Completing Hollow Knight and reaching every corner of the Hallownest will require finding and obtaining all of the abilities in the game. There are nine of them in total, or eight if you do not include World Sense. This guide breaks down how to get all the Abilities in Hollow Knight, including where to get them and how they work.
If you missed it, this is part two of our series on acquiring spells and abilities in Hollow Knight. Refer to our other guide on how to get all the spells in Hollow Knight. Now let’s go on to how to get all Abilities in Hollow Knight!
How to get all Abilities in Hollow Knight:
- Mothwing Cloak
- Shade Cloak
- Mantis Claw
- Crystal Heart
- Monarch Wings
- Isma’s Tear
- Dream Nail and Awoken Dream Nail
- Dreamgate
- World Sense
Mothwing Cloak
Possessing this ability will make Knight be able to dash towards the direction he is facing. Mothwing Cloak allows the Knight to reach farther areas otherwise unreachable by jumping and makes dodging enemies or simply fleeing from the fight much more effortless.
However, this ability has a cooldown of 0.6 seconds, which the Knight can reset by taking damage, pogo-jumping, or clinging to a wall.
To acquire the Mothwing Cloak, you have to defeat Hornet in Greenpath. Also, this ability can be upgraded to Shade Cloak.
Shade Cloak
This ability will help the Knight penetrate enemies, their projectiles and attacks, as well as the Shade Gates that you could find in Fog Canyon or Ancient Basin. Overall, Shade Cloak is indispensable for boss fights in your late game and grants the Knight entry to areas locked by Shade Gate.
This ability has 1.5 seconds cooldown that cannot be reset by any means, even by using the Dashmaster charm. So basically, if you press Dash for the first time, the Knight will perform Shade Cloak. Within the next 1.5 seconds, any Dash performed will be the normal Mothwing Cloak dash.
To acquire this Shade Cloak, you need to reach the bottom right of the Abyss after activating the lighthouse nearby, stand inside the bowl, and wait for the Knight to absorb the Void.
Mantis Claw
Make you be able to cling to the wall. Pressing JUMP while clinging helps you perform another jump to reach a higher platform and get to hidden areas of the Hallownest. In battles, this ability allows you to stay in a higher position that some enemies’ attacks cannot reach. Also, if you cannot double jump yet, Mantis Claw will make your pogo-jump much easier.
You can acquire Mantis Claw at Mantis Village of the Fungal Wastes. You have to activate some door switches to get to the room containing the Mantis Claw.
Crystal Heart
Hold DASH for about 1 second and release the button to rocket forwards. If taking damage from any source during the movement, the Knight will immediately stop flying and fall to the ground. You can use the Crystal Heart while clinging to a wall by the Mantis Claw. This ability is a necessary tool to put in your kit because it is the only way that the Knight could get over open crystal passage in Crystal Peak or Thorns Room in Greenpath.
You can collect Crystal Heart in the East part of Crystal Peak. You have to get over a challenging platforming segment filled with conveyor belts, lasers, and plenty of spikes, and at the end, you can find Crystal Heart laying on top of an old golem.
Monarch Wings
In short, wearing the Monarch Wing will make the Knight be able to perform the double jump by pressing JUMP for one more time while in mid-air. It is the final essential element for the pogo-jumping, although you might not need it to finish the game (by skipping some game sub-content). However, Monarch Wings is a must if you want to reach 112% completion in Hollow Knight or just set your foot on every corner of the Hallownest.
You have to defeat Broken Vessel and reach the final room on the left of the Ancient Basin. Collecting the Monarch Wings is one of two required factors to turn the Forgotten Crossroads to Infected Crossroads, making the whole area “energetic” and “vivid.”
Isma’s Tear
This ability will make the Knight acid-resistant. Again, this is not a must-have ability to reach the ending of Hollow Knight. However, acquiring Isma’s Tear will prevent deaths by falling into acid ponds and grant gamers access to some locked areas or acidic locations in the Hallownest, especially Fog Canyon.
You can find this Isma’s Tear in the Isma’s Grover at Royal Waterways. You need to defeat Dung Defender in advance to unlock a gate that you could use the Crystal Heart to fly through a spike gap.
Dream Nail and Awoken Dream Nail
Dream Nail allows you to read thoughts and access the dreams of some specific enemies, which might lead to a boss fight with an upgraded version of bosses you have defeated before by holding the DREAM NAIL for about 1 second. A trick with Dream Nail is when you get into an NPC or a boss’s Dream, your Souls will be replenished on the spot without any bench rest.
The primary function of the Dream Nail is to help you collect the Essence, such as from Spirits, Whispering Roots, and especially, from Dream (in fact, Nightmare) Boss challenges.
The Seer in Resting Ground will give you the Dreamnail. After setting your foot on Resting Grounds, going to the right and you will stumble across the Dreamers Memorial. By inspecting these, you will be transferred to the Dream World. Then, you will be chasing after the dream form of the Seer. After catching up with the Seer, you’ll be given the Dream Nail.
After collecting 1800 Essence, the Dream Nail is upgraded to Awoken Dream Nail, which gains you access to the White Palace by DREAM NAIL the corpse of the Kingsmould in the Palace Grounds.
Dreamgate
Holding DOWN and DREAM NAIL at the same time will set up a Dreamgate, and holding UP and DREAM NAIL at the same time will transfer you there. This ability is an alternative method for teleporting, especially for some locations far from the Stagways or Trams, such as Colosseum of Fools or some bosses’ liars, which are impossible to defeat at the first trial. However, you cannot set up a Dreamgate in a dream or boss room unless you have already beaten the boss.
You need to collect 900 Essence and bring it to the Seer to receive the Dreamgate as a reward.
World Sense
World Sense is not an official ability in Hollow Knight, and its only function is to show your current Hollow Knight’s completion. You can acquire World Sense after killing all three Dreamers and inspecting the Lore Tablet in the Temple of the Black Egg.
