How to Obtain the Descending Dark Spell in Hollow Knight

Learn how to obtain the Descending Dark Spell in Hollow Knight!

One of the spells in Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight is the Descending Dark spell. This spell is the upgrade to the Desolate Dive spell wherein the Knight jumps up and dives downward with concentrated Soul that inflicts damage on enemies and breaks floors. The Descending Dark spell, on the other hand, is the same dive attack but better, as the Knight will dive downward with concentrated Soul and Shadow to inflict damage on enemies and break floors.

Using the Descending Dark spell creates an even bigger shockwave than Desolate Dive, and, to top it off, it bursts two times. The Descending Dark spell’s dive deals 15 damage, the same as the Desolate Dive’s dive damage. But the Descending Dark spell’s shockwave deals bigger damage, with 30 damage for the first and 15 damage for the second burst, in contrast to the Desolate Dive spell’s single shockwave with 20 damage.

The Descending Dark spell can only break breakable floors. Finding breakable floors is easy as the floor will rumble a little, and you will hear a cracking sound. Right after Descending Dark, the Knight becomes invincible for 0.4 seconds, which also happens after the Desolate Dive spell is used. Using the Descending Dark spell in rapid succession while the spell’s invincibility hasn’t run out yet, however, cancels the invincibility.

Location

The Descending Dark spell is located in the Crystalised Mound, southeast of Crystal Peak. The spell itself is on a snail shaman’s body inside a crystal.

There is no boss that the Knight is required to kill, but the challenge is reaching the spell itself. To reach the spell, this is what the Knight must do:

1. From the bench south of Crystal Peak, use the exit on the top right corner of the room, which can be accessed by jumping up the revolving platforms.
   
2. Then, kill or avoid the flying Crystal Hunter (though we recommend avoiding it to save your health), and take the exit on the right.
   
3. The next room will be very dark, and the Knight must jump from platform to platform (without falling to the crystals underneath) to reach the exit on the far right. The room also has two Crystal Hunters, one near the entrance, another near the exit, and a Glimback near the exit. Although it is possible to reach the end of the room in complete darkness, it would be beneficial to have the Lumafly Lantern to help you see the room even just a little bit (and come on, why would you want to do it the hard way?).
   
4. After that frustrating room, the Knight will be standing on a ledge. Charge and use the Crystal Heart to reach the other side, where you’ll find some Soul and the entrance to the Crystalised Mound. Don’t use the Soul yet; it will be used after entering.
   
5. After entering the door, you’ll find a breakable part of the ground. Use the Desolate Dive spell to break it and reach the Crystalised Mound.
   
6. This next room will be even more frustrating than the last one, so brace yourself. Go to the right and break the wooden barrier. Next, four revolving platforms will rotate to their crystal-spiked bottom shortly after it is touched: two Crystal Hunters and a Shardmite. You could try to kill the Crystal Hunters, but to prevent the risk of getting damaged or falling to the crystals below, we suggest you dodge their attacks and continue on the four revolving platforms. On the fourth revolving platform, jump up the shaft and cling to the wall on the left with the help of the Mantis Claw. Then, dodge or kill the Shardmite.
   
7. The following part of the room also has a lot of revolving platforms, another Crystal Hunter, and a Baldur. Jump down the shaft, cling to the left side of the wall, and, with the help of the Mothwing Cloak, dash to the appropriate height to reach the first revolving platform. Continue on the revolving platforms, and you will find the Crystal Hunter and the Baldur. Kill the enemies, which will be the perfect time to heal.
   
8. Next, jump on six revolving platforms until you reach solid ground. If you want, jump up on the revolving platforms on the upper right to free a Grub.
   
9. Then, jump back on the last revolving platform before reaching the solid ground, and dash to the left to reach a wall and jump the shaft.
   
10. After reaching the top, you’ll find a shaft blocked by a wooden barrier. Simply attack the wooden barrier to destroy it and fall. Then, you’ll find the snail shaman’s body inside a crystal.
11. Destroy the crystal and receive the Descending Dark spell!

As mentioned above, the Descending Dark spell is the upgrade of the Desolate Dive spell. So, to perform it, just press the assigned CAST button while holding the DOWN movement button.

Equipping certain Charms can help increase the damage output of spells like the Shaman Stone charm, which increases the damage of the Descending Dark spell by 47%. Additionally, equipping the Spell Twister charm lowers the cost of Soul to cast the Descending Dark spell.

Final Thoughts

Obtaining the Descending Dark Spell requires a lot of patience. As mentioned, the path to the spell may get frustrating, and you must keep your cool and not rush, especially when facing the revolving platforms and Crystal Hunters. Plan every jump or attack.

You may not get to the Descending Dark spell in one go (if you do, well, kudos to you for going on full gamer mode); what’s important is you learn from your mistakes and get better after every try. Eventually, you’ll change the Knight’s Desolate Dive Spell into the more powerful Descending Dark spell.