Getting to Act Three in Hollow Knight: Silksong

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There are three Acts in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and if you want to experience all of them, you’ll have quite a bit of work ahead. While the first two acts are necessary for any complete playthrough, Act Three is completely optional. It’s also the most challenging and intriguing, making it worth the effort.

To unlock it, you need to become the main problem-solver of Pharloom. Exploring the world is essential, and helping the citizens along your journey is expected. Your quick and casual run through Silksong will be influenced by the choices and interactions with everyone from Bone Bottom to Mt. Atla. Your reward for this effort will be accessing the depths of darkness itself.

How to Start Silk and Soul

Silk and Soul is the required quest to make Act Three accessible. There’s often a lot of confusion about what needs to be done to unlock this hidden quest because of its lengthy list of prerequisites.

Contrary to common belief, you don’t have to complete every single quest in Pharloom to begin. The following quests are what you need to unlock Silk and Soul:

Quest Name	Requirement
The Lost Fleas	Find 5 fleas and report back to Mooshka.
Flexible Spines	Obtain the Drifter’s Cloak.
Bone Bottom Repairs & Lifesaving Bridge	Fully upgrade Bone Bottom.
The Threadspun Town	Save the residents of Bellhart.
Restoration of Bellhart & Bellhart’s Glory	Fully upgrade Bellhart and get the Bellhome Key.
Building Up The Songclave & Strengthening The Songclave	Fully upgrade the Songclave.
Crawbug Clearing	Build the scarecraw on Halfway Home.
Balm For The Wounded	Save Sherma from Whiteward.
Trail’s End	Find Shakra’s master.
The Threefold Memory	Learn all three melodies and play them at Cogwork Core.

Once these quests are completed, there are additional requirements you must meet before the quest appears:

Climb Mt. Atla to get the Faydown Cloak (double jump).
Move the fleas to the Pale Lake by gathering at least 22 fleas.
Defeat the second Lace fight.

Note: To reach Lace, you need to finish The Threefold Memory first.

After completing these tasks, there’s one more crucial step: you must acquire 17 wish points. You can earn one point for each wish you pick up from the wish board or half a point for each courier quest you finish. If you haven’t unlocked the courier service yet, complete My Missing Courier and My Missing Brother to earn two additional points, which also allows farming rosaries and points.

The quests listed previously don’t count toward your total wish points.

Once all of these requirements are met, you can talk to the Caretaker at the First Shrine (the Songclave). He will be making a lot of noise to get your attention if he has the quest available. If not, ensure you’ve completed all the required steps, gotten the Bellhome Key, finished merchant quests for Bellhart and Songclave, checked all wish boards, and visited the Wormways to talk to the Alchemist for a point. Also, check in with the fleas — they may need dialogue progression to move.

How to Complete Silk and Song

Before starting the quest, you need four items:

Maiden’s Soul
Hermit’s Soul
Seeker’s Soul
Snare Setter

You might already have two of these. Here’s how to find each, starting with those close together in the same region:

Maiden’s Soul and Snare Setter

The Maiden’s Soul is straightforward: it’s given for free by the Chapel Maid, who you first meet in Pharloom. Return to Bone Bottom, go left across the shortcut to Moss Grove, and find her inside the far left door, near the lower entrance to the Ruined Chapel. Talk to her to receive it.

The Snare Setter is nearby. From the Chapel Maid, head directly to the Moss Grove pit, then fall and turn right immediately. Your goal is the Weavenest Atla chamber at the bottom right of Moss Grove. Use Needolin to unlock the chamber if needed, then activate the elevator on the far right, ride down, and climb the first left path. In the next room, use Double-Jump to reach a hidden area above, where the Snare Setter sits on a table to the right.

Hermit’s Soul

The Hermit’s Soul is given by the Bell Hermit, which you find in Bellhart. Return there and find a hidden path beneath the first ledge in Bellway Station. Down from there, talk to the Hermit for the soul.

Seeker’s Soul

The Seeker’s Soul is obtained by venturing into Bilewater, which requires completing Sinner’s Road or exploiting a specific glitch with the Voltvessel. Use this to break through the wall if necessary. The fight with Groal in Bilewater is very tough, but defeating him is essential to earn the Seeker’s Soul, which is located in a building just left of his arena.

Entering Act Three

After collecting all items, challenge Grand Mother Silk—her fight is tough. Use strategies like embracing Maggots, finding the hidden bench, and deploying traps. Defeating her grants you the Seeker’s Soul, located in the building to her left.

To access Act Three, you need to speak with the Caretaker at the top of the Citadel after turning in the quest items. At this point, ensure you’ve completed all prior steps, received the Bellhome Key, finished merchant quests, checked wish boards, and earned enough wish points.

Once the quest is handed in, you’ll face a final challenge: challenge Grand Mother Silk. You have the option to bind her or use your Needolin to continue into Act Three. A cutscene will trigger, showing the Abyss unleashing chaos over Pharloom. Despite the credits appearing, you are still headed into Act Three.

After the credits, reload your save, and you’ll see your game covered in Abyss goo. Spam the start button to re-enter your game until it clears. Once done, you’ll get a message announcing your entry into Act Three. Good luck. Keep Needle close — the Abyss is dangerous.