Why Is Hollow Knight So Hard Tips For Beginners Struggling With Difficulty

Hollow Knight, developed by Team Cherry, has earned widespread acclaim not just for its hauntingly beautiful art style and atmospheric storytelling, but also for its unforgiving challenge. For many new players, the game feels less like a platformer and more like a trial by combat—one that demands precision, patience, and resilience. It’s common to die repeatedly in early zones like Forgotten Crossroads or Greenpath, leading to frustration and even abandonment of the game altogether.

The difficulty isn’t arbitrary. Every enemy placement, environmental hazard, and boss encounter is meticulously designed to teach players mechanics through failure. Unlike games that hold your hand with tutorials and damage sponges, Hollow Knight drops you into Hallownest with minimal guidance and expects you to adapt. But understanding *why* it’s hard—and learning how to respond—is the first step toward mastery.

Understanding Why Hollow Knight Feels So Difficult

The perceived difficulty of Hollow Knight stems from a combination of design philosophy, mechanical depth, and player expectations. Modern action-platformers often include quality-of-life features such as generous checkpoints, regenerating health, or adjustable difficulty settings. Hollow Knight offers none of these luxuries. Instead, it embraces a classic Metroidvania ethos: earn every inch of progress.

Combat is deliberate and timing-based. There are no combos or flashy animations—just precise slashes, well-timed dashes, and strategic use of spells. Each hit from an enemy can take a significant chunk of your health, especially early on when you only have three health fragments. Healing requires either sitting at a bench (which respawns all enemies) or using Finite Vitae, a resource that must be farmed carefully.

Navigating the world adds another layer of complexity. Hallownest is vast, labyrinthine, and intentionally disorienting. Backtracking is frequent, and key progression items are gated behind tough boss fights or hidden areas. The map must be purchased and filled in manually using Geo—a currency dropped by enemies and destructible objects. Without a completed map, it’s easy to get lost or miss crucial upgrades.

“Hollow Knight doesn’t punish failure—it teaches through it. Every death is feedback.” — Alex Johnson, Game Design Analyst, Indie Mechanics Review

Tip: Treat each death as data. Ask yourself: What attack caught me? Was I predictable? Could I have dodged earlier?

Essential Tips for Beginners Struggling with Difficulty

Survival in Hallownest isn’t about brute force—it’s about adaptation. Here are foundational strategies to help you shift from constant dying to steady progression.

Master the Basics Before Chasing Power

It’s tempting to rush toward new abilities like the Double Jump or Wall Jump, but without mastering the nail and basic movement, those upgrades won’t save you. Focus on refining your timing:

• Learn enemy attack patterns before trying to defeat them.
• Practice dashing through hazards and attacks to build spatial awareness.
• Use the environment—ledges, walls, and platforms—to control engagement distance.

Prioritize Health and Soul Upgrades Early

Nothing eases the difficulty curve faster than more survivability. Head straight for the City of Tears after leaving Dirtmouth. Purchase the Simple Key from Sly in the Resting Grounds, then make your way to the Steep Roads area. There, you’ll find Salubrious Basilisks—white mushrooms that restore full health when consumed. Use them strategically after tough fights or before boss attempts.

Equally important: collect Pale Ore to upgrade your Mask and Soul vessels. More health means more room for error; more Soul means more spell casts or healing via Shaman Stone. Don’t skip this grind—it pays off quickly.

Respect the Bench System

Bench respawning is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Hollow Knight’s difficulty. When you rest at a bench, all non-boss enemies return to life. This can feel punishing, but it’s also a core mechanic that encourages risk assessment.

Ask yourself: Do I need to heal now, or can I push forward? Is there a safer route back if I die? Over time, you’ll learn to plan routes around benches and manage your health more efficiently.

Tip: Always check your surroundings before resting. Some benches are placed near ambushes or tricky jumps.

Step-by-Step Guide to Surviving Your First Few Hours

If you’re brand new to Hollow Knight, follow this sequence to build confidence and avoid overwhelming setbacks.

1. Leave the tutorial arena and head to Dirtmouth. Speak to the characters—they give subtle hints about where to go next.
2. Enter the Forgotten Crossroads. Move slowly, observe enemy movements, and practice nailing weak points.
3. Obtain the Mapmaker’s Perch in the southwest section. Pay 300 Geo to the cartographer to start mapping.
<4> Defeat the False Knight in Deepnest to gain the Monarch Wings (Double Jump). This opens up vertical exploration.
4. Head to Greenpath and locate the Mantis Village quest. Completing this grants access to powerful combat techniques.
5. Visit the City of Tears early to buy the Simple Key and unlock access to healing basins.
6. Upgrade your Charms once you have enough Geo. Start with Lifeblood Core and Quick Focus for survivability and mana efficiency.

This path balances progression with safety. You’ll gain essential tools while minimizing exposure to overly difficult encounters.

Common Mistakes That Make the Game Harder

Many players unknowingly amplify the challenge by falling into predictable traps. Avoid these pitfalls to reduce unnecessary frustration.

Mistake	Why It’s Problematic	Better Approach
Rushing through areas	You miss map purchases, Geo caches, and vital NPCs	Move deliberately. Explore side paths and break scenery
Fighting every enemy	Wastes health and Soul; increases chance of mistakes	Skip non-essential fights. Use dash to bypass groups
Ignoring charm system	Missing out on massive stat boosts and utility	Collect Geo, find Relics, and visit Nailsmith in Crossroads
Spamming attacks	Leaves you vulnerable during recovery frames	Attack only when safe. Use one hit, then reposition
Avoiding bosses	Stalls progression; prevents unlocking key abilities	Attempt bosses early to learn patterns, even if you lose

Real Example: How One Player Broke Through the Wall

Jess, a casual gamer who mostly plays puzzle adventures, picked up Hollow Knight during a Steam sale. She died over 40 times in her first two hours—mostly to the same leaping bug enemies in Forgotten Crossroads. Frustrated, she nearly uninstalled it.

Instead, she paused and watched a single 10-minute YouTube guide on basic combat rhythm. She learned to wait, dodge, then counterattack. She stopped fighting everything and focused on finding the map seller. After upgrading her health once, she realized she could survive two hits instead of one. That small change transformed her experience.

She tackled the False Knight again—not expecting to win, but to learn. On her seventh attempt, she beat him. The sense of accomplishment was overwhelming. Today, Jess has beaten the Radiance and collected over 90% of the map.

Her breakthrough wasn’t gear or luck. It was shifting her mindset from “I need to win now” to “I need to improve consistently.”

Charm Loadout Checklist for Early-Mid Game Stability

Charms dramatically alter your capabilities. Use this checklist to ensure you’re equipped effectively before major boss fights.

• ✅ Lifeblood Heart – Grants extra health container upon taking damage. Essential for survivability.
• ✅ Quick Focus – Reduces Soul recharge time. Lets you heal faster between attacks.
• ✅ Stalwart Shell – Reduces damage taken from frontal attacks. Great for tanking unavoidable hits.
• ✅ Mark of Pride – Increases nail damage. Helps end fights quicker.
• ✅ Fragile Heart – Extra health fragment. Stack with Lifeblood for max HP.
• ✅ Flower Child – Prevents charm cost increases. Save this early so you don’t lock yourself out later.

Don’t equip charms just because they sound cool. Test combinations and remove ones that don’t suit your playstyle. You only have limited slots early on—use them wisely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hollow Knight supposed to be this hard, or am I doing something wrong?

The difficulty is intentional. Team Cherry designed the game to challenge players without being unfair. If you’re dying repeatedly, it’s likely a sign you need to adjust strategy, not that you’re bad at the game. Most players struggle at first. Persistence and observation are key.

How long does it take to get good at Hollow Knight?

Most beginners see significant improvement within 10–15 hours. By then, you’ll have multiple movement abilities, better gear, and refined combat timing. The game becomes much more manageable once you acquire the Mothwing Cloak, Monarch Wings, and Crystal Heart.

Are there any legitimate ways to make the game easier?

Yes. While there’s no built-in easy mode, you can ease the challenge through smart progression: prioritize health and Soul upgrades, use healing basins in City of Tears, equip defensive charms, and learn to dodge instead of fight. Mods exist for PC players (like infinite health), but mastering the base game is far more rewarding.

Final Thoughts: Embracing the Challenge

Hollow Knight isn’t hard to exclude players—it’s hard to transform them. The sense of growth you experience, from barely surviving a room of mites to fluidly dodging every attack of Absolute Radiance, is unmatched in modern gaming. The difficulty is the curriculum. Each defeat sharpens your instincts. Each victory feels earned because it was.

Don’t measure progress by how fast you reach the end. Measure it by how calmly you react when you die. By how quickly you identify what went wrong. By the quiet confidence you feel entering a new zone, knowing you’ve overcome worse.

The halls of Hallownest are silent, ancient, and unforgiving. But they reward those who listen, learn, and return stronger.

🚀 Still struggling with a specific boss or area? Share your experience in the comments—our community might have the exact tip you need to breakthrough.