Learn how to defeat Nosk in Hollow Knight!
Team Cherry’s Metroidvania action-adventure game, Hollow Knight, follows the journey of a nameless warrior called the Knight as he travels through Hallownest, now a kingdom ruined by a supernatural disease. As the Knight journeys through Hallownest, he will encounter different enemies, bosses, mini-bosses, and even hidden bosses. One of these hidden bosses is Nosk.
Nosk is a hidden boss in the game that can be found in a hidden room in the southeastern part of Deepnest. Nosk, at first, will look exactly like the Knight. Then, once the Knight reaches its lair in Hollow Knight, Nosk will reveal its true form.
According to in-game lore, Nosk is a beast that can change its appearance and was part of the Infected. Nosk can copy the faces and bodies, usually loved and departed ones, found in the memories of bugs. Once it catches its prey, Nosk will hang them from the ceiling of its lair.
In this guide, you will learn how to defeat Nosk in Hollow Knight!
Location
As mentioned above, Nosk can be found in his lair at the end of a series of hidden rooms in the southeastern part of Deepnest.
Before the Knight can find Nosk, it is required that the Knight has the Mantis Claw ability, allowing the Knight to cling to walls and jump off of them. The Mothwing Cloak ability enables the Knight to perform a horizontal dash forward, and the Monarch Wings ability enables the Knight to perform a secondary jump in mid-air.
The Knight must also purchase the Lumafly Lantern from Sly in Dirtmouth to light up very dark rooms. Finding the Sharp Shadow charm will be no challenge with this item and these abilities.
To find Nosk in Hollow Knight, this is what the Knight must do:
- Starting from the Bench inside the Tram in the southeast of Deepnest, exit the Tram, head to the left, and take the exit.
- The Knight is now in Deepnest and will be in a room that looks like a maze filled with Garpedes. Head slightly to the left, wait for the Garpede to pass through on the path above, quickly jump to the platform above, head to the right, then jump to the next platform above.
- Next, head to the left, wait for the Garpede above to pass through, jump to the platform above, run to the left, and drop down on the next path downwards.
- After that, head slightly to the left, wait for the Garpede below to pass through, quickly drop down, run to the right, and drop down on the next path downwards.
- Then, head to the left, jump across the spikes with the help of the Monarch Wings or the Mothwing Cloak ability, and take the exit on the left.
- Next, continue heading to the left, where the Knight will find a Bench next to a hot spring. Sit on the Bench to heal and save your progress, then stand in the hot spring to regenerate the Knight’s Soul. After that, continue heading to the left and take the exit.
- Then, head to the left, jump up the platform where the Knight will encounter a Wandering Husk, jump across the spikes on the floor and onto a small platform, jump across the spikes on the floor and onto the next small platform on the left, jump across the spikes and onto the ledge above on the left with the help of the Monarch Wings ability, strike the wall on the left (which is a breakable wall) several times to break it and reveal a hidden exit, then take the hidden exit.
- After that, head to the left, drop down the gap, then head to the small ledge on the left just above a Grub. The wall of this ledge is breakable. Strike the wall several times to break it and reveal a hidden pathway.
- On the hidden pathway, head to the left, jump across the gap, jump up the next tall platform on the left, continue to the left where you will find something below that looks exactly like the Knight, continue to the left, jump over another tall platform, drop down the gap on the left, jump across the gap, and head to the right where the Knight will be where the other Knight was seen.
- At the end of the path, drop down the gap on the right, head to the right, drop down another gap on the right, and drop down another gap on the left (it is worth noting that there is a shell that will give the Knight Geo after breaking it across the gap on the left), continue heading down, head to the left, then drop down the gap where there is another shell that will release Geo after breaking it.
- Next, in this seemingly empty small area, go near the wall on the left, which is a breakable wall. Strike the wall several times to break it and reveal another hidden pathway.
- After that, head to the left, where, at the end of the path, you will find the other Knight on the other side of the wall. Head up the path with the help of the Mantis Claw ability, head to the left, drop down the gap at the end of the path, head to the right, and drop down the gaps.
- Then, head to the right, jump across the narrow gap, jump up the next tall platform, continue to the right where you will find the other Knight below running in the opposite direction, drop down the next gap, head to the narrow path on the left, drop down the gap on the left at the end of the path, head to the right, drop down the platform, continue to the right, then take the exit on the right.
- Finally, head to the right, where the path behind will be closed down a couple of times and locked inside, and the Knight will reach a big room filled with dead bugs hanging from the ceiling with the other Knight seemingly waiting. Approach the other Knight, and it will scream, transform into its original form, and reveal Nosk. Then, the battle against Nosk will start!
To exit this area, the Knight can head back where he entered on the left, continue to the left, jump up the platform, jump to the platform on the next level above, head to the right, jump up the platforms on the right at the end of the path, and head up the narrow shaft with the help of the Mantis Claw ability. On the left side, there is a wooden barrier that is holding up a wall. Strike the wooden barrier several times to break it and open a shortcut back to the first hidden area where a Grub was found.
Moves
In battle, Nosk will perform the following moves in Hollow Knight:
- Leap
Nosk will jump around the arena and sometimes jump and land towards the Knight’s location. This attack is Nosk’s method of moving around the arena.
- Charge
Nosk will screech, then quickly run towards the Knight, then across the arena, and not stop even if Nosk hits the Knight.
- Eruption
Nosk will run towards the middle of the arena and then spit out two blobs of Infection towards its feet, eight blobs of Infection on Nosk’s right, and eight more blobs of Infection on Nosk’s left, and they will all spit out in arcs with small gaps in between. Each blob of Infection will stay on the ground for almost two seconds. After the Eruption attack, Nosk will always perform the Charge attack next. This attack is added to Nosk’s move set in the Hidden Dreams content pack.
- Rain
Nosk will jump towards the ceiling of the room, disappear for almost two seconds, then rain down blobs of Infection on the Knight every half second after the first blob. Each blob of Infection will stay on the ground for almost two seconds. After that, Nosk will drop down to where the last blob of Infection landed. Nosk will only perform this move once. This attack is also added to Nosk’s move set in the Hidden Dreams content pack.
Strategy
Nosk will always screech before performing the Charge attack, which can be a great audio cue if Nosk is on the other side of the arena and cannot be seen on screen.
When Nosk performs the eruption attack, it would be best to dash away quickly toward the gaps between the infection blobs.
As for the Rain attack, it would be best to keep moving to dodge the blobs of Infection, as Nosk will target the blobs toward the Knight.
Nosk is large and can move quickly, so dodging its attacks can be quite difficult. So, taking advantage of the surroundings would be very helpful: in Nosk’s lair, the middle of the floor is slightly raised to slightly more than the Knight’s height.
The spots at the walls of this middle platform, on the edge of both the left and right of the platform, are safe spaces that, if the Knight is standing there, the Knight will not get hit when Nosk uses the Charge attack.
If the Knight is standing on the wall of the platform on the left, the Knight will not get hit when Nosk performs the Charge attack while heading to the left; if the Knight is standing on the wall of the platform on the right, the Knight will not get hit when Nosk performs the Charge attack while heading to the right.
On these spots, with the right timing, the Knight can damage Nosk just as Nosk passes above the Knight. The Knight can also use Focus or heal on these spots. The Rain attack is the only attack where the Knight is not completely safe in these spots.
As for Spells, the Desolate Dive spell or the Descending Dark spell (the upgrade to the Desolate Dive spell) would be useful as these are quick spells but deal huge damage. The Howling Wraiths spell or the Abyss Shriek spell (the upgrade to the Howling Wraiths spell) can be very effective if used against Nosk while the Knight is on the walls of the middle platform that was mentioned above or when Nosk is in the ceiling when performing the Rain attack.
It would also help if the Knight obtained the Shade Cloak ability (the upgrade of the Mothwing Cloak ability), as this will allow the Knight to dash through Nosk, especially while Nosk is using the Charge attack. The Shade Cloak ability paired with the Sharp Shadow charm would be even better as the Sharp Shadow charm will allow the Knight to deal damage when dashing through the Knight using the Shade Cloak ability.
Charms are also very beneficial in fighting Nosk: the Quick Focus Charm can be great to have as it can help the Knight heal faster, and the Mark of Pride and Longnail Charm can help by increasing the length of the Knight’s Nail.
The Shaman Stone Charm can help by increasing the size and damage of Spells, and the Soul Catcher and Soul Eater Charm can help by increasing the amount of Soul that the Knight will gain when hitting enemies.
The Kingsoul Charm can help by regenerating Soul every two seconds; the Grubsong Charm can help by gaining Soul every time the Knight takes damage; the Spell Twister Charm can help by reducing the amount of Soul needed to cast Spells.
The Stalwart Shell Charm can help by increasing the invincibility time and decreasing the recoil every time the Knight takes damage. The Fragile Strength Charm or the Unbreakable Strength Charm can help by increasing the damage output of the Knight’s Nail by 50%.
After defeating Nosk in Hollow Knight, the Knight can head to the path on the right and obtain a Pale Ore.
You mustn’t get greedy in attacking Nosk, as this will result in the Knight taking damage because of Nosk’s size and fast movement. Learn when to attack, when not to attack, and when to dodge, and you’ll defeat Nosk in no time.
