Hollow Knight: Silksong Achievement Guide: Complete 100%

Hollow Knight: Silksong packs 52 achievements into a kingdom built entirely around exploration, boss mastery, and collection. Steam’s unlock-rate data tells a familiar Metroidvania story: story-boss achievements clear well over half of all players, but the moment achievements demand full collectible sweeps, Steel Soul permadeath runs, or sub-5-hour speedruns, the numbers drop into the single digits. This is a long, demanding game, and full completion genuinely tests everything Team Cherry built into it.

Quick Stats

Total Achievements: 52
Estimated Completion Time: 40-60 hours for full 100% completion, including all collectibles, bosses, and the Steel Heart challenge run
Difficulty: Hard overall, with Steel Heart (100% completion in permadeath mode) standing as the single hardest achievement in the game
Online Required: No
Missable Achievements: No true missables in a single playthrough, since Hornet can free-roam Pharloom and backtrack for collectibles, though several late-game bosses and the true ending require specific story choices to access

Achievement List by Category

Story Bosses (Unmissable)

Liberated
Pharloom’s Welcome
Servant
Fanatic
Judge
Last Dance
Tragedian
Glutton
White Knight

Optional and Hidden Bosses

Grey Ghost
Heretic
Tyrant
Seed
Diva
Lamenter
Weaver Queen
Snared Silk
Twisted Child
Sister of the Void
Fatal Resolve
Hero’s Call

Tools, Skills, and Abilities

Equipped
Arsenal
Bound
Woven
Entwined
Bonded

Collectibles and Currency

Claimed
Consumed
Restored
Extended
Protected
Masked
Regenerated
Flea Finder
Fleafriend
Cartographer

Quests and Wishes

Granted
Trail’s End
Keen Hunter
True Hunter
Passing of the Age

World and Travel

Resident
Transported
Connected
Harmonious
Remembrance

Completion and Challenge Runs

Completion
Speedrunner
Speed Completion
Steel Soul
Steel Heart

Achievements by Category

Achievement names, unlock rates, and rarity below come directly from Steam’s own achievement data. Unlock requirements below are based on our own testing and verified trophy data.

Story Bosses

Liberated

Unlock Rate: 85.6% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat the Bell Beast.

How to Unlock: Beat the Bell Beast boss encounter early in the campaign.

Tips: This is one of the first major boss fights and unlocks naturally as you progress out of the opening area.

Pharloom’s Welcome

Unlock Rate: 77.1% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat Lace in Deep Docks.

How to Unlock: Beat Lace during her boss encounter in the Deep Docks area.

Tips: This is an early, mandatory story boss fight that introduces one of the game’s recurring rival characters.

Servant

Unlock Rate: 75.0% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat Fourth Chorus.

How to Unlock: Beat the Fourth Chorus boss fight during story progression.

Tips: Story-related and unmissable as you continue ascending toward the Citadel.

Fanatic

Unlock Rate: 65.0% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat Widow.

How to Unlock: Beat the Widow boss encounter.

Tips: This fight ties into one of the game’s key faction storylines.

Judge

Unlock Rate: 59.4% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat the Last Judge.

How to Unlock: Beat the Last Judge boss fight.

Tips: This is a mandatory encounter tied to progressing further into Pharloom’s upper regions.

Last Dance

Unlock Rate: 57.2% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat the Cogwork Dancers.

How to Unlock: Beat the Cogwork Dancers boss encounter.

Tips: This fight involves multiple mechanical enemies attacking in sequence, so watch for attack patterns between each dancer.

Tragedian

Unlock Rate: 51.7% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat Trobbio.

How to Unlock: Beat the Trobbio boss fight.

Tips: Story-related and unmissable on a normal playthrough toward the Citadel.

Glutton

Unlock Rate: 42.3% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Satiate the Grand Gourmand.

How to Unlock: Defeat the Grand Gourmand boss encounter.

Tips: This unique boss fight ties into one of Pharloom’s stranger side stories.

White Knight

Unlock Rate: 46.2% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Lace in the Cradle.

How to Unlock: Beat Lace’s second, harder encounter in the Cradle area later in the game.

Tips: This rematch is significantly tougher than your first fight with Lace, so make sure your tools and skills are upgraded before attempting it.

Optional and Hidden Bosses

Grey Ghost

Unlock Rate: 47.3% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Phantom.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat the optional Phantom boss.

Tips: Phantom is an optional encounter, so seek out its specific location rather than expecting to stumble onto it during the main path.

Heretic

Unlock Rate: 40.4% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat the First Sinner.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat the First Sinner, an optional late-game boss.

Tips: This encounter is tied to one of the game’s more obscure lore threads, so expect a challenging optional fight.

Tyrant

Unlock Rate: 33.4% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat the Crust King Khann.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat Crust King Khann, an optional boss encounter.

Tips: This is one of several optional Crust-themed bosses scattered through the later parts of the game.

Seed

Unlock Rate: 33.1% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Nyleth.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat Nyleth, an optional boss.

Tips: This fight rewards exploring off the critical path in one of Pharloom’s more hidden regions.

Diva

Unlock Rate: 32.3% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Skarrsinger Karmelita.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat Skarrsinger Karmelita, an optional boss tied to the game’s musical themes.

Tips: This is one of the more stylish optional boss fights, fitting the “song” half of the game’s title.

Lamenter

Unlock Rate: 28.8% (Rare)

Requirement: Defeat the Clover Dancers.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat the Clover Dancers, an optional multi-enemy boss encounter.

Tips: Like Last Dance, this fight involves multiple enemies attacking together, so learn to isolate one at a time where possible.

Weaver Queen

Unlock Rate: 40.5% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Grand Mother Silk and bind her power.

How to Unlock: Defeat Grand Mother Silk and choose to bind her power rather than entrap her.

Tips: This is one of two mutually exclusive outcomes for the Grand Mother Silk fight, so your choice here determines whether you earn Weaver Queen or Snared Silk instead.

Snared Silk

Unlock Rate: 39.1% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Grand Mother Silk and entrap her with the Soul Snare.

How to Unlock: Defeat Grand Mother Silk and choose to entrap her with the Soul Snare rather than binding her power.

Tips: This achievement and Weaver Queen are mutually exclusive on a single save, so you’ll need New Game Plus or a separate save file to earn both.

Twisted Child

Unlock Rate: 16.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Defeat Grand Mother Silk while cursed.

How to Unlock: Take on a curse effect, then defeat Grand Mother Silk while still under its influence.

Tips: This is a genuine challenge modifier on top of an already difficult boss, so make sure your build can handle the added pressure of the curse.

Sister of the Void

Unlock Rate: 29.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Defeat Lost Lace and free Pharloom.

How to Unlock: Reach and defeat Lost Lace, then choose the story path that frees Pharloom.

Tips: This is tied to one of the game’s major late-game story branches and one of its possible endings.

Fatal Resolve

Unlock Rate: 31.9% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat Pinstress.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat Pinstress, an optional late-game boss.

Tips: This fight is considered one of the tougher optional encounters, so make sure you have strong tools and Silk Skills equipped first.

Hero’s Call

Unlock Rate: 30.3% (Rare)

Requirement: Defeat Lost Garmond.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat Lost Garmond, an optional boss encounter.

Tips: This ties into one of the game’s side character storylines involving lost or corrupted figures.

Tools, Skills, and Abilities

Equipped

Unlock Rate: 89.9% (Common)

Requirement: Acquire your first Tool.

How to Unlock: Find and equip any single Tool.

Tips: Tools function like Silksong’s version of charms, and you’ll pick up your first one within the opening area.

Arsenal

Unlock Rate: 21.1% (Rare)

Requirement: Acquire all Tools.

How to Unlock: Find and collect all 51 Tools scattered throughout Pharloom.

Tips: With 51 total Tools to track down, this is one of the largest collection achievements in the game and benefits from a dedicated location guide.

Bound

Unlock Rate: 87.5% (Common)

Requirement: Bind your first Silk Skill.

How to Unlock: Learn and bind any single Silk Skill to Hornet’s move set.

Tips: Silk Skills are learned from specific NPCs and story moments, so this happens naturally early in the game.

Woven

Unlock Rate: 30.0% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Bind all Silk Skills.

How to Unlock: Learn and bind all 6 Silk Skills available in the game.

Tips: Since there are only 6 total, this is one of the more manageable full-collection achievements once you know where each skill teacher is located.

Entwined

Unlock Rate: 25.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Bind Eva.

How to Unlock: Find and bind Eva, a specific late-game ability or companion tied to the story.

Tips: This is tied to a specific late-game encounter, so it will not be available until you’ve progressed sufficiently through Pharloom’s upper regions.

Bonded

Unlock Rate: 38.7% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Learn the Beastling’s Call.

How to Unlock: Find and learn the Beastling’s Call ability from its associated NPC or location.

Tips: This ties into one of the game’s animal companion or summoning mechanics.

Collectibles and Currency

Claimed

Unlock Rate: 70.9% (Common)

Requirement: Claim your first Crest.

How to Unlock: Find and claim any single Crest, Silksong’s version of a class-defining equipment slot.

Tips: Crests function similarly to different combat stances or loadouts, and your first one comes early in the story.

Consumed

Unlock Rate: 31.0% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Claim all Crests.

How to Unlock: Find and claim all 7 Crests available in Pharloom.

Tips: Each Crest changes Hornet’s available tools and abilities, so hunting all 7 down also meaningfully changes how you can approach combat.

Restored

Unlock Rate: 66.3% (Common)

Requirement: Acquire 2 Spool Fragments.

How to Unlock: Find and collect 2 Spool Fragments, used to extend your Silk resource capacity.

Tips: Spool Fragments are scattered throughout the world in chests and reward rooms, so early exploration naturally nets you a couple.

Extended

Unlock Rate: 23.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Acquire all Spool Fragments.

How to Unlock: Find and collect all 18 Spool Fragments scattered throughout the game.

Tips: This is a significant collection achievement, so use a location guide once you’re doing a thorough exploration pass.

Protected

Unlock Rate: 62.6% (Common)

Requirement: Acquire 4 Mask Shards.

How to Unlock: Find and collect 4 Mask Shards, used to increase Hornet’s maximum health.

Tips: Mask Shards are common early rewards, so reaching 4 of them happens naturally within the first several hours.

Masked

Unlock Rate: 23.1% (Rare)

Requirement: Acquire all Mask Shards.

How to Unlock: Find and collect all 20 Mask Shards scattered throughout Pharloom.

Tips: With 20 total shards needed, this requires thorough exploration of nearly every region in the game.

Regenerated

Unlock Rate: 33.6% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Acquire all Silk Hearts.

How to Unlock: Find and collect all 3 Silk Hearts, which expand your Silk resource meter.

Tips: With only 3 total Silk Hearts, this is a much shorter collection goal than the Mask Shards or Spool Fragments.

Flea Finder

Unlock Rate: 50.4% (Common)

Requirement: Rescue half of Pharloom’s lost fleas.

How to Unlock: Find and rescue 15 of the 30 total lost Fleas scattered throughout the game.

Tips: Fleas are small collectible companions hidden in out-of-the-way corners, so keep an eye out during normal exploration.

Fleafriend

Unlock Rate: 34.9% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Rescue all of Pharloom’s lost fleas and receive their final gift.

How to Unlock: Find and rescue all 30 lost Fleas, then return to receive their final reward.

Tips: This is a complete collection achievement covering every Flea in the game, best tackled with a dedicated location guide.

Cartographer

Unlock Rate: 29.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Acquire a map of each area.

How to Unlock: Find and purchase or pick up the map for every distinct region in Pharloom.

Tips: Maps are typically sold by a cartographer NPC or found in specific map rooms within each new area you enter.

Quests and Wishes

Granted

Unlock Rate: 81.9% (Common)

Requirement: Grant your first wish.

How to Unlock: Complete any single Wish-type quest for an NPC in Pharloom.

Tips: Wishes function as Silksong’s side-quest system, and completing your first one happens naturally within the opening hours.

Trail’s End

Unlock Rate: 42.3% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Grant Shakra’s wish.

How to Unlock: Complete Shakra’s specific Wish questline.

Tips: This is tied to a named NPC’s storyline, so track her down and follow her quest chain to completion.

Keen Hunter

Unlock Rate: 54.0% (Common)

Requirement: Grant Nuu’s wish.

How to Unlock: Complete Nuu’s specific Wish questline.

Tips: This is one of the more commonly completed Wish quests, reflected in its higher unlock rate compared to other named NPC quests.

True Hunter

Unlock Rate: 9.1% (Very Rare)

Requirement: Receive the Hunter’s Memento.

How to Unlock: Complete a specific extended quest chain to earn the Hunter’s Memento reward item.

Tips: This is one of the harder quest-based achievements, likely requiring you to hunt down a large set of specific enemies or bosses tied to the Hunter storyline.

Passing of the Age

Unlock Rate: 16.9% (Rare)

Requirement: Grant the Herald’s Wish.

How to Unlock: Complete the Herald’s Wish questline, then finish the game.

Tips: Team Cherry’s own patch notes clarify that this achievement requires both completing the wish and finishing the game, not just completing the wish alone.

World and Travel

Resident

Unlock Rate: 46.4% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Acquire your own Bellhome.

How to Unlock: Progress the story until you obtain your own Bellhome, a personal base area.

Tips: This is a story-tied milestone that unlocks naturally as you establish a foothold in Pharloom.

Transported

Unlock Rate: 45.6% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Open all of the Citadel’s Ventrica Stations.

How to Unlock: Find and activate every Ventrica fast-travel station within the Citadel area.

Tips: This is a regional collection goal limited to the Citadel, so it’s more manageable than a full-map travel achievement.

Connected

Unlock Rate: 43.8% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Open all of Pharloom’s Bellways.

How to Unlock: Find and activate every Bellway fast-travel point across the entire game world.

Tips: Unlike Transported, this covers the whole map of Pharloom, so expect to sweep every region to complete it.

Harmonious

Unlock Rate: 47.9% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Learn the Citadel’s Threefold song.

How to Unlock: Progress the Citadel storyline until you learn its Threefold song.

Tips: This is tied to a specific story sequence within the Citadel area rather than a pure collectible.

Remembrance

Unlock Rate: 32.1% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Claim the Everbloom from within a distant memory.

How to Unlock: Progress to a specific late-game vision or memory sequence and claim the Everbloom item found within it.

Tips: This is tied to a hidden vision sequence rather than a straightforward pickup, so it’s easy to miss if you’re not actively exploring memory-themed areas in the late game.

Completion and Challenge Runs

Completion

Unlock Rate: 16.5% (Rare)

Requirement: Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game.

How to Unlock: Collect every Tool, Crest, Mask Shard, Spool Fragment, Silk Heart, and Flea, complete all Wishes, and finish the main story.

Tips: This is the true full-completion achievement, requiring every other collectible achievement on this list to be finished first.

Speedrunner

Unlock Rate: 4.7% (Ultra Rare)

Requirement: Complete the game in under 5 hours.

How to Unlock: Finish a full playthrough with a total completion time under 5 hours.

Tips: This demands route knowledge and skipping most optional content, so it’s best attempted after you’ve already finished a completionist playthrough and know the map well.

Speed Completion

Unlock Rate: 3.7% (Ultra Rare)

Requirement: Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game in under 30 hours.

How to Unlock: Reach full 100% completion while keeping your total playtime under 30 hours.

Tips: This combines the demands of Completion with a strict time limit, so efficient routing between collectibles matters as much as combat skill.

Steel Soul

Unlock Rate: 3.5% (Ultra Rare)

Requirement: Finish the game in Steel Soul mode.

How to Unlock: Start a new save in Steel Soul mode, a permadeath difficulty setting, and complete the main story without dying.

Tips: A single death in Steel Soul mode permanently deletes your save, so this demands mastering boss patterns before committing to a real attempt.

Steel Heart

Unlock Rate: 2.8% (Ultra Rare)

Requirement: Achieve 100% game completion and finish the game in Steel Soul mode.

How to Unlock: Complete full 100% collection and story completion within a single Steel Soul permadeath save.

Tips: This is the single hardest achievement in the game by unlock rate, combining the full collectible grind with permadeath. Master the game thoroughly on a normal save before ever attempting this.

5-Phase 100% Completion Roadmap

Phase 1: Main Story Playthrough Play through Pharloom naturally, defeating story bosses like Liberated, Pharloom’s Welcome, Servant, and Judge as you progress, while picking up early collectibles like your first Tool, Crest, and Silk Skill along the way.

P2: Optional Boss Hunt Seek out every optional boss for achievements like Grey Ghost, Heretic, Tyrant, Seed, Diva, Lamenter, Fatal Resolve, and Hero’s Call, since these require deliberately leaving the main path to find hidden encounters.

P3: Full Collectible Sweep Use a dedicated exploration pass to collect all 51 Tools, 7 Crests, 20 Mask Shards, 18 Spool Fragments, 3 Silk Hearts, and 30 Fleas for Arsenal, Consumed, Masked, Extended, Regenerated, and Fleafriend, plus a map of every area for Cartographer.

P4: Quests, Travel, and Choice-Based Achievements Complete every Wish quest for True Hunter and Passing of the Age, open every Bellway and Ventrica Station for Connected and Transported, and make a deliberate choice on New Game Plus to earn whichever of Weaver Queen or Snared Silk you missed the first time.

P5: Completion and Challenge Runs Combine everything into a single 100% save for Completion, then push toward the harder challenge achievements: a sub-5-hour Speedrunner run, a sub-30-hour Speed Completion run, and finally a full Steel Soul permadeath playthrough for Steel Soul and the grueling Steel Heart.

Conclusion

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s 52 achievements ask for exactly what Team Cherry’s Metroidvania design rewards: patient exploration, boss mastery, and a willingness to backtrack for everything you missed. The story achievements come naturally, but Steel Heart’s 2.8% unlock rate confirms it as one of the toughest achievements in any recent game, demanding full completion inside a single permadeath run. Budget 40-60 hours for full completion, and treat Steel Soul and Steel Heart as their own dedicated project once you’ve mastered every boss pattern on a normal save first.