10 Mods to Make Hollow Knight: Silksong Easier Into Act 3 and Beyond

Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong has shattered most players’ expectations for the title, enjoying a record-breaking launch and plenty of positive acclaim in the days since its release last week. That said, there were plenty of players new to the world of Hollow Knight who weren’t ready for the challenge Team Cherry had in store. The game’s second and third acts are each a huge step up in difficulty from Silksong‘s initial hours, but luckily, PC players can access a plethora of mods to tailor the experience to their liking. Here are 10 of the must-have mods to make Hollow Knight: Silksong easier, as well as some tips on how to access the most challenging portion of the game: Act 3.

To access the secret Act 3 in Hollow Knight: Silksong, you must complete a large portion of the game’s side quest content during Acts 1 and 2. Throughout your playthrough, you’ll run into Wishboards in settlement areas such as Bonebottom, Bellhart, and The Citadel. These are where you can take on side quests.

Some folks in the Silksong community were able to access Act 3 without completing every single side quest, but the exact quest requirements are still somewhat unclear. To guarantee access to Act 3, we recommend you complete every single Wish (side quest) on these boards. After doing so, fast-travel back to Bellhart and speak with Pavo, who will grant you your very own home in Bellhart.

You’ll also need to collect at least 25 fleas throughout the game to get Fleamaster Mooshka to move his caravan three times. This will cause them to end up in the Putrefied Ducts area. Finally, you must head over to Songclave and speak with the Caretaker, who will provide a plan to end the Grand Mother Silk for good. One final quest awaits you, Silk and Soul.

After completing the setup for Act 3, the player is left to complete the game normally. Reach the top of the citadel in Act 2, and right before the final boss, you’ll run into the Caretaker once more. You’ll then be tasked with completing the boss fight as normal, and then once you have the choice to bind Grand Mother Silk instead, you’ll need to play your Needolin.

Doing so will grant one of Silksong‘s six endings, but you’re not done yet. Return to your save file in the load screen and load into the save file to begin the third act of Hollow Knight: Silksong and prepare yourself for the hardest content in the game, which can be made much easier with the assistance of mods.

This mod ensures that Hornet never takes more than 1 mask of damage from any single hit. Throughout the game, many of the enemies and bosses can string together attacks that deal two masks’ worth of damage or more, leading to very rapid deaths. Tuning down the damage is one of the simplest ways to make the game easier to manage.

A very simple mod that ensures that the map always shows the player’s position without equipping the compass. Freeing up a tool slot makes the game much easier as you’re able to equip something else while maintaining the more straightforward navigation of the compass. Perfect for those who struggle with Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s map system.

Similar to the Compass effect mod, Synthlight also made another great quality-of-life mod that grants the Magnetite Brooch effect permanently without needing to equip the tool. It also goes the extra mile by pulling shards as well, making both currencies easier to collect. Since you no longer need to use tool slots for the Magnet or Compass, you will now have two extra tool slots that can be used for combat or exploration tools.

This mod adds visible health bars for enemies and bosses and displays damage numbers whenever the player hits something. This provides the player with information that might alter their gameplay for the better. Having a clear indicator of the battle’s state can make it feel more manageable without altering damage or health numbers at all. You might even discover a new strategy that’s more effective with the health data visible.

In Elden Ring, there are the stakes of Marika that basically serve as checkpoints outside of bosses, so you don’t have to run back to them after deaths. This mod brings this mechanic to Silksong. Normally, upon death, you’re respawned at the last bench you rested on, which could be a long trek from a boss arena. Cutting out this downtime is an excellent quality-of-life change. While it doesn’t weaken the enemies or buff the player in any way, it streamlines the process of retrying boss encounters.

This mod allows you to add a multiplier to all of Hornet’s damage. Usually, the scaling of damage throughout Silksong takes a long time. Some Act 1 and Act 2 fights can feel like they go on forever, but with this mod, you can dial in your damage output to your liking. If you think you deal enough damage, but a little boost couldn’t hurt, you can multiply by 1.5. Or, if you want to steamroll through the game or a specific boss you can’t stand, you can multiply damage by a factor of 10 or even 20. While this doesn’t affect your health or defense, paired with other mods, you can create an unofficial easy mode.

This mod reduces the need to rest at a bench to update your map. Usually, when you explore new rooms, your map won’t show them until you sit at a bench (and only if you’ve purchased the cartography quill). This mod still requires the quill to work; however, as long as you have the map of an area, it will automatically update as you traverse an area. AutoMap eases navigation so that players can focus on mastering combat or platforming. Combined with the Compass mod, it completely overhauls the navigation experience.

This is the first of a trio of mods by modder BlueRaja. In Silksong, Silk is the resource required for certain abilities, but most importantly, it’s used for healing. The primary way to receive this resource is by hitting enemies, and this mod doubles the amount of Silk you gain from all sources. Being able to increase your silk twice as fast allows you to have more to work with when on the offensive. It also provides a safety net in combat because you’re more likely to have enough Silk to heal yourself in combat.

The Double Rosaries mod doubles all Rosary drops from all sources. Rosaries are the main currency in Silksong, and it isn’t uncommon to find yourself grinding for them during your journey. This mod completely removes the grind from the game as you’ll accumulate money much faster. Even an average player will have enough currency to buy up most of the stock in the shops you run into during your playthrough. It also lessens the impact of death, where you’re at risk of losing your Rosaries, because even if you did, you can very quickly grind them back.

Similar to the previous two mods, this Double Shard mod doubles the amount of shards you obtain from all sources. This resource is used primarily for crafting tools, but they have other uses as well. Usually, you’ll have a decent amount of these in a normal playthrough, but just in case you want a buffer in your reserves, this mod is for you. Having more of every resource makes the game all around more forgiving, and with more and more players reaching Act 3, they are going to need as much help as they can get.