Defeating Sister Splinter in Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of your first major boss challenges on the main track through the game. It's a taste of what's to come in terms of utilising everything in your arsenal to take down some of the tricky bosses later on.
Sister Splinter might seem annoying, but with a few simple tools you'll definitely be able to overcome her, and then you'll get to face the Widow—a boss that's arguably much, much worse.
Still, for now, here are some tips to take down this Shellwood granny, including some handy clips for illustrative purposes.
How to beat Sister Splinter in Silksong
There are two main things that make Sister Splinter a bit tricky and those are:
- The spiky roots she periodically summons throughout the fight. These restrict your movement, making it harder to dodge her downward claw attacks but also…
- The flying minions she also summons periodically throughout the fight.
This combination can be tough to beat with no strategy, so here are some tips that'll help you deal with each element.
- Attack Sister Splinter in-between each claw attack and be aggressive
You'll want to dodge in the opposite direction to the hand she's using for her claw attack. If it's her left hand, go right, and then hop up to smack her in between each claw attack, using that momentum to reposition to the other side. You can hit Sister Splinter for most of the fight, so keep whacking her head whenever you can, especially as this will give you more silk to work with.
- Break the roots as soon as they come up
There's a brief period of time between when Sister Splinter summons the spiky roots and when she reappears, letting you break at least one and open up the arena a bit.
- Use Silk Spear to wipe out lots of roots at once
Honestly, Silk Spear is so strong for this fight. In the second phase when Sister Splinter fills the entire arena with spiky roots, one cast of Silk Spear will destroy all the roots in one direction, opening up some space. It'll also one-shot her minions from a distance. The only caveat is that you'll have to be aggressive and keep hitting her to maintain your silk supply and try to be accurate with your casts.
- Bring tools to help with her minions
I personally love Sting Shards for any battle with lots of minions—these spike traps will stick in place and explode when an enemy gets close, doing a decent chunk of damage if not straight-up killing them. The simple Straight Pin is also an excellent tool for dealing with Sister Splinter's minions at range since they have barely any health. You can get Sting Shards from the Forge Daughter in the lower section of the Deep Docks (once you've beaten the enemy gauntlet with the ringing bell.)
- Be careful of contact damage
Particularly when she falls to the ground, since her hurtbox is still active when she's stunned. Sister Splinter has a very weird shape, so it's quite easy to take two damage just by touching her on the ground, or when jumping up to hit her.
All in all, if you utilise Silk Spear and tools to clear minions and roots, Sister Splinter's claw attacks shouldn't prove too much to deal with once you've established that pattern of dodge and hit, letting you beat her.
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