Beat Widow Fast in Hollow Knight: Silksong — Easy Tactics, Smart Prep, and the Needolin Reward
The bell tolls for Widow — and yes, she’s one of Silksong’s first real tests. Below you’ll find where to find her, what her attacks do, how to prepare, and the exact rewards you get for beating her.
Widow location in Hollow Knight: Silksong
Widow waits at the bottom of Bellhart’s northern tunnels. To reach her, you must first progress through Shellwood: defeat Sister Splinter and pick up the wall cling ability. Then re-enter Bellhart and move carefully down the tunnels past bell-wearing Furm and Winged Furm until you reach the chamber that drops you into Widow’s arena.
There’s a destructible bell wall on the left near the bottom that leads back into Shellwood. If you go through it, you’ll hit a short platforming segment and a bench near the first Shellwood checkpoint. Therefore, that route is a reliable runback; rest at the bench before you re-enter the tunnels and open the trap door that leads to Widow.
Widow’s moveset
Widow uses a range of bell-based attacks and a melee scuttling slash. She has two phases: the first is varied and measured, while the second is faster and more aggressive. Importantly, her bells can be deflected by attacking them, so you can parry projectiles if you can’t dodge.
First phase moves
Diagonal bells: Widow sends two bells along diagonal silk threads. The silk shows where they’ll fall. After they hit the ground, the bells bounce once and can still damage you on contact.
Vertical bells: Similar to the diagonal attack, but the bells fall in a vertical line. They also bounce, but they don’t travel as far as the diagonal bells when they do.
Curtain of bells: A cluster of bells drops down across part of the arena. Sometimes the cluster centers in one area; other times it splits left and right, leaving the center safer. You get about two seconds after the silk thread appears to move out of the impact zone.
Midair dive: Widow leaps and dives diagonally to stab with her blade. You can dash under her in the opposite direction to avoid the strike, but be ready to evade again immediately after.
Scuttling slash: Right after a dive, Widow often scuttles across the floor, spinning her blade. You can jump and dash over her to evade, or attempt a midair attack — though hitting too close to her head counts as a parry and deals no damage. If caught by the scuttle slash, it deals two masks of damage.
Bells from below: Widow weaves four silk nets, then spiked bells erupt from the ground in the same order she created the nets. They pop up in half-second intervals, so stand where the second bell will appear, then jump and hover over the set until they finish.
Second phase moves
In phase two, many moves are faster and more punishing. Diagonal bells come in at a sharper angle and higher speed, and they bounce further. Widow throws more vertical bells at once, and the time between the silk appearing and the bells dropping is roughly halved.
Also, she often chains the diagonal and vertical bell attacks back to back. The midair dive is dropped in this phase, but the scuttling slash appears much more frequently, often right after bells fall. You can still strike bells to parry them; however, if you can’t dodge or parry a bell, it’s usually better to take the bell hit than to risk the scuttling slash. In the second phase, bells deal one mask of damage.
How to prep for Widow
Pick a fast close-range skill. Silkspear is a solid choice because long animations (like Thread Storm) leave you vulnerable. Alternatively, save silk for healing and rely on tools for damage.
Useful long-range tools include the Straight Pin, Pimpillo, and the Sting Shard (the latter requires visiting the Forge Daughter in Deep Docks and having enough rosary beads). If you’ve used a Memory Locket to expand tool slots to two, you can deal significant damage from range before tools run out.
Save most of your tools for the second phase so you can attack while keeping distance and focusing on evasion. Also, Widow is vulnerable while she strings the silk the bells ride on and right after she scuttles by, so move in to strike during those windows and then retreat to safety.
Widow rewards
After you defeat Widow, press and hold the bind button several times to absorb her power. Hornet learns the Needolin skill, which opens certain locked doors marked with a weaver’s symbol and reveals NPC inner thoughts.
Additionally, you unlock the Fanatic achievement and complete the “Threadspun Town” quest, which returns Bellhart to life. After the fight, you can also upgrade your needle to increase its damage.
