I Unlocked Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Most Brutal Achievements – Here’s How

Since I first stepped into the towering, silk-draped kingdom of Pharloom, Hollow Knight: Silksong has been a relentless test of reflexes, curiosity, and sheer will. Some games hand you trophies for just showing up. Not this one. The achievements here demand that you master Hornet’s entire toolkit, that you peel back every hidden corner of the map, and that you face some of the most punishing boss fights in the genre with your back pressed firmly against the wall. After months of exploration, countless deaths, and more than a few sleepless nights, I’ve finally torn through the list. Let me walk you through the hardest of the hard, and exactly what it took to claim them.

🔮 Twisted Child – Winning with One Hand Tied Behind My Back

This one is merciless. To pop Twisted Child, you need to defeat the Act 2 boss Grand Mother Silk while Hornet is labouring under a full-on curse. Curses in Silksong aren’t cosmetic; they gut your max health, slow your movement, or slash your healing effectiveness. I triggered mine deliberately through a late-game side quest effect, then stumbled into the boss arena already feeling like a moth with clipped wings.

Her weaving attacks and silk traps flooded the screen, and every mistake cost me far more than usual. Learning to dodge her needle barrage without the safety net of full healing taught me more about spacing and patience than any other fight. After a dozen tries, I landed the final blow with a sliver of health left. The trophy ping was pure catharsis.

🎵 Entwined – The Long Road to Binding Eva

If Twisted Child is a sprint, Entwined is a marathon. This achievement unlocks when you bind Eva, a mysterious NPC hidden deep within Mosshome. But reaching her is a puzzle in itself. I had to first acquire the Needolin ancestral art, travel through Bone Bottom via Bellway, and locate a locked door marked with a Weaver mask.

Beyond that door lay the Weavenest Atla, where I shattered lamps and descended into the lower floor to finally spot Eva, sealed in a capsule. The real grind? I needed at least six Crests and enough Memory Lockets to fully unlock the first six Crests’ Tool slots. That meant backtracking through areas I’d already cleared, farming Rosaries, and hunting down every last hidden slot. When I finally accepted the binding and gained Sylphsong, it felt less like a reward and more like a graduation ceremony.

🗺️ Cartographer – Charting Every Last Inch of Pharloom

Maps in Silksong don’t just appear. You buy them from the merchant Shakra or uncover them through scrolls and completed Wishes. The Cartographer trophy requires a complete map of every single area, and believe me, that covers an absurd amount of ground. I spent hours hugging walls, striking false panels, and returning to early zones with late-game movement abilities just to reach previously invisible ledges.

Some regions hide their maps inside optional NPC questlines. One whole segment opened up only after I helped a lost bug in the Greymoor Depths. Patience is the real boss here. Without a full chart, Pharloom feels infinite, hostile. With it, you become a cartographer who truly owns the world.

🕷️ Sister of the Void – Freeing Pharloom by Defeating Lost Lace

This gold trophy might be the most narratively charged fight in the entire game. To even access it, I had to lock myself into the Snared Silk route by refusing to bind Grand Mother Silk and instead wielding the Soul Snare. That decision alone branches the story and sets you on a collision course with Lost Lace – a twisted, corrupted mirror of Hornet’s original rival.

Her attack patterns feel familiar but are dialled up to nightmare levels. Faster sweeps, corrupted projectiles that split mid-screen, and no healing windows unless you bait her perfectly. It took me three evenings of focused practice to finally put her down. The moment she fell, the corruption receded from Pharloom, and the Sister of the Void trophy appeared. That’s storytelling through gameplay at its absolute best.

⏱️ Speedrunner – The Sub-Five-Hour Nightmare

And here we are at the ultimate flex. The Speedrunner achievement asks you to finish the entire game in under five hours. No 100% completion required, just reach the credits as fast as humanly possible. I let go of every completionist instinct, skipped every optional area, ignored items that weren't directly on the critical path, and memorised boss patterns until I could clear them in my sleep.

Movement skills like the double jump and the Skitter Dash became my best friends. I routed the entire run on paper before even starting, and I still finished with only minutes to spare. It’s a white‑knuckle experience that strips Silksong down to its purest form: fluid movement, tight combat, and a relentless clock.

These achievements don’t just measure skill – they reshape how you play. Each one forced me to see Pharloom from a new angle, and I’m a better player because of them. If you’re chasing the same trophies, trust me: the pain is temporary, but the pride lasts forever.

If this guide has convinced you to take on the challenge, the next step is simply getting your hands on a copy. Hunting for the right price is almost part of the ritual these days — I’ve picked up more than one metroidvania during a seasonal sale and ended up sinking dozens of hours into it. For players who want to start their own Silksong trophy journey without breaking the bank, checking out DealNest game deals is a solid first move. You never know when the perfect discount will line up with your free weekend, and every dollar saved makes those brutal five-hour speedrun attempts feel a little lighter.

Beyond that, the same energy you bring to achievement hunting applies to discovery itself. The thrill of unearthing a hidden map fragment in Pharloom is the same thrill you get from finding an unexpected discount on a game you’ve been eyeing for months. That combination of patience, timing, and a little bit of luck is what keeps us coming back — both to the games we love and to the hunt for the next great adventure at the right price.