Hollow Knight by Team Cherry is one of the best indie games in recent memory. Its tough-as-nails difficulty, imaginative boss battles, and sprawling world design make it not just impressive for an independent developer, but also amazing solely on its own merits.
A huge part of Hollow Knight's gameplay is the use of Charms. These items can be equipped to add special bonuses, such as extra health, more powerful attacks, or even completely transformed spells. There are 45 Charms to pick from, but you can only equip a certain number at any given time depending on how many notches they require, so let's go over the best options that you'll want to seek out.
Updated on April 22, 2023, by Casey Foot: Charming (pun intended) yet difficult, Hollow Knight is as popular as ever. Whether it’s your first foray into the land of Hallownest or you’re looking to sharpen your skills for a Steel Soul run, it’s important to be equipped with the best charms possible. To help you narrow down your search, we’ve compiled the best charms the game has to offer.
23 Shape Of Unn
The Shape Of Unn is one of the stranger charms in Hollow Knight, changing the Knight’s appearance to resemble a slug when in use. Other than that, its usefulness lies in its ability to allow the Knight to move around while focusing.
Usually, you’re susceptible to attacks when focusing, but the Shape of Unn charm means you can duck away from some enemies, avoiding taking damage while you heal. However, it’s only useful in certain situations, and costs two Notches to equip. You can find this charm at the bottom of the Lake of Unn.
22 Nailmaster’s Glory
Nail Arts are helpful abilities that the Knight can learn from the Nailmasters. There are three different Nail Arts - Cyclone Slash, Dash Slash, and Great Slash - that are all boosted by the Nailmaster’s Glory charm, which can be obtained from Sly after you learn all three Nail Arts. This charm increases the effectiveness of using Nail Arts by decreasing the time needed to charge the Art up.
This reduced charge time is especially useful when dispatching multiple enemies at once, such as in the Colosseum of Fools. It only costs one notch to equip it, so there’s no real downside to using it.
21 Fragile/Unbreakable Greed
If you’re low on Geo in Hollow Knight, the Greed charm, first available as a Fragile version, is one you’ll want to use. It increases the amount of Geo dropped by enemies and boss encounters; however, it unfortunately doesn’t affect chests or Geo deposits.
Even so, it’s hard to say no to more money, especially when you want to save up to upgrade your Nail or visit the merchants. You can buy the Fragile Greed charm from Leg Eater, who is found in the Fungal Wastes. This version will break if you die, so it’s best used when you’re fighting enemies you feel confident in defeating. Luckily, you can repair the charm if it breaks, or ask Divine to make an Unbreakable version.
20 Thorns Of Agony
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If you're looking to make the most of notches, then Thorns of Agony will probably not be in your top picks, but if you're going for pure vindictive pleasure, it's the number one option. Thorns of Agony is a reactionary Charm that, when you take damage, causes massive black thorns to erupt from the Knight's body.
They only remain for a second, but any enemies caught in their reach take damage in kind. It is... disquieting, but if you anticipate soaking up a lot of close-range damage, then it's ideal. Perhaps fittingly, this Charm is found in a thorny labyrinth inside Greenpath.
19 Spell Twister
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For anyone playing the Knight primarily as a caster, Spell Twister is a solid option. It eats up two notches and, when equipped, decreases the soul cost for all spells. Ominous lingo aside, that functionally translates to an increased ammo count, so you can continuously bombard those buggy baddies with Vengeful Spirits from a blessedly safe distance.
It should be said that, as the game progresses, and conservation of not only inventory but actions as well becomes more key, this Charm loses some of its... charm. This Charm is located in a secret room just above the Soul Sanctum.
18 Stalwart Shell
Masterful players know how to use those few, precious post-damage invincibility frames to their fullest effect. The rest of us, though, need a bit of a longer window. That's the kind of player that the Stalwart Shell Charm is for. At the cost of two notches, the Stalwart Shell will envelop the Knight in a, well, stalwart shell, and briefly shield them while they heal. There's no shame in needing a safe space.
Mind you, it won't last. The shield will vanish before you finish healing, so use those extra seconds of grace carefully, otherwise, you're still vulnerable. Still, if this Charm is for you, you can purchase it from Sly in Dirtmouth for 200 Geo.
17 Sprintmaster
Have you ever read the title of a thing and immediately known everything that there is to know about the aforementioned thing? That's the Sprintmaster Charm. It takes up a single notch, and in return, it turns the Knight into the speediest discarded vessel this side of the Hallownest.
There are a couple of viable uses for this; for instance, if you're not vibing a fight, running away will never have been easier. Conversely, if you're stuck in a fight... running away will never have been easier. This is another Charm that is in Sly's shop, available for 400 Geo after you obtain the Shopkeeper's Key.
16 Sharp Shadow
For the low, low price of two notches, the Sharp Shadow Charm turns the Knight's Shadow Dash ability (a mid-to-late game addition that allows the Knight to dash directly through enemies without taking damage) into a weapon, with damage equivalent to a single nail swing.
While it seems like this would be a perfect Charm to use in combination with the Dashmaster Charm (see below) for doubling up on the dash damage, Sharp Shadow has a cooldown timer that simply refuses to cooperate. Anyone looking for this Charm will find it behind a Shade Gate in Deepnest.
15 Unbreakable Heart
This one takes some time to obtain as first you must purchase the Fragile Heart Charm from our pal Leg Eater in the Fungal Wastes. A quick aside, if you break the Fragile version before you get the opportunity to upgrade it, Leg Eater will repair it... for a price. Later, when you encounter Divine, you can pay her to transform the Charm into its Unbreakable version.
Unbreakable Heart provides you with two additional masks of health - and it doesn't break upon death, unlike the Fragile one. This can be essential when dealing with the challenging foes and platforming sections in the kingdom of Hallownest.
14 Quick Slash
Quick Slash can be found in the Kingdom's Edge area of the game, tucked away in a secret room behind a series of tough enemies. This Charm increases the rate at which you can swing with the nail, which has a variety of uses.
Aside from the obvious ability to deal damage more quickly against opponents, the Quick Slash Charm can be handy in certain platforming sections as well. Places where you must down-attack on hazards to move across an area are made much easier when you can attack faster.
13 Unbreakable Strength
Just like Unbreakable Heart, the Unbreakable Strength Charm is obtained by purchasing Fragile Strength from Leg Eater, then paying Divine to upgrade it. The Unbreakable version will not shatter upon death, and it provides the same benefits.
Unbreakable Strength increases the damage you deal with the nail by a rather significant amount. It strengthens your physical attacks by 50 percent, meaning the creatures of Hallownest will go down in fewer hits. This Charm can be especially useful in boss battles where dealing as much damage as possible is key.
12 Flukenest
The Flukenest Charm is obtained in the Royal Waterways, after defeating the optional Flukemarm boss. It can be a challenging fight as the Flukemarm spawns a variety of fast-moving enemies to deal with, but the reward is well worth the effort.
Flukenest transforms the Vengeful Spirit spell, which is usually a powerful blast of pure energy, into a blast of flukes instead. The flukes do more damage than the normal version of the spell, at the cost of having a shorter range. If you're daring and unafraid of getting in close, this Charm can make for some devastating attacks.
11 Joni's Blessing
Joni's Blessing is somewhat of a niche Charm, but it can achieve excellent value in certain builds. Equipping it transforms all your masks into Lifeblood masks, then adds another 40 percent more Lifeblood masks. This can dramatically increase your health.
The Charm comes at a cost, however - Lifeblood masks can't be healed normally, so losing any will mean losing them until you can reach a save point. It can be used very effectively in spell-based builds, however, where the focus is more on using your resources for powerful attacks rather than healing.
10 Grubsong
The Grubsong Charm can be obtained after having freed ten of the Grub creatures found throughout the game, then returning to the Grubfather to receive the reward. This Charm only costs one notch to equip, meaning that it can be used very easily, and has a relatively powerful ability.
When taking damage, Grubsong gives you a little bit of Soul - the resource used to cast spells and heal in Hollow Knight. If you find that you're taking a lot of damage in a fight or during a platforming sequence, Grubsong can be extremely useful in order to somewhat mitigate that loss.
9 Deep Focus
Deep Focus is found within the mines of Crystal Peak and requires navigating through a rather tricky section in order to obtain. The Charm allows you to use your Focus power to heal two masks at once, instead of the usual one.
Deep Focus does have a drawback for its powerful effect - using Focus takes twice as long as normal. It doesn't use any additional Soul, though, which means that while it may not be the best choice for some of the more fast-paced fights in the game, it still has its uses.
8 Grubberfly's Elegy
Grubberfly's Elegy is found after saving all the Grubs in the game, which is less of a challenge and more of a privilege (look how cute the Grubs are!). It's a powerful Charm that adds a ranged beam attack to your normal nail swings, giving you more options when dealing with your foes.
However, Grubberfly's Elegy is only active when you have full health, so taking any damage will negate it. This makes it less useful in boss fights, where taking damage is all but assured, but a somewhat useful tool when exploring to deal with distant opponents.
7 Hiveblood
Hiveblood is obtained in - well, the Hive. Defeating the Hive Knight rewards this Charm, which turns your masks into honeycombs and regenerates the last comb you lost over a short period of time. This makes it a very handy Charm, though it does have some drawbacks.
The time delay can be difficult to work around, and it also has a somewhat prohibitive cost to equip. When tackling a platforming section, however, there's nothing better than Hiveblood to ensure that you can (eventually) make it through to the end.
6 Quick Focus
One of our best picks for the best Charm in Hollow Knight is Quick Focus. This Charm can be used to speed up your Focus healing power, halving the time it takes to recover from damage. In tricky boss battles, this can be a literal lifesaver when at low health.
Combined with a Charm like Deep Focus, though, Quick Focus lets you heal two masks at what is effectively regular speed. Against some of the bosses that can deal two masks of damage in one hit, this combo can help you win the fight.
5 Wayward Compass
For those to whom a map and sense of direction are important, Wayward Compass is one of the best early-game Charms to seek out. Its purpose is to guide you through the labyrinth that is each game map, many of which can be very complex without a sense of guidance.
This Charm will mark your location on the map when it is open, thus giving you a sense of where you stand in regard to the entire map — consider it the in-game form of the 'you are here' stickers found on most mall maps. Plus, it only costs one notch, so you aren't losing much by equipping it.
4 Soul Eater
Requiring a whopping total of four notches to equip, Soul Eater is definitely pricey. However, it's up to you to decide whether it's worth it since this Charm brings with it the ability to draw Soul from creatures that are still living. It also increases the amount of Soul gained when striking an enemy by a significant amount, which makes it a handy little Charm during certain boss fights.
The most common time to use this Charm is in the Hall of Gods and is useful on Radiance. Soul Eater acquires triple the amount of Soul than Soul Catcher, so the two are not interchangeable.