NKG or Pure Vessel which is harder?

[witchplayer]

I beat NKG in like 3 hours but I have been stuck on pure vessel for what feels like an eternity. Is there any builds or anything that is good for him?

[Angry Owl]

PV feels tougher than NKG, that is true, but both are pretty fair and 'learnable'.
I'd say Grimm is more about positioning, whereas Vessel is all about jumping and downslashing:)

Regarding builds: probably only Strenght and maybe Quick Slash (though take care not to overextend). Frankly, there are no OP charm setups here.

[Retinas]

I practiced on PV for ages, and now it's a push over. So NKG is definitely harder. I'll tell you my strategy for PV:

- Try to always keep it on screen, but only just. When you're waiting for it to attack, run from it until it's on the edge of your screen. This way, it's nail attacks will be far enough away from you that you can react to them and jump them in time and down slash.

- When it does the attack where it shoots the white nails, just jump towards it and shade cloak through them to get a hit on it. Once you've knocked it out twice though, be more hesitant before doing this, as at that point it can use the void tendrils attack, and the telegraph for those two are very similar, but your response to the two is opposite.

- I use the charm that lets you heal faster, so when it does the attack with the white circle, dash to safety and get a heal in. If another circle starts to appear around you, stop and dash out of it.

[Fluffiest Princess]

Opinion is divided; some people find NKG harder, others find PV harder. Personally I think NKG is the harder boss - PV is mostly novelty value, we've had a lot of time to get used to Grimm.

[DOFR]

NKG has a huge variaty of moves that need precise responses, but they are clearly telegraphed. PV has lower response window, attacks rapidly and might get you out of blind zone in some situations, but most of then are less punshing for mistakes. For me with my ♥♥♥♥♥♥ reaction time, but calm approach - PV is hard no matter how many times I try, while NKG became a fairly average boss after I understood how to properly respond to his stuff.

[thorin.hannahs]

For myself PV is a push over while NKG is the more difficult one. I feel that the progression and speed of PVs fight makes him much easier than NKG. NKG has access to all of his moves from the beginning of the fight and none of his moves really allow for the damage potential you can inflict on PV when he does light bombs and void tendrils. They are both very fair though since they each have a tempo reset built into the fight. PVs tempo reset is just much shorter than NKGs

[Miri Ryllis ミリス]

I find PV harder. Sure, I beat him faster, but that's just because my skills have developed since NKG last year. PV is a lot more punishing to mistakes and has a bit more erratic moveset compared to NKG. When NKG spawns in a location i know PRECISELY what move he'll use. When PV does I have to wait for him to make an action first, and since his attacks are as fast as NKG's there's more delay in the preparation to dodge. Not only that, but PV (pre-nerf) offered only 3-4 staggers that let you heal 1-2 masks (3-4 with quick focus) each, along with his phase 2 move being a potential (but dangerous) chance at another heal, whereas off the top of my head I can think of 4 very frequent and safe openings to heal at least 1 mask with NKG, stagger being an easy 3-4 WITHOUT quick focus.

TLDR
NKG offers more room for mistakes, and is way more predictable, than PV.

[SellingAim]

Pure Vessel is harder for me, i've done booth Grimm and his NK version hitless (Radiant Difficulty) and it only took me 2 hours. Vessel is the harder one for me im able to do the acendant version but not further.

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

I'd say NKG is still harder. After only a few hours of practicing PV, I was able to beat it pretty consistantly, wheras my winrate for NKG is pretty low. I can beat NKG, just nowhere near as consistantly as PV.

Then there is AR, which I think is even harder(haven't even beaten her yet). There furthest I've gotten in that fight was the part where she tries to snipe you, but usually I die before then.

[thebiomage]

NKG is fairly easy if you just hang at the very edge of the arena (for some reason I prefer the left edge). Dodge all the attacks until he does the 4 pillars of fire coming from the ground, during that you can easily get 4-5 attacks in.

[Jeanne D'Marc]

Pure Vessel. I'm comfortable enough with Nightmare Grimm's to the point where I can beat him without taking a hit. That is NOT true with the Pure Vessel however. Pv feels faster, and some of his moves I still have trouble dodging. (The 3-hit combo and especially tentacle attack. I always dash when I should jump) At least they're both easier than Absolute Raidiance though. I only beat her in the training hall, and cannot replicate that success in the Pantheon.

[witchplayer]

Holy damn I just beat pantheon of the knight. My reward? Something way harder. why does pantheon of hallownest exist. I think Hollow Knight has become a game for masochists. Thanks for the advice guys.