Hollow Knight Charm Ranking & Analysis

Hollow Knight is an indie metroidvania that understands the importance of giving the player options. The charm system allows each individual to build their own set of buffs that complement their style of play and offers great variety when it comes to replay value. But not all charms are created equal, and today I'm going to dive into an analysis of all 41 charms present in Hallownest, ranking them on their function, efficiency, and overall use cases.

Video Segments:
00:00 Introduction
03:08 Dreamshield
04:24 Glowing Womb
05:41 Grimmchild
07:10 Heavy Blow
08:28 Kingsoul
09:50 Spore Shroom
11:35 Sprintmaster
13:21 Baldur Shell
15:06 Deep Focus
16:09 Defender's Crest
17:57 Greed
19:35 Grubberfly's Elegy
21:33 Hiveblood
22:56 Joni's Blessing
24:08 Lifeblood Heart
25:00 Stalwart Shell
26:10 Thorns of Agony
27:22 Wayward Compass
29:00 Weaversong
30:53 Carefree Melody
32:47 Dashmaster
34:00 Dream Wielder
35:38 Flukenest
37:21 Fury of the Fallen
39:04 Gathering Swarm
40:15 Heart
41:36 Lifeblood Core
42:55 Sharp Shadow
44:23 Soul Eater
45:27 Steady Body
47:52 Grubsong
49:09 Longnail
50:58 Nailmaster's Glory
52:18 Quick Focus
54:13 Shape of Unn
56:01 Soul Catcher
58:03 Mark of Pride
59:15 Quick Slash
1:01:13 Shaman Stone
1:03:05 Spell Twister
1:05:03 Strength
1:06:05 Outro

[SpoopyChicken]

I always use Grimmchild, not because he's good. But because he's my son and I want to show him around the kingdom.

[georgeharkins]

when i was fighting nightmare king grim i was so close to beating him and i acedentally dashed into him, and i had 2 masks left, but i forgot i had sharp shadow on and the damage made me win. which is why i personaly assault anyone who says sharp shadow is bad

[DylanLCutshall]

I feel like people forget you can un-equip charms and switch them out for different scenarios. For that reason, I always use Compass and Gathering Swarm when traversing Hallownest. It makes it so much easier for me. And if I’m struggling with a boss, I just use Shaman’s Stone instead.

[rev_dude]

I was doing a steel soul run with grimchild equipped while exploring, and let me tell you. You do not know fear until you bring that child into the fog canyon charm notch room.

[thegregitto]

Little Disclaimer: The "hundreds" when he names the price at which divine will make leg eater's charms unbreakable are meant to be "thousands".

[somedragonbastard]

One of my favorite things about Hollow Knight is that immediately upon scrolling to the comments, I see people defending low tier charms and describing the ways they use them. It's really fun and I appreciate that no charm is truly useless.

Edit: yay I get to do it too! I actually think Dream Wielder is crucial for colosseums, since it lets me grind out soul between waves on weaker enemies. I can just watch one of them float towards me, nail it, and repeat until my gauge is full, as opposed to only getting a bit from just killing it.

[EG]

Compass is unironically one of my favorite charms. Its notch cost and geo cost is incredible. Even after beating p5 with 112%, I still use it on new playthroughs because sometimes I forget where I’m going.

[jorava]

I found Heavy Blow really useful in Colosseum of Fools - I attacking from above, I could strike flying enemies into spikes, getting rid of them quickly.

[AnyRandomNameRadio]

Even though it is a bad charm, Dreamshield will always have a soft spot in my heart for one reason alone. I wasn't very good at combat and I was trying to beat Markoth. I spent a LONG time trying to beat him and I just couldn't. I was about to give up when I said "Screw it, I'm putting on Dreamshield" so I did and Dreamshield got the kill. "HAHA! Your own weapon/defense killed YOU! TAKE THAT SUCKER!!!"

[brunopagnoncelli]

Shaman Stone being so easy to find is both a crime and a miracle tbh

[takenshadow]

S-Tier charms 57:40
A-Tier charms 47:40
B-Tier charms 30:36
C-Tier charms 13:00
D-Tier charms 3:00

[loganharris]

Joni’s blessing helped me so much with later bosses. It’s very hard to find a window to heal in later bosses due to their aggression, and often times, I find myself only being able to heal when the bosses stagger. Joni’s blessing provides a massive health buff so you don’t need to heal, as long as you dodge well enough. It got me through the failed champion, grey prince zote, and nightmare king grimm easy peasy.

[adambai]

Kingsoul does has its usage: Overcharmed flower quest. I did it right after White Palace and right before Void Heart, Sealed Siblings and Radiance.
Synergy: Shaman stone + Grubberfly's Elegy + Mark of Pride + Nailmaster's Glory + Kingsoul Overcharm
The ridiculous cost is now nullified as you mustn't take any damage, and Kingsoul ensures unlimited spells

[alexandersong]

40:46 actually unbreakable heart costs 12, 000 geo, not 1200, which is a pretty hefty price but still ultimately generally worth it

[RADIOACTIVEEEEE]

spore shroom is good in the lost kin fight because it can insta-kill the infected balloons making it safe to heal when he is staggered

[itzzzam]

Sprintmaster has always been one of my favourites mainly because boss fights like pure vessel or Grimm with the pillar attack makes it easy to dodge the pillars. It helps for dodging attacks not for traversing!

[luisykw]

I want to say I love Grimmchild, it was an amazing clutch in a lot of bosses for me and I love having that little companion.

[woodywas]

I just wanted to say that although yes, sporeshoom's damage is pretty neglegable later on, but in early game its actually pretty nice. You can get this charm before any of the nail upgrades, and then 24 spore schroom dmg vs 5 nail dmg doesnt sound that bad
Either way, an amazing video!

[thewolfofthestars]

Weaversong + Grubsong was my favorite combo when I discovered it lol. Who needs Kingsoul? You can cheese a good number of bosses with them by clinging to the wall at the top of the arena with Crystal Dash and just letting your buddies go to town, with the Weavers providing the Soul needed to spawn Glowing Womb babies if you've got that one on as well. Optionally throw on Grimmchild, Dreamshield, Defender's Crest, or maybe even Spore Shroom/Thorns of Agony if you've got a spare notch or two, and you can KO bosses without ever needing to use your nail or any spells at all! It's such a scumbag build but I love it lmao. I don't need to get good at this game my friends can do it for me

[devinwatson]

The one instance the dream shield worked very well was the crystal boss guy sleeping on the bench with the lasers. I stood there and let the shield beat him before he even woke up.