Hollow Knight, despite cute appearances, isn't an easy game. These combinations of charms can help players get through it more easily.

Hollow Knight offers players a lot to discover in its gargantuan world, with every nook and cranny hiding secrets. It is also a hard game, the kind that enjoys pitting the tiny Knight player character against creatures much larger than it. The game doesn't go easy on beginners, and life can be rough for the little Knight when he's just starting out.

Thankfully, Hollow Knight also has a lot of freedom when it comes to building a character, and that's where charms come in. By altering moves and effects, charms provide wide player expression, and can be very powerful when combined properly.

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 ever made, better than many of the most successful projects on the platform. Added as a secret area in the free Grimm Troupe DLC, the Path of Pain is a brutal platforming challenge meant to be the most difficult in the game. Hiveblood, however, is a charm that passively restores one mask's worth of health. Because the Path of Pain has very few enemies to fight, building soul to heal is, in most areas, impossible. Hiveblood helps.

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, which increases the Knight's masks by 40% and changes all masks to Lifeblood, but makes it impossible to heal via soul. Normally Lifeblood cannot be regained, but Hiveblood can regenerate the ones created by the Blessing charm, albeit very slowly. With a little patience, this charm combo lets the Knight take some hits without worrying about running out of health.

Anyone that's played Hollow Knight has most likely used this build, and for good reason. It makes use of the Longnail and Mark of Pride charms, both of which increase the length of the nail (the Knight's sword) and stack with each other. They make pogo'ing off of enemies a cinch thanks to the increased distance the nail can cover, and lets players fight from a safer range during boss battles. Finding pale ore along the way to upgrade the nail is bound to happen too, buffing the power of this build even more.

The best part about this combination isn't just its power, however. This charm combo is easily attainable in the early game, and doesn't require a high skill level or any of Hollow Knight's many speedrunning tricks. It sets aside spells and soul-gain for a melee focused build, so the lack of projectiles may pose an issue for some enemies, but it is perfectly viable. With enough charm notches, Quickslash can be added to the mix, letting players deal out death by a thousand cuts from a mile away.

Taking hits in Hollow Knight is a near certainty, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Hitting enemies always grants soul, Knight's version of an energy gauge used to heal and cast spells. Using the Grubsong charm, taking damage grants soul as well. It'll always be better to not take damage, of course, but Grubsong is a desirable safety net that stacks well with other charms.

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By pairing it with Quick Focus and Deep Focus, the Knight can heal two masks at a time (Knight's equivalent to hearts) instead of one. Deep Focus grants double the healing power at a much slower pace, but Quick Focus' speedy heal cancels that out. Adding Grubsong means that, with some tight gameplay, it's possible to regain more health than was lost in the first place. Getting good comes with time, and this combo can make that challenge a bit less daunting.

Spells in Hollow Knight are the only ways to hit enemies at a distance, and the Vengeful Spirit spell is earned very early in the game. Once accustomed to using it, players can start blasting away with these abilities to great effect. When it all comes together, the Knight can send out a rapid fire barrage at a distance, or pepper them in-between strikes to maximize damage up close.

Fortunately, there are options for a spellcaster build, and many of them synergize well. Here, building soul is the key. For this, players will need to find Soul Catcher, or eventually its stronger counterpart Soul Eater, both of which stack. These build up more soul per hit. Either of these charms (or both if the notches are available) pair beautifully with Soul Twister, a charm reducing the cost of spells. Plus, with all that extra soul in reserve, players can heal more often.

This one should sound familiar. Using similar charms to the ones above, a spell build can be tailored towards damage at the cost of the amount of spells the player casts. Spells are the only projectiles players gain access to, and being able to take out powerful targets from a distance is invaluable. When a warrior in the Colosseum is chucking blades on the other side of a spike pit, its nice taking out from across the room with relative ease.

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Just like the previous combo, Soul Catcher/Eater is a must for that optimal soul buildup. This time, though, the centerpiece is Shaman Stone, which greatly increases spell damage. But if a true spellcaster build is the goal, players should aim to get the maximum of 11 charm notches for both Soul Twister and Shaman Stone, making the Knight a primarily magic based fighter. As long as players can get in and get out to build soul on hit, their magic will carry them through any engagement.

Hidden throughout the world of Hallownest 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 attacking until releasing it. Nail Arts are commitments leveled out with high damage. Thankfully, that risk 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 them into attack strings. But of course, the combos are the important things here. Players can pair Nailmaster's Glory with almost anything; it only takes up a single charm notch, it fits into spell builds as a way to deal high damage when soul runs out, and it seamlessly fits into melee builds to make strikes even more potent. Using Nailmaster's Gloryis like playing the Hollow Knight equivalent of a strength build, knocking out enemies with slow but devastating attacks.

How about letting some friends do the heavy lifting? Hollow Knight has multiple charms that summon creatures that help fight for the player, namely the Grimmchild, Weaversong, and Glowing Womb. 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 too.

The combo that comes into play is, specifically, Weaversong with Grubsong and Sprintmaster. Grubsong makes the Weaverling spiders give the Knight soul on every hit, and Sprintmaster increases their attack speed. With these two charms, large targets get constantly attacked by tiny bugs for passive damage and free soul. Using Glowing Womb creates even more minions, but constantly drains soul to spawn them. As long as there are targets to hit, Weaversong and Grubsong can theoretically power Glowing Womb infinitely. Just kick back and listen to Hollow Knight's beautiful soundtrack while they do all the work.

The Grimmchild, added in the free Grimm Troupe DLC, 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 a decent source of damage that fires projectiles over the Knight's shoulder.

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Where the Weaversong spiders deal 3 damage every hit, the Grimmchild can deal 11 damage per shot, like a little aimbot follower. After slapping on Sprintmaster and Dashmaster to zoom across the map, Grimmchild can take care of enemies while the player focuses on zipping to the next location. Also, it's just adorable.

The core of every metroidvania is exploration, and in proper fashion Hollow Knight has a ton of it. Granted, that exploration is fraught with things trying to kill the Knight at every turn, and maybe there's just no time to kill everything in the way. So, in classic Soulsborne fashion, just run around them. For now, it's the closest players can get to the fast, parkour-like movement of Silksong.

As mentioned above, Dashmaster and Sprintmaster are excellent for getting around the giant map with ease. Because they lack benefits in boss fights and combat, they are often overlooked, but both have their place if zipping around is the name of the game. Sprintmaster especially is seen as lesser, but the slight buff to movement speed is a great passive effect to get the Knight moving. Note that Dashmaster lets players dash down as an added effect, and can wind up accidentally being a cause of death. Just, keep in mind it has a learning curve.

Sometimes specialization isn't the goal. When it comes down to it, building up a highly specific charm set around one facet of the game's mechanics might not work well outside boss fights or challenges. Every player is going to have one build for normal gameplay that suits 90% of the game (i.e., general exploration and combat) and not the standout 10%. For a jack-of-all-trades build, there is plenty of leeway.

As a rule of thumb, Wayward Compass always works. It only takes up one charm notch, and knowing the Knight's exact location is a godsend with a map as big as Hollow Knight's.After that, use Longnail or Mark of Pride for some extra combat safety as described above, and Gathering Swarm to help keep money from going to waste.

After that, really anything works. Shaman Stone for spells to help with distant enemies? Sure, go for it. Deep Focus? Absolutely, a slower, stronger heal is great outside boss arenas. Try them all, and see what works. Hollow Knight is an adventure, so enjoy the journey.

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Chase Hinton is a freelance writer with a Bachelors degree in English and Creative Writing. After years of writing D&D stories for his friends, he decided to throw his hat in the ring here at GameRant. He is lover of art, a terrible musician and most importantly, a gamer. Chase is longtime fan of roguelikes and spends his time losing over and over until he wins. When he isn't frustrating himself, he's killing time in Titanfall 2, Dragon Age, or For Honor.