I (used to) freaking hate Hornet

[NiteHood]

I'm on the 2nd Hornet fight at Kingdom's Edge and I just spent two full hours back-to-back retrying this stupid fight and Hornet is kicking my butt every time. Some of her moves (like the one where she charges at you) are well telegraphed, but some of them are complete bull crap. She accelerates at the speed of light out of nowhere and kills me by just jumping around. If she happens to land on the very edge of the room, and I happen to be on the other edge of the room, and she happens to throw her needle as her next move, there’s juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust enough time to barely squeeze out a heal or two but other than that you have to wait until she stops to catch her breath to do any healing. This fight is so freaking hard I am actually on the brink of quitting this game altogether. Okay, maybe not, because I do really want to keep exploring Hallownest, but holy heck.

Anyone, please. There has to be a way to beat her. I only have 5 charm notches and I’m using the Mark of Pride for an extra-long nail and the one that gives you 2 blue masks of extra health. I have tried other combos but with only 5 notches this combo has been getting me the furthest.

If all you have to say is "git gud," feel free to do so but know deep down inside that you are not funny or original.

[Suspicious Mister Guy]

"GIT GUD" Is a very simple thing people say when they don't want to do a long explanation of how a game has fair gameplay and sometimes the best way to progress is to practice, and get better at learning patterns, dodging, and attacking. Also people sometimes say it because it's a meme and they can't think of actual contributions. I personally do think this game is fair, and that you can always progress with practice. Sometimes you need to explore the othere areas more, find some secrets. This game is VERY challenging, it took me a while to beat hornet too. It'll be fine.

[Shade]

Hornet 2 is definitely a pretty tough fight.
5 charm notches at this point in the game is not a lot. What nail upgrade do you currently have? You might simply be undergeared.
While the game is very non-linear, some encounters are nonetheless clearly tougher than others, and Hornet 2 is definitely a pretty late-game fight as far as difficulty goes.

That said, if you have trouble finding opportunities to heal during the fight, you might want to give Quick Focus a go, but that's 3 charm notches to equip and thus doesn't combine with Mark of Pride if you only have 5 in total.

You could, in theory, just go collect an absurd amount of lifeblood to give yourself a disproportionate advantage for this fight. Any lifeblood you collect from lifeblood hives will last until you rest at a bench - so if you don't actually rest at a bench prior to the fight, you could get something silly like 6 or 8 lifeblood masks to give yourself more leeway for that fight. The lifeblood hives in the Ancestral Mound, Greenpath and the King's Path, for instance, are all fairly easy and quick to get to, although the latter requires the Super Dash to easily access.

[Dragonixor]

As other said, you should try getting more notches.
If I remember correctly, there is a seller in the crossroads, close to where you found the shopkeeper, who sells charm notches if you own enough charms. If you haven't already done so, you might want to buy them.
Also, there might be other areas that you didn't explore yet that would help you grow stronger before that fight. If your shadow's placement forces you to, you can resummon it in dirtmount, but I think hornet 2 respawned it outside the fight area.

[nazran59]

It took me only 2 tries.What charm I used is:Quick Slash,Invisibility Longer,Fragile Str and Joni Blessing (if u can't wear Joni Blessing,use fragile heal)

[SkyBars]

Rly? I mean , can you even die to her? LOL ) Well , all-purpose answer for every boss if you can't just GIT GUD : Fragile Strength . If you feel like last hit, Esc - exit, repeat.

[Exray]

Originally posted by frgovo:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/367520/discussions/0/1489992080502596071/

Originally posted by frgovo:

-Upgrade your nail as much as you can, of course

I beat her just with a Lv. 2 Nail (One ore).
The most important skill in this fight is not your inventory and upgrades, the most important thing is one ability...

P-O-G-O.

Almost all of his attacks can be easily avoided with POGO, also keep Mark of Pride, that grants almost a 100% of chance of doing the POGO.

[ScorchedVanilla]

do what some of us do hyper tank with stawalt shell fragile strength and quick nail and if you can lifeblood charms the secret is jumping is your grace pogo is your butter and CE is for suckers(unless its lore related then understandable)

[Лич Картодел]

Guy, I have got 5 notches before Soul Master. Find one or two more.
Good charms:
- quick focus. If you have problems with heal, take it (3 notches)
- spikes (1 notch). They can destroy her mines and dealing damage to her
Nail: 2nd upgrade will help you. You won't beat Trial of Conqueror now, but you can obtain 1 pale ore by Seer.
Abilities: Did you discovered Ancient Basin? You can find double jump there, will help doghing

[NiteHood]

I did it guys! Thank you for all of your tips! I decided to get my shade and leave, then go back out into Hallownest and get stronger. I returned with 7 mask instead of 5, 8 charm notches instead of 5, and 2 of the Nail Arts learned. Beat her on my second try this time. Man! That felt good! And Hornet evidently saved me from imminent death in the Cast-off Shell, so I actually like her now. Looks like Hallownest has a new king.

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

Get more charm notches. I think at this point in the game I usually have at least 7 of them(counting the 3 you start with). There are 11 charm notches in the game:
3 notches to start with, 1 notch from the Fungal Wastes, 4 notches from Salubra, 1 notch from the Colosseum, 1 notch from Fog Canyon, and 1 notch from the Grimm Troupe.

You also should upgrade your spells.
Vengeful Spirit can be upgraded into Shade Soul through a locked door in the lower left corner of the Soul Sanctum (requires the Elegant Key to access).
Desolate Dive can be upgraded into Descending Dark at the Crystalized Mound in the lower right corner of Crystal Peak (requires Lumafly Lantern, Crystal Heart, & Desolate Dive to access).
There is also a 3rd spell called Howling Wraiths, which you can get from the Overgrown Mound in the upper left of Fog Canyon (requires Mantis Claw to access). It can be upgraded into Abyssal Shriek at the lower left corner of The Abyss, which requires the King's Brand you get after defeating Hornet at Kingdoms Edge.

You should also be upgrading your Nail at the Nailsmith (he lives in the lower left corner of the City of Tears).

[KyloX]

Yaa... I had more trouble on her first encounter as I wasn't that good at the game at that point. The second encounter is indeed a stronger version, but how the fight goes, really depends on how much you have explored and... well "git gud". I think I beat her on... third or fifth atempt with nice gear and on my second playthrough for speedrunning - piece of cake with just a few charms.

It really does end up to how good you are at the game and the play style you have (going full sword or magic). Only on my second playthrough I noticed how magic is dam strong :D

And finally I beated the dam Nightmare King... that was something.