Your journey in Hollow Knight: Silksong will eventually pit you against Sister Splinter as you make your way through Shellwood.
On her own, this boss might not be the most challenging enemy you face in the game, but the way she calls in smaller enemies and vines for you to contend with will be quite overwhelming.
Here is how to defeat Sister Splinter in Hollow Knight: Silksong and things to keep your eye out for as you fight her.
All Sister Splinter Attacks in Hollow Knight: Silksong
The Sister Splinter fight in Hollow Knight: Silksong is not a complicated fight by any means, but it does get overwhelming, especially if you don’t remove smaller enemies as quickly as possible.
Throughout the fight, there are only three moves that the boss will pull off. They are as follows:
Slam Attack
This is the only time that Sister Splinter will actively attack you directly. She will move directly above you and slam a fist on the ground. Use a quick swift step to avoid these three attacks.
Vines
When she disappears into the ceiling, watch out for spiky vines that shoot into the ground. If you run into them, you will take damage. If Sister Splinter falls to the ground with vines in the arena, they all will be destroyed.
In the beginning, there will only be one or two that you can see incoming from dust falling in that spot, but the number increases as the fight goes on. When attached to the ground, these vines will remain until you or Sister Splinter destroys them.
Splinterbarks
After taking enough damage, Sister Splinter will call in splinterbarks that you have to deal with. They do two masks’ worth of damage and will continuously hunt you down while you fight her.
Sister Splinter Boss Weaknesses in Hollow Knight: Silksong
When the Sister Splinter fight starts in Hollow Knight: Silksong, there are only two things for you to look out for. She will either call in a vine or two or start slamming the ground. When vines come in, we recommend taking out any that are in the middle of the arena first. It takes three strikes to destroy them, but Sister Splinter moves slowly enough that you should have time to get rid of one before she attacks again.
When she starts slamming the ground, use a swift step to dodge those attacks. In between her three strikes, you can jump up and get a hit in, but always be sure to prioritize making sure you’re not putting yourself in danger. There is a rhythm you can get with dodging and hitting her in these sequences.
After she takes enough damage, Sister Splinter will fall onto the ground. Obviously, you can get some hits in here, but you might also want to consider healing yourself at this time if you are low on health. Now, the second phase of the Sister Splinter fight in Hollow Knight: Silksong can begin.
Second Phase
After getting back into the ceiling, the boss will go to the middle of the arena and scream. This is her calling in two splinterbark enemies on either side. Contending with these jerks is easily the hardest part of this fight because their flight patterns are odd, sometimes making you think you can hit them, only for them to back up just enough for you to miss, and then they hit you with a spin attack.
The best way we found to deal with them is to get underneath, jump up, and strike them from below. However, these guys will continuously come down to you, making it harder to get that opening, and sometimes trapping you between vines and slam attacks. We recommend focusing on getting rid of at least one splinterbark before Sister Splinter returns and then avoiding the other one until you can take them out or the boss happens to hit them.
From this point forward, splinterbarks will be routinely called back into the arena after they are defeated, so when Sister Splinter is in play, we highly recommend focusing on getting damage in on her. You might get lucky in some instances where she takes a while to call some back, but it’s not often. She will only call one in at a time, and we think the max that can be in play at a time is two. Just focus on getting them when she is away and avoiding their spin attack as much as possible.
Continue avoiding slam attacks and taking out vines while also dealing with damage to both the boss and the smaller enemies. Eventually, Sister Splinter will fall to the ground again, giving you an opening for healing or dealing more damage. Now starts the third phase of the Sister Splinter fight in Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Third Phase
There’s only one big difference in the third phase compared to what came before. Lots of vines. When Sister Splinter gets back up, she will scream again, and this time, a bunch of vines will be called into the arena. Position yourself so you don’t get hit by them coming in and quickly take out as many as you can before she comes back or a splinterback gets too close. You have to be quick in removing vines in this spot because you will have nowhere to run if either entity gets close.
After managing to avoid enough attacks from both splinter-jerks, Sister Splinter will eventually fall to the ground for good and die.
Did this guide help you overcome Sister Splinter in Hollow Knight: Silksong? On her own, she isn’t too bad, but those splinterbacks caused us no shortage of trouble. Let us know about your struggles in the comments or on the Insider Gaming forum.
Are you looking to take on the hardest challenge in Hollow Knight: Silksong early? Check out how to do the Steel Soul cheat code. If you are looking to lighten the load, look into some of the mods available.
John has been covering the game industry since 2017, covering all kinds of games and topics in that timespan. He loves his Nintendo games and enjoys achievement hunting as well.…
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