How to unlock Act 3 in Silksong

Working out how to unlock Act 3 in Hollow Knight: Silksong is rather tricky, and in fact, requires you to complete a big chunk of extra side content beyond simply battling your way up to the top of The Citadel and fighting the final boss. To unlock Act 3, you first have to complete the Silk and Soul quest, a special wish you get from the Caretaker of Songclave upon meeting certain requirements.

There were a lot of misconceptions around this quest's unlock conditions when the game launched, claiming you had to beat the final boss of Act 2 and complete all side content, which isn't true at all. Below I'll walk you through the exact requirements to unlock Silk and Soul, plus list every wish you need to complete. While most side content remains available, Act 3 does make the game harder, especially gauntlet battles, so you might want to take your time and finish side content first.

This guide will, of course, contain spoilers for the end of Act 2, since it's required to reach Act 3. As well as providing the unlock details for Silk and Soul, I'll also list the few additional sidequests I did at the bottom in case doing the following somehow doesn't trigger it for you.

How to unlock Act 3 in Silksong

Before I go into specifics, I first want to clarify some misconceptions about unlocking Act 3:

• You don't have to do all quests
• You don't have to find every lost flea
• You don't have to do every town quest (though almost all of them)
• You don't have to beat the final boss to acquire the Silk and Soul quest

Now that's out of the way, here's what you need to do:

• Complete *most* of the wish wall quests for Bone Bottom, Bellhart, and Songclave
  • I'll go into specifics about which below because there are exceptions
• Move the Flea Caravan to its final spot at the Pale Lake in the Putrified Ducts
  • To do this, you'll have to find 22 flea locations (if I counted right), possibly also the giant flea in Memorium, Kratt in Greymoor, and Vog in the Putrified Ducts
  • You'll also have to find the Pale Lake and tell Fleamaster Mooshka
• Collect the Architect, Conductor, and Vaultkeeper melodies and gain access to the final boss in The Cradle

Upon successfully fulfilling the above criteria:

• Complete the Silk and Soul quest which you should be able to get from the Caretaker of Songclave
• Defeat Grand Mother Silk and choose to play the Needolin instead of binding her at the end of the fight

If you fulfill all of these requirements, the credits will roll, and afterwards you'll be put back at the main menu. From there, just select "Start Game" and smash the black tendrils around your save file to start Act 3.

Silksong Act 3 quest requirements

Below, I'll go through the exact quests and conditions I completed for each town to unlock Silk and Soul, plus those that I reckon are likely unnecessary.

Bone Bottom quests

• Bone Bottom Repairs
• A Lifesaving Bridge
• Garb of the Pilgrims
• Volatile Flintbeetles
• The Terrible Tyrant
• An Icon of Hope

Also, make sure to fight the Skull Tyrant that attacks Bone Bottom, witness the funeral, and talk to the leader of Bone Bottom to receive the Hornet Statuette once all these quests are done.

Bellhart quests

• Restoration of Bellhart
• Pinmaster's Oil
• My Missing Courier
• Silver Bells
• Crawbug Clearing
• My Missing Brother
• Bone Bottom Supplies
• Savage Beastfly
• Bellhart's Glory

You'll also have to complete Trail's End. This is Shakra's quest and requires you to either find (or miss) her when visiting The Marrow, Deep Docks, Hunter's March, Far Fields, Wormways, Greymoor, Sinner's Road, Shellwood, Bilewater, Blasted Steps, Sands of Karak, and Mount Fay. You'll also have to purchase the maps for these regions either when you see her, or in Bone Bottom or Bellhart depending on your progress. Trail's End should appear in Bellhart on the wish wall once done.

Make sure to also speak to Pavo (the guy with the bell hat) in Bellhart to receive your Bellhome in the town. It seems like you can do this before completing Shakra's quest, provided you've done the Restoration and Glory quests listed above.

Songclave quests

• Fine Pins
• Strengthening Songclave
• The Lost Merchant
• The Wandering Merchant
• Cloaks of the Choir
• Balm for the Wounded

Apparently you don't have to wake up the Second Sentinel (which seems strange considering she appears and defends the pilgrims of Songclave in Act 3, similar to Shakra with Bellhart, and there's even some dialogue from a pilgrim about it). If you want to wake her up anyway for this added flavour, first, complete three bell puzzles to collect Cogwork Heart pieces and then use the heart to revive the Second Sentinel in the lower section of the Cogwork Core. You'll also need to complete Silk and Soul, of course.

Extra quests

There are a few other quests I did that I don't think are related to Act 3. For example, I completed two of the courier quests (Bone Bottom and Pilgrim's Rest), but I didn't do the delivery for Songclave or the Queen's Egg. In terms of the Grand Hunts, I didn't do the Wailing Mother or The Hidden Hunter (meaning The Terrible Tyrant and Savage Beastfly may not be necessary either). I also didn't do any quests related to the Twisted Bud for Greyroot or the Huntress.

These are the other quests I did (just for reference in case doing the above doesn't unlock Silk and Soul):

• Berry Picking - Collect Moss Berries for the Moss Druid in Mosshome
• Flexile Spines - Collect Spine Cores for the Seamstress in the Far Fields
• Bugs of Pharloom - Defeat bugs for Nuu in the Halfway House in Greymoor
• Alchemist's Assistant - Extract the three Plasmium buds for Zylotol in the Wormways
• Great Taste of Pharloom - Collect five ingredients for Loyal Mergwin in the Choral Chambers
• Pilgrim's Rest Supplies - Take the delivery from the couriers in Bellhart to Bone Bottom

Silksong guide: Home of all our bug-battling tips
Silksong flea locations: Gather the lost fleas
Silksong simple key locations: Where to use it
Silksong Hokers location: Support the Seamstress
Hunter's March bench: Yes there is one