Ancestral Arts in Hollow Knight Silksong are special movements and abilities that can be obtained by HornetAncestral Arts can range from mobility modifiers that will change the way that Hornet can move as she navigates various obstacles and overcome enemy encounters. Some modifiers will give Hornet a double dash, sprint movements, and other active abilities that can be used in Combat and Exploration. Ancestral Arts can be obtained by inspecting an object that will pass down an ability to Hornet. For All Silk Skills, please check our Silk Skills page.

 

All Ancestral Arts in Hollow Knight Silksong

 

Name

Description

Ability Function

How to Get

faydown cloak double jump ancestral art hollow knight silksong wiki guide 300pxFaydown Cloak

Fabled feather down, layered within the cloak. Leap again while airborne. Soar above foes. Reach new heights. Strike from above. Grants Hornet a double jump, allowing her to perform a second leap while in mid-air.
  1. Enter the Mount Fay area through the path going west from the Bellway of The Slab region.
  2. Continue going west, and past the bench you will see a vertical path.
  3. Traverse all the way to the top of the vertical path, then turn east.
  4. Walk towards the eastern part and here you will see a larger vertical path.
  5. You will need to use a needed combo of your Cling Grip and Swift Step skills here to get past the obstacles and avoid the spikes on your way.
  6. Use the Clawline skill for traversing to large platform gaps.
  7. Continue all the way north, till you reach the top, where the Faydown Cloak Idol will be, which looks like a glowing portal.
  8. Acquire the Faydown Cloak by interacting on the idol.

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Swift Step

Sprint at blinding speed, beyond one's natural limits. Chase down prey and leap great distances. Sprint & Dash, Dash while in the air, Sprint and jump further.
  1. Enter the Deep Docks: The journey to find the idol begins in this region.
  2. Navigate Towards the Map Merchant: Proceed to the right, moving past the elevator that leads to a Rest Bench.
  3. Ascend to the Highest Point: Climb up the available platforms, continuing upwards until you reach the peak and transition into the next area.
  4. Cross the Lava Area: In the new area populated with jumping skeleton enemies, continue heading right until you find a lone platform surrounded by lava.
  5. Reveal the Hidden Passage: Walk across the lava to the new platforms and climb up. You will find an orange, explosive ball on the ceiling. Strike the ball and quickly move away. Its explosion will create a new passage.
  6. Find the Idol: Go through the newly opened passage and head left. You will eventually reach the Swift Step idol.
  7. Unlock the Ability: Interact with the idol to officially unlock the Swift Step ability. Doing so will also open a shortcut leading back to your starting point and unlock a Rosary Bench.

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Cling Grip

Cling to sheer surfaces and leap to rapidly scale heights. Cling onto walls and propel off of them.
  1. The journey starts from a Bench in the lower west part of Shellwood.
  2. Head east past a signage post with three bells on it. You'll see a platform that continues way up.
  3. Continuously climb to the top until you reach a platform hanging by a chain. Jump over those platforms and keep heading east. You'll eventually reach another set of platforms that climb up to the top.
  4. Further ahead, you'll see an elevator. Go right from the elevator, and you'll reach an end where you can jump to reach a higher platform.
  5. Once you reach this platform, keep going left, and you'll have to face the boss, Sister Splinter.
  6. After defeating the Sister Splinter, that path will be linear, but you'll still have to work your way around obstacles to reach the Cling Grip.

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Clawline

Fling the needle as a harpoon and launch forcefully towards it. Silk will be expended. Strike enemies to replenish Silk. Allows Hornet to use her needle like a grappling hook
  1. Enter the Underworks through the Ventrica.
  2. Head right to the next room, and you'll see a switch that will open a bridge.
  3. Jump onto a platform above the entrance to go under the bridge. You can use your Drifter's Cloak to glide until you reach the bottom.
  4. Head to the lowest platform on the right side of the area.
  5. You must then keep moving forward until you reach a narrow area where you must use Cling Grip on the walls.
  6. Jump from wall to wall until you reach a switch that will open a door for you. Inside the door is where you'll find the Clawline. You'll have to glide your way through the lava to reach the Clawline.

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Needolin

Play ancient melodies by stringing Silk along the needle. Silk will be expended. Strike enemies to replenish Silk. Ensnares enemies in silk, leaving them immobilized
  1. Head over to Bellhart after obtaining the Cling Grip.
  2. Use the Cling Grip to traverse the Widow's location.
  3. Defeat the boss, Widow to obtain the Needolin

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Needle Strike

Charge power in the needle, then release a deadly attack. Hold the attack button to charge and release for a strong, deadly attack.
  1. Location: Blasted Steps
  2. This ability can be acquired from the Pinstress.
  3. When you arrive at her house, speak to her and agree to train with the Pinstress.
  4. Her house is located at the far west end of Blasted Steps.
  5. And to clear the path that leads to her house, you need to defeat the Great Conchflies.

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Drifter's Cloak (Glide)

Flare the cloak to ride strong winds or glide gracefully This technique grants Hornet the ability to glide gracefully through the air, allowing her to extend jumps and float while midair.
  • Unlocked after completing the Seamstress’ Flexile Spines wish in the Far Fields.

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Silk Soar (High Jump)

Fling the needle upwards and launch to tremendous heights. Silk will be expended. Strike enemies to replenish Silk. This technique lets Hornet hurl her Needle upward until it anchors to a surface, then pull herself swiftly to that point.
  • To obtain it, travel to the far-right edge of the Abyss and descend into the pit to claim the ability.

sylphsong ancestral art hollow knight silksong wiki guide 300pxSylphsong

This Ancestral Art enables Silk to regenerate while resting at a bench. Once rested on the bench, you will notice that the Silk will regenerate too. This helps you gain more advantage walking back in combat with a full Silk gauge.
  • To obtain this Ancestral Art from Eva, you must unlock at least 32 slots across all discovered Crests (excluding the Hunter Crest).

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Beastling Call

Mimic the song of the Bell Beast.
Summon the Beastlings and return together to their mother.
Summon beastlings from any location.

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Elegy of the Deep

Draw out memories of Pharloom's forgotten past. The elegy summons the memories of a past resident of Pharloom, pulling you into a forgotten version of the world.
  • It can be obtained by completing the "Complete Spell Seeker" quest during Act 3.

 




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    • Anonymous

      Sylphsong doesn't require having every crest, I didn't have Shaman but bound Eva nonetheless. The thing it is tied to the strongest is number of memory lockets *used*, not even found. My situation was this: had all crests but shaman, had used, like, idk, 7 (this number may be off) lockets already, and had 8 (precisely) in my inventory. Tried to upgrade Hunter further, couldn't. Eva just said the typical stuff about coming back when having expanded my nature. Then I went into the inventory and used up all 8 remaining lockets on all the remaining crests, walked back to Eva, and was then able to upgrade Hunter and bind her afterwards.
      So TLDR: Eva's upgrades and binding are tied to the number of Memory Lockets used, not just obtained.

      • Anonymous

        i bound Eva while having all but 5 crests slots unlocked. so you definitely don't need all slots unlocked, and potentially don't even need all crests, it might be slot totals that she checks cause i had all 6 crests, couldn't get the last hunter upgrade, and then unlocked 2 slots and was able to get it

        • Anonymous

          Needolin actually has more uses and it should be pointed out, there are a couple of different melodies that unlock later, one that allows you to fast travel anywhere on the map and one that allows you to travel into memories

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