How to Parry in Silksong

Parrying in Hollow Knight: Silksong allows players to nullify all incoming damage from an attack, making it one of the most useful combat tricks to master. Although knowing how to parry in Silksong is not a requirement to beat the game, it provides a significant advantage to players who have mastered it.

Parrying shows its value in certain boss encounters in Silksong, where it provides players with an additional means of blocking incoming damage. In fights with relentless attacks, this can prove to be a game-changer.

What Does the Challenge Button Do in Silksong?

Here is what the Challenge button does in Silksong and how players should use it.

Posts

By Waseem Muhammad

How to Parry in Hollow Knight: Silksong

parrying a bucket head enemy in hollow knight silksong

In order to parry in Silksong, time the Needle's swing animation so that it meets the enemy’s weapon mid-attack, blocking all damage you would have otherwise received from it. If done correctly, you’ll hear a “ping” sound effect, a small white flash, and a minor hitstop to indicate a successful attempt.

Fighting Skull Ant boss in Hollow Knight Silksong

There is a downtime between each of Hornet’s swings, which means you cannot mash the attack button and expect to parry with any sort of consistency. The idea is to only attack just before the enemy’s attack, so both weapons meet midway and bounce off each other.

Upgrading the Needle's damage does not improve parrying.

Parrying depends entirely on matching the enemy’s movement. You need to read your opponent’s actions before they strike. The only way to regularly pull this off is by learning enemy movesets. Since there are many enemy types in Silksong and each one’s attack animations are different, mastering this mechanic requires time and experience.

Not every attack in Silksong can be parried. For instance, the Bell Beast, an early-game boss, attempts to crush Hornet using its body. This attack, and others like it, cannot be parried because Hornet cannot use the Needle to deflect an enemy’s entire body. In contrast, Lace, a boss found in the Deep Docks, can be parried because she wields a weapon. Generally, only attacks involving weapons like swords, axes, and spears can be parried.

Certain thrown attacks can also be parried.

Best Crests for Parrying in Hollow Knight: Silksong

In Silksong, Hornet can unlock multiple Crests to gain new movesets. Since these Crests change how attack animations work, they also change the rhythm of parrying. Hornet’s default weapon, the Hunter Crest, provides a balanced approach, the Wanderer Crest is faster but with less reach, and the Reaper Crest is slower, but its attacks reach farther and push back enemies.

A Crest's reach can be increased to make parrying easier by using a tool called Longclaw.

Since parrying relies a lot on getting the rhythm of combat down, it’s impossible to say which Crest’s moveset will prove the best for a certain player. In general, however, the Wanderer and Reaper are easier to master than others. Wanderer’s fast attack animation provides more room for error, and Reaper’s longer range makes deliberate parry attempts easier to pull off.

Attacking using a downward slash, or “pogo-ing,” can also be used to parry certain attacks that are aimed upwards. The Wanderer Crest and the Reaper Crest make this easier to perform as they allow players to attack directly downward instead of at an angle.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image