beast to the Deep Docks Station or the Bellhart Station.


We're finally back at Deep Docks to collect the Mask Fragment that has been dangling over our heads all game. Exit Deep Docks into the Marrow and do the Cling Grip parkour on the upper half of the room to reach the Deep Docks Arena that guards the Mask Fragment.

If you did not buy the Deep Docks Station, you can instead go through Lower Bellhart and exit into the Marrow from right above Hunter's March.

On your way through the Marrow, consider stopping into the Jail for the Bench and for the Straight Pin minigame. Each attempt costs 25 Rosaries, and the first reward (15 targets) is a Tool Pouch Upgrade, while the second (25 targets) is a Heavy Rosary Necklace worth 220 Rosaries. The minigame will not appear until after you defeat Widow.


On your way back from the Arena, consider doing the other Arena that is right before Forge Daughter to get access to her inventory. If you've been collecting Craftmetal, Sting Shard and Magma Bell are good Tools to pick up here. But more importantly she sells the cheapest Crafting Kit Upgrade available in the game for 180 Rosaries (unless you count the Craw rags quest, which is a decent time sink).

Finally, return to Bellhart by Bell Beast or travelling back up through Lower Bellhart. It's finally time to head to the Citadel!

From Bellhart, we have two options to enter the Citadel that ultimately meet up at the Grand Bellway Station: Going through the Blasted Steps, the Last Judge, and Choral Chambers, or going through Sinner's Road, the Mist, and Phantom. I have included a route through both.

• Pros: +1 Craftmetal, +Rosaries & Shell Shards, Delver's Drill
  
• Cons: Last Judge is harder than Phantom (imo), long runback to Judge and to Grand Bellway

Starting with the Judge Route, continue left from Bellhart through to the left-most room of Shellwood. Go up through the white rose parkour room and then right to Bell #5.

Note: If you did not go activate Bell #3 in Greymoor/Craw Lake, this is when you must go activate it. You can take the Shellwood (40 Rosaries) or Blasted Steps (60) Bell Beasts to Bellhart or Greymoor to quicken your runback. Defeating the Craw Lake Arena and activating the balloons afterwards is the only part that is required to access Bell #3.

From Bell #5, go left and traverse Blasted Steps as intended. You can grab a Memory Locket near the end of the first room by dropping down the gap that is right before the room transition.


You can quickly dip left from the Bench to gamble with Lumble the Lucky for a chance to win the Yellow Tool Magnetite Dice early. The Dice have about a 7.7% chance to negate any enemy damage you take (not spikes, etc).

Tip: You can also return here after you've entered Act 2 and Lumble will be dead, and the Dice will be on the ground next to him.

There is a free Craftmetal near the middle of the room before the Last Judge. From the midway room, run right and towards the 2 pogo bells. Glide straight down between them and left, and at the end of the tunnel will be a Craftmetal.


The Last Judge can be pretty tough, and for good reason. Having 6 Masks will help, and the Magma Bell from Forge Daughter can help further, but the Last Judge has 720 health, which is twice as much health as Widow, and you are dealing 9 per Needle swing. That means you need to land 80 Needle attacks, or fewer with a combination of Tools and Silk Skills. Good luck!

Tip: The runback is particularly frustrating, but at least you don't take 2 damage anymore if you fall in the sand. You can avoid most enemies in the room before Last Judge with careful movement, but don't beat yourself up over taking a Mask or two of damage.

Once you are through the Last Judge, continue to the Grand Gate and do the platforming puzzle in the room. Going through the secret breakable wall above the top right lip/platform on the wall will skip the left-side Underworks.

The only reason to go through the Underworks instead of skipping it is to pick up the Red Tool Delver's Drill at the bottom right of the first room after the bench. It's a great Tool to pick up if you plan to bring 2 Red Tools into future fights.

Both my main path and Detour 3 meet up at the free Bench at the entrance to the Choral Chambers. From there, head up into Choral Chambers and skip down in the guide to "Combined Route to Songclave."

• Pros: Easier Boss (imo), shorter distance to Grand Bellway, Cross Stitch Silk Skill
  
• Cons: Sinner's Road (yuck) and the Mist (annoying), long runback to the Mist

Starting at Bellhart, run or take the Bell Beast to Greymoor and climb the tower that used to have Garmond and Zaza. Take the top right exit and continue to the locked elevator above Halfway Home.


Unlock the elevator, ride it down and take the Bench inside Halfway Home. This is the only respawn point between here and the Exhaust Organ unless you want to do the Sinner's Road Bench parkour or go all the way to Styx.

Continue right and up from the elevator and through to the Green Prince room in Sinner's Road.


There is a decently tough skip here that is arguably less painful than taking Detour 2 through the spike pogo room. Named after the Roachkeeper above Green Prince who shouts, "Chalamet!" when they attack, the Roachcatcher just so happens to be in a prime spot to pogo off of to get higher in the room.

By going right into the spike pogo room and then Sprinting back into the Green Prince room, you can get just enough height from a Sprint Jump to get above the Roachcatcher. You will need to alternate between Gliding and pogoing in order to get the Roachcatcher high enough for you to grab the cage with Rosaries in it and continue up the room to the Lever on the left that opens a shortcut below.

Note: The Roachcatcher dies in 4-5 Needle hits and does not respawn until you bench. If you try the skip and don't make it to the Rosary cage, leave and reenter the room to reset their health.

Chalamet Skip...Skip

Once you exit through the top of the room, go to the very left side of the top room. In the very top left corner by the big Roachkeeper is a breakable wall that leads into the Mist.


There has been a lot of research into the Mist and how it works, but simply using the Needolin on the Lumaflies and going where they tell you to is all you must do to progress. Starting with the first room after the hallway with a corpse in the middle, you must follow the Lumaflies through at least 7 rooms in a row to get to the Exhaust Organ and Phantom.

Tip: The Mist can be simplified into the following rules:

• Using your Needolin on the Lumaflies will show you which room to enter
  
• All rooms except rooms 4 and 7 are shuffled randomly and there is no order to them
  
• You must enter rooms 4 and 7 from a right exit of rooms 3 and 6, respectively
  
• If rooms 3 and 6 do not have a right exit, keep following the Lumaflies until they go right
  
• The Mist only remembers the previous room, and if you go back the Lumaflies will point somewhere new with no penalty (Ex: Room 2 -> 3 -> 2 -> 4)
  
• Any incorrect rooms you enter will subtract 1 room from your progress instead of adding 1 room (Ex: Room 6 -x> 5)
  
• Falling down into a pit (not a bottom exit) will kick you out and fully reset your progress

The Wraiths within the Mist will die to 5 Needle hits, and the best strategy I've found to deal with them is to pogo off of them as they lunge past.

Once you've made it through the Mist, head into the Exhaust Organ, sit at the Bench in the top left, and prepare for your fight with Phantom.


Make sure to unlock the shortcut back to the fight by destroying the blockage in the elevator shaft.

Phantom's small hitbox and aggressive moveset demand patience and precision. But fortunately, the Bench is in the room. Phantom has less health than Last Judge, and also has fewer 2-damage attacks.

Tips: Phantom and Lace 2 are very similar fights, so this is good practice. At the beginning of her final phase, when she does 5 of those big steam slams in a row, stay grounded and Sprint and Dash out of the way as soon as possible.

After defeating Phantom, continue left of her boss room and take the elevator up to the Grand Bellway.

Both the Judge Route and the Mist Route converge at the Grand Bellway Station in lower right Choral Chambers, shown in blue on the map above. The Judge Route has a slightly longer run, but fortunately it is a rather peaceful trip.


After speaking with Lace in either of the tall rooms on either side of the words "Choral Chambers" on the map, the enemies in the Citadel will start reanimating. Go straight to Checkpoint 1 and defeat the enemies there. Sitting at any bench and then heading back to Checkpoint 1 should trigger your first meeting with Garmond and Zaza in the Citadel.

It is required to speak to them at least once somewhere in the Citadel for their quest to progress far enough that you can request their aid in the High Halls Arena, and this is the most consistent place to find them. They can also appear in the small hallway above the Citadel Spa and later on can appear in the hallway before the High Halls Bench.


If you took the Mist Route, there is a Memory Locket just above the Grand Bellway Station, to the left of the lever that drops you by the Ventrica. If you took the Judge Route, this Memory Locket will be available to pick up after we get Clawline.

Buy both the Bell Beast and the Ventrica for 80 Rosaries each, as we will be coming back here more than once. The enemies outside this room make for a quick Rosary farm if you need it.

From the Station, head up through the room and through the rotating wheel. Take the first available right exit (a Lever on the wall) to avoid the two Grand Reeds on your way towards Songclave.


Make sure to pick up the White Key all the way to the right on your first visit to Songclave. If you choose to find Jubilana and she goes to Songclave, she will pocket the Key and make you buy it off of her. The White Key unlocks the Whiteward, which houses the Blue Tool Injector Band and an alternate entrance into the Underworks, which I will mention later.

Ring the First Shrine Bell and rest at the Bench. Then, head up and buy the Songclave Ventrica for 80 Rosaries, if you can. The upcoming Grand Reeds drop 32 Rosaries each if you need more.

Take the top left exit from Songclave, get past the Grand Reeds, and enter the Cogwork Dancers fight.


Tips: The Cogwork Dancers do NOT share a health bar, so focusing one of them the entire fight is the best strategy. If they join together in the middle, the Dancer that started the fight on the left side will return to the left, and vice versa. The right Dancer will always move before the left Dancer in the 3rd phase.

After defeating the Dancers, sit at the Bench below and begin your descent into the Cogwork Core. Head down to the left exit and into the Cogwork Core Arena. The reward for beating the Arena is the second-to-last Mask Shard.


Afterwards, you can Quit to Menu to return to the bench, and progress through Cogwork Core all the way to the middle shortcut. This will involve some tricky parkour with a few sawblade pogos, but fortunately the entire lower Cog Core does not require Clawline.

From the halfway shortcut, head up and take the right exit towards the spinning wheel room and through to the other side of it. I also recommend unlocking the final Cog Core shortcut at the top right of the room before you leave. Defeat the Whispering Vaults Arena and continue right.


After the Arena, continue right. In the main room, go up and over the large Scrollreader enemy at the top and smack the ceiling to reveal a secret passage upwards. Break the ceiling shortcut and rest at the Songclave Bench.

From the Songclave Bench, return down into Whispering Vaults. Take the lowest right exit you have access to (below the Vaultkeeper room) and through the hallway into the next large room. Go right, down, and then through the lower left exit of the room.

In the middle of the upcoming hallway is a hidden ceiling that you can strike to reveal a path upwards. Smack the box upward in the hidden ceiling room and continue up to grab the final Mask Shard in this guide!


From here, go back down through the hidden ceiling and take the lower left exit. Hit the lever that separates the upper and lower halves of the large room, and take the left exit above the lever.

The first room you enter after the lever contains a box puzzle for a Flea. Ignore this puzzle and head all the way left and up. Use the Scrollreader enemy in the room to get on the left platform and take the left exit.

Note: Avoid the lower left exit behind the breakable wall at all costs, as completing that room will spawn the little arrowhead Vaultborn enemies permanentely.

Complete the box puzzle in this final room to earn a Pale Oil!


Return back the way you came and down into the Stage. Go up and over the Stage and hit the Lever. From the Lever, I highly suggest you take the left exit and drop down into the Grand Bellway Station to go get your Needle Upgrade before fighting Trobbio.


Tip: The reward for defeating Trobbio is the Blue Tool Claw Mirror, which is an excellent Tool to use in combination with Warding Bell or Injector Band. In my run, I basically never took it off.

After defeating Trobbio, continue right and down through his elevator into the Underworks.

At the bottom of the elevator, open the left door, send the elevator back to the top, and then go left.



Instead of getting to the Cauldron from Trobbio's elevator, you can instead go back up the elevator and into Whiteward and for another way into the Cauldron. However, if you did not go down the elevator after Trobbio and open the left door, then you will need to go all the way back around to Trobbio to continue after Clawline.

The only item of note in the Whiteward is the Blue Tool Injector Band found in the fireplace room, up and all the way to the left. Injector Band and Claw Mirror make for a deadly 2-Tool combo.

Either way, continue left towards the Twelfth Architect and sit at the bench in their room. Continue left and take the wind current up and left. Go down to the bottom right exit of the room and all the way across the falling lava room. In the vertical room after, take the higher left exit marked with a lever to reach Clawline.

Before entering the Clawline room, take the lower left exit for a puzzle that rewards another Craftmetal.


Defeat the Cauldron Arena at the top of the room to exit back into the Twelfth Architect's room. This will be the last time we come through here, so if you've been saving Rosaries and Craftmetal for anything the Twelfth Architect sells, consider buying it now to avoid backtracking later-- like the Red Tool Cogwork Wheel for 360 Rosaries and 1 Craftmetal. (suggested by commenter Agent 4'7")

Continue back towards Trobbio's elevator and go beneath it and right. Continue as far right as you can go and then up to grab the Vaultkeeper's Melody. I also suggest using the Bench here.

If you took the Judge Route, after going below Trobbio's elevator you can go up and left through a breakable ceiling to grab the Memory Locket that the Mist Route grabbed on their way to the Citadel. Return back to the main path afterwards.


From the Vaultkeeper's Melody, hit the lever outside to fully open the main room, and go up and through the first right exit, past the Mask Shard puzzle from earlier, and into the next room. Complete the box puzzle in this room to get access to the hidden top right exit of the room.


You can entirely skip this room and all of outer Songclave if you don't want to recruit Garmond and Zaza for the High Halls Arena fight. Simply head to the Vaultkeeper now to learn the Melody, return to Songclave, and skip down in the guide to the High Halls section.

Complete the wind current puzzle, being sure to not accidentally fall down into Bilewater near the end, and take the wind current all the way up into outer Songclave.

Before embarking on the puzzle, there is one more Memory Locket available through a hidden room in the top left above the room transition.


Outer Songclave doesn't have anything of note right now except the Heavy Rosary Necklace (220 Rosaries) above the left-most exit, which you can get by climbing the right wall and alternating between Clawline and Glide to make it to the necklace.

Note: We will be coming back here before the High Halls Arena to fight Garmond and Zaza. Fighting them here is required for them to offer aid in the High Halls Arena.

Continue left through outer Songclave and hit the lever to grab a free Psalm Cylinder and a shortcut back to the main room of Whispering Vaults.

Go down to the Vaultkeeper to turn in the Melody and any extra Cylinders you have for Rosaries.

Finally, return to Songclave and begin your journey left towards High Halls.

There are no shortcuts or alternate paths to get through High Halls, so you will need to take the intended path through the area.

If you did not speak with Garmond and Zaza in lower left Choral Chambers yet, you can find them in a few locations over here. They can appear in the rooms above and below the Citadel Spa, and sometimes in the hallway to the right of Checkpoint 1 AFTER you sit at the Bench.

If you missed the Magnetite Dice earlier, this is also a great time to go grab them from Lumble the Lucky's corpse to the left of the Blasted Steps bench. If you took the Mist Route and did not ring all 5 Bells in Act 1, you will have to go the long way around, like me. But if you did ring all 5 Bells and still took the Mist Route, I'm told that the door will be open and will shut behind you once you enter the Last Judge room.


Continue through High Halls the intended way. Make sure to enter the left room on your way down the Glide and Clawline puzzle to grab the Red Tool Cogfly for 1 Craftmetal.


Continue down to the High Halls Bench, and then buy and use the Ventrica to return to Songclave. We're going to get Garmond and Zaza!


From the Songclave Ventrica, take the shortcut down into Whispering Vaults and back out to outer Songclave. If there are no enemies in outer Songclave, then you progressed Garmond and Zaza's quest correctly, and they will be here to duel. If they are not here, try looking for them in the places mentioned previously. They will eventually meet you here.

Exhaust Garmond's dialogue and accept the duel. Garmond and Zaza have less health than Trobbio and fewer big flashy attacks, so winning this duel should not take long. They also take damage from the spikes if you knock them off the platform, though I'm not sure how much.

After their defeat, talk to Garmond and exhaust his dialogue again before returning to High Halls.

This is where I took my final break. Take a deep breath, stretch your wrists, and steel yourself for the final stretch of the run!


After returning to High Halls, Garmond and Zaza should be waiting just outside the High Halls Arena to offer their aid. If they are not, I recommend you Quit to Menu and come back. Talk to Garmond and Zaza to accept their aid in the fight, and head on in.

The first wave of 3 enemies you must fight by yourself, but Garmond and Zaza will make their daring appearance some time during the second or third wave of enemies. Garmond and Zaza have a lot of piercing attacks and big area attacks that are great at hitting multiple enemies at once, and they are especially useful to deal damage to the double Choir Clappers at the end while you hide in one of the top corners, like me.

Note: If you die, you do not need to ask them for aid again unless you leave the room.

Tip: Thread Storm is by far the most powerful Silk Skill that you can bring to this fight. By mashing the cast button for the full duration, you can deal enough damage to one-shot all of the flying enemies-- including the annoying Maestros that throw Cogflies, though if they get knocked out of range they will likely not die.

After you finally clear the High Halls Arena, continue left and claim the Conductor's Melody.

From the High Halls, return to the Cogwork Dancers room and down to the Bench beneath. If you unlocked the final shortcut of Lower Cog Core, then head straight up into Upper Cog Core and complete it as intended.

The puzzle before getting the Architect's Melody is the same every time you come here.

Hit the levers left-to-right and top-to-bottom in the following order to complete the puzzle:

• Top Row: 1 hit, 3 hits, 3 hits, 3 hits
  
• Second Row: 2 hits, 0 hits, 0 hits, 3 hits
  
• Third Row: 0 hits, 1 hit, 1 hit, 1 hit
  
• Bottom Row: 1 hit, 1 hit, 0 hits, 2 hits

If done properly, the third pillar should drop first, then the other 3 pillars will drop left-to-right as you do the bottom row of levers. If a pillar doesn't fall, double check the white symbols on the pillars to make sure the white vertical lines are connected between sections.


Because you Hard Save after getting the Melody, you must descend the Cogwork Core on foot to get back down to the elevator to Lace. There are several valid paths to the bottom, so take as much time as you need to avoid dying.

Once back at the bottom, rest at the Bench below the elevator. Return to the elevator, play the Threefold Melody to the statues, and ascend to Lace.




Lace 2 and Phantom, as I've said before, are very similar fights. Both have jumping attacks, a counter, a grounded attack combo, and a large area attack with a wind-up. Lace 2 is fast, but many of her attacks leave her vulnerable. Patience and precision will win you this fight.

Tip: Silk Spear and Cross Stitch, if you have it, are great Silk Skills for this fight. Cross Stitch does less damage than Silk Spear, but you are completely invulnerable during the counterattack animation, unlike Silk Spear which can be interrupted by damage.

After you defeat Lace, head right and up to the Terminus to sit at the Bench. Continue up and left through the room with all the cages, and then up and right into the Grand Mother Silk room.

Take the bottom right exit of the GMS room and drop down to unlock the shortcut back to the Bench.

On your way up to GMS, there is a hidden room on the right wall that has a big Shell Shard rock in case you are worried about running out during the final fight.


Tip: If you picked up the Cogflies, they are very useful for keeping the pressure on GMS while you are too far away to hit her. You can summon up to 4 at once, and since I picked up the Pouch Upgrades from Mort in Pilgrim's Rest and from the target practice minigame in the Marrow, I had 6 Cogflies for this fight.

Tip: GMS floats off the ground just far enough that all Crests are capable of up-attacking her from directly beneath her. Though she does bob up and down slightly, and sometimes this puts her just out of range of a grounded up-attack.

Tip: When she summons the ground spikes during the fight, hitting them with your Needle twice will make them begin retracting. Taking damage from the spikes also causes them to begin retracting. This does not happen right away, and you can still be hit by them on their way down.

Tip: GMS is not invulnerable during any of her attacks, except between phase 1 and 2 when she falls beneath the platform. Even during the white lines attack when she is barely visible, she can be damaged.

Congratulations! After defeating Grand Mother Silk and taking her place, you've now successfully beaten Silksong! I hope that this guide has proved a useful tool for you to make it this far.

For my run, I clocked in at 3:37:09, meaning I had a little less than an hour and a half of extra time at the end. So even if you took a few clumsy deaths or took your own personal detour somewhere for your favorite item, you should still be comfortably under 5 hours.

• Wanderer Crest
  
• 2 Memory Lockets [2 blue]
  
• Red Tool: Cogfly
  
• Blue Tools: Warding Bell/Claw Mirror, Injector Band
  
• Yellow Tools: Shard Pendant, Magnetite Dice

• Hunter Crest Upgrade 1
  
• 3 Memory Lockets [1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow]
  
• Red Tools: Sting Shard, Three-fold Pin/Cogfly
  
• Blue Tools: Warding Bell, Magma Bell
  
• Yellow Tools: Shard Pendant, Magnetite Dice

Craftmetal used: 3 [Magma Bell, Sting Shard, Cogfly]

• Silk Spear: 0:16
  
• Swift Step: 0:33
  
• Drifter's Cloak: 0:45
  
• Cling Grip: 1:04
  
• Needolin: 1:11
  
• Act 2 (Mist Route): 1:51
  
• Clawline: 2:23
  
• WV Melody: 2:28
  
• HH Melody: 3:17
  
• CC Melody: 3:23
  
• Game Completion: 3:37:09

• Act 1: 6 Deaths (Bell Beast, Moorwing, Shellwood Mask Shard Room, The Mist, Phantom x2)
  
• Act 2: 4 Deaths (Clawline Room, High Halls Arena x3)

• Water drank during run (including breaks): 64 oz / 1.9 Liters
  
• Total fist pumps after first-trying a boss: 7
  
• 1 Mask clutches: 3
  
• Times I died to simple platforming puzzles: 3
  
• "SENSIBOU"s heard from Garmond: 10+

I hope that this guide helped you get the Speedrunner achievement! I'm pretty proud of how this guide turned out, and I hope that I have been clear enough throughout.

Like I said at the beginning, this is my first ever guide, and I am open to any feedback you have. If you catch a typo, formatting error, incorrect information or want clarification in a section, feel free to let me know!