Highlights

  • Team Cherry poured love into Hollow Knight, from its 2D aesthetic to its Charm system, crafting a timeless metroidvania experience.
  • With 45 Charms offering buffs and abilities, players can create diverse builds and spend multiple playthroughs exploring different options.
  • S-Tier Charms like Quick Slash and Shaman Stone dominate with powerful effects, while A-Tier and B-Tier Charms like Soul Catcher and Flukenest provide unique playstyles. C-Tier charms like Hiveblood are decent, but better options are available, while D-tier Charms like Grimmchild are not terrible, but can be tough to use.

Team Cherry’s 2017 metroidvania Hollow Knight won its fame through many feats, from its timeless 2D aesthetic to its tight platforming and combat. Presentation and gameplay were both given all the love this small indie team could muster, and the results have stood the test of time. Hollow Knight turned exploring its underground world into something special, and one of its key ingredients was the Charm system. Inspired by Paper Mario's Badges, Charms serve as Hollow Knight's equipment, and are the most exciting rewards its labyrinthine depths can yield.

Although Hollow Knight’s mechanics seem simple at a glance, its 45 Charms add more than enough flexibility to keep players engaged. Whether they bestow buffs, modify mechanics, or add abilities, the effects of even the worst Charms can be useful enough that multiple playthroughs could be spent trying different builds. It's no wonder that fans hope Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Tools can measure up to Charms, as the diversity Hollow Knight's bring on their own and in tandem makes collecting each one feel worthwhile.

Hollow Knight Charms
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Hollow Knight Charms — S-Tier

  • Voidheart
  • Quick Slash
  • Fragile/Unbreakable Strength
  • Shaman Stone
  • Spell Twister
  • Mark of Pride

Some are more worthwhile than others, however, and the best of the best belong in S-Tier. Aside from Voidheart costing nothing and being necessary to unlock most of Hollow Knight's endings, every Charm here is a cornerstone of the most common and effective builds in the game. Quick Slash in particular is in contention for Hollow Knight's best Charm, with its increased Nail attack speed being so universally applicable that its Charm Notch cost was raised from 2 to 3, and it's still a mainstay.

The rest of S-Tier can be divided into the cornerstones of Hollow Knight's melee and magic builds. Fragile and Unbreakable Strength offer such absurd Nail damage boosts that mainlining the Fragile version before the Grimm Troupe arrives is viable. Its magical counterpart, Shaman Stone, is the same without the Fragile caveat, and partnering with the reduced spell cost provided by Spell Twister allows players to trivialize some of Hollow Knight’s hardest bosses. Mark of Pride closes this set out with a simple, yet impactful, change to the Nail’s range. For one Notch more than Longnail, its effect is not just easier to see, but felt in almost as many situations as Quick Slash itself.

Hollow Knight Charms — A-Tier

  • Nailmaster’s Glory
  • Steady Body
  • Quick Focus
  • Soul Catcher
  • Dream Wielder
  • Fragile/Unbreakable Heart
  • Grubsong
  • Grubberfly’s Elegy
  • Carefree Melody

A-Tier Charms aren't as dominant as those in S-Tier, but they often complete S-Tier loadouts or facilitate their own. Nailmaster's Glory and Steady Body fill out an optimized melee damage build, while Soul Catcher, Dream Wielder, and Grubsong ensure Soul is plentiful for magic and healing builds. Although Grubberfly's Elegy does take finding all 46 of Hollow Knight's collectible Grubs, it's worth the wait, and Grubsong should tide players over until then. Grubberfly's Elegy boosts Grubsong's Soul gained from player harm to absurd levels, while Quick Focus and the two Heart variants ensure players can afford to take those hits.

That leaves Carefree Melody, which highlights a key difference between A and S-Tier Charms. Whereas S-Tier Charms are inherently useful, many A-Tier Charms have a learning curve. Carefree Melody sounds unreliable, but it's actually a defensive powerhouse that's perfect for raising survivability if used right. Similarly, Steady Body and Grubberfly’s Elegy open up new damage opportunities, especially since Hollow Knight's manual healing makes Grubberfly’s Elegy’s Legend of Zelda-inspired full-health sword beams easier to maintain. Dream Wielder turns the Dream Nail into a respectable part of Soul-focused builds, and any Nail Art user can equip Nailmaster’s Glory and leave it there.

hollow knight charm notch
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Hollow Knight Charms — B-Tier

  • Flukenest
  • Fury of the Fallen
  • Baldur Shell
  • Deep Focus
  • Shape of Unn
  • Sharp Shadow
  • Weaversong
  • Soul Eater
  • Lifeblood Core

Comparably, many B-Tier Charms are more obtuse than A-Tier ones, making this the tier where strange, yet build-defining Charms gather. Flukenest and Fury of the Fallen are the most potent examples of this, containing magical and physical powers that rival S-Tier Charms, but requiring hours of practice to consistently use. Baldur Shell and Deep Focus can add similar value to defense and healing-oriented builds, but that requires optimizing Hollow Knight's Charm combos. Nowhere is the need for other Charms more apparent than Weaversong, Hollow Knight's best familiar-summoning Charm — after its Soul-generating build with Grubsong and Sprintmaster was added in HK's Lifeblood update, that is.

Speaking of Lifeblood, the Lifeblood Core is the first, and arguably the best, of three Charms that add blue Lifeblood masks to the player's health. They can't be healed, so all of Hollow Knight's Lifeblood Charms have niche uses, but extending Grubberfly's presence or having free hits in hectic fights can help. Soul Eater also has its moments as a stronger form of Soul Catcher, but its 4-Notch cost means Soul Catcher and Spell Twister add more value for the same price. Wrapping up B-Tier is the love-them-or-hate-them Charms Shape of Unn and Sharp Shadow, which combine altered movement with enemy knowledge checks to create interesting, but technical play styles.

Hollow Knight Charms — C-Tier

  • Dashmaster
  • Wayward Compass
  • Gathering Swarm
  • Spore Shroom
  • Sprintmaster
  • Fragile/Unbreakable Greed
  • Longnail
  • Hiveblood
  • Lifeblood Heart

C-Tier holds a couple of decent Charms rendered obsolete by better ones, namely Longnail by Mark of Pride and Lifeblood Heart by Lifeblood Core, but is also where a lot of quality-of-life Charms average out. Gathering Swarm and Wayward Compass are a huge help to new players who aren't familiar with Hollow Knight’s Geo or map routes, and can give veteran players, even speedrunners, some aid. Fragile Greed is another surprising boon, especially in Hollow Knight's Steel Soul mode, but all of these Charms will see a sharp drop in usefulness eventually.

Sprintmaster and Dashmaster do have use beyond quality of life, but Dashmaster’s increased dash frequency is actually better than Sprintmaster's faster grounded running, even when both are stacked for extra ground speed. Dashmaster’s special down-dash can be detrimental in places where the Charm would theoretically be most helpful, however, and both become expendable once players have all of Hollow Knight's permanent movement upgrades. Funnily enough, Hiveblood’s regeneration should serve patient players better than Dashmaster in Hollow Knight's infamous Path of Pain. Lastly, Spore Shroom is a cheap, solid source of extra damage while healing, even though that means it inherently fills a low-value niche.

Hollow Knight Charms — D-Tier

  • Defender’s Crest
  • Glowing Womb
  • Stalwart Shell
  • Joni’s Blessing
  • Kingsoul
  • Dreamshield
  • Heavy Blow
  • Thorns of Agony
  • Grimmchild

It bears repeating that even Hollow Knight's worst Charms aren't mistakes to equip, meaning value can still be found in the upper half of D-Tier. Defender's Crest is the prime example, being an ironically flavor-rich Charm that doesn't do much on its own, but pairs with Spore Shroom for a strong combo. It can't offset Glowing Womb’s passive Soul drain, however, and it limits Flukenest's potential. Joni’s Blessing is almost always outclassed by other health-increasing Charms, while Stalwart Shell is another quality-of-life upgrade for a mechanic that doesn’t need it. Kingsoul's effect sounds interesting, but its unique 5-Notch cost discourages experimentation, and it will quickly be traded for Voidheart anyway.

Tragically, the remaining Charms are as close to bad as they get. Dreamshield simply doesn't block projectiles reliably. Heavy Blow undoes Quick Slash, Steady Body, and all range-extending Charms' DPS buffs, which overrides its good points. Thorns of Agony ironically opens players up to more damage by replacing the normal hit-invincibility rules without generating Soul for healing. And finally, in spite of its popularity, the Grimmchild is weak, interrupts boss staggers, has no Charm synergy, and its full strength is locked behind Hollow Knight's lengthy Grimm Troupe questline. With Carefree Melody available as an alternative Grimm Troupe reward, Grimmchild has gained a reputation as one of Hollow Knight's worst Charms.