All Hollow Knight: Silksong Starting Abilities, Ranked by Usefulness
Hornet's toolkit is vast and varied. Here's which abilities to prioritize in your first playthrough.
Silksong opens Hornet's enormous ability set gradually, and the early choices you make about how to play will shape your entire experience. Unlike its predecessor, Silksong doesn't funnel you toward a single build — the platforming and combat systems are deep enough to support wildly different approaches.
Ranked from most to least impactful for a first playthrough: Thread Dash is essential. It's your primary mobility tool and doubles as an offensive option. Silk Weave, the wall-cling mechanic, unlocks huge portions of the map early. Needle Strike is your bread-and-butter poke, fast and reliable.
The Crochet abilities are situational but incredibly powerful when you understand them. The Knot Bomb in particular has a skill ceiling high enough that a speedrunner would call it broken and a new player would barely use it.
The Aria system — Hornet's spin on the Charm system — is where deep builds emerge. Pairing Thread Dash upgrades with the Flensing thread amplifier creates a mobility build that trivializes many late-game encounters. Experiment freely; the game rewards creativity.
