Hollow Knight is a game about getting lost. You wander into a damp cavern, get slapped around by a mossy knight, and realize you need more than just a sharpened nail to survive. That’s where the charms come in. Finding all charm Hollow Knight enthusiasts talk about isn't just a completionist flex; it is the literal difference between beating Radiant Absolute Radiance and throwing your controller through a drywall. Honestly, most people just slap on Quick Slash and hope for the best. They miss the weird, niche interactions that actually make the game breakable.
The map of Hallownest is a mess. It's a gorgeous, decaying mess. There are 40 charms total, plus one final "bonus" if you count the transformation of a specific late-game item. If you’re trying to track down every single one, you’re looking at dozens of hours of backtracking, platforming through literal saws, and talking to a very hungry caterpillar.
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The Foundation of a Build: The Ones You Find Early
Wayward Compass. Let's talk about it. It costs one notch. It does zero damage. And yet, for your first ten hours, it is the most powerful item in the game. You'll find it at Iselda’s shop in Dirtmouth almost immediately. If you say you don't need it, you're probably lying or you've spent too much time looking at the community wiki maps.
Then there is Gathering Swarm. Also from Sly. It’s a quality-of-life masterpiece. You’ll see Geo falling into acid or spikes, and this charm just sends little flies to go grab it for you. It feels lazy, but in the early game, every single Geo counts toward that first Lumafly Lantern.
Most players stumble into the Fungal Wastes and find Shrumal Ogres. Kill them, and you get Shroomspore. It’s... fine. It emits a cloud of healing gas. It’s one of those charms that feels cool for five minutes until you realize you could be using those notches for something that actually kills bosses.
The Problem With Longnail and Mark of Pride
Range is a crutch. We all use it. Longnail is a basic reward from Salubra, while Mark of Pride requires you to actually humiliate the Mantis Lords in their village. The funny thing? They stack. You can turn your nail into a literal pike. But here is the nuance: stacking them is often a waste of notches. Mark of Pride gives a 25% reach increase. Longnail gives 15%. If you use both, you’re spending five notches just to stay far away from the enemy. That’s five notches you could use for something like Quick Focus or a spell build.
Expert players usually ditch Longnail the second they get comfortable with boss hitboxes. You’ve got to learn the "dance." If you’re always three feet away, you never learn the rhythm of the parry.
The Heavy Hitters of Hallownest
If you want to talk about the meta, you have to talk about the "Big Three." These are the charms that define 90% of endgame builds.
- Quick Slash: Found in a hidden room in Kingdom's Edge, behind a breakable floor. It’s arguably the best charm in the game. It decreases the "cool down" of your swing. More swings means more damage and, more importantly, more Soul.
- Fragile/Unbreakable Strength: Leg Eater sells the fragile version. Divine makes it unbreakable for a staggering 15,000 Geo. It’s a 50% damage boost. Simple. Brutal. Essential.
- Shaman Stone: This is the one Salubra sells early on. It makes your spells huge. Like, "covering half the screen" huge. If you aren't using spells in Hollow Knight, you are playing at 50% capacity. Descending Dark with Shaman Stone provides I-frames (invincibility frames) and massive damage. It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Tracking Down the Obscure and the Weird
Some charms are tucked away in places that make no sense until you’ve explored every corner. Take Flukenest. You have to kill the Flukemarm in the Royal Waterways. It turns your Vengeful Spirit into a horde of maggots. It used to be brokenly powerful. Team Cherry nerfed it, but it’s still a weirdly viable burst-damage tool if you’re standing right inside a boss's hitbox.
Then there’s the Weaversong. You find it in the Weaver's Den in Deepnest. Tiny spiders come out and bite things. On their own? They're cute but useless. But pair them with Grubsong? Suddenly, those spiders generate Soul every time they bite an enemy. You can literally hide on a wall and let your spiders farm Soul for you. It’s a "passive" build that feels like cheating in some of the harder platforming sections.
The Joni’s Blessing Trap
Joni’s Blessing is in Howling Cliffs. It turns all your masks into Lifeblood. You can't heal. You just have a big health pool. Beginners love this because it feels safe. Experts hate it because Soul becomes useless for anything other than spells. If you can’t heal during a staggered boss phase, you’re putting yourself on a timer. The only time Joni’s is truly "meta" is when you’re doing specific Lifeblood door challenges or if you’re so good you don't plan on getting hit more than ten times anyway.
The Kingsoul and the Void Heart
This is the peak of the all charm Hollow Knight hunt. You can’t just buy these. You have to earn them through blood and platforming tears. First, you need the White Fragment from the Queen in the Queen's Gardens. Then, you need the second half from the White Palace.
The White Palace is... a lot. It’s saws. It’s thorns. It’s a platforming gauntlet that feels like a different game entirely. Once you combine the fragments, you get Kingsoul. It slowly generates Soul. It’s great, but it costs five notches. It's too expensive for combat.
But you don't keep it. You take it to the bottom of the Abyss. You find your reflection. The Kingsoul breaks and becomes the Void Heart. This is the only charm that costs zero notches. It stays equipped forever. It’s the key to the true endings. Without it, you’re just a bug in a cage. With it, you are the Lord of Shades.
Synergies That Change the Game
Most people think of charms as individual stat boosts. They aren't. They’re a language.
- The "Sturdy" Build: Quick Focus + Shape of Unn. You turn into a little slug when you heal, and you move fast. You can literally crawl under boss attacks while mending your shells. It feels ridiculous to watch, but it works.
- The "Nuclear" Build: Shaman Stone + Spell Twister + Soul Eater. You get Soul from a distance and dump massive, screen-clearing screams. This is how you melt the Watcher Knights before they can gang up on you.
- The "Minion" Build: Weaversong + Grubsong + Grimmchild + Glowing Womb. You aren't even fighting at this point. You’re just a zookeeper. It’s not efficient for the Pantheon of Hallownest, but it’s a blast for exploring.
The Grimm Troupe Dilemma
When the Grimm Troupe arrives, you get the Grimmchild. To upgrade it, you have to fight Grimm. He’s a masterpiece of boss design. Eventually, you have a choice: finish the ritual or banish the Troupe.
If you finish the ritual and beat Nightmare King Grimm (good luck, he's fast), you keep the fully leveled Grimmchild. He shoots fireballs. He’s a solid companion.
If you banish them, you get Carefree Melody instead. It has a chance to block damage. Statistically, it’s actually better for survival in the late-game boss rushes than the bird is. But you lose the bird. It’s a trade-off between a cool pet and a boring, yet functional, safety net.
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Final Steps for Completionists
If you are sitting at 39 charms and can’t find the last one, check your map for the following:
- Grubberfly’s Elegy: You have to find all 46 Grubs. Yes, all of them. The Collector’s Map in the Tower of Love helps, but some of those jars are hidden behind ridiculous secret walls.
- Salubra’s Blessing: Once you have all 40 charms, go back to Salubra. She sells you a "blessing." It’s not a charm you equip; it’s a permanent effect that refills your Soul at benches. Warning: she will float over you and laugh whenever you rest. Some players find it annoying enough to skip it entirely.
- Void Heart: As mentioned, this replaces Kingsoul. You cannot get Kingsoul back once it changes.
To truly master the charm system, stop using the same build for every fight. The game gives you notches for a reason. If a boss is fast, use Quick Focus. If a boss stays out of reach, use spells. If you're stuck on a platforming section, Hiveblood is your best friend because it regenerates your last lost mask for free.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Run:
- Prioritize the Notch Upgrades: There are 11 total notches. Buy the ones from Salubra early, find the one in Fog Canyon, and beat the two in the Colosseum of Fools. Having more "budget" is better than having better charms.
- Overcharming is a Secret Mechanic: If you keep trying to equip a charm that costs more notches than you have left, the game will eventually let you. You'll take double damage from everything, but you can squeeze in one extra powerhouse like Strength or Shaman Stone. Use this for bosses you can beat "hitless."
- Use the Dream Nail: Some charms, like Dream Wielder, make the Dream Nail faster. This allows you to farm Soul from enemies that are normally too fast to hit. It’s a game-changer for the Pantheon.
The hunt for all charms is essentially the story of the game. It forces you into every corner of the map, from the heights of Crystal Peak to the depths of the Abyss. Take your time. Experiment with the weird stuff. You might find that the "useless" Defender's Crest is exactly what you need to cheese the Lost Kin. Hallownest is cruel, but it gives you all the tools you need to survive; you just have to find them.