Feeling burnt out.

[ExecutiveOdin]

Taking a break after failing the trial of fools a couple times. It feels like too many of the "challenges" in this are just endurance tests. The trial just goes on and on and on and before that I was trying to kill the soul tyrant and after dying a few times I looked up his health and my damage. At the time my nail was at 13 damage which meant I'd have to hit him like 120ish times. Like for christ sake.
Then I am also getting tired of needing to go to another area to check and see a tunnel I missed but I can't just go back there I need to go through my current area until I get to a station and then take that to the next nearest station and then go all the way back through another area and hope it was worth it because I'm just going to need to go back through 5 more rooms minimum to go back to a station and it's just like uggggghh. Just let me teleport between benches.

Then there are no benches at bosses...This game has two of the things that made me never finish Chasm. Big long areas you have to go through over and over again even after they are long completed. And in Chasm they made the final boss a hassle and put the respawn point through a few rooms filled with lava and dozens of enemies so you couldn't just go fight him again.

[Sokurah]

Some boss runs are annoying yes. I also never understood how this make any game better, Dark souls is well known for this crap 😁

But i love hollow knight and dark soul anyway.

Well you dont need to do the trial of fools. The worst part is were the wall narrow to this tiny space with spikes on the floor. If you can beat that save you should be okay.

But tbh i also beat the trial just once.

If any boss feels too hard maybe you just need to lvl your nail. Check some progression route guides maybe.

[GgWw1175]

Originally posted by ExecutiveOdin:

At the time my nail was at 13 damage which meant I'd have to hit him like 120ish times. Like for christ sake.

Aside from upgrading your nail, remember that you also have spells. They can dish out a load of damage, especially with Shaman Stone.

Originally posted by ExecutiveOdin:

Just let me teleport between benches. Then there are no benches at bosses...

I don't know how far you are into the game, but at some point you get an ability that allows you to set a warp point almost anywhere and teleport to it at will. It should at least help with the long bench-to-boss trips.

[Phoenixite]

Yes, once you collect 900 essence, the Seer will give you the Dreamgate, allowing you to place a gate at almost any point, and you can teleport to it from pretty much anywhere.

[ExecutiveOdin]

I'm just at 400 essence I think. Gotta find more graves and plants I guess.

[Yoshi2021]

Unless you are very skilled, you should not be trying to fight Soul Tyrant right now. Trial of the Fool also gives you nothing but Geo, I don't think it is even required for anything.

[Violet-111]

DO NOT try to beat Trial of the Fool with channeled nail, you will get nowhere. Trial of the Fool is an endgame thing, unless you want to do it earlier, I don't know.
And a small tip, if you quit the game at any point it puts you at your last bench with all progress saved. So as long as you rested at that stag station, you can just warp back.

[ExecutiveOdin]

I played again today. I have the shade cloak now and am trying to find all the places I haven't been to yet. I know I'm forgetting one or two "shaky floors" that I found several hours before I got the dash to destroy them.
I found the queens garden to but every path inside it and every path around it is blocked.
I found some other landmarks in some areas too that I can inspect but just get some obscure words.
Found a knight in white armor at the palace and I can't interact with.
Every time I stumble onto a hidden area I missed I get excited it might be a charm or a grub but it's consistently a journal or something.
I'm pretty sure there is another place I need a simple key somewhere too but I haven't found any keys after the one you buy and the first one you find and there is no way in hell I could possibly remember where the door is now anyway.
Have barely gotten any essence after the first 370. No clue how I'll get to 500 for my next goal.
I'm starting to feel like the game is just wasting my time.

[roach]

The bulk of the essence you get is from fighting dream bosses and dream warriors, it's definitely more of a late game thing. Same for that white knight.

[GR3YL0TU5]

This game is pretty hardcore but if you keep your wits about you, use markers on your map, keep a positive attitude and don’t waste time trying to do stuff you’re not ready for (ie. trial of the fool, dream bosses etc.) it is a really great experience as you develop the knight’s skills and abilities.

However, if you’re short on patience, don’t appreciate the beauty of the artwork and soundscape, and find yourself getting bored of traversing the kingdom, maybe it’s not the game for you.

Whenever I felt frustrated on my first run through, I would just admire the sheer beauty of the game itself which I found strangely soothing.

[Yoshi2021]

Go to the colosseum and check the walls real carefully. You can also find a Simple Key in the Basin.

Have you been looking carefully for ghosts? That is basically all of your essence.

Check the room you fought False Knight in for an interesting challenge. You might not be able to do it yet, but it is worth coming back later for more challenges.

The Shade Cloak let's you go through those black bar things such as the one in Fog Canyon, probably taunting you with Cornifer's humming.

That White Knight requires talking to the seer with 1,800 essence.

Basically, take things slowly.

If you really need extra help, this map is an amazing resource, although I would only use it as a last resort: https://scripterswar.com/hollowknight/map

[ExecutiveOdin]

1,800? Jesus I thought I was almost done.
This game is massive.

[Yoshi2021]

There is an achievement for talking to the Seer with 2,400 essence. (you get nothing but the achievement)

Also note that the bosses give hundreds of essence at once and there are two bosses (one if you left Zote to die) that you can refight for more essence.

[GgWw1175]

Originally posted by Yoshi2020:

There is an achievement for talking to the Seer with 2,400 essence. (you get nothing but the achievement)

Well, you get some lore too.

Originally posted by Yoshi2020:

there are two bosses that you can refight for more essence.

Actually, they only give Essence the first time they're defeated.

[Yoshi2021]

Originally posted by Yoshi2020:

there are two bosses that you can refight for more essence.

Actually, they only give Essence the first time they're defeated. [/quote]
Oof, I misread the wiki.

[Shiro Tamashi]

Originally posted by ExecutiveOdin:

Taking a break after failing the trial of fools a couple times. It feels like too many of the "challenges" in this are just endurance tests. The trial just goes on and on and on and before that I was trying to kill the soul tyrant and after dying a few times I looked up his health and my damage. At the time my nail was at 13 damage which meant I'd have to hit him like 120ish times. Like for christ sake.
Then I am also getting tired of needing to go to another area to check and see a tunnel I missed but I can't just go back there I need to go through my current area until I get to a station and then take that to the next nearest station and then go all the way back through another area and hope it was worth it because I'm just going to need to go back through 5 more rooms minimum to go back to a station and it's just like uggggghh. Just let me teleport between benches.

Then there are no benches at bosses...This game has two of the things that made me never finish Chasm. Big long areas you have to go through over and over again even after they are long completed. And in Chasm they made the final boss a hassle and put the respawn point through a few rooms filled with lava and dozens of enemies so you couldn't just go fight him again.

I suggest doing Trail of Fools only after you get Pure Nail, if not then at least Coiled Nail. Get all of the nail arts and nail master glory before attempting this challenge. Having descending dark/desolate dive and shade soul with shaman stone with help you a lot too. There are stages in this trial where you can't heal so I would recommend going for fragile/unbreakable heart over quick focus or healing items.

Shaman stone helps clearing out pesky primal aspids which could otherwise take out a good chunk of your health.