Vengeful spirit is the first spell that you find in the game and is absolutely required to progress. Luckily, it is not too far away from the start and is simple to find. Many paths that you find early on are blocked or are simply too high. Once you find the Vengeful spirit you can then move on to finding the Mowthwing Cloak (aka Dash) ability.
Starting from Dirtmouth drop into the well and head left.
Once in the next room drop all the way down to the very bottom
From here, make sure to talk to the map maker known as Cornifer. He will see you a map that will give you a general idea as to where to go. Once you go back to Dirtmouth a new shop will open. Cornifer’s wife Iselda will sell you items like a quill to be able to fill the map with places you have visited. You can go back to Dirtmouth a bit later. Right now press on with the hunt for Vengeful Spirit by going down and to the right.
The next room will lock you in until you have defeated a few easy enemies. This is just to get you use to fighting. The Aspid Hunter will shoot a projectile at you which can be dodged before getting an attack in.
Once defeated, there is a room at the top right with a bench, a room bottom left that you can’t reach until you get dash and finally a room at the bottom right where we can press on. Be sure to save at the bench before moving on as there is some platforming required to continue.
Once you make your way through two long rooms of platforming, you will then need to go up. You will see a sign that directs you towards a Stag Station. A Stag station is how you will fast travel in Hollow Knight from one location to another. There are not a ton of them but enough to be VERY helpful.
In the next room take an immediate left to reach a bench and pay a nominal fee to unlock the Stag Station. This first stag station will unlock the ability to fast travel back to Dirtmouth if you would like.
After saving at the bench, go up and take the first left you can.
From here you will continue to the left until you reach a big open room that most any gamer will recognize as a boss fight room. Just jump up on the right-hand side and may your way into the cage where you will fight the False Knight.
The False Knight only has a couple of attacks.
- Jump towards you and slam on the ground.
- Jump away from you, charge an attack and send shockwaves on the ground
- After dealing enough damage he will jump into the center of the room and attack wildly
- While in the center orange debris will fall from the ceiling
- The debris can be attacked and knocked towards to boss for extra damage
After The False Knight takes three rounds of damage he will fall through the floor where you can finish him off and received the city crest which will be very important later.
With the False Knight defeated, go into the room on the left. You are able to follow the path you see this strange building that you will need to enter
Once inside the place known as the Ancestral Mound, you will find a Snail Shaman. Talk to this creature and they will give you the Vengeful Spirit ability.
Hollow knight is only linear at the start of the game as you are required to get Vengeful Spirit before Mothwing Cloak (aka Dash) and finally Mantis Claw (aka wall jump). After that a LOT of paths open up and you will be able to explore a ton.
If you are stuck after finding the vengeful spirit, go ahead and click here to get to my guide on how to find the Mothwing Cloak.
