Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s Widow fight is one of the game’s first major boss fights. It pits you against an agile foe whose attacks grow more frantic as the fight wears on, and there’s even a second phase to contend with. With the right planning and knowledge of what to expect, though, you can exploit Widow’s weaknesses without taking much damage in the process.
Our Silksong Widow guide explains Widow’s weaknesses and movesets, along with how to counter her attacks and get a few of your own in.
Widow location in Hollow Knight: Silksong
Widow is at the bottom of Bellhart’s northern tunnels, though you need to do a bit of legwork before you can get there. The tunnel entrances are in northeast Shellwood, and getting there requires you to travel through most of that region, defeat Sister Splinter, and grab the wall cling ability. Once you re-enter Bellhart, make your way down through the tunnels carefully, dealing with the bell-wearing Furm and Winged Furm as you go.
Once you reach the bottom, there will be a destructible bell wall on the left that takes you back into Shellwood. Go through there, and after a short platforming segment and a single stick bug enemy (whom you can ignore by dashing past), you’ll be back at the first Shellwood bench. This route is the safest and most convenient runback to Widow, so rest at the bench before heading in.
Back in the tunnels, open the trap door, and follow the path until it drops you in Widow’s chamber. The fight begins after a short conversation with her.
Widow’s moveset
Widow’s moveset is more varied and expansive than most bosses you’ve faced until now, and she does have a second phase. The first phase ends with the usual victory animation, but don’t get distracted or look away. Widow’s back on her feet after a second and presses the attack even harder.
Many of Widow’s moves utilize bells, but it’s important to note that their bells can be deflected with an attack. If you’re not able to dodge out of the way of an incoming bell, hit it away to avoid taking damage.
First phase moves
- Diagonal bells: Widow sends two bells flying into the arena at a diagonal angle. You can see where they’ll appear thanks to a thread of silk marking their path, but the initial impact isn’t the only threat. The bells bounce once after hitting the ground, and they can still damage you if you make contact.
- Vertical bells: This move is the same as the previous, but the two bells always fall in a vertical line. They bounce as well, but don’t move as far as the diagonal bells when they do.
- Curtain of bells: Widow brings a shower of bells down in a cluster. Sometimes, the cluster is in one area, usually in the arena’s center, and sometimes, she’ll split it to cover the arena’s left and right sides so the only safe area is in the center. You have about two seconds to move after the silk threads appear before the bells come crashing down.
- Midair dive: Widow jumps into the air and dives at Hornet in a diagonal line, attempting to stab with her blade. Dash under her in the opposite direction to evade, and get ready to evade again immediately afterward.
- Scuttling slash: Right after Widow lands on the ground from her midair dive, she’ll scuttle across the floor and whirl her blade as she goes. You can jump and dash over her to evade or try to pull off a midair dive attack of your own, though the timing is tricky. If your needle strikes too close to Widow’s head, it’s treated as a parry and does no damage. If Widow’s scuttling attack catches you, it’ll deal two masks of damage.
- Bells from below: Widow scuttles across the floor and weaves four silk nets. Giant spiked bells burst out of the ground after a second, in the order that Widow first created the nets. If she started at the left end of the room, for example, the leftmost bell appears first, and so on. They pop up in half-second intervals, so the best way to dodge is to stand where the second one will appear, and then after the first one pops up, immediately jump and hover over the bells until they disappear.
Second phase moves
Widow uses most of the same moves during her second phase, though with a few differences. The diagonal bells are angled more sharply and move at higher speeds, so not only are they more difficult to avoid, but they also bounce further as well. Widow throws several vertical bells instead of just two, and the time between the silk thread appearing and the bells rushing in is cut in half. Widow also performs both of these attacks — the diagonal and vertical bells — back to back, giving you less space to evade or find an opening to attack.
During the second phase, Widow cuts out the midair dive and uses the scuttling slash more frequently, often immediately after the bells fall, which makes dodging rather more difficult. In our testing, Widow occasionally used the curtain of bells as well, though it seems less common during the second phase. You can strike the bells to parry them, but if that or dodging isn’t possible, it’s better to take a hit from the bell than it is to get caught in Widow’s slash attack. The bells only deal one mask of damage.
How to prep for Widow
Close-range skills with long animations, like Thread Storm, are not your friend in this fight, so make Silkspear your skill of choice. Alternatively, you can save your silk for healing and rely on tools instead. Any of Hornet’s long-range tools work for this fight, including the Straight Pin, Pimpillo, and, if you’ve visited the Forge Daughter in Deep Docks with enough rosary beads, the Sting Shard.
If you’ve used a Memory Locket to expand your crest so it holds two tools, you can do quite a bit of damage to Widow from a distance before your tool uses run out. We recommend saving your tools for the second phase, however, so you can attack while keeping your distance and focus on evading.
When they do run out, or if you’d rather not use tools, she’s at her most vulnerable while stringing the silk that her bells ride in on and after she scuttles by.
- Move in to attack before the bells fall, then retreat to safety
- Jump over Widow when she scoots by, then attack her from behind
If the diagonal bells fall in a way that leaves you room to stand safely near Widow, you can attack her while they fall. She won’t counter or attack again until the bells hit the ground, and if you’re right next to her, she typically vanishes and reappears nearby anyway.
Widow rewards
Once you defeat Widow, you’ll need to press and hold the bind button several times to absorb her power. Hornet learns the Needolin skill, which opens certain locked doors that have a weaver’s mark and encourages NPCs to speak their inner thoughts. You also earn the Fanatic achievement and complete the “Threadspun Town” quest, which brings Bellhart back to life.
Looking for more Silksong help? Check out our essential beginner tips and top rosary bead farming locations if you’re just getting started, and if you’re running up against a few locked doors, our simple key locations guide is the one for you.