3 Easy Tricks to Beat Sister Splinter in Hollow Knight: Silksong — Break Her Thorns, Outsmart Her Minions
Sister Splinter is a mid-area boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong who waits in Shellwood and tests your ability to manage summoned hazards and small enemies while you try to land damage. Below you’ll find where to find her, exactly what her attacks do, how to prepare, and what you get for beating her.
Sister Splinter location in Hollow Knight: Silksong
Sister Splinter is found at the top of Shellwood, roughly between Bellhart (to the east) and the Blasted Steps (to the west). To reach her, enter Shellwood from the Bellhart side and head left into the open area with water at the bottom. Then climb up the platforms toward the upper-left exit.
Along the route you’ll pass a Pollip Heart for the “Rite of the Pollip” quest; you can ignore it if you just want the boss. After a short drop into an arena encounter and a linear path, you’ll need 80 rosary beads to unlock the first Shellwood bench. Continue left, take the elevator down, and then move left again to find Shakra and the Shellwood map for 70 rosary beads.
Next, if you have 60 rosary beads you can use the top-left exit to enter Shellwood’s bellway and activate it. If not, take the alternate path to progress. Finally, make sure you activate the elevator near the bench before heading to Sister Splinter; that creates a permanent shortcut back for retries.
Sister Splinter’s moveset
Sister Splinter has three distinct attacks. Each is predictable once you know the tells, and they become more frequent as the fight progresses.
Thorn summon
What it does: Sister Splinter summons vertical ropes of thorn that span from ceiling to floor. You can see where they’ll appear by watching for rustling spots on the arena ceiling.
How to counter: Break the thorn ropes with a few needle swipes. Alternatively, the thorn will sometimes break if Sister Splinter’s punch hits it, but don’t rely on that interaction.
Three-hit punch combo
What it does: This is Sister Splinter’s only direct melee attack — a three-hit punch that comes down and at an angle. She telegraphs the first punch with a small shine on the fist she’ll use.
How to counter: Move to the opposite side of the fist’s direction to avoid being hit. Also, use the brief window after she finishes the combo to jump up and attack safely.
Splinterbark summon
What it does: Sister Splinter summons two Splinterbark enemies that spin and rush toward Hornet. Each can deal about two masks of damage if they connect.
How to counter: Attack them while they float down with upward strikes, or parry them during their spin to send them backward. Use ranged tools if you need to split focus between them and thorn ropes.
How to prep for Sister Splinter
The main required item for this fight is the Straight Pins tool. Otherwise, the battle is mostly about dodging and managing the thorn ropes and Splinterbarks.
Before starting the fight, rest at the bench near Shakra so your respawn point is closer. Also, activate the nearby elevator to shorten runbacks. During the fight, prioritize breaking thorn ropes, dealing with Splinterbarks as they descend, and attacking Sister Splinter during the safe windows right after her combos or when she repositions.
Sister Splinter rewards
Defeating Sister Splinter does not grant a direct item or charm. However, once she is defeated you can continue to the area that contains the wall jump ability, which opens additional exploration options, including new paths back toward Bellhart.
