Hollow Knight: How to Obtain the Vessel Fragment in the Ancient Basin

Team Cherry’s Metroidvania action-adventure titled Hollow Knight depicts the adventures of an unnamed warrior known as the Knight as they travel through Hallownest.

This world has been devastated by an unknown infection. When the Knight explores Hallownest, the Knight can acquire new items, abilities, spells, and charms that will enable the Knight to take on enemies and discover new areas.

One of the game’s items is the Vessel Fragments. The Knight’s maximum Soul can be raised by 33 by gathering these Vessel Fragments, which are parts of the Soul Vessel.

The Knight must gather three Vessel Fragments to construct one Soul Vessel, which raises the Knight’s Soul Meter by 33.

By using the Nail to strike enemies, the Knight can acquire Soul, but only at a reduced rate of 6 Soul for Soul Vessels.

On the other hand, Charms like Soul Eater and Soul Catcher can accelerate the rate at which Soul is obtained for Soul Vessels. After a brief pause, the Soul of the Soul Vessels will immediately fill the main Soul Meter when it is empty.

There are nine Vessel Fragments in total, which means that the Knight can have three more Soul Vessels, increasing the amount of Soul that the Knight can hold.

In this guide, we will learn how to obtain the Vessel Fragment in the Ancient Basin area!

Ancient Basin Vessel Fragment

The Vessel Fragment in the Ancient Basin can be found in the fountain on the right side of the room near the middle of the Ancient Basin area. It is worth noting, however, that the Knight must bring 3000 Geo before the Knight can obtain the Vessel Fragment in the area.

There are different enemies in the Ancient Basin, but the Knight will only run into a few Shadow Creepers on the way to the Vessel Fragment in the area.

Before the Knight can obtain the Vessel Fragment that was mentioned, the Knight must first have learned the Mantis Claw ability, which allows the Knight to cling to walls and jump off of them, enabling the Knight to climb up walls.

Also, although not required, it would also help if the Knight had the Monarch Wings ability, which allows the Knight to perform a secondary jump in midair. With these abilities, finding and obtaining the Vessel Fragment in the Ancient Basin will be a breeze.

In order to find and obtain the Vessel Fragment in the Ancient Basin area, this is what the Knight must do:

1. Starting from the Bench in the Hidden Station Stag Station, head to the left, cross the gap with the Last Stag, continue to the left, and exit the area.
   
2. Next, continue heading to the left, pass through the Palace Grounds, and take the exit all the way to the left.
   
3. After that, continue heading to the left, drop down the narrow shaft, continue heading to the left, head up the next shaft with the help of the Mantis Claw ability where the Knight will run into a Shadow Creeper, and, at the top, continue heading to the left.
   
4. Then, jump across the shaft, where there is a Shadow Creeper, towards the platform above on the left with the help of the Mantis Claw ability or the Monarch Wings ability where the Knight will run into another Shadow Creeper, continue heading to the left, then jump across another narrow shaft towards the platform above on the left.
   
5. Next, jump towards the small platform above, head up the shaft above, jump towards the platform above on the right where the Knight will run into another Shadow Creeper, head to the right, jump towards the platform below on the right, jump towards the platform above on the right with the help of the Mantis Claw ability or the Monarch Wings ability, and take the exit on the right.
   
6. After that, the Knight will be in a part of the room with corpses around a fountain. Head to the right, inspect the fountain, which will say that “A true servant gives all for the Kingdom. Let Hallownest’s Pale King relieve you of your burden,” and select ‘yes’ on the prompt that asks to drop all Geo into the fountain. Do not worry about losing all of the Knight’s Geo, as the fountain will only take 3000 Geo.
   
7. Finally, after giving 3000 Geo, a Vessel Fragment will appear floating above the fountain. The Knight can now jump toward the Vessel Fragment to acquire it!

The Knight just needs two additional Vessel Fragments after getting the Vessel Fragment in the Ancient Basin area to create a Soul Vessel and raise the amount of Souls that the Knight can carry.