Hollow Knight – Way of the Prince

How to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Grey Prince. A crushingly difficult route through the kingdom of Hallownest.

The Route

1. Start new game
2. Defeat brooding mawlek
3. Wake up sly
4. Get crossroads stag
5. Defeat false knight (ignore city crest, get cash)
6. Get spell
7. Save zote in greenpath
8. Defeat hornet
9. Stag to crossroads
10. Get mantis claw
11. Save bretta
12. Defeat mantis lords
13. Save zote in deepnest
14. Get tram pass
15. Tram to hive
16. Defeat hive knight
17. Defeat hornet II (and get the king’s brand)
18. Beat all three colosseum trials
19. Open love tower shortcut
20. Get king’s station stag
21. Buy a lantern and a simple key
22. Stag to crossroads
23. Defeat crystal guardian
24. Get the pale ore from hallownest’s crown
25. Get crystal heart
26. Get dream nail
27. Stag to crossroads
28. Defeat failed champion
29. Acid skip from crossroads to fog canyon
30. Kill monomon
31. Acid skip to queen’s gardens
32. Acid skip to get love key
33. Fall into deepnest (past moss prophet)
34. Defeat nosk (and get nosk’s pale ore)
35. Defeat galien
36. Kill herrah
37. Get distant village stag
38. Defeat the collector (and get the collector’s map)
39. Kill lurien
40. Defeat soul tyrant (and pick up down spell)
41. Use simple key to enter sewers
42. Defeat flukemarm (this is surprisingly hard)
43. Defeat white defender (once)
44. Save cloth in ancient basin (and get the pale ore)
45. Defeat lost kin (and get wings)
46. Get hidden station stag
47. Defeat the grey prince (once)
48. Talk to the moth
49. Place dreamgate at hidden station
50. Do path of pain (watch out for palace guards)
51. Complete white palace
52. Get shade cloak (and dreamgate back)
53. Stag to distant village
54. Defeat traitor lord
55. Get Kingsoul (dreamgate back and put it on!)
56. Get voidheart
57. Defeat the Radiance

The Rules

No charms, no nail upgrades, no health upgrades, no soul upgrades, no spell upgrades, no howling wraiths, no nail arts, no relics, no maps, no rescuing grubs.

Play on current patch. No save/quitting to teleport back to a bench/save spot.

Exceptions: Collect the collector’s map, get the stuff from the seer, equip kingsoul/voidheart.

The Reality

This route is very, very, very hard.

No deaths is theoretically possible but I have yet to achieve it.

If you choose to attempt it: good luck.

Notable Features: All non-DLC non-ghost bosses (except Massive Moss Charger and Enraged Guardian), all three colosseum trials, Path of Pain, collecting 5/6 pale ore (not grubfather’s), collecting the collector’s map, saving Bretta and Zote, sacrificing Cloth, and achieving True Ending.

Notably Avoids: Required deaths (eg shade skips), too much dark deepnest, grimm troupe quest, nail masters, and collecting any inessential upgrades.

You will also need good familiarity with skips. Examples include: acid skips, pogoing the aspid to reach Hornet II, and pogoing the background objects to reach Lurien’s tower.