How to get to Act 3 in Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hoo boy.

Remember how we all thought Silksong was hard? Maybe even too hard? Well ... most of those experiences I'm seeing come from folks in Act 1 (most often at the end of Act 1 and the Last Judge boss) or, occasionally, people who pushed through to Act 2 before ultimately deciding the game isn't for them. (Honestly, fair and valid. Normalize thinking a game is cool and then putting it down because it isn't your jam).

But Act 3 is ... worse. Like much, much harder than Silksong's other challenges. And even getting to Act 3, which requires you to do an assload (scientific term) of side content, can be a real pain in the ass.

Well, I've done it. I have arrived in Act 3 of Silksong to the sounds of "thank you, Team Cherry, may I have another?" as the game proceeds to pound me deeper and deeper into the pavement.

Below, I'm going to walk you through how I got to Act 3. Notice how I said "how I got to Act 3" not "how you get to Act 3." That's because there are a million little triggers that may or may not be required to get the quest you need to trigger Act 3. I'm being a little vague here in this long-ass intro because I don't want to spoil you without a proper warning first. So follow along with what I did, but understand that some steps or quests may not be necessary for the quest to trigger for you.

How to trigger Act 3

OK, to reach Act 3, all you need to do is complete the Silk and Soul side quest Wish from the Caretaker outside of the First Shrine before taking on Grand Mother Silk, the game's "final boss" (massive sarcasm quotes there).

If you complete the quest, the Caretaker will meet you just before the final boss and you'll be able to play your Needolin after defeating Grand Mother Silk instead of Binding her. If you Bind her, you'll see credits and the game will end there. If you play the Needolin, you'll get the game's real "ending," which isn't an ending at all.

If you choose the real ending, you'll be kicked back to the game's main menu after a cutscene and Team Cherry's credits. If you go back in and try to load your save, your file will be covered in black tendrils. Click several times to open things back up, load in, and you'll find yourself in the terrifying majesty of Act 3: The Abyss.

Now that probably doesn't sound too bad, and the quest itself isn't that much of a pain outside of one devastatingly obnoxious boss. But getting the Caretaker to actually give you Silk and Soul is going to take a lot of work and a lot of exploration, depending on how thorough you've been up to this point ...

How to get the Silk and Soul Wish

Alrighty, now for the fun part. The general consensus (and the route that worked best for me) on how to unlock Act 3 is that you need to move the Flea Caravan to its final resting place in the Putrified Ducts and complete almost all of the Wishes found on the Wishwalls in Bone Bottom, Bellhart, and Songclave. (You also need to complete the main quest to reach The Cradle, but you don't need to fight the boss yet).

First, the Fleas

First, let's tackle the Fleas, because they're a huge pain. If you've been keeping up with the Fleas and finding them as you go, you've likely traveled with the company to their home in either Greymoor or, ideally, the Grand Gate. To progress them to their final destination, you need to do two things:

1. Find the Pale Lake in the Putrified Ducts
2. Find 25 of the game's 30 Fleas

Yeah, man. That's a lot of Fleas. But you can knock this out relatively easily by going to the Putrified Ducts before doing all of the side quests in the game. Here, you'll meet a large, dangerous Flea who you can convince to return to the Flea Caravan. Once you do, visit them and they'll sell you maps for the Fleas you're missing.

To reach the Putrified Ducts, you'll need to go through Memorium, the top right area of The Citadel that you can only reach once you've gotten the double jump from Mount Fay. In the Memorium, head all the way to the right-most room, which is rounded on the map, and jump through a hidden hole in the ceiling. This will take you to a balcony, which you can jump off of and into the Putrified Ducts. If you're struggling to find the entrance, The Lost Merchant Wish will eventually take you there.

This area is pretty linear, but you're trying to get to the far right here to reach the Pale Lake. The dangerous Flea is located after a hidden platforming challenge above the long room filled with enemies (not the empty one) to the left of Pale Lake. Once you've visited the flea and the lake, head back to the Flea Caravan to buy some maps so you can keep collecting more Fleas.

Once you've done all of that and found all but five of the game's total Fleas, talk to the caravan leader and ride with them to Fleatopia, their home on Pale Lake.

All the quests in the world

Some guides I was looking at for this section will tell you definitively that you must complete every side Wish in the game, but that is untrue. I can assure you that I did not complete Roach Guts or Broodfeast, for example.

However, I did complete all of the Wishes found on the Wishwalls in the three towns, which does seem to be a requirement. I have heard that some of these might not be fully required, like the Final Audience Wish that has you face off against the Second Sentinel, but I just ... did all of them just in case.

The point here is that if you're really struggling with that second Savage Beastfly fight (sorry to bum you the hell out if you're just finding out there's a second one), try to do everything else on the Wishwalls first and see what happens if you talk to the Caretaker until they stop repeating dialogue. If it doesn't pop up still, try just completing everything on the list below:

Bone Bottom Wishwall

• Bone Bottom Repairs
• A Lifesaving Bridge
• An Icon of Hope
• The Terrible Tyrant
• Garb of the Pilgrims
• Volatile Flintbeetles

Bellhart Wishwall

• Restoration of Bellhart
• Bellhart's Glory
• Silver Bells
• Savage Beastfly
• Crawbug Clearing
• My Missing Courier
• My Missing Brother

Songclave Wishwall

• Building Up Songclave
• Strengthening Songclave
• The Wailing Mother
• Fine Pins
• Cloaks of the Choir
• The Wandering Merchant
• The Lost Merchant
• Balm for the Wounded
• Final Audience (this is the Second Sentinel, and you'll need to repair them with the three pieces of the Cogwork Heart and witness them fighting to activate it)
• Trails End (this is Shakra's side quest, and you need to buy all of her maps to make it appear)

That probably seems like a lot. And it is a lot. But on the plus side, you're going to earn a bunch of stuff from these quests and from exploration that will make the rest of the game easier. And, unfortunately, if you want to see Silksong's true ending, you have to jump through these hoops first.

Once the Fleas have been moved to the lake and all/most of the above quests have been completed, talk to the Caretaker until they offer you the Silk and Soul Wish.

How to complete the Silk and Soul Wish

Silk and Soul is relatively straightforward, and it's easy to push you in the right direction, which I'm going to do here. But I'll just say that if you want a quick visual guide on where to find all of the souls and items you need, just check out the video guide above from ConCon, as it's only three minutes.

OK, so to do this you need to find the Maiden's Soul, the Hermit's Soul, the Seeker's Soul, and the Snare Setter.

Let's get the hardest one out of the way first: The Seeker's Soul. To get the Seeker's Soul, you need to beat one of the most obnoxious bosses in Silksong, which also happens to come with the worst runback in the game (and that's if you find the secret bench nearby).

The boss in question is Groal the Great and he SUCKS. You can reach him by following the top right path in Bilewater and you can beat him by talking to your doctor about a Xanax prescription. (For real though, you can cheese him pretty easily by just hanging out in the disgusting bug water below and hitting him whenever he gets close).

Once Groal is dead, head out of his little arena and enter the building to the left. You'll find the Seeker's Soul on the table.

Alright, with that nightmare out of the way, we have the easy stuff. The Hermit's Soul should be your next destination, and you'll find it under the Bellhart fast travel zone. Just head to the right instead of jumping up after you arrive and you'll find the Hermit along the hidden path. Talk to him until he gives you The Hermit's Soul.

You can get the Maiden's Soul and the Snare Setter right around the same location. Head to Bone Bottom and go to the left until you reach the Chapel Maid. Talk to her until she gives you the Maiden's Soul.

Then venture down to where you first started the game, to the bottom of Moss Grotto and to the right. You'll find a door that you need to play your Needolin to open. Do so and you'll find the Weavenest Atla. This is a relatively small zone that's well worth exploring, if you (like me) missed it. But if you're just looking for the Snare Setter, look for a hidden room off of the elevator shaft and above the water.

With all of the items finally in hand, talk to the Caretaker in the Songclave and hand it all over. Then head up to Terminus and the Cradle and talk to the Caretaker again before challenging Grand Mother Silk.

Once you've talked to the Caretaker, defeat the boss but DO NOT BIND her. Instead, hold the Needolin button to play it for her. This will trigger the Act 3 cutscene and allow you to relax for like 30 seconds before Team Cherry punches you in the stomach and screams "WELCOME TO HELL."

Alright, I've gotten you to Act 3, which is also where I am as I'm writing this. Godspeed, partner.