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MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
I think my default build, once I have enough notches, is Quick Focus + Longnail + Shaman Stone + Unbreakable Strength. It's just a good all-around build that increases damage across the board and helps you heal without getting hit. For really tough boss fights, where the goal is to avoid taking damage (NKG, Pure Vessel, etc), sometimes I'll go with the "Slash Good" build: Longnail + Mark of Pride + Unbreakable Strength + Quick Slash. Having the extra huge nail lets you keep a good distance away from bosses, which can be very helpful in reducing the number of hits you take. That's especially important against bosses that deal double-damage, since healing becomes a lot more costly and dangerous to do in those fights. As with Dark Souls, the best path to victory is to swing a huge sword and never get hit. Obviously, if you're more motivated by speed, then powering up spells is the fastest way to do heaps of damage. I'm getting better about using my spells in combat, but the real pros find ways to toss in Desolate Dives and Howling Wraiths much more frequently than I ever do.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I'm basically at the end of the game. I spent some time slamming my head against the wall that was TMG (not even NK) and just not having any luck before giving up. I might try again before I write it off completely and just go to the final boss. There are a few other things still to do scattered around: a couple of charms; 2 mask shards (the flower quest and another I'm not sure about) which I'd really like but not entirely sure I can be arsed, particularly the flower; two dream versions of defeated bosses (I think the Collector and the big floaty Soul guy); the Lifeblood door in the Abyss (another charm, which would be my last one, which I suppose I should get for completion's sake)... But I think I'm ready to be done for now. (Dread awaits...!)
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
Aaand done, ish. I got all the charms and the blessing, and I also managed to beat Troupe Master Grimm. I took a stab at Nightmare King Grimm for curiosity, noped right the fuck out and banished them, then went to finish the game. I beat the Hollow Knight on the second try, except I did it wrong: I had the void heart so I got Hornet's help, but I didn't dream nail him then. I DID try to dream nail him later when he fell down, but apparently my timing was wrong; so I got the worst ending, where I do the Bad End but also trap Hornet inside with me. I know I can go back and do it again from the bench right before the boss, but honestly I'm not sure I can be arsed; I already watched videos of all the endings. I MIGHT do the normal "good ending" since it's one more boss fight, but I'm pretty sure I'll never be touching the Godmaster content (much like the Path of Pain) so those secret/extra endings can eat me. I could even get the last two mask fragments (the flower quest and one other which is lying around somewhere) before I do...but I'm pretty sure I'm ready for a break.

Final time was ~36 hours, 105% completion.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Nightmare King Grimm is up there with Ornstein and Smough for the longest I've ever spent on a boss fight*. I think it took me about 4 hours of practicing to beat him the first time? I've yet to go up against Absolute Radiance, but none of the other bosses I've faced in Hollow Knight came close to NKG for me, including The Pure Vessel.

You don't have to play any more if you don't want to, but going for the good ending is probably worth it from where you are. With a bit of practice, the Hollow Knight fight will become nothing more than a speed bump on your way to The Radiance.

*Of course, my actual longest boss fight ever is Kamek from Invictus, who took me about 7 hours to beat. But that's more of a level than a boss and almost no-one has played it, so let's stick to the more recognizable comparisons, shall we?
 
You don't have to play any more if you don't want to, but going for the good ending is probably worth it from where you are. With a bit of practice, the Hollow Knight fight will become nothing more than a speed bump on your way to The Radiance.

I agree with this. I don't think you'll regret going for the normal good ending.

I also made no serious effect to engage with the Godmaster DLC, Path of Pain, or the hardest circus fight. I think the normal good ending's extra boss is a fun fight to learn and more or less in line with what came before in terms of difficulty, while everything else seems like a new level mastery that I wasn't really interested in.
 

Beta Metroid

At peace
(he/him)
I'm a platforming junkie, so Path of Pain was my exact kind of jam. I also really enjoyed the new DLC bosses quite a bit. One of them,
Paintmaster Sheo
is one of my favorite boss fights in anything. It's really satisfying to play, it's a visual delight in which the visuals also factor into the gameplay, and it fits the character of the boss well.

I am long past the point in my gaming life where the one-hit/one-life challenges hold any appeal to me.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
Yeah, I didn't want to leave it like that after all, so last night I went back in and beat The Radiance and got the Good/Real(?) Ending, think it was my 4th attempt, and now I'm done. I think I'll watch videos of the godmaster DLC content though, just to see.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
I had fun trying out some of the early Godmaster runs (the music is great), but didn't make any attempt to complete them.
 

Ludendorkk

(he/him)
The Godmaster stuff is on another level, stuff only for the best of the best. Didn't even attempt the upper stuff
 

madhair60

Video games
Hollow Knight is a pretty sterling example of Too Much Content, with a superb base game that I felt got diluted by all the added chaff. It certainly dilutes the sense of achievement when you beat the final boss.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I think especially with a game like this, it's important to have stuff for hardcore people, who want more. I certainly disagree, that the added stuff dilutes the accomplishment of beating the game. The added stuff also feels like it's not part of the regular game, to me this was distinction enough.
I mean, feeling like you do is valid, but it's not as definite as you are arguing here.

Reading this thread really makes me want to replay this game. Just wished that I didn't have to walk around without a map in a new area, at the start.
 

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
When I played the game for the first time after all the DLC came out I had no idea what was new and what wasn't.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Godhome is so self-contained that I feel like it stands apart from the main game. It's basically Boss Rush Zone, with a gallery of statues and a leaderboard of all the bosses you've killed. I can't speak for everyone, but I've never felt like finishing Godhome was part of the "standard" HK run. As for the rest, like the various dream bosses and the Grimm Troupe, I feel that they all fit in pretty well with the main game and its narrative. For the most part, they're a series of optional superbosses that don't give much by way of rewards. So there's not a lot of penalty in skipping them, but their presence fills out the lore of the world in a way that I really appreciate.

But I'm basically a giant Hollow Knight stan who sees almost no flaws with the game, so maybe don't take my opinion too seriously.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
Honestly, my biggest gripe was that I wish there were 50% more charm notches (or 100%!). I don't want to be able to equip them all or anything like that, but the setup always felt like it shot past "specialize your playstyle but make some hard choices on how to do so" to just being really restrictive.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I guess I reached a point where doing it "Definitively" held no allure for me. I'm glad it has super hard stuff for people who love that kind of thing, and I'm also glad they can upload videos so I don't have to do it myself.
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
I’ve been playing Hollow Knight and I think it’s real good. At first I struggled with getting knocked back while attacking, but I think I’m pretty much used to that now. I like how open it is - when I first started it seemed very linear, but after a few areas it opened up and I’ve always had several possible avenues of exploration open to me since, though I think I’m currently running out. At the moment the things stopping me are the black barriers and rooms whose exits are too high to reach, though the latter I suspect I’m just supposed to reach from the other side. I’m starting to doubt that there’s a double jump in this game (please don’t tell me one way or the other). The obvious place for me to go at this point is a boss fight I died in once many hours ago and haven’t revisited, the mantis lords. Presumably I’ll get something from or beyond that which will allow more progress. Before I do that, though, I stumbled across a grave with a boss attached that I’ve been trying and failing over and over for a while now - the one that makes columns of rings and drops them on you. It seems like it shouldn’t be too hard, and I can successfully dodge it for quite a while sometimes, but I just can’t seem to keep it together long enough to win.

Although I like the openness, I think it has counted against me sometimes. I feel like I’m only coming across new movement abilities after exhausting nearly everything I can do without them. Also I wish the notches shop were on the surface. I found it early on and forgot it was there, so for ages I could only equip a very small number of charms. I was finding heaps of them, but none seemed more useful than the compass, the money vacuum, and the long nail, so it wasn’t until I stumbled over the shop again that I actually used anything else.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
Oh, Mantis Lords were among my favorite bosses, had a lot of fun learning that fight.
 
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MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Yeah, HK is an extremely open game. It has become one of my all-time favorites, but on my initial playthrough I had to get help once or twice when I didn't know where I should be looking for the next key upgrade.

As for charms, the longnail is one of the best! There's never a bad time to have a longer nail.
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
Oh, Mantis Lords were among my favorite bosses, had a lot of fun learning that fight.
I’m gonna agree on this, really enjoyed this boss once I got into it. Reaching the second phase I was initially like “oh, this is impossible”, but then I got past it quicker than the first. I think maybe it’s intended to be done earlier in the game than I did it, but on the other hand the area beyond it where I am currently trapped seems to be the hardest thing in the game so far. I gave up on one of the rooms for now (where you downward slash jump your way across a room full of spikes on the back of a big worm) and am currently taking on a boss whose name escapes me - the mimic that turns into a spider. Still in the “this is impossible” stage of learning the fight.
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
I gotta say, I did not want to be there. Once I beat that boss I started climbing back out, and once I had a clear way out I took it without having explored the whole place. I remembered a few places I could go with the Crystal Heart ability that I hadn’t been to, so I had a look at them. Then I kinda wandered for a bit. I did find the tram pass in the deepnest, which will open a few paths for me, but I haven’t yet taken them. I keep finding or thinking of places I haven’t gone yet. It’s remarkable to play a game like this that manages to provide so many options for what to do next all the time.
 

Exposition Owl

more posts about buildings and food
(he/him/his)
Enjoy scenic Deepnest, the place where no one wants to be!

That says it all, really. I’m arachnophobic enough that, when I saw that place for the first time, I had to ask myself how much I really wanted to keep playing the game. The fact that I did keep playing is a testament to the amazing job that Team Cherry did.
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
The bank disappeared! With my money! I’m annoyed, but at the same time so amused that I don’t really mind.

I found Godhome, which I think is part of the dlc? I’m playing on switch which comes with all the dlc. I think I’d have preferred to have just the base game, because I’m probably not going to engage with much of the extra stuff (though since I don’t know what it is, maybe I already have). Not particularly interested in redoing all the bosses and harder versions of them, thanks.
 
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Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
Godhome is the only bit of DLC that isn't smoothly integrated into the game. It can be fun to do a bit (and the music's kickin') but it's not obligatory by any means.
 
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