When you break out of your prison and swat away Moss Mother for the first time, the world of Hollow Knight: Silksong lies before you. The Citadel looms high above, a towering spire that serves as your ultimate goal, but in true Metroidvania fashion, the path is not straightforward. You will need to unlock abilities, defeat guardians, and chart a prudent route through winding sections before you can climb.

This is the order of recommendation for casual players in Act One, with every major boss and ability related to their region. Every step will show where to find the ability, what it does, and how the boss in the same region tests it.

Moss Grotto – Boss: Moss Mother

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Ability correlation: None (tutorial region). Your early progress takes you along the Moss Grotto Silksong, a damp cave lined with green wet foliage, across stone arches where vines cascade. While the area hides some early Shell Shards and various shortcuts, its purpose is mostly to get you used to Silksong's mechanics. The central hollow is home to the boss, Moss Mother. She attaches to the ceiling and charges down with snapping teeth, flanked by clouds of smaller mosslings. Her battle is purposely merciful, an exercise in testing your dash timing and spacing. She is defeated by opening the path up and symbolically freeing yourself from your imprisonment, paving the way for the remainder of Act One.

Mosshome – Ability: Silk Spear

Ability location: In a ruined stone temple in the center of Mosshome. Boss correlation: Not a full boss, but where you first expand your offense. Mosshome is a quiet village-like grove with hollowed stumps and crumbling monuments. Deeper in, you’ll discover a temple whose interior is woven with webs. At the heart rests the Silk Spear, your first major ability. It allows Hornet to thrust a spear of silk forward, extending her reach and piercing multiple enemies.

While no major boss is connected with this area, the scattered enemies here are placed to make you use the Silk Spear to deal with crowds and probe from a distance. Make Mosshome your tutorial on ability-based combat.

The Marrow – Boss: Bell Beast

Ability correlation: Unlocks Bellway fast travel after defeating the boss. The Marrow is a labyrinth of hollowed bells, their shattered husks forming echoing caverns. Navigating is confusing until you realize the "bones" of the bells form hidden passageways. Further in, you will encounter the Bell Beast, a guardian made of brass and bone. The boss's arena is a bell-shaped room, whose surface rings with every hit. The boss's attacks ring, imparting shockwaves across the ground that force you to jump and move hastily. Defeating the Bell Beast opens the Bellway system, the Silksong equivalent of stag stations. While not an "ability" in your arsenal, it's a necessary world progression; fast travel lets you manage backtracking once the map begins to spread.

Deep Docks – Boss: Lace

Ability correlation: Story progression (no ability reward here). There are Deep Docks, oily docks with chains suspended overhead over puddles of black water. Lanterns bob in the blackness, casting an ill omen for the whole area.

Here, you encounter Lace, one of Silksong's most infamous bosses. She's waiting at the opposite end of the docks, her arena a narrow wooden ledge overhanging the water. Her lightning speed and precision have you tighten up your movement, and the cramped area punishes sloppy dodges.

While Lace doesn't grant an ability, she's a narrative roadblock: defeating her opens up new paths and shows Hornet can handle Silksong's best combatants.

Far Fields – Drifter's Cloak Ability

Ability location: Upon the howling top ridges of Far Fields, inside a shrine shrouded by incessant gusts. Boss: Fourth Chorus – arena between profaned wind-chimes. The Far Fields are broad stretches, again and again pounded by winds that pound Hornet halfway through a leap. The early platforms give way beneath your feet, teaching you to respect the world's momentum.

Midway through, secreted in a shrine built of shattered sails, is the Drifter's Cloak. It's a useful piece of equipment that enables Hornet to glide and control her descent, transforming hazardous leaps into beautiful glides.

The section leads up to the fight with Fourth Chorus, a quartet of ghostly vocalists who appear amidst a system of suspended wind-chimes. Their harmonized assaults radiate through the air, driving you along the arena. Without the Drifter's Cloak, avoiding them would be impossible; the ability and the boss are necessarily linked.

Greymoor – Boss: Moorwing (or Flea Caravan alternative) Ability correlation: None, although defeating Moorwing (or completing the Flea quest) opens Bellhart up.

Greymoor is a barren expanse of black stone spires with ash falling from the heavens. In the midst of the moor dwells Moorwing, a massive armored bird that stalks Hornet through the darkness before leaping on her in an open area. The terrain is open and barren, so you're left with dashes and endurance against swooping aerial assaults.

You can bypass the battle if you prefer, though, by instead completing the Flea Caravan quest, where you draw in five Fleas across the globe. That does the job of moving their caravan here instead of Moorwing. Both routes converge at Bellhart, your next significant milestone.

Shellwood – Ability: Cling Grip

Ability location: Inside a hollow tree filled with moss, halfway along Shellwood. Boss: Sister Splinter – inside a tree trunk. Shellwood Silksong is tall and dense, its giant columnar pillars beckoning you to ascend. At some point early in your investigation, you'll discover a side room where light shafts pour down onto vines that are tangled together. The Cling Grip, which allows Hornet to cling to vertical surfaces and climb steadily upward, is here. Deeper inside, in the hollow center of a tree trunk, you'll be assaulted by Sister Splinter. She darts around the cramped room with twin blades, forcing you to grab hold of walls and change position constantly. The arena design ensures you make extensive use of your new climbing skill all at once.

Bellhart – Ability: Needolin

Ability location: Inside Bellhart's silken sanctum, reached after you pass through webs and narrow bridges. Boss: Widow – at the very center of Bellhart's enormous web. Bellhart is strange, a forgotten town under folds of silk. Streets are narrow bridges, and string chandeliers suspended above. You must venture upwards to reach the Needolin, a commodity you can use to spin Hornet's silk into effective attacks and protective entanglements. Its chamber has webs guarding it that you must hack in order to enter, so you will learn to cherish your needle as more than a weapon used during fighting. At the center of Bellhart, you’ll face Widow, a multi-legged terror that attacks from all angles, weaving traps across the arena. The fight is tight, web-strewn, and relentless, but defeating Widow cements your mastery of the Needolin and unlocks progression toward Act One’s climax.

Blasted Steps – Boss: Last Judge

Ability correlation: Culmination test of all prior upgrades (Drifter’s Cloak, Cling Grip, Needolin). The Blasted Steps are a gauntlet: a scorched staircase carved into a mountainside, battered by collapsing stones and howling winds. This is one of the harshest traversal challenges in Act One, demanding every tool you’ve gathered, floating with the Drifter’s Cloak, clinging with the Grip, and striking with the Needolin.

At the summit, past broken gates and shifting sand, you’ll face the Last Judge. His arena is a grand hall open to the storm, where his heavy blade strikes and quakes the floor. The fight is brutal, with relentless combos and little room for error.

Defeating the Last Judge won't give you a new ability, but it ends Act One. His defeat initiates Act Two and makes Hornet a successful antagonist to the powers on the path to the Citadel.

Closing Thoughts

Doing it this way will have you get every skill at the point it will be most beneficial, push boss fights that challenge those upgrades, and build incrementally toward the Last Judge. Moss Grotto to Blasted Steps isn't merely Act One, it's Silksong sharing its rhythm: find out, adapt, persist. z