Learn how to defeat the Soul Warriors in Hollow Knight!
Team Cherry’s Metroidvania action-adventure game, Hollow Knight, follows the journey of a nameless warrior called the Knight as he travels through Hallownest, which is now a kingdom in ruins because of a supernatural disease. As the Knight journeys through Hallownest, he will encounter different enemies, bosses, and mini-bosses. One of these mini-bosses is the Soul Warriors.
The Soul Warriors are scholars who use stolen Souls to enhance their combat abilities. In contrast to the other scholars in the Soul Sanctum, the Soul Warriors appear to have a vague awareness of their memories and where their powers are from.
The Knight will encounter two Soul Warriors in the Soul Sanctum, with one guarding the path to the upper levels of the Soul Sanctum and the other guarding the Shade Soul spell in a room that can only be opened with the Elegant Key. Aside from these areas, the Knight will encounter two Soul Warriors in the Trial of the Fool in the Colosseum of Fools.
Like most other enemies in Hollow Knight, the Soul Warriors are also infected. However, unlike most, the Soul Warriors do not explode when they die.
Location
As mentioned above, there are two Soul Warriors in the Soul Sanctum: one is in the middle of the Soul Sanctum, and the other is in a room that can only be opened with the Elegant Key on the eastern side of the first few rooms in the area.
Moves
The Soul Warriors will teleport around the room and perform the following moves in Hollow Knight:
- Dive-Slash
The Soul Warrior will disappear, reappear above the Knight, and slash its pin blade downwards while falling. The Soul Warrior will always start the battle with the Knight with this attack.
- Dash-Slash
The Soul Warrior will raise its pin blade and dash toward the Knight with a slash attack.
- Skitter
The Soul Warrior will slowly walk forward or backward inside the arena and perform a different attack. If the Knight gets close to the Soul Warrior while performing this, the Soul Warrior may quickly evade by dashing backward. After it evades, the Soul Warrior may then quickly perform Teleport.
- Teleport
The Soul Warrior will disappear and reappear around the room to prepare for an attack or evade the Knight.
- Conjure Orb
The Soul Warrior will shoot a homing Soul orb towards the Knight. This attack is similar to the attack used by Soul Twisters and the Soul Master.
- Summon
While fighting the Soul Warrior, it will constantly summon a Folly, following the Knight and dealing contact damage unless it is destroyed. The Soul Warrior will summon a total of 24 Follies one by one, and there is no limit to how many Follies can be inside the arena at once. The Soul Warrior will only perform this attack in the room that can only be opened with the Elegant Key and the first Soul Warrior in the Trial of the Fool in the Colosseum of Fools.
Strategy
You will know when the Soul Warrior will perform the Dive-Slash attack as the Soul Warrior will pause mid-air before diving. As for the Dash-Slash attack, you will know when the Soul Warrior will perform it as it will wind up before dashing and slashing toward the Knight. With that in mind, The Knight can dodge the Dive-Slash attack by dashing out of the Soul Warriors landing spot, and the Knight can dodge the Dash-Slash attack by jumping over the Soul Warrior and dashing out of the way.
As for the Soul Warrior’s Skitter and Teleport, these moves are just how the Soul Warrior will move around the arena, and what you need to watch out for is the attack it will perform after these moves.
Regarding the Soul Warrior’s Conjure Orb attack, you will know when the Soul Warrior will perform this attack as it will also wind up. The Knight can just keep evading the homing Soul Orb until it hits a surface, or the Knight can also strike it to destroy it immediately. The Soul Warrior will only stay on the ground (except when it dives during the Dive-Slash attack), so the conjured orbs are easily predictable.
When it comes to the Soul Warrior’s Summon attack, the Follies will just spawn even when the Soul Warrior is moving or performing an attack. It would be best to get rid of the Folly as soon as possible before another one spawns, as it will just make evading the Follies and the Soul Warrior that are moving around in the arena even harder.
The best time to attack the Soul Warrior is after it performs its Dive-Slash attack or Dash-Slash attack, as it will pause for a while after those attacks. The Knight can attack it as much as you can after it performs the Dive-Slash attack and before it recovers, and the Knight can jump and attack it from above after it performs the Dash-Slash attack.
Some abilities can help in dodging the Soul Warriors’ attacks, like the Mothwing Cloak ability, which allows the Knight to dash forward, and the Shade Cloak ability (the upgrade of the Mothwing Cloak ability), which allows the Knight to dash forward through enemies and their attacks, Monarch Wings ability which allows the Knight to perform a double jump, and the Mantis Claw ability which allows the Knight to cling to walls and jump off of them.
As for Spells, the Vengeful Spirit Spell would be the most useful as it is a quick spell that will fly forward and hit enemies in its path. This would be useful to hit the Soul Warrior and Follies simultaneously.
Charms are also very beneficial in fighting the Soul Warriors: The Mark of Pride and Longnail Charm can help by increasing the length of the Knight’s Nail, the Shaman Stone Charm can help by increasing the size and damage of Spells, the Grubsong Charm can help by gaining Soul every time the Knight takes damage, the Spell Twister Charm can help by reducing the amount of Soul needed to cast Spells, the Defender’s Crest Charm can help by summoning damaging clouds around the Knight to kill the Follies, and the Spore Shroom Charm can help by, similar to the Defender’s Crest Charm, releasing a cloud of damaging spores around the Knight.
You mustn’t get greedy in attacking the Soul Warrior, as there will be opportunities to attack. Learn when to attack, when not to attack, and when to dodge, and you will defeat the Soul Warriors in no time.
