Silksong's Most Infuriating Bugs: A 2026 Survivor's Guide to Pharloom's Worst Pests

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s most frustrating enemies create brutal arenas, drain resources, and make Pharloom’s journey an unforgettable nightmare.

Hollow Knight: Silksong has been out for a while by 2026, and its reputation as a punishing metroidvania has only hardened. Players still expect a few bugs in a game about bugs, but Team Cherry's sequel delivers an overwhelming swarm of them. Not technical glitches—these are intentional, exquisitely designed nightmares. They block paths, drain resources, and turn small arenas into deathtraps. For anyone revisiting Pharloom or finally picking up the sequel, here is a third-person tour of the critters that have caused the most frustration.

Kilik

Kilik looks small. It looks weak. That is the trap. This bug appears throughout early areas and can be summoned by the Savage Beastfly to shrink an already cramped arena. Its spikes, however, shoot out much farther than its body suggests. A narrow tunnel with a Kilik becomes a stop sign. Floor and ceiling Kiliks create a skewer. Hornet's needle cannot always reach the inner body, so players must wait, dodge, and chip away. It is a lesson in patience that nobody asked for.

Savage Beastfly

The ordinary beastflies are annoying. The Savage Beastfly is a digital war crime wrapped in a rotund bug body. It is an optional boss, but that does not make the fight pleasant. The arena is tiny. The Beastfly is huge. It dashes around at heights that sometimes feel unavoidable, and it summons extra bugs to make the space even smaller. Oh, and it has an obscene health pool. In 2026, guides may recommend certain tools or strategies, but the memory of that first encounter still stings.

Overgrown Pilgrim

Early areas like Mosshome introduce the Overgrown Pilgrim, a victim of Pharloom's Haunting who now makes that everyone else's problem. The Pilgrim spits at Hornet, then leaps away. It interrupts jumps toward platforms. It hops off ledges, forcing a chase and a restart of the platforming section. The damage is not the issue; the disruption is. Every spit feels personal. Every leap feels like a taunt.

Snitchfly

Wealth is scarce beneath the Citadel of Pharloom, and the Snitchfly is determined to redistribute it—to itself. This thief does not deal much damage, but it can leap onto Hornet and tear away loose rosaries. Defeat it, and the rosaries return. Die or leave the area, and they are gone. Snitchflies are basically the Citadel's bigwigs with worse manners and better jumping. Few enemies feel as personally offensive.

Flintflame Flyer

Deep Rock is full of bugs in protective gear, toiling around magma and harvesting flintstone. Their helmets stop attacks from above, but most are slow enough to handle. Then comes the Flintflame Flyer, a demolitions expert who throws incredibly explosive bombs. Send a bomb back? It blocks. Those helmets are thick. The explosion is massive enough to black out the screen and wipe out Hornet in one hit. It is a bug immune to its own bombs, and that feels deeply unfair.

Skarrgard and the Skarr Bugs

Hunter's March brings color back to Pharloom: red shells, greenery, water. It also brings Skarrgard and every other Skarr bug. These are trained killers. They carry weapons, dash, burrow, fire projectiles, and wear helmets. What are they fighting that requires this much defense? The player, apparently. The learning curve in Hunter's March is cruel, even if the bugs themselves are brilliantly designed. Loving them and hating them can happen at the same time.

Swamp Squit

Bilewater is already a nightmare: no map, barely any light, maggots that eat silk. Then the Swamp Squits arrive. They swarm, dash, and explode after defeat. Worse, they respawn almost instantly. Flying enemies can be fun because they push Hornet's agile combat style, but the Swamp Squit pushes too far. It is a bad bug. Many players learn to simply avoid them, which is not a compliment to their design.

Stilkin

Another Bilewater introduction, the Stilkin hides in everything and is one of the few bugs not killed by water. It hops out of grass, dives beneath the surface, and shoots poison darts that explode. It keeps hopping. It is nearly impossible to swipe with a needle. Sinner's Road has tough enemies, but Bilewater's Stilkin are on another level of evasion and annoyance.

Pharlid

Around the Blasted Steps, Pharlids become more common. They are tiny, which makes them seem harmless. That assumption is proof of inexperience. Pharlids are like small dogs: obscenely aggressive and weirdly strong. They dash when they sense Hornet nearby, and they can climb any surface. Their mask is invincible from the front, so frontal strikes fail. They do make great bouncing platforms, though. That is the only nice thing to say.

Driznit

The Driznit is another Blasted Steps enemy with thoughtful coral-themed design. Unfortunately, that coral becomes a weapon. The Driznit appears most during platforming, which is lovely. Its coral horn follows with bizarre precision, almost like a magnet. The rebounding properties are intense, and the dart is bigger than the bug's body. Fighting them again is not on any player's wish list.

The Verdict

Silksong's bugs are not all equally awful, but they share a talent for interrupting momentum. Some steal resources, some explode, some hide, and some simply refuse to be hit. In 2026, patches and community knowledge may soften certain encounters, but the core experience remains sharp. Team Cherry built a world where every bug feels handcrafted—and some of those handcrafted bugs are absolute menaces.

Enemy
Primary Sin
Why It Stings

Kilik
Long spikes
Blocks narrow passages and outranges Hornet

Savage Beastfly
Tiny arena, huge boss
Summons help and refuses to die quickly

Overgrown Pilgrim
Spits and leaps
Ruins platforming rhythm

Snitchfly
Steals rosaries
Turns wealth into a chase

Flintflame Flyer
Explosive bombs
One-shot potential and bomb immunity

Skarr bugs
Military-grade aggression
Weapons, dashes, helmets, projectiles

Swamp Squit
Explodes and respawns
Instant return makes avoidance optimal

Stilkin
Ambushes with poison darts
Hides everywhere and is hard to hit

Pharlid
Invincible front mask
Tiny, fast, and relentless

Driznit
Magnetic coral dart
Punishes platforming with precision

For players still exploring Pharloom, the best advice is simple: respect the bugs. They are not obstacles to rush past. They are the main event, whether that feels fair or not.

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Silksong's Silkless Co-op Mod: A Shared Journey in 2026

Hollow Knight: Silksong's Silkless Co-op Mod adds companionship, not combat: join a friend on Nexusmods and share Pharloom's brutal journey.

In 2026, Hollow Knight: Silksong still feels like a beautiful, brutal secret. You wake in Pharloom with no map, no compass, and no kind voice telling you where to go. The game wants you to be lost. It wants you to earn every inch of ground. For many players, that solitude is the whole point. But sometimes, even a lonely bug dreams of company.

Elara had loved the original Hollow Knight. She had spent dozens of hours in Hallownest, dying to false knights and screaming at platforming sections. When Silksong finally arrived, she expected the same delicious isolation. What she did not expect was how much she would miss sharing the misery. She wanted someone to see the moment she finally beat a boss. She wanted someone to laugh when she walked into a trap for the fifth time. So she went looking for a mod.

She found the Silkless Co-op Mod. It was created by nek5 on Nexusmods, and it promised something strange: a way to bring a friend into Silksong. Not true co-op. Not a shared adventure where two players fight side by side. The mod lets one player join another player's game and appear on the screen. You can see each other. You can wave, maybe. You cannot interact. You cannot help with bosses in an Elden Ring-style tag team. But you can be there.

That might sound pointless. For Elara, it sounded perfect.

The installation process was not complicated, but it did require attention. She opened the mod page on Nexusmods. She downloaded two files: BepinEx 4 and SilklessCoop.zip. Then she extracted both into the root game folder for Silksong. On Windows, that folder usually lives at %USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/Team Cherry/Hollow Knight Silksong/. She double-checked the path, because one wrong folder can turn a mod into a ghost.

Step
What to Do

1
Visit the Silkless Co-op Mod page on Nexusmods.

2
Download BepinEx 4 and SilklessCoop.zip.

3
Extract both files into the Silksong root game folder.

4
On Windows, the path is %USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/Team Cherry/Hollow Knight Silksong/.

5
Right-click your friend's name on Steam to join their game.

6
Start Silksong and load your save file.

7
Press F5 to enable multiplayer functionality.

When Elara pressed F5, nothing dramatic happened. No explosion. No trumpet. Then her friend's character appeared in the distance, a little silhouette in the fungal wastes. They could not fight together. They could not open doors for each other. They could not trade items or revive each other. But they could explore the same cursed kingdom at the same time. They could see each other's deaths. They could stand together in silence before a terrifying boss gate. It was not cooperation. It was companionship.

The mod's creator has promised future updates. Bug fixes are planned. Sound syncing is planned. Player count status is planned. There is even talk of public servers, which would turn Silksong into something closer to a shared world. As of 2026, the mod remains a PC-only experiment, but it has found a devoted audience. Players who love Silksong's difficulty still want to share its beauty. They want to point at a distant tower and say, 'Look at that.' They want to hear a friend gasp when a new horror crawls out of the dark.

Silksong was designed to be solitary. Its lack of map and compass is not a flaw; it is a dare. The game trusts you to be lost. It trusts you to be afraid. But mods are a way for players to talk back. They can soften the edges. They can add training wheels. They can even add a friend who cannot help but can still witness. The Silkless Co-op Mod does not break the game's loneliness. It just makes that loneliness a little less quiet.

For Elara, that was enough. She and her friend did not beat the game together. They did not conquer every boss as a duo. But they shared a journey. They laughed at glitches. They got lost in the same corridors. They celebrated small victories that no one else would understand. In a game about isolation, that felt like a small rebellion. ️

If you want to try it, the steps are simple. Download the files. Extract them. Join a friend. Press F5. Do not expect Elden Ring. Expect something stranger: a ghost in your game, a witness to your struggle, a silent partner in the dark. And maybe, just maybe, that is exactly what Silksong needed.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's 10 Hardest Bosses, Ranked by a Masochist

Hollow Knight: Silksong's hardest bosses, ranked, reveal brutal platforming, poison frogs, and endless endurance fights.

I have a confession: I am not good at Hollow Knight: Silksong. I am stubborn, though. I have spent dozens of hours getting humbled by its platforming, its map, and its bosses. And as of 2026, after several post-launch patches, the hardest fights still feel like they were designed by someone who wanted to see me cry. Here are the ten bosses and boss-like encounters that broke me the most.

Rank
Fight
Why it hurts

10
Last Judge
Act 1 skill check with fire and a brutal runback

9
Groal the Great
Waterborne poison frog with pendulum problems

8
Savage Beastfly (second)
Optional, add-heavy, attention-splitting

7
Widow
Fast silk traps and unpredictable bells

6
Phantom
Lace but meaner, faster, and less fair

5
The First Sinner
Needle hell and exploding AoEs

4
High Halls Arena
Eleven waves of pure endurance

3
Moorwing
Flying orb patterns from a bad dream

2
Sister Splinter (pre-patch)
Two-mask claws and Shellwood lockdown

1
Skarrgard
Early-game wall with a lesson

10. Last Judge Is a Mid-Game Skill Check

The Last Judge is not the hardest boss in a vacuum, but she is the hardest boss when you are still learning. She is the final boss of Act 1, and she exists to make sure you have actually learned Silksong's mechanics. Her attacks are diverse. Phase 2 sets the arena on fire, literally engulfing you in flames. When you finally win, her weapon explodes and gets one last hit in. And the runback is miserable; I lost my cocoon more than once before I even reached her. Fighting her is like trying to fold a fitted sheet during a house fire.

9. Groal the Great Is Too Big to Dodge

Groal is a waterborne frog boss in Bilewater, and he ruins an area that already ruined my day. You have limited time to hit him when he pokes his head above the water. He uses poison projectiles and a foul breath attack that pulls you inward. He bullies you into corners with his bloated body, summons adds, and his arena has swinging pendulums and poison pools. It is a geometry problem where all the angles are poisonous.

8. Savage Beastfly's Second Appearance Is Shockingly Hard

The first Savage Beastfly fight in Far Fields is relatively easy. The second one, in the already frustrating Hunter's March, is an optional boss at the Chapel of the Beast. You do not have to fight it again, but if you do, you are in for a challenge. Phase 1 uses floating slam attacks that leave it vulnerable. Phase 2 summons a number of annoying adds that exist only to distract you, splitting your attention between multiple moving targets until you lose track of the real threat. I lost that thread more than once.

7. Widow Has Quickly Become an Icon

Widow has become one of Silksong's beloved bosses for her unique design, silk-based moveset, and difficulty. You face her about halfway through Bellhart. Like Hornet, she summons silk to ensnare you and occasionally drops large metal bells on your head. The issue is phase 2, when her bell drops become less predictable and her base attacks get faster and harder to dodge. She is quick and unpredictable, and you need to heal, but you also need silk and space. That tension is the whole fight.

6. Phantom Makes Bilewater Even Worse

If you thought your first bout with Lace was difficult, wait until you fight Phantom. The two bosses share a lot: they can parry your attacks, dash across the battlefield, and perform devastating AoEs. But Phantom is tougher. They are faster and significantly less predictable. You are always too late to dodge their projectile throws, just a little too close to jump over their dash attacks. Phantom covers the entire battlefield, leaving you no safe space to cower until it is your turn to strike. Beating them unlocks Cross Stitch, an extended AoE that deals several attacks worth of damage. While in the Cross Stitch animation, you automatically parry incoming attacks. Great ability, brutal exam.

5. The First Sinner Is Impossibly Fast

Located in the hostile Slab prison, the First Sinner is among the fastest bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong. Its main attack drops a series of massive needles on you, peppering the battlefield and leaving few safe spaces. You have to read its tell carefully and dodge in the right direction. Phase 1 also has a more generic melee combo. Phase 2 speeds up its attack patterns and unlocks a new attack, spawning exploding circle AoEs throughout the arena. This fight is all about positioning, and the boss gives you little time to get into place. It moves like a rumor in a small town: everywhere at once and impossible to pin down.

4. The High Halls Arena Is an Unrelenting Gauntlet

It is not technically a boss fight, but the High Halls arena fight deserves its spot. Arena fights are basically boss fights in multi-wave form, and this one has among the most waves in both Silksong and the original Hollow Knight: eleven consecutive phases. Just when you think you have reached the end, another wave arrives to break your streak. The constantly changing strategies and sheer length make it easy to make a deadly mistake. It is like being asked to solve a Rubik's cube while someone keeps swapping the stickers.

3. Moorwing Is Tough, But Cheese-able

Moorwing is widely considered one of the hardest boss fights in Silksong as a whole. It is another massive flying boss, and its attacks are big, bold, and difficult to dodge. It dives straight into you, slashes with its claws, and shoots deadly glowing orbs. The orbs follow strange, evolving patterns: a single bowling-ball-like trajectory along the ground, then double orbs, then a bizarre double-circling-back pattern that requires two dodges in quick succession. You can make the battle easier by recruiting Garmond and Zaza, or by attacking from above its arena where it cannot reach you. I am not above cheese.

2. Sister Splinter Was Powerful Pre-Patch

Sister Splinter was one of the first casualties of Silksong nerfs brought about by post-release patches. Her original version in the 1.0 release was incredibly difficult, to the point that many players complained in reviews. She had powerful claw attacks that dealt two masks' worth of damage each hit, a vine attack that limited your safe space, and the ability to summon Splinterbarks as adds. She was a formidable foe who left many players stuck in Shellwood. If you get past her, you unlock Cling Grip, a wall jump ability you need for remote areas. Post-patch she is more manageable, but veterans remember the original wall.

1. Skarrgard Causes New Players Trouble

Skarrgard is not even really a boss. He is a miniboss at best, without an official title drop or a proper arena. If you faced him in the late game, you would not find him that hard. He moves swiftly, and his attacks have big hitboxes, but he telegraphs his moves well and is easy enough to dodge with a full arsenal. The issue is placement. Skarrgard appears early enough to pose an impossible obstacle for most players. If you have not unlocked the dodge ability, you will get caught in his attacks over and over. He is intended to teach new players that sometimes it is better to level up and come back later than to stubbornly throw yourself at the same boss again. That lesson is more important than any single victory.

So that is my list. Silksong humbles you again and again, but that is exactly why beating these fights feels so good. If you are stuck in 2026, take a break, upgrade, and come back. The game will still be there, waiting to humble you.

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The Great Hollow Is Beautiful, Brutal, and Breaking Nightreign Players

Elden Ring Nightreign’s Great Hollow map frustrates players with deadly chasms, confusing vertical routes, and brutal navigation despite its striking design.

I've spent the last week doing something I never thought I'd do in Elden Ring: Nightreign—standing at the edge of a cliff, squinting at the minimap, and whispering, 'Please don't be a death pit.' That's the Great Hollow experience, folks. The Forsaken Hollows DLC has been out for a month and a half now, and while the two new Nightfarers and the new bosses are landing pretty well, the new Shifting Earth map is getting dragged through the mud on Steam. And honestly? I get it.

It's Not Technically a New Map, But It Sure Feels Like One

The Great Hollow is a Shifting Earth event, so it may or may not show up when you're running a DLC boss. You might get the default map or one of four other Shifting Earths instead. But unlike those other events, which usually transform one part of the map, the Great Hollow basically swaps out the entire area. No central castle. No ravine down the middle. No southern lake or northern cliffs. Instead, you get a giant crystal that looks like it crash-landed and split the land into broken cliffs and multiple vertical levels. There are ruins full of enemies, plus churches, forts, and mines scattered around. The in-game map has multiple layers, and you have to use spirit springs carefully to fall down and shoot back up. It's a lot.

The center crystal also holds a major party buff that can be clutch for the final boss. To get it, you need to find and break several smaller colored crystals around the map. Their locations change every attempt. So you can't just memorize one route and call it a day.

Why Everyone Is So Frustrated

Routing in Nightreign is usually a quick mental exercise. You fly in, pop the map open, and plan a path that gets your team a few extra flasks, a mine for a smithing stone, and a steady line of boss fights so you can collect runes and level up. In the Great Hollow, that plan goes out the window. There are too many vertical levels, too many map layers, and too many 'wait, can I jump down here?' moments. Add the crystal hunt on top, and you have a recipe for confusion.

But the worst part? The giant, gaping chasm running through the middle of the map. The chasm grins at you. It knows what you're about to do.

Nightreign famously has no fall damage. It encourages sprinting, leaping off ledges, and climbing cliffs. That's part of why it feels so different from Elden Ring. Over the last year, a lot of us have trained ourselves to run and jump without hesitation. Usually, that's fine. The Crater Shifting Earth has a lava pit, but it's easy to avoid. The Great Hollow, though, has a death pit that is annoyingly hard to see. You look over a ledge, think you're good, and then—whoops—you're falling to your death.

And the death fall behavior makes it worse. If an enemy kills you, you spawn back at the last Grace you tapped, and your runes are either dropped nearby or picked up by an enemy. If you fall, Nightreign seems to randomly drop you somewhere along a ledge near your death point. That could be above, below, or across from where you jumped. But your runes stay back on the ledge where you started. So you can spawn far away, with your runes behind you across a death pit, and no easy route back. It's the kind of thing that makes you put the controller down and stare at the wall for a minute.

The Steam Reviews Are Not Happy

The numbers tell the story. While Elden Ring: Nightreign itself has mostly positive reviews, Forsaken Hollows is sitting at Mostly Negative for the last 30 days. Only 30% of 1,347 recent reviews are positive. A lot of them are about the map.

One review says: 'The new map is poorly designed, overly difficult and boring. Takes forever to traverse... boss battle tower is a damage-sponge time-wasting chore.' Another says: 'The characters and bosses are great but the new map is absolutely horrible and is ruining the experience of the game as a whole.' A third: 'Love the bosses and new classes but the new map is just trash. There was zero NEED to add gaps in the map to kill YOU. You might as well add fall damage to the game.'

I also saw a positive review that summed it up perfectly: 'The new map is [expletive] terrible but everything's so good.'

Is It a Skill Issue, or a Design Issue?

Not everyone hates the Great Hollow. A recent Reddit thread about the Steam reviews said, 'The more I play, the more I feel like it was fantastically designed.' The replies were divided. Some players acknowledge the flaws but love the challenge. Others call it a skill issue. And honestly, I see both sides. The map is beautiful and unique. It demands a different gameplay flow and much better team coordination so you don't all end up separated and confused. But it's also hard to learn, and the only way to learn is to fail a lot. After 100+ hours in Nightreign, I'm not having the best time trying to learn new bosses, two new characters, and a new map all at once. Though, to be fair, that's kind of the FromSoftware experience.

What Works
What Hurts

Gorgeous crystal wasteland aesthetic
Multi-level routing chaos

Crystal buff is a cool risk-reward idea
Random crystal locations

Encourages tight team coordination
Hidden death pits

New bosses and Nightfarers are great
Fall death spawn/Rune loss feels unfair

What Could Fix It?

I don't think FromSoftware needs to delete the map. But a few changes would go a long way. First, fix where the game places you after a fall. If I die in a chasm, don't strand me on a random ledge with my runes across the void. Second, add a little more clarity to the minimap so I can see levels and death pits before I leap. Third, maybe make the colored crystals show up on the map after day one, so the crystal hunt feels less like a YouTube memory test. That's not dumbing it down; that's respecting my time.

The Great Hollow is a beautiful bully. It's thematically cool, visually striking, and genuinely rewarding when a team clicks. But right now, it's also a freaking chore, and the Steam reviews are trying to send a message. I'm hoping a 2026 patch smooths out the rough edges. Until then, I'll be over here, practicing, falling, and muttering, 'Please don't be a death pit.'

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Elden Ring Nightreign Patch Paves the Way for The Forsaken Hollows

Elden Ring Nightreign's December 2025 patch added support for The Forsaken Hollows DLC plus quality-of-life fixes and balance changes.

In December 2025, FromSoftware rolled out a new patch for Elden Ring Nightreign, and it landed like a courier carrying both gifts and repairs. The timing was no accident: The Forsaken Hollows, Nightreign's first proper, named DLC, was set to arrive on December 4, bringing new bosses, new shifting earth, and new playable Nightfarers. The patch added support for that expansion, but it also quietly reshaped the entire experience for every player on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. Now, in 2026, that update remains a foundational moment for the game, a turning point that showed FromSoftware was still listening.

A Patch That Did More Than Open a Door

FromSoftware did not just flip a switch and call it a day. The studio treated the patch as a chance to smooth out rough edges, and the result was a long list of quality-of-life improvements that players had been requesting for months. The most visible changes included:

• Relic management overhaul: Equipped relics now appear in the Character Selection menu, and players can set names for Relic presets in the Relic Rites menu. Those names can be changed in the All Presets section, and preset order can be rearranged per character.

• New shop item: The Collector Signboard shop gained the Deep Large Scenic Flatstone.

• Map and results improvements: The map's layer display can now be toggled in the Results menu, and the relics equipped by each player are displayed there too.

• Matchmaking flexibility: Players with a Personal Objective requiring a specific target kill while Reliving a Remembrance can now embark with players whose Personal Objective does not require that.

• Flask count highlighting: The flask count now glows when at maximum capacity or when an enemy-induced effect influences it.

• Compass rune icon: The vertical position of the compass rune icon appears if dropped runes are significantly above or below the player.

• Map event highlighting: Specific events on a different map layer can now be highlighted in the map menu.

• Dormant Power UI: The HP gauge and other UI elements remain visible during Dormant Power selection.

• Shop adjustments: Weapon lineup in Limveld's shops was adjusted, and Fire Pots were added to the Spirit Shetler shop inventory.

• Raider fix: Target-lock on enemies behind the tombstone summoned by Raider's Ultimate Art no longer gets released.

Balance Changes: The Scales Were Rebalanced

The patch also broadened trigger conditions for relic effects, equipment passive effects, and special effects that activate at low HP. In plain terms, more of those effects now actually do something when you need them. And yeah, that mattered.

Category
Change

New Passive Effects
Improved Melee Attack Power, Improved Dash Attacks, Improved Rolling Attacks

Buffed Passives
Improved Attack Power when Two-Handing, Attack Up when Wielding Two Armaments, Improved Chain Attack Finishers, Improved Charge Attacks, Improved Jump Attacks, Improved Guard Counters, Improved Skill Attack Power, Physical Attack Up

Adjusted Low HP Effects
Improved Damage Negation at Low HP and Blue-Feathered Branchsword had trigger conditions broadened but effectiveness decreased

Relic Effects
Physical Attack Up, Improved Initial Standard Attack, Improved Critical Hits, Improved Guard Counters, Improved XXX Damage (excluding bows), and Improved Attack Power with 3+ XX Equipped (excluding bows) all increased

Other Changes
Wrath of Gold Incantation reduced FP consumption and increased power

Bug Fixes and Quality-of-Life

The bug fix list was hefty enough to make a Tarnished weep with relief. FromSoftware fixed an Augur invasion teleport bug, mitigated an issue where Sites of Grace or Churches would not activate, and repaired a Night's Tide range discrepancy when rejoining a session. Hammer weapons with Prayerful Strike now appear. Healing or enhancing effects now apply to allies who are dodging or performing their Ultimate Art. Ironeye's Marking weak points now show consistently. Raider's Retaliate no longer cancels and flinches from certain no-damage attacks. Recluse's Elemental Defense affinity residues now spawn correctly. Executor parries now apply Stagger damage. Darkness-imbued attack dodge roll ranges were corrected. Depths Relics now show Greenspill Crystal Tear at expedition start. The Deep of Night rating gauge now reflects Reduce Depth properly. Relic Rites placement icons, Dormant Power rarity UI, Sparring Grounds sorting, Results menu attribute reflection, and Victor's Record special effects were all fixed. Session disband messages no longer haunt the title screen, and graphical, audio, text, and performance issues were addressed.

Let's be honest, that was a lot of housekeeping. But it was the kind of housekeeping that turns a good co-op game into a great one.

The Road to The Forsaken Hollows

Nightreign's ultra-hard Deep of Night mode had launched in September, after dataminers discovered it in August. Along with duos mode, that was all players had for a while, and the community had grown agitated at the lack of news. The Forsaken Hollows DLC and this patch arrived like a fresh campfire in the mist. In IGN's 7/10 review, the game was praised as one of the finest three-player co-op experiences around when played as designed, though the lack of crossplay, duo matchmaking, and built-in communication tools made it hard to create those conditions unless you brought two real-life friends on every run.

By 2026, Nightreign has continued to evolve, but this patch stands as a clear statement. FromSoftware did not abandon its strange, brutal, cooperative experiment. It patched, polished, and pushed forward. If you know, you know: sometimes the smallest fixes make the biggest difference.

If this patch has you eyeing The Forsaken Hollows — or finally convincing a third friend to pick up the base game — the cost of entry stacks up fast, and storefront prices rarely sit still. Hunting down legitimate discounts across platforms, regions, and retailers is its own kind of grind, the sort of thing that eats an evening you'd rather spend in the Depths.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's PlayStation Platinum Is Missing Two Brutal Trophies

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s PlayStation version omits the brutal Steel Soul and Steel Heart trophies, making its platinum far easier than Steam/Xbox.

As someone who has thrown myself against Hollow Knight: Silksong's bosses more times than I care to admit, I almost dropped my controller when I saw the trophy comparisons this week. The PlayStation version is effectively a lighthouse with its two most blinding lamps unscrewed: it is missing both the Steel Soul and Steel Heart trophies, which Steam and Xbox players are forced to earn for 100 percent completion.

Let's be honest about Silksong itself. The original Hollow Knight had tough spikes, but Silksong behaves like that from the moment the first screen loads and never really releases the pressure. I have watched friends who breezed through the first game get flattened by Pharloom's early encounters, and the curve barely flattens after that. A normal playthrough already asks for pin-point timing, resource management, and patience that borders on meditation.

Steel Soul mode, which returns from the first game as an unlockable extra after clearing the game or by using a recently discovered cheat code, removes the safety net entirely: one death and the run is over. It is like trying to thread a needle while falling through a silk storm, a cruel demand for a game this precise. And then there is Steel Heart, which asks you to 100 percent the entire game under that same no-death rule. I still cannot say that name without flinching.

Earlier this week, reports noted that skilled PlayStation players managed the platinum even though the game had not been out for a full week. When I inspected the trophy list for myself, the absence became obvious. Steam and Xbox players need to beat the game in Steel Soul mode for one achievement, then 100 percent the entire game in Steel Soul mode for another. That second one is the kind of request that makes me whisper 'Dear god, no' into an empty room. PlayStation players, however, do not have those two trophies at all. The game mode still exists on Sony's console, but completing it only grants bragging rights, not a shiny digital trophy.

The comparison looks like this:

Platform
Steel Soul trophy
Steel Heart trophy
Platinum difficulty

PlayStation
No
No
Much easier

Steam
Yes
Yes
Brutal

Xbox
Yes
Yes
Brutal

This explains why skilled PlayStation players were able to grab the platinum within days of release, before most of us had even stopped mistiming Hornet's down-slash. On Steam and Xbox, a full achievement completion is still a frozen waterfall being climbed with buttered gloves, but on PlayStation that waterfall conveniently ends before the final ice wall. In 2026, that difference matters even more because trophy hunting has become its own competitive side of the Silksong community, and Sony players now have a considerably shorter route to the top.

For me, the situation is bittersweet. I like that more players will experience the platinum without needing to treat Silksong as a second job, but I also know that Steel Soul runs are where the game's knife-edge combat truly sharpens into something unforgettable. The original Hollow Knight had a similar split, with some platform trophy lists feeling like they had their teeth pulled, and history has repeated itself here.

If you simply want every trophy in Silksong, the PlayStation version is the clear route. If you want to prove something to yourself, both Steel Soul and Steel Heart are still waiting in the shadows on every platform, even if Sony will not hand you a trophy for surviving them.

Whether you pick up Silksong on PlayStation for the friendlier trophy list or on Steam and Xbox for the full Steel Soul gauntlet, the platform decision tends to come down to more than achievements alone. Most people juggle a handful of stores at once, and the same copy of the game can sit at noticeably different prices depending on where and when you look, especially once sales start rotating through the season.

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Elden Ring Nightreign Patch 1.03.1 Expands Deep of Night and Fixes Hundreds of Bugs

Elden Ring: Nightreign patch 1.03.1 enriches The Forsaken Hollows' Deep of Night with new DLC content, balance tweaks, and fixes.

As a longtime Nightfarer, I booted up Elden Ring: Nightreign the moment I saw FromSoftware had deployed patch 1.03.1 across all platforms. The update is not just a routine maintenance drop. For anyone who owns The Forsaken Hollows DLC, it pours fresh content into the ultra-hard Deep of Night mode. For everyone else, it delivers a massive list of balance changes, quality-of-life features, and bug fixes that touch nearly every corner of the game. In 2026, with the DLC now boasting an impressive 2 million players, this patch feels like a clear signal that FromSoftware is still actively shaping the Nightreign experience.

Deep of Night Gets More Dangerous for DLC Owners

If you own The Forsaken Hollows, the headline is simple: Deep of Night now has new targets, Landmarks, raid events, and Shifting Earth encounters. I love that these additions only appear when I am matched with other players who also own the DLC. It keeps the expansion content feeling special and avoids confusing newer players who have not bought in yet. The Great Hollow Shifting Earth also received focused adjustments. Curse effects related to Fire, Magic, Lightning, and Holy are now stronger when they appear on weapons and items in the temples. FromSoftware also tweaked the Continuous HP Loss and Continuous HP Recovery curses.

The Night Aspect fight can now feature additional attack types if every Nightfarer in the party owns The Forsaken Hollows. That change alone makes me want to assemble a full DLC squad. I also noticed that when the Night's Tide engulfs you in the Great Hollow, your character's feet now appear to be burning. It is a small visual touch, but it sells the danger.

Feature
What Changed

New DLC content
New targets, Landmarks, raid events, and Shifting Earth in Deep of Night

Matchmaking
DLC additions only appear with other DLC owners

Great Hollow curses
Increased elemental curse effects and adjusted HP loss/recovery curses

Night Aspect
Extra attack types when all Nightfarers own the DLC

Balance Tweaks and Quality-of-Life Wins ️

The wolves summoned during the Tricephalos raid event have had their attack power decreased. As someone who has been ambushed by those wolves more than once, I say thank you. Scholar players will appreciate the new stack count display for the damage negation reduction icon that appears when hitting enemies with level 3 Dart-type items via the Bagcraft skill.

Scholar's Ultimate Art Communion no longer breaks when transforming with the Executor's Ultimate Art Aspects of the Crucible: Beast. There is also a new near-death animation when reviving with the Power to Balance the World special effect. Identical consumables now combine according to their stack limit when swapped in the Equipment Menu. The status menu now shows icons and explanations for active effects, pinned items display rarity color in the You indicated equipment message, and map clues in the Great Hollow Shifting Earth have an expanded discovery range. I can also remap the Map Display key in the keyboard/mouse settings. These are the kinds of changes that make long expeditions feel smoother.

A Mountain of Bug Fixes

The patch notes are enormous, and I cannot list every single fix without turning this into a novel. But several categories stand out. Scholar received a long list of repairs: Communion no longer applies when no other targets are affected, linked damage and healing now propagate correctly during Near Death, Analyze gauge gain is fixed at maximum charge, analyzed target counts no longer reset when someone opens the Spirit Tree shelter door, Bagcraft duration and Fan Dagger hit application are corrected, level 3 Holy Water Pot now damages the Royal Revenant, Crystal Tear counts display properly, and Frozen Needle attack motions are fixed.

Revenant players will be glad that Immortal March's immortality is no longer overwritten by other visual effects. Bows got attention too: Black Flame Blade and Bloodflame Blade now remove frostbite from enemies, Improved Rolling Attacks applies to Bows, and Partial HP Restoration upon Post-Damage Attacks triggers on critical hits. The Chilling Mist and Holy Ground interaction no longer causes self-frostbite. Black Flame Blade also now works correctly with Frenzyflame Thrust, and no longer incorrectly applies to Wave of Gold and Thundercloud Form hitboxes. Golden Retaliation and Carian Retaliation can now rescue allies from near-death states more reliably. Regal Beastclaw and Wave of Gold receive attack power enhancements. Ancient Death Rancor and Beast Claw can be charged properly, and Beast Claw's post-cast delay can be canceled by chaining.

Other notable fixes include Cold Mirage applying to Executor's Aspects of the Crucible: Beast, solo expedition revival with Power to Balance the World, Totem Stela kills counting for relic effects, Evergaol prisoner attack power stacking, relic stack loss after death, rune acquisition sharing after revival, Great Bow of the Erdtree appearing as intended, near-death gauge carryover from day two bosses, and lock-on for near-death allies.

Boss and Raid Event Repairs ️

Boss fights received extensive attention. Gaping Jaw ground attacks have better hit detection and effect positions. Everdark Sovereign Equilibrious Beast no longer spawns enemy Raiders because of a specific Revenant costume. The Dancer of the Boreal Valley can now be damaged by other players during critical hits. The Dreglord fight fixes incorrect spell aiming, enemy attacks targeting the wrong players, players getting stuck inside objects, and music timing in multiplayer. The Balancers grab attack sound effect now plays. Demon in Pain and Demon from Below now have defeat animations when killed simultaneously, and arrows to their heads deal increased damage. Several Night bosses, Curseblade timings, Great Hollows summoned enemies, Tree Guard, Omenkillers in Blacksmith Village, and DLC enemy drops have all been corrected.

Raid events also got cleaned up. Augur water bombs no longer turn invisible for rejoining players. Tricephalos wolves disappear immediately after clearing, have intended HP in 2-3 player expeditions, and correct damage reduction. Fissure in the Fog blizzard and fog display issues are fixed, multiple bosses no longer appear for rejoining players, and runes are awarded properly. Balancer raid event spawn issues are addressed.

Great Hollow Shifting Earth, Menus, and More ️

The Great Hollow Shifting Earth received dozens of fixes: full HP restoration after Crystal Curse death, site of grace and blacksmithing table consistency, Crystal Curse immunity exploits, temple progression blockers, extra enemies during boss fights, treasure chest stuck spots, Spiritstream usability after rejoin, Totem Stela spawning underground, rune acquisition, map icons, and more. Blacksmith Village Cataclysm Nightfarer enemies now appear, Combat Art workbench skill assignment is fixed, and Sparring Grounds effects no longer persist after character changes. Undertaker's Loathsome Hex can no longer reach unintended locations. Relic Rite menus display effects correctly, item help works in the Visual Codex, and map menu depth icons behave.

FromSoftware also addressed the Unity Technologies security vulnerability announced on October 3, though the developer insists the main game was not impacted. Pre-order bonuses like artwork and soundtrack were updated. The version numbers are App Ver. 1.03.1 and Regulation Ver. 1.03.2. On PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, I need to log in to download the regulation file. If the lower right corner does not show 1.03.2, I must select LOGIN and apply the latest regulation. Online play requires this update, so I cannot play at all online until it is applied. After downloading, I need to restart the game.

As a player, I am impressed by the scope. Patch 1.03.1 is not just a fix list. It is a statement that Nightreign's hardest mode will keep evolving. With 2 million DLC players and a mountain of repairs, now is a good time to return to the Night. I know I will.

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Silksong Survival Guide: Essential Tips for Hornet's Deadly Pilgrimage

Hollow Knight: Silksong tips: Hornet's Pharloom pilgrimage demands Silk mastery, Bind safety, Flea Caravan shortcuts, and Deep Docks rosary farming.

The moment Hornet set foot in the mossy ruins of Pharloom, she knew this pilgrimage would be nothing like her previous adventures. The Knight's steady, soul‑driven journey was a distant memory. Here, speed was everything, and Silk—precious, volatile Silk—was the currency of survival. Enemies struck faster, traps bit harder, and every mistake threatened to undo minutes of progress. For any wanderer brave enough to follow her path, the early hours are a gauntlet of hard lessons. Yet with a handful of well‑kept secrets, the journey transforms from a brutal slog into a thrilling dance. These are the tricks that separate a struggling drifter from a triumphant hunter.

️ The Perils of Binding

One of the first hard lessons a new pilgrim learns is that healing is not a safe refuge. Hornet's Bind ability stitches her wounds using Silk, but the animation leaves her utterly exposed. If an enemy lands a hit before the final stitch, she doesn't just lose the heal—she loses every drop of Silk she was carrying. In the original Hollow Knight, a failed heal cost only Soul, which could be gathered again. Here, the penalty is far crueler. That is why seasoned players never attempt Bind in the middle of a chaotic brawl. They wait for a lull, a stagger, or a safe distance. Creating that opening is a skill in itself, and mastering it is the difference between life and a very expensive death.

The Flea Caravan Shortcut

Not every obstacle must be faced head‑on. The Flea Caravan offers a rare chance to skip one of the game's early walls: the Moorwing boss. Normally, this towering beast blocks the main path to Bellhart, and for underprepared travelers, it is a grueling fight. But by riding the Caravan, Hornet can bypass the beast entirely and arrive directly in the bustling town. Some purists might call it cheating, but for those who value progress over pride, it is a brilliant strategic move. Bellhart is packed with useful NPCs, quests, and upgrades, and reaching it early opens up a wealth of opportunities that would otherwise be locked behind a difficult battle.

Deep Docks: The Early Rosary Mint

Rosaries, the lifeblood of Pharloom's economy, are always in short supply. Maps, charms, and tools demand payment, and early on, every coin feels like a fortune. Deep Docks holds the solution. Once discovered, this industrial region becomes an unofficial mint. A specific enemy near a bench drops roughly seven rosaries per kill. The setup is perfect: defeat the foe, rest at the bench to respawn it, and repeat. It is mindless, efficient, and far faster than selling relics. Within minutes, a patient farmer can afford the upgrades that make the next stretch of the journey far less punishing.

🪶 Shell Shards from Pond Skippers

Shell Shards are another resource that vanishes faster than expected, especially when crafting or repairing tools. The humble Pond Skipper, a small flying creature in Shellwood, is the answer. Each one yields three Shell Shards, and they are harmless to farm. Find a quiet pond, set up a rhythm, and watch the shards pile up. It is not glamorous, but it is reliable. Whenever a crucial repair looms and the inventory is bare, a quick trip to Shellwood solves the problem without risking life or limb.

️ Maps and Quills: The First Purchases

Wandering without a map is a recipe for frustration. Pharloom's regions are vast, labyrinthine, and full of dead ends. That is why the first purchase in any new area should always be the map from Shakra. Knowing the layout prevents endless backtracking and reveals the locations of benches and key NPCs. But the map alone is not enough—the Quill is equally vital. Without it, the map remains a static outline, and every step into the unknown must be memorized. With the Quill, resting at a bench automatically updates the map, turning a confusing maze into a clear plan.

Relics Are Meant to Be Sold

In many games, collectibles hide secret uses. In Silksong, relics are refreshingly straightforward: they exist to be sold. They do not unlock story events, they are not crafting ingredients, and they offer no hidden bonuses. The Relic Seeker in Bellhart buys them for a handsome sum—small ones like the Bone Scroll fetch around fifty rosaries, while grand relics like the Choral Commandment bring in far more. Holding onto them is pointless. Whenever coin is needed, a quick sale is the smartest move.

🧱 Hidden Openings Reward the Curious

Like its predecessor, Silksong hides secrets behind seemingly solid walls. A suspicious wall in Hunter's March, for example, crumbles when attacked, revealing a passage to a much‑needed bench. These hidden paths often contain rosaries, relics, charms, or safe havens. Testing every odd corner with a quick strike is a habit worth forming. The time spent is trivial compared to the reward of a new checkpoint or a valuable treasure. Curiosity, in Pharloom, is not a vice—it is a survival trait.

🦵 Pogoing: The Art of the Bounce

Finally, there is pogoing. By jumping, aiming down, and striking with the needle, Hornet bounces off enemies and objects. It is a technique that feels awkward at first but soon becomes second nature. Pogoing lets her reach high platforms, cross dangerous floors, and stay mobile during boss fights. Many areas are designed with this skill in mind, placing enemies precisely where a well‑timed bounce opens a new route. Mastering the timing transforms the environment from a series of obstacles into a playground.

With these tricks in hand, the pilgrimage through Pharloom becomes less of a trial and more of an adventure. Hornet is fast, fragile, and utterly deadly in the right hands—and now, those hands have a fighting chance.

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Mastering Lace: The Ultimate Guide to Silksong's Cradle Boss

Hollow Knight: Silksong Lace boss guide: find Lace in The Cradle and master her blistering attacks to claim victory.

The world of Hollow Knight: Silksong is filled with relentless foes, but few inspire as much dread and respect as Lace. Ever since her first appearance in Deep Docks, she has served as Hornet's recurring rival, growing stronger with each encounter. Just when you think you've seen the last of her, she returns in The Cradle—the final stretch of the main story—with a ferocity that will test every ounce of your skill. This guide will walk you through locating this elusive boss and, more importantly, surviving her blistering assault.

Where to Find Lace in The Cradle

After defeating Lace in Deep Docks, many players assume her story is over. They couldn't be more wrong. To face her again, Hornet must push deep into the Citadel, navigating the treacherous Choral Chambers and overcoming the Cogwork Dancers at the very top. This victory opens three new objectives, each requiring you to retrieve a melody from a different corner of the Citadel. Once all three melodies are in hand, return to the arena where you fought the Cogwork Dancers and play them to activate the surrounding statues. This ancient mechanism awakens a giant elevator. Ride it to the top, and you'll step directly into Lace's waiting blade.

How to Beat Lace in The Cradle

Most boss fights in Silksong reward patience—wait for an opening, strike, retreat. Lace shatters that rhythm. She is a whirlwind of needles and motion, and if you try to wait out her combos, you'll be dead before you can blink. Her attacks chain together with barely a second between them, and she has a nasty parry mechanic that punishes idle aggression. The key is to learn her tells, stay mobile, and weave your own attacks into the narrow gaps of her offense.

Here's a breakdown of every attack in her arsenal:

Attack
Wind-Up Tells & Description
Suggested Counters

Slash Attack
Lace charges her needle, barely visible in her hand. She then swings it three times while advancing.
Move backwards if you have space, or jump and land a downward strike on her.

Jump Attack
She bends down with her needle near the ground, then leaps diagonally and dashes toward your position.
Wait for her to jump, then walk toward her. If far, dash to her. She may dash backwards if near a boundary.

Dash Attack
Lace holds her needle horizontally straight before dashing through the arena, dealing double damage.
Jump over her, and time a downward strike for extra damage.

Parry Counter
When idle, she may parry your attack, triggering an AoE from the ground or after a jump.
Avoid attacking an idle Lace. If you trigger a parry, jump immediately to dodge both AoE variants.

AoE Attack
Only in the final phase, she takes the Jump Attack stance while laughing, then creates a giant circle at your location, slams the ground, and stays briefly.
Exit the circle and wait. Since it happens twice, move far from the first circle to avoid the second.

The fight unfolds across three distinct phases, each marked by a roar. Sometimes a stun can overlap with the roar, so always expect new attacks whenever she is stunned. Here's what to anticipate:

Phase
Approximate Health Left
Changes From Last Phase

1
100%
Starts with the first four attacks.

2
60%
Jump and Dash attacks are buffed; gaps between attacks shrink.

3
20%
Unlocks the AoE Attack.

In phase two, her Jump Attack now spawns three rings that explode simultaneously with her dash, severely limiting your movement. Her Dash Attack can also chain up to three back-and-forth dashes instead of one. These buffs make the arena feel even more claustrophobic, especially since the field has gaps on each side—no wall clinging, no free movement.

Despite her relatively low HP compared to other late-game bosses, Lace remains the toughest battle due to the sheer agility required. Every action—attacking, healing—must happen mid-combo. The Jump Attack offers one of the best windows for a couple of hits. For healing, wait for the Dash Attack, jump as soon as she readies up, and immediately bind. This gives you enough time to finish the heal before her next move. You can also bait her parry: when she enters the stance after an attack, wait for it to end, then land a few hits before she recovers.

With practice, Lace's dance becomes predictable. Stay aggressive, respect her parry, and never stop moving. The Cradle may be the final challenge, but Hornet has faced worse. Victory awaits those who can match Lace's pace—and surpass it. ️

That same mindset—learning a moveset, dying a few times, and coming back sharper—is what keeps this genre so rewarding, and it's also why players tend to build up a long wishlist of similar titles. If you find yourself wanting to chase that next difficult boss without paying full price, knowing [where to buy cheap games]( makes it far easier to keep the backlog stocked.

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Silksong's Nerfs: I'm Dying on the Moorwing and Sister Splinter Hill

Hollow Knight: Silksong's Moorwing and Sister Splinter nerfs feel inessential—optional bosses should stay punishing.

In 2026, I am still trapped in a love/hate relationship with Hollow Knight: Silksong. I waited seven years for this sequel. I sharpened my needle, practiced my pogo, and convinced myself I would be ready. Then Pharloom looked at me, laughed, and threw a flying bug at my face. I adore Hollow Knight, but I know my skill gap. I never mastered those nightmarish pogo platforming sequences. I was relieved the hardest content was optional. Silksong, however, has me neck-deep in a first playthrough that feels like a gorgeous, punishing dance. The recent patch has nerfed two bosses, Moorwing and Sister Splinter, and I have opinions. I think those nerfs are largely inessential.

The Patch Notes Heard Round Pharloom

Team Cherry released a lengthy set of patch notes. Most changes are beneficial. They tune the game closer to what Team Cherry initially envisioned. Among them, two bosses received slight nerfs. Cue the community splitting like a Splinterbark under a charged slash. In any difficult game, especially one with Soulslike DNA, everyone has a take. The 112% Hollow Knight veterans say skill issue. The rest of us say please stop throwing three flying enemies into a tiny room. I am somewhere in the middle. I respect the challenge. I also respect my blood pressure.

Why Moorwing Did Not Need a Nerf

Moorwing is a wholly optional boss. You are not locked into an arena with it. If you do not want to fight it, you can simply walk away. That alone makes a nerf feel strange. Optional bosses are where developers can put the spicy stuff. They are the ghost peppers of game design. You do not have to eat them. If you do, you accept the burn.

Here is my evidence, presented with the confidence of someone who has been dive-bombed by a giant moth:

• You can skip Moorwing. Progressing the Flea Caravan wish or quest can skip the fight. Moorwing does return later near the Greymoor Bellway, but that is a choice, not a cage.

• You can cheese Moorwing. Ascend to the top of the area and downward-attack from a ledge. The beast cannot circumvent it. It is not elegant. It is effective. In Silksong, effective is a love language.

• You can summon Garmond and Zaza. You can request aid against Moorwing. In my experience, they did not appear after I requested them when I had transitioned Moorwing to the Bellway-adjacent area and pursued the Flea quest. That was annoying, but it does not change the intent. Help exists.

So why nerf an optional boss that can be skipped, cheesed, or tag-teamed? I do not see it. If Moorwing was a mandatory gate, sure, tune it. But it is not. It is a test you can ignore. Nerfing it feels like removing a pepper from a dish nobody was forced to order.

Sister Splinter and the Splinterbark Problem

Sister Splinter is a different story. I found the only real obstacle in that fight to be the Splinterbarks. That is a pattern for me. I dislike many bosses that revolve around ads. Flying enemies are egregiously grating pests. They hover just outside your reach, they punish your jumps, and they make you feel like you are swatting at a wasp while a larger wasp throws furniture at you.

I am dying on the hill that flying enemies are pests. I am also dying on the hill that gank gauntlets lean too heavily on the first game's Colosseums. They are overtuned and excessive. Silksong's rosary economy is brutally impoverishing, though this patch mitigates that somewhat. Thank goodness. I was starting to think I needed a second job in Pharloom.

If anything had to be nerfed, I would prefer gauntlets had fewer waves. I would prefer fodder enemies did not take several hits to kill. They take two to three hits to kill me, including insidious contact damage. I despise contact damage in any 2D game. It is the cheapest form of disrespect. You do not even need to be attacked. You just need to exist near a bug. Congratulations, you have lost a mask.

What I Would Nerf Instead

Problem
My Nerf Wish
Reason

Gauntlet waves
Fewer waves
Endurance is not the same as difficulty

Fodder enemies
Die in fewer hits
Trash mobs should not feel like bosses

Contact damage
Reduce or remove
It punishes proximity, not mistakes

Rosary economy
Already touched
I like buying things without selling a kidney

Flying enemies
A stern talking-to
They know what they did

I do not expect these nerfs to strike Silksong's gameplay. I genuinely respect Team Cherry for having a certain level of challenge in mind. Some design choices, however, feel made to impede or frustrate me beyond anything else. There is a fine line between a hard game and a game that is hard because it keeps kicking you in the shins while you tie your shoes.

The Second Patch and the Endless Discourse

Interestingly, the patch notes declare that Team Cherry is already working on a second patch. That suggests more nerfs and/or buffs are coming. Each subsequent patch will divide the playerbase again. Some will call it redundant. Some will call it appreciated. Some will call it a betrayal of the vision. Some will call it Tuesday. In 2026, the discourse is still going. Silksong is not ruined. It is polarizing. It is difficult. It is beautiful. It is also occasionally a migraine with a soundtrack.

My love/hate relationship with Silksong is not going anywhere. I will keep playing. I will keep dying. I will keep muttering about Splinterbarks under my breath. But if I had to choose, I would leave Moorwing and Sister Splinter alone. Nerf the gauntlets. Nerf the contact damage. Nerf the feeling that every room is a personal insult. Let the optional bosses stay sharp. Let me walk away if I want to. And let me complain about it either way, because that is the true endgame.

If you are still on the fence about picking up Silksong, or you are eyeing a few metroidvanias to tide you over while the second patch cooks, it helps to know what you are actually paying before you commit. Prices swing wildly between storefronts, regional eShops, and key resellers, and the difference between a full-price impulse buy and a discounted pickup is often a few clicks. I have started running everything through a [game price comparison]( site like DealNest before checkout, mostly because my backlog is already a monument to good intentions and I would rather spend the savings on a game I will actually finish.

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