Hollow Knight
63 Achievements
60-80h
The Hollow Knight
Defeat the Hollow Knight and become the Vessel Details for this achievement will be revealed once unlocked
16.1%
How to unlock the The Hollow Knight achievement in Hollow Knight - Definitive Guide
One of the last bosses you'll fight in a playthrough. The Hollow Knight is located in the now Infected Crossroads in the Black Egg Temple, which is two screens away from Dirtmouth. He can only be fought after killing the three Dreamers. Hollow Knight can be easy if you've fought him enough times. The fight is separated into phases. The first phase is when he has full HP, his attacks include swinging his nail three times, lunge at you from a good distance and similarly to Hornet, will go into a defensive stance and counter the next attack you throw at him. Dodge these incoming hits by either jumping over him or using Shade Cloak to go through him without taking damage. Attack him whenever he gets vulnerable but don't get too greedy. The next phase happens when he loses enough HP. In this state, he will gain two new attacks: spitting several blobs of infection at you, which can be dodged with good timing or avoided by going behind him. He also has an attack where he teleports to the top of the boss room and lunge to the ground, which will send pillars of infection shooting up from the ground. There are gaps between each pillar so when you see it, get in between those pillars and you'll be safe. Keep attacking him and the third phase will begin when he starts stabbing himself with his own nail. Don't attack him during this phase, because it does no damage to him, instead focus on healing. Hollow Knight loses his nail attacks but will gain two new attacks, where he starts sending a lot of infection blobs hurtling around him and where he floats in the air and starts bouncing around the boss room. Both of these attacks can be dodged fairly easily but can get tricky. After enough damage is done, Hollow Knight will fall and you will gain this trophy.
There is much confusion if getting the Void Heart will make this trophy missable. It does not. You still fight the Hollow Knight either way. The only difference is if you have the Void Heart, Hornet will come in and bind the Hollow Knight, giving you the option to fight The Radiance by using your Dream Nail on the Hollow Knight. Instead of using the Dream Nail, attack with your regular nail, Hornet will be thrown back and the fight with the Hollow Knight will resume. In the Steam and Switch versions, there is an achievement for viewing the ending before getting the Void Heart which is missable but for the PS4 version, you only need to defeat the Hollow Knight, whether you have the Void Heart or not.