[Spoilers] Questions concerning 100% and Zote

[Yult]

Hello all! So, I recently purchased Hollow Knight again on the Switch and I've been having an abosolute blast. This time around, however, I've decided that I'd like to 100% the game. I'm not referring to the "completion rate" itself, I'm familiar with how that operates, the completion goal in question are the in-game achievements (or quests, as the Switch port dubs them). Going for my second round, I plan on doing Steel Soul 100% to net those two achivements, finish the game with the "worst" ending (totally forgot Void Heart locks you out of that... oops), as well as wrap up any other one-off achivements I didn't snag my first run through, speedruning related ones aside.

Herein lies the problem with this goal. One of the achievements I'm currently missing is "Neglect", the one that requires you to leave Zote to die. Cool. Awesome. I'm down for that. I'll let the Vengefly King have his meal, and ignore Zote's... grunts, or whatever. Re-enter the room and juggle his head around a bit, the poor sap. The problem here is that I'm not sure I'd be able to get the "Steel Heart" achivement if I don't save him. Without Zote alive, I wouldn't be able to gain that extra 1% from beating Grey Prince Zote, leaving my final total completion at 106% after everything is said and done.

Beyond 106% just looking kind of lame on the file select screen, does this affect anything whatsoever? Do the Hidden Dreams, Grimm Troupe, and Lifeblood completion percentages "count" towards the achievement itself? A lot of what I've read online seems to point towards the extra percentages not having any importance, but I've seen some conflicting information. So, if anyone has a solid answer that would be radical. Just trying to be as efficient as possible with my next playthrough. Thanks in advance!

[Kanra]

Grey Prince doesn't count towards completion. The only useful thing you'd get out of him is the extra essence. However, that hardly matters as you're going for 107% anyway. None of the choice based achievements lock you out of completion percentages, as they either don't give any or have alternatives that give the same amount of completion.

As far as Hidden Dreams is concerned, it's just extra essence. Grimm Troupe has completion percentages tied to it: one from either of the charms that you pick, one from beating regular Grimm, and one from either beating NKG or banishing the troupe. Lifeblood added 1% which you get from killing the Hive Knight boss (who now also blocks the path to Hiveblood, which also gives 1%).

Though, if you're simply aiming for the "Steel Heart" achievement, then you can leave out 7% as the achievement requires 100% or above.

[Yult]

Originally posted by Kanra:

Grey Prince doesn't count towards completion. The only useful thing you'd get out of him is the extra essence. However, that hardly matters as you're going for 107% anyway. None of the choice based achievements lock you out of completion percentages, as they either don't give any or have alternatives that give the same amount of completion.

As far as Hidden Dreams is concerned, it's just extra essence. Grimm Troupe has completion percentages tied to it: one from either of the charms that you pick, one from beating regular Grimm, and one from either beating NKG or banishing the troupe. Lifeblood added 1% which you get from killing the Hive Knight boss (who now also blocks the path to Hiveblood, which also gives 1%).

Though, if you're simply aiming for the "Steel Heart" achievement, then you can leave out 7% as the achievement requires 100% or above.

Well... I did not know that. Strange, I wonder why I thought Zote counted as a percentage. In that same vein of thought I suppose the White Defender wouldn't count either then. That's fine. Good, actually. Was never a big fan of those bosses to begin with.

Fantastic answer and explanation. Thank you so much!

[Desticler]

Originally posted by Yult:

In that same vein of thought I suppose the White Defender wouldn't count either then.

Yeah, all dream bosses (Unless you count NKG) don't affect the percentage.