All 40 Charms in Hollow Knight: A Comprehensive Guide

Hollow Knight charms are persistent upgrades that equip in one of three slots, shaping how you explore, fight, and survive across Hallownest. This guide covers all 40 official charms in release order, explaining each effect, where to find it, and how it influences common builds. Understanding charm synergries, cost, and timing helps you optimize mobility, damage, defense, and utility for your playstyle. Use this reference as a durable foundation for planning routes, loadouts, and long-term progression in the game and in key boss encounters.

Overview of Charm Mechanics

Charms function as equipable modifiers that change core gameplay traits. Most occupy one of three slots—Mask, Nail, or Trinket—with one Trinket charm active as a third equip. Charms vary in cost, from simple travel utilities to complex combat or exploration upgrades. Many synergize with builds focused on specific weapons, spells, or defensive tools. Progression typically follows the game’s regions, but backtracking is common to close power loops. Below are the 40 charms, grouped by acquisition sequence and role, so you can plan your route and loadout deliberately.

Early Game Travel and Utility Charms

Early charms establish safe paths and basic mobility, helping you leave the starting area and survive initial hazards. Prioritize these when establishing a baseline route through City of Tears and Greenpath.

Charm 1: Wayward Compass

Found at the Queen’s Station before initiating the tram, this charm marks the last fast-travel point used on the map. It is nearly mandatory for efficient navigation and repeated runs, reducing unnecessary backtracking across Hallownest.

Charm 2: Dreamshield

A defensive charm that blocks one hit per floor and then recharges, useful for surviving accidental contact with spikes or minor enemy bursts early on. It provides a forgiving buffer while learning enemy patterns.

Charm 3: Sharp Shadow

You gain a shadow clone with each attack when equipped, adding consistent damage output and enabling simple hit-and-run strategies. It synergizes well with fast, low-cost weapons in the early game.

Charm 4: Heavy Blow

Increases nail damage by a flat amount, improving clear speed for baseline combat and helping against early bosses when paired with aggressive timing and movement.

Charm 5: Descending Dark

Unlocked later in the Queen’s Gardens, this charm fires a dark projectile on hit, adding waveclear and allowing you to hit foes behind terrain. It scales well into midgame spell builds.

Charm 6: False Knight Soul

Obtained by defeating False Knight, it converts a percentage of damage taken into health upon landing a hit, promoting a hit-and-playstyle that rewards aggression with survivability.

Charm 7: Wayward Wield

Increases your nail-bounce count, effectively extending your reach and enabling you to strike enemies just out of range. Valuable for tight platforming and narrow passages.

Charm 8: Unstable Tear

Creates a temporary portal after taking damage, useful for escaping dangerous situations when paired with mobility tools. It trades consistency for high-relief utility.

Charm 9: Bouncing Burst

Launches a bouncing projectile on hit, granting waveclear against clustered enemies. It offers moderate damage and is a low-cost option for early spell-centric setups.

Charm 10: Longnail

Increases nail range, improving both damage and safety by letting you strike slightly farther. It has a moderate cost and is one of the most universally useful early combat charms.

Midgame Combat and Defense Charms

As you explore deeper regions, these charms enhance damage output, survivability, and sustain. They support hit-and-stand tactics, tankier melee approaches, and hybrid spell/nail builds.

Charm 11: Nailmaster’s Glory

Obtained after defeating the Nailmaster, this charm provides healing on nail hit, improving sustain during extended fights when combined with aggressive techniques.

Charm 12: Quick Slash

Reduces nail attack startup, making hits faster and improving mobility with Nail-bounce. It is essential for precise timing-based encounters and aggressive route clearing.

Charm 13: Look to the King

Upon defeating a major optional boss, this charm increases the damage of your nail and Charms’ Nail-bounce, scaling well into endgame content for burst damage.

Charm 14: Sharp Focus

Grants a temporary focus regeneration bonus on hit, improving your ability to maintain spells in prolonged fights. It is a strong choice for focus-intensive builds.

Charm 15: Lifeblood Heart

A defensive charm that provides healing each time you are hit up to a cap, encouraging aggressive play by offsetting damage with sustain. It synergizes best with high-damage, high-risk strategies.

Charm 16: Lifeblood Core

Upon defeating a powerful optional boss, this charm grants a shield that absorbs one hit and recharges, adding a safe window to retaliate. It is most effective in burst-intensive scenarios.

Charm 17: Lifeblood Soul Heart

After defeating the Lifeblood Queen, this charm spawns a temporary heart on hit for additional healing. It provides strong recovery when supported by damage output that triggers hits frequently.

Charm 18: Monarch Wings

Unlocked later in the game, this charm grants double jump and midair dash, greatly expanding mobility for exploration and evasion. It is a core component of advanced mobility routes.

Charm 19: Dashmaster

Improves dash distance and enables dashing through spikes, dramatically improving survivability and traversal speed. It is typically a late-game pursuit due to its high cost.

Charm 20: Desolate Dive

Launches an explosive downward attack on dash end, useful for hitting enemies below and breaking brittle terrain. It excels in vertical level design and burst damage setups.

Charm 21: Descending Order

Similar to Desolate Dive but with a different visual and slightly different timing, giving you flexibility in how you approach vertical engagements and enemy groupings.

Charm 22: Abyss Shriek

Emits a shockwave on dash end, giving consistent waveclear and additional hit confirmation. It is valuable in crowded rooms and for trigger-heavy builds.

Late Game Specialization and Boss-Control Charms

These charms provide targeted utility for specific bosses, difficult platforming segments, or niche roles. They often have situational value but can be indispensable in the right context.

Charm 23: Steady Hand

Reduces the deflection cost of blocking, improving survivability when using a Shield. It is particularly helpful for tanky builds that rely on blocking against heavy hits.

Charm 24: Quick Focus

Grants a small focus regeneration on block, enabling more frequent spells without downtime. It supports consistent spell usage against tough groups of enemies.

Charm 25: Furious Slash

Adds a chance on hit to gain a stack of Focus, improving sustainability for focus-based builds. It is valuable when managing prolonged fights and frequent spellcasting.

Charm 26: Unbreakable

Upon taking fatal damage, this charm leaves behind an invulnerable shell that explodes after a short period, granting a last-second escape or damage window. Use it when learning high-risk encounters.

Charm 27: Mastermaker

Obtained from a rare crafting sequence, this charm increases the number of items you can carry, enabling more varied loadouts for different boss strategies.

Charm 28: Mark of Pride

A late-game charm that triggers healing and invincibility frames when you take fatal damage, provided you have at least 30% health. It rewards careful resource management with a powerful defensive effect.

Charm 29: Quick Slash II

An upgraded version of Quick Slash obtained later, further reducing startup and improving responsiveness for advanced route optimization.

Charm 30: Descending Dark II

Enhances the earlier Descending Dark, increasing projectile count and damage. It is a strong addition to mid-to-late game spell builds seeking more coverage.

Endgame and Utility Charms

These charms provide significant quality-of-life and endgame power spikes, enabling safe traversal, improved damage, and more consistent utility across all content.

Charm 31: Monarch Wings

While listed earlier upon acquisition, its impact grows in endgame due to complex map geometry. It remains a cornerstone of exploration and safety in late-game navigation.

Charm 32: Mantis Claw

Allows wall-jumping to reach otherwise inaccessible ledges. Essential for sequence breaking and accessing hidden areas in advanced runs.

Charm 33: Crystal Heart

Upon taking fatal damage, you respawn at the last bench without losing Geo. This is one of the most reliable defensive charms for preserving progress in difficult segments.

Charm 34: Quick Slash III

A further upgrade of Quick Slash that significantly reduces animation time, enabling faster dashes and more precise spacing. It is a staple in high-level mobility setups.

Charm 35: Abyss Shriek

Improved in later tiers, this charm provides reliable waveclear and hitbox control, particularly useful against large enemy clusters in endgame environments.

Charm 36: Desolate Dive

Repeated use of this charm in quick succession creates an afterimage illusion, adding visual flair and minor distraction. It is often paired with aggressive dash-based builds.

Charm 37: Descending Order

A stronger variant with increased explosion size, useful for clearing clustered enemies in endgame content where positioning is constrained.

Charm 38: Light Burst

Unleashes a powerful burst of light on dash end, dealing significant area damage. It is effective against durable enemy groups and bosses with AoE phases.

Charm 39: Monarch Wings

By endgame, Monarch Wings can be further upgraded through repeated use, improving dash distance and utility for complex map traversal and boss arenas.

Charm 40: Sharp Shadow

The final charm, providing a substantial damage boost with shadow clones. It synergizes strongly with high-speed, high-damage builds and boss DPS phases.

Charm Acquisition and Build Planning

Chars are acquired roughly in the order above, but skilled players can reorder some segments with mobility tools like Mantis Claw or Monarch Wings. Planning your charm progression helps reduce backtracking and aligns with preferred playstyles.

Practical Tips for Using Charms

• Plan your three-slot loadout around your primary weapon and intended damage source (Nail, Spells, or Mixed).
• Prioritize Lifeblood or dash survivability charms on your first runs to reduce frustration and increase uptime.
• Use Monarch Wings and Mantis Claw together to access and exit most areas quickly, minimizing backtracking.
• Respec is possible with the Simple Key, so experiment with combinations when you discover new tools.
• Consider charm cost when planning your Geyser Park builds; higher-cost charms often require more Essence and bench time.
• Match charm effects to boss mechanics—e.g., Desolate Dive for vertical telegraphs, Unbreakable for unavoidable attacks.

Conclusion

All 40 Charms in Hollow Knight offer meaningful choices that shape how you traverse, survive, and defeat enemies across Hallownest. Whether you prefer fast mobility, durable survivability, or high burst damage, there is a configuration that fits your approach. Use this guide as an evergreen reference when planning routes, loadouts, and build experiments, ensuring your journey through Hallownest remains efficient and enjoyable for repeated playthroughs.