Hollow Knight offers players a lot to discover in its gargantuan world, with every nook and cranny hiding plenty of secrets about the mysterious world and characters the game expertly introduces them to. It is also a hard game, the kind of game that enjoys pitting the tiny player character, only known as 'the Knight' creatures much larger than itself. As for what the Knight has to defend himself, it really only boils down to a simple dodge, the Nail (which looks more like an old-fashioned nail than a modern one), and some magical Charms.

Thankfully, Hollow Knight still has a lot of freedom in his build, especially with Charms. By altering moves and effects, Charms provide vast amounts of player expression and can be very powerful when combined properly.

Updated October 31st, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: Hollow Knight is a game that can be described in a myriad of ways. An insect-based Metroidvania is the primary way, but players can also describe it as a mysterious atmospheric RPG, a Souls-inspired platformer, and more. This is all to say that Hollow Knight is a game that offers its players a lot of freedom in just about every aspect. The Charms in Hollow Knight, for example, have such an absurd amount of different combinations and permutations to create all sorts of different builds for the Knight. Let's go over just some of the most well-known Charm combos the Hollow Knight community seems to enjoy and talk a bit about why these combinations are so fun to use.

13 Hiveblood & Joni's Blessing

Sweeter Than Honey

Though it's not part of the main game, this wouldn't be a Hollow Knight Charm list without mentioning the Path of Pain and Hiveblood. The quality of this DLC is a testament to why it is one of the most beloved Kickstarter games in history. Added as a secret area in the free Grimm Troupe DLC, the Path of Pain is a brutal platforming challenge designed to be painfully difficult, even compared to the base game. Hiveblood, however, is a Charm that passively restores one 'mask's worth' of health over the course of 10 seconds, as long as the Knight avoids getting hit again in this small window. Because the Path of Pain has very few enemies to fight, building up Soul to heal is, in most areas, impossible. This is where Hiveblood helps the most.

But this is a Charm combo list, so here are a few builds to help make the Path more inviting. A charm synergy exists between Hiveblood and Joni's Blessing, for example, which increases the Knight's masks (AKA his HP) by 40 percent and changes all his masks to Lifeblood Masks instead. But, in exchange, these Masks are impossible to heal via Soul. Normally Lifeblood cannot be regained and is lost when sitting at a bench or taking enough hits, but the Hiveblood Charm actually regenerates the Lifeblood Masks created by Joni's Blessing, albeit at half the speed it normally would (20 seconds).

12 Grubsong, Quick Focus, Thorns Of Agony, & Spore Shroom

The 'In For The Long Haul' Build

This next recommendation is one of the rare combos on here that utilizes 4+ Charms without sucking up most of the Charm Notches all at once. Additionally, it's one of the worst combos to use for raw damage output, as this combo is meant for those who know they're going to get hit pretty often and would rather bunker down and make the fight last longer (as if the game wasn't long enough) but win than die quickly and retry.

Basically, it's a combination that makes it easier for the Knight to regenerate and use Soul as well as punish those who gathered the Soul by hitting him. Spore Shroom and Thorns of Agony make sure that whoever hits the Knight will most likely take some damage too while Quick Focus and Grubsong allow the Knight to heal through most of the damage he'll take.

11 Quick Slash, Unbreakable Strength, Shaman Stone, & Sharp Shadow

The 'Truly Basic' Setup

Out of all the possible Charm combinations in Hollow Knight, this next one has to take the prize for 'most boringly useful'. There are over 40+ Charms in this beloved indie game, and most of them modify the Knight's toolkit or abilities in some noticeable way, so it's a wonder as to why players still use this combination that basically boils down to stat buffs across the board. The primary reason it's still used so much is simply because this is a build that covers all bases.

It has Quick Slash for attack speed, Unbreakable Strength for attack damage, Shaman Stone for spell damage, and Sharp Shadow for extra damage when dashing through enemies. With all of these equipped, the Knight is just going to deal more damage overall, but that doesn't make it any more exciting to use or look at, especially compared to the way some recent Metroidvanias have been looking visually.

10 Quick Focus, Shape Of Unn, & Baldur Shell

The Safest Way To Heal

As a sort of 'twist' on the 'In For The Long Haul' combo above, this combination of Charms relies a bit more on keeping the Knight as safe as possible from taking damage any damage at all instead of punishing enemies that do manage to hit him. With these three Charms equipped, the Knight can now move while healing using Shape of Unn, heal faster by channeling Soul quicker with Quick Focus, and has a protective shell thanks to Baldur Shell while they're focusing Soul to heal.

It's a perfect combination for players who find themselves at a loss for finding just the right time to heal during a hectic boss battle. All that said, this combination has nothing in the way of offensive stat buffs, so it's a bit more up to the player's skill compared to other builds.

9 Carefree Melody, Dreamshield, Baldur Shell

The Actual Tank Build

For the ultimate tank lover, this combination of Carefree Melody, Dreamshield, and Baldur Shell is a great choice. To elaborate on how this build works a bit more, it's pretty centered around Carefree Melody and the 'block chance' this Charm steadily builds as the Knight gets hit. Normally, Carefree Melody has about a 10 percent chance to block the next hit when the Knight gets hit once, and that percentage jumps up by another 10-20 percent with every subsequent hit, capping at 90 percent (AKA 7 hits).

However, Baldur's Shell doesn't stop this percentage from going up like one might expect it would, so the hits the shell takes for 0 damage actually count towards this percentage, making it so that the Knight usually can block an additional hit after the Shell breaks. Then, on top of all that, Dreamshield works as a way to prevent taking unnecessary little chips to the Baldur Shell from projectiles. With this combo, players can literally just stand there swinging away with their Nail and the opponent can't do much about it at all, at least for a little while.

8 Longnail, Mark of Pride, & Quick Slash

The Tried & True 'Classics'

Anyone that's played Hollow Knight for a least a few hours has most likely used this combination at some point, and that's especially true for the pros. This combination makes use of both the Longnail and the Mark of Pride Charms, both of which increase the length of The Nail individually and this buff stacks when used simultaneously.

They make the Shovel Knight-esque pogo bouncing off of enemies (which usually takes some getting used to) a cinch thanks to the increased distance the nail can cover. And, the addition of the Quick Slash Charm on top of everything else also allows the Knight to fight faster and from a safer range during boss battles. The best part about this combination, however, is the fact that it's attainable rather early on in a playthrough.

7 Grubsong, Quick Focus, & Deep Focus

The Masochistic Build

Taking hits in Hollow Knight is a near certainty for everyone (not just beginners) considering how high the time-to-kill is for the average enemy, it's only a matter of time before the Knight takes a couple of hits of his own. But, that doesn't have to purely be a negative thing. Hitting enemies always grants Soul after all, and Soul is Hollow Knight's version of an energy gauge used to cast spells and heal. Using the Grubsong Charm, taking damage will grant Soul as well. Obviously, it's always better to not take damage at all, but Grubsong is a desirable safety net that stacks well with other Charms anyway, so it's almost always worth having it equipped.

By pairing it with Quick Focus and Deep Focus, the Knight can heal two Masks (AKA HP pips) at a time instead of one. Deep Focus grants double the healing power but half the casting speed in exchange, but Quick Focus speeds it right back up, essentially canceling out the negatives. Adding Grubsong on top of that means that, with some tight gameplay, it's possible to lose one Mask but then use the Soul generated from that loss to regain two Masks relatively quickly.

6 Soul Catcher, Soul Eater, & Spell Twister

The Insect Archmage

Spells in Hollow Knight are the only ways to hit enemies at a distance, as the Knight isn't running around with guns or anything like that. And, for the default Spell that most players rely on early, Vengeful Spirit is the best option. Of course, once that player is more accustomed to using spells, they can start experimenting with other options such as Desolate Dive or Howling Wraiths.

To go for an Archmage-type spellcaster-focused build in Hollow Knight, however, players are going to need a lot of Soul capacity and Soul generation. For this, players will need to find Soul Catcher, and then eventually its stronger counterpart Soul Eater, both of which stack their effects of building more Soul generated per Nail hit on enemies. Then, to cap it off, grabbing Spell Twister allows the Knight to use their overabundance of Soul to cast even more spells than they already could have.

5 Nailmaster's Glory & Spell-Centric Charms

The Jack Of All Trades

Hidden throughout the world of Hallownest alongside all its other environmental secrets are the Nailmasters, kind bugs willing to teach special moves called Nail Arts to the Knight. These attacks are hard-hitting, but tougher to integrate into combat than the simple slash. They need to be charged up and held, barring the player from actually attacking until they release the charge. Nail Arts are time commitments in a high-speed game that trade the high attack speed but low-power default combat style for slower attacks at a higher damage reward. Thankfully, this risk of standing still can be reduced significantly with just one Charm: Nailmaster's Glory.

Nailmaster's Glory lowers Nail Art charge time to less than a second, making it easier to slip Cyclone Slash, Dash Slash, or Great Slash into combos. But of course, the combos are the important things here. Players can pair Nailmaster's Glory with almost anything and it'll work pretty well. Though, it should be noted that Nail Arts are not buffed by Nail Damage Charms like Unbreakable Strength, which is exactly why it's recommended to use spell and Soul-focused Charms on the Knight if the player finds themselves using these Nail Arts more often.

4 Weaversong, Grubsong, & Sprintmaster

The Summoner Build

How about letting some friends do the heavy lifting for once? Hollow Knight has multiple Charms that summon creatures that help fight for the Knight, namely the Weaversong, Grubsong, and Glowing Womb Charms. Weaversong and Glowing Womb spawn tiny bug friends that skitter around and deal damage to enemies independently of the Knight. They don't do a ton of damage on their own, but it adds up when the Knight is hitting the enemy as well, and they can help clear mobs when there's a group of them that feel a bit too difficult to handle.

The specific combo though has to be Weaversong, Grubsong, and Sprintmaster. Grubsong makes the Weaverling spiders from Weaversong give the Knight more Soul on every hit, and Sprintmaster increases their attack speed alongside the Knight's. With these two Charms, large targets get constantly attacked by tiny bugs at their feet while their main target, the Knight keeps chipping away at their health. And, it's worth mentioning that Glowing Womb is interchangeable with Sprintmaster as it does create even more minions, but the constant Soul drain is usually not worth it. Thankfully, As long as there are targets to hit, Weaversong and Grubsong can theoretically power Glowing Womb infinitely, so there are pros and cons to either side.

3 Sprintmaster, Grimmchild, & Dashmaster

A Permanent Autoturret Build

The Grimmchild Charm, added in the free Grimm Troupe DLC and gained from its hardest boss, functions differently from the common spiderlings spawned by Weaversong. It is a gift to the player from the mysterious Grimm. After finishing a quest (or three), the Grimmchild will evolve and grow. It shifts from being a useless, albeit cute, follower to an actually decent source of damage that fires projectiles over the Knight's shoulder.

Whereas the Weaversong spiders deal a meager 3 damage every hit, the Grimmchild can deal up to 11 damage per shot. After slapping on Sprintmaster and Dashmaster, the combination makes it so that The Knight can focus almost entirely on speed and evasion, hitting bosses only when it's truly safe, and the Grimmchild will do all the passive damage in between, leading to smarter decision-making overall.

2 Sprintmaster, Gathering Swarm, & Dashmaster

The Speedrunner Special

The core of every Metroidvania is exploration, and in proper fashion, Hollow Knight has a ton of it. Granted, that exploration is fraught with bugs and all sorts of other creatures things trying to kill the Knight at every turn, but still. But, once a player has put the time in, the only thing limiting their completion time is raw speed.

As mentioned a few times in this list already, Dashmaster and Sprintmaster are excellent for getting around the giant map with ease to hunt for secrets. Sprintmaster may not seem like quite the buff that Dashmaster is, but the slight buff to movement speed is a great passive effect to get the Knight moving. Note that Dashmaster lets players dash downward as an additional effect too, and any player who forgets this will likely end up accidentally dashing down to their death. But, when a player has Dashmaster, Sprintmaster, and Gathering Swarm equipped, they're basically ready to start attempting speed runs. And, with how far away Silksong still looks to be, there's plenty of time to get that Personal Best time as low as possible. However, there does seem to be some hope for Silksong on the horizon.

1 Shape Of Unn, Spore Shroom, & Defender's Crest

The Area Of Effect Nightmare Build

This last one is a very, very specific combination that may not work for all players, but is a ton of fun to run. First off, there's the Shape of Unn Charm, otherwise known as the Slugboy Charm that turns the Knight into a mobile Slug who can move left and right while charging Soul.

Next in the combo is Spore Shroom, a Charm that causes the Knight to deal damage in a small area-of-effect around them while focusing Soul (though the damage is very small). Finally, there's the Defender's Crest, which is another Charm that releases clouds of damaging AoE and one that actually synergizes with Spore Shroom quite beautifully. When these two Charms are both equipped at the same time, Spore Shroom's clouds actually look different visually, they'll deal more damage, and they last longer.