Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
63 Achievements
1,000
60-80h
PC
Xbox One
Xbox Series
Steel Heart
Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game in Steel Soul mode
50
0.33%
How to unlock the Steel Heart achievement in Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition - Definitive Guide
Steel Soul mode is unlocked after completing the game. This is a hardcore version of the game where you have one life and do not respawn upon death. This run will be done on a separate save file where you choose Steel Soul mode at the start and if you do die, the save file is essentially deleted.
Assuming you know your way through the game, this isn't really any more difficult than a standard mode run because you can pause and quit before you die, then restart from the last bench you saved at. Almost all damage in the game causes you to lose a single mask of health and only a few enemies/bosses deal two masks of damage at a time, so as long as you're careful when your health gets low death should be a non-issue.
To increase survivability, prioritize finding Mask Shards, Charm Notches, and Pale Ore for Nail upgrades. The Fragile Strength and Fragile Heart charms (sold by Leg Eater in Fungal Wastes) are particularly strong since their drawback is basically nullified because of permanent death.
The game has a total of 112% total progress, with 100% being from the original base game and 12% coming from content that was initially added through DLC/updates, all of which is included in the Xbox One version. You only need 100% on your progress, meaning there is wiggle room in terms of what you have to complete.
After destroying the three Dreamers you can get into the Temple of the Black Egg in the Forgotten Crossroads. Interact with the statue next to the bench and your completion percentage will then be shown in your menu and on your save slot.
For progress towards 100%, this is what counts:
Upgrades/Pickups (38% total):
Charms (1% each charm = 40% total):
Bosses (1% each = 17% total):
Warrior's Graves (1% each = 7% total):
Dreamers (1% each = 3% total)
Colosseum of Fools (1% each = 3% total
Godhome Pantheons (1% each = 4% total0
Since you don't need everything for this achievement, I didn't bother with the Pantheons or the delicate flower trip for the last mask shard and I only did the first two Colosseum battles as the third is annoying. Once I was at 100%, I killed the Hollow Knight and the achievement unlocked at the end of the credits.
The Hollow Knight wiki is a great source of information on anything specific.
These two maps helped me immensely, as well:
Basic map
Fully interactive map
10 Comments
Excellent solution!
I'm playing it both on Steam and Xbox and would add that as this will be on your 2nd save file (hoping you saved your first), head up to Godhome DLC area on your first save file. play against all the bosses in the Hall of Gods to practice and perfect your technique. Then head back to your Steel Soul playthrough and fight that boss. You probably won't have all the upgrades but you'll know what to expect. Saves backing out many more times.
But I've just lost to the enraged guardian on Steam and need to start again...Get those upgrades before doing any of the difficult stuff!
I'm playing it both on Steam and Xbox and would add that as this will be on your 2nd save file (hoping you saved your first), head up to Godhome DLC area on your first save file. play against all the bosses in the Hall of Gods to practice and perfect your technique. Then head back to your Steel Soul playthrough and fight that boss. You probably won't have all the upgrades but you'll know what to expect. Saves backing out many more times.
But I've just lost to the enraged guardian on Steam and need to start again...Get those upgrades before doing any of the difficult stuff!
By MugenKairo on 07 Oct 2018 00:35
One question: when you die when fighting a dream boss, does your Steel Soul run end?
By MugenKairo on 23 Oct 2018 19:48