Not sure how to start your Silksong journey in Moss Grotto? Hollow Knight: Silksong begins with Hornet in a slightly difficult situation. Captured by unknown adversaries, she’s transported into a foreign land, one where – in her weakened state – she’s no longer the fearsome Princess Knight, but simply another traveller.
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed in these early stages, don’t fear. Follow our Silksong Part 1 walkthrough for Moss Grotto, and you’ll see everything there is to see in this spongy opening biome, before taking on the very first boss of the game in order to escape and meet some friendlier faces.
Want the walkthrough for a different area of the game? Check out our Hollow Knight: Silksong walkthrough hub!
Moss Grotto walkthrough steps:
Head right for a (dangerous) starting secret.
Climb higher into Moss Grotto.
Collect your first Rosary Beads.
Explore every corner of the next room.
Pogo to reach the Mossberry at the top.
Drop to find a hidden chest of Shards.
Defeat the Moss Mother.
Reach the surface and enter Bone Bottom.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Head right for a (dangerous) starting secret.
When you first gain control of Hornet, you can jump into the right-hand wall for a secret area right off the bat. Inside is a statue you can break for some Shell Shards – one of the primary currencies of Silksong.
Sneaky! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
That’s not all! There’s a secret room within the secret room. Jump up and to the right to pull yourself up a hidden ledge, where a large Marrowmaw lies sleeping. Attack it quickly and prepare to run back down the hole to avoid its rolling charge.
Double-sneaky! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Killing the creature gives you a Beast Shard, which you can break at any time from your inventory to give you a one-off treasure trove of 140 Shell Shards.
2. Climb higher into Moss Grotto.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Now, from your starting position head left up the steps and attack the vines to exit off-screen. You’ve entered Moss Grotto, a pretty low-danger starting point where you can spend time familiarizing yourself with the controls, and Hornet’s unique moveset (Hollow Knight veterans, note that Hornet’s downward strike is now diagonal-only, so best get used to this early!).
Continue left, killing the little mossy creatures for some more Shards. Climb upwards when you can, and head back right.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Head up this ledge to find your first collectible – a Mossberry. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
The way forward is guarded by two mossy creatures, but before you go off-screen, double back and jump up to the ledge above you as you approached them. Jump across the ledges (minding the flying enemy), and attack the green berries on the vine at the top to gather your first Mossberry.
Then drop back down and exit off-screen to the right.
3. Collect your first Rosary Beads.
As you enter the next room, Hornet will take a moment as some sort of ailment temporarily befalls her. Once it’s passed, walk to the gap below and parkour down to the lower left-hand ledge, where you can loot a Frayed Rosary String. Rosaries are another main currency in Silksong, and Rosary Strings and Necklaces are used to keep Rosary Beads safe until you want to use them (because loose Rosary Beads will be dropped upon death, unlike Shell Shards).
Don’t drop down at this point! Better to climb back up. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Don’t drop further down at this point, because you’ll land back at the very beginning and have to repeat Step 1. Instead, climb back up and keep heading right into the next room.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
4. Explore every corner of the next room.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
The next room features rather more bone-y terrain. There’s a path upwards via the ledges but ignore it at first, and head straight right. Jump the spike traps and kill the Tiktik-esque enemies. Climb up to the higher ledge where you can attack a couple of Shard caches.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Then head back to the main area of this room and climb the floating platforms. Hang a left as you go, and jump onto the first ledge you see. Once you’re at the vertical tunnel, carefully drop down to the lower right-hand ledge and attack the statue for even more Shell Shards. Then drop down to the start of the room again.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Head up the platforms again. You can explore to the right-hand side if you like – the only thing of interest in this direction is a locked metal door. You’ll return quite a bit later on to open it. For now, head up to the top-left corner of the room.
Locked for now; you’ll return later. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
5. Pogo to reach the Mossberry at the top.
Pogo off the flying enemy to reach the Mossberry! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Before you leave, notice the berries on the ceiling. The only way to reach them is by pogo-ing off the flying enemy in this section, and attacking the berries once you’re high enough to reach it. If you already killed the creature, then simply exit the room and immediately come back in to respawn it and try again. Once you’ve attacked the berries, you can loot it for another Mossberry.
If you’re finding this difficult, don’t worry; you can forget it for now, and come back later on.
What is “Pogo-ing”?
Pogo-ing is a movement technique in Silksong which also appeared in Hollow Knight. Jump above the enemy, and then attack downwards. If your attack connects with the enemy, then Hornet will be able to bounce upwards off the top of the enemy’s head, using them as a pogo-stick of sorts. This is also possible on certain plants and other terrain elements you’ll encounter later on!
6. Drop to find a hidden chest of Shards.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Go through the left-hand exit next to where the Mossberry was. When you get to the drop in the next screen, go down it and hug the left-hand wall. You’ll land on a secluded ledge with some vines that you can hack through to reveal a hidden area.
In this small hidden section there are two flying enemies to kill, and a chest on the upper ledge containing 28x Rosary Beads. That done, retrace your steps by dropping further down and hanging a right as you fall, then following the path round again.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
7. Defeat the Moss Mother.
Once you’re back at the top, jump over the drop this time, and hack through the vines to the left to reach the next room. Welcome to the Ruined Chapel – site of your first boss encounter. As Hornet enters, she’ll have another funny turn. Wait for it to end, then rest at the bench just in front of you.
A bench often means a tricky fight ahead, so rest when you can. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
There’s nothing left to do in Moss Grotto except climb up and out into the next room, where you’ll encounter the Moss Mother.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
The flying Moss Mother has two attacks – a sweeping dive attack, and an upward charge into the ceiling which dislodges some boulders to land on the ground. Watch out for the light rays, as they indicate where a boulder’s about to land. The Moss Mother may also periodically vomit forth a little mossy hatchling to further irritate you.
Jump over her dive attacks by staying mostly in the centre of the screen when you hear its signature cry; otherwise, this early fight is about aggression. Hound her with repeated attacks, and you’ll slay her very quickly.
8. Reach the surface and enter Bone Bottom.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Once the Moss Mother is defeated, head through the left passageway and interact with the large rope to ascend upwards. At this point, Hornet’s strength will fail her as she spots another potential threat before her. Once she awakens, it becomes clear that it’s no threat. This is the Chapel Maid, the first of many NPCs you’ll encounter in Pharloom.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Exhaust the Chapel Maid’s dialogue for your first main quest: reach the Citadel far above. There’s a door to your left but it’s locked for now, so instead exit outdoors to the right, and you’ll soon enter the small Pilgrim’s settlement of Bone Bottom. Take your time here speaking to all the NPCs (particularly Pebb the trader, but don’t buy anything right now), and rest at the bench to gather your strength for the next step of our walkthrough.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry
Finished with Moss Grotto? It’s time to move on to Part 2 of our Hollow Knight: Silksong walkthrough!