Here we are once again in Hollow Knight, among the desolate tunnels of Hallownest. We broke up at the bottom of the Fungal Caves, an area that we are about to complete. Without delay we continue upwards, from the bench where we stopped, to take that path to the left previously ignored. Try to fight no more than one enemy at a time to avoid risks. Once you enter the passage to the left and pass the pond, a sign will announce that we have reached the Mantis Village, at its core. Be careful.
From the path above we can see an unreachable lever and Geo block. If we follow the upper path to the end, we will arrive at a door that blocks our way, but above an object to be collected is visible. Below, in the center, there is a Warrior Mantis, at the foot of which a beam of light lets us guess that it is there a lower room. At the end of the path below there is instead a lever that opens the upper road, allowing us to collect theMantis claw, a fundamental power up that gives us access to wall jump!
Thanks to this power we will be able to reach many places, previously closed. For now, let's complete the exploration of this room which will give us access to various Geos and more. Immediately above where we are there are two blocks. Going back, to the right of where we are always on the upper path we can reach another block and above a totem. This reads: “The truce persists. The vigil continues. The beasts are kept away. "
Going up and going to the right we have to overcome a fairly demanding platform phase, paying attention to the spikes. Here the new power up must be used to slide more slowly along the walls and be able to use the dash with greater precision. Continuing to the right, from below you can reach another block of Geo, but only do it if you have a lot of life and feel good at platforming. Finally, we will reach the lever that will open the way out for us and we will also be able to collect one last block of Geo. But beware, the lever also opened the central gate at the bottom!
In the center of the Mantis Village
We go down to this area and continue downwards. On the left we can see a shortcut to open by going up the other side. Another similar path is also present on the right, further down. Keep going down keeping to the left, then go back up and unlock the shortcut, which will come in handy in case you die. Be careful though, because to reach the left lever you will have to rely on platforming again.
Going down, there are others two levers along the left side of the room, and two blocks of hard-to-reach Geo. At the bottom, a Warrior Mantis blocks our way. After this we could already go down to the back of the room, where one boss fight awaits us, but I recommend that you explore and clean up the whole area first. Then we go up along the right side by opening the lever. The Warrior Mantis below can safely be avoided if you are not in a position to fight it.
Going up, on the right, there is another path that will lead us to open the last lever of the room, but there are also two enemies, a Warrior and a Young Mantis. The advice is to immediately eliminate the flying one, and then get rid of the second one, but keeping in mind that you will almost certainly suffer at least one damage, so be prepared before facing them. Once beaten, we can go up and unlock the lever. Here, on the right, there is another room, with a bench, as indicated by a sign in the background. However we cannot enter it, because a Mantis will close the gate when we try.
Now the only thing left to do is go down to the back of the main room. Here, as mentioned, there is a boss fight, which is in fact optional. One of the most beautiful in all of Hollow Knight, in my opinion. The peculiarity is that this fight will not start automatically: it must challenge the Mantises. This detail emphasizes even more how these beings have not lost their minds, unlike almost all the other peoples who inhabit Hallownest. Another detail that I invite you to note is the fourth throne, destroyed, on the right. There were therefore four chiefs of the tribe. But we will talk about the last Mantis in the future ...
For now, let's go further
At this point, challenge the rulers of this place, try to beat them, but I anticipate that at this stage of the game it is quite challenging. In this guide, for simple reasons of lore, we will let them defeat us for the first time. By doing so we will be able to unlock a unique encounter and dialogue with an NPC.
When we are defeated, we will be reborn on the bench nearby, the last one where we rested. The map will update, showing us how beyond the Mantids there is a lift, to be unlocked. Let's go back to take back our shadow with all our Geos. Once in the Mantis Village area, the good old man will be above the toxic pond Quirrel waiting for us.
He will explain to us how the Mantids, however aggressive, have not gone mad, despite "the evil that pervades the air" is that "cloud the minds of the weakest ": they resist. He will also give us advice, explaining that our quill is too blunt for these opponents. To solve the problem, Quirrel suggests traveling to the city further on, the capital, where he is rumored to live a Nail Smith, a blacksmith. After having listened to the precious advice of our friend, we recover what belongs to us, paying attention to the fearsome enemies.
Back in the Fungal Caves
Once we have recovered the Geos and the rest, we go up. As we can see from the map, on top of the Mantis Village there is a path we can take. From there we will continue! From here we will find ourselves in a vertical room with a strange little tree bottom center. We cannot interact with this item for now, but if you still have tokens available you should place one here.
Going up along the right side thanks to our new claw we can recover a Traveler's diary, an object that we will soon be able to sell. Continuing to the left we will find ourselves in a dead end. It seems that in this room you can only fall from above. At the top right, the road will take us to an area that has already been visited. This step was previously unattainable, but not anymore.
It is worth going back to the bench near the Mantis Village. Continuing from here down you might remember a character emitting strange noises near a large statue. Among other things, it should be noted how close this monument is of the pipes and non-toxic water, something never seen before in the Fungal Caves.
Daring rescue
If we continue to the left from the statue we reach fungal enemies. Once defeated, we use our new skill for climb up the left wall. When climbing along it will no longer be possible, taking advantage of the dash we pass on the right one and letting ourselves slide we still use the dash to pass on the rear wall and from here then climb quietly. We quickly eliminate the dangerous Sporia and then we climb again along the wall, also taking advantage of the dash to get to the top.
At this point we must combine our skills to overcome a path dotted with dangerous sharp spikes. Glide along the walls staying attached and use the click to move to the opposite one from time to time and you will easily overcome the downhill part. For the uphill one there is more space and you can climb the single wall and use the dash to move to the opposite side.
At the end of this path we will finally be able to reach the poor Bretta, intoxicated by the toxic orange fumes. This, once awakened from this sleep that poisons the minds, will be intoxicated by our knight, the only one who has deigned to go and save her. She will therefore return to Pulveria and soon we will meet her again. To the right of Bretta the ground will break, avoiding us to go backwards.
Let's go back to the bench now and from here let's go a long way towards the Regin Stationto. I advise you to avoid fighting the Mantises along the way: they are still fearsome enemies and the reward in terms of Geo is not up to the effort. To return to the Station we can use the path we unlocked in the last episode, which significantly shortens the road. From here also, where there is a Fungal Wreck, we can reach a new area to the left.
Hunting for amulets
From here, downwards, we reach a series of rooms that form a horizontal corridor in which there are mostly Sporelle and toxic ponds. In the last room, bigger, a large bramble hangs from the ceiling and we can hear the verses of a green caterpillar. This is on the top left, but I recommend you go to the bottom left corner first. From here we reach a room below with various platforming pitfalls that will reward us with an amulet.
Here we will indeed find Spore mushroom, an amulet that will make us emit a cloud of spores that damage our enemies while we recharge the HP, quite useful. But what the description of this object does not say is that wearing it we can also read the famous mushroom totems, those hollow trunks we have already encountered. One of these is present in this room, in the upper right corner. Let's go now to save the caterpillar. Immediately below him there is also a secret passage!
A small platform to stand along the wall allows you to hit the wall and break it. From here we will reach a corridor leading to a large building. Before entering below there are two juicy blocks of Geo. We are really on the border of the Fungal Caves, close to other much more dangerous areas ...
Religion of light?
In this sort of temple in front of us we will be able to eliminate a new enemy, the Mossy Wanderer, and we will be greatly disturbed by the religious songs of some sort of priest. He calls himself Mossy Prophet and talking to him, obviously blinded by the toxic infection, we can hear him babbling about a "be radiant”Whose light and heat radiate the world. The Prophet encourages us to accept the light and achieve union. Words not to be forgotten to understand future events.
Going back, the corridor below us will collapse and inevitably we will fall into a new area: Nidoscuro. For now we will not stay in this dangerous place: we immediately go up along the left path. From here we will have to use the dash to reach another room, to the right. Being careful of the fearsome Terravori that emerge from the ground, always climb upwards and soon you will reach another road that takes you back to the left.
Break the wooden planks and use the dash to move to the left side of the room. From here keep going up, carefully fighting the Terravori who will keep popping up. Eventually you will succeed in return to the Fungal Caves, exactly where we got the two blocks of Geo, near the Prophet. Then go back to the Queen's Station bench. We recover the fragment of the mask present in this Station, using claw and dash to climb and avoiding the brambles. Once we have recovered the fragment, let's sit on the bench.
Our exploration of the Fungal Caves is now almost over. In the next episode of the guide we'll do a bit of btel backtracking and we will explore a small new area: i Screaming Crags. Obviously, to continue we must go to the capital, from the point where we last saw Hornet.
Back to the guide of the Fungal Caves part II
Back to the index
