Hollow Knight: Silksong is shaping up to be an intense adventure, and if you’re planning to survive long enough to see it through, understanding how healing works is critical. Unlike Hollow Knight’s familiar Soul system, Silksong introduces a few new twists to give you a leg up — or take you down — if you’re not careful.
Bind to survive: How healing works in Silksong
Let’s not sugarcoat it: healing in Silksong is risky, demanding, and absolutely vital. Hornet doesn’t use Soul like the Knight did. Instead, she uses Silk, pulled from her enemies and surroundings, to heal using a technique called Bind.
How to Bind and Heal
To heal using Bind, hold the A button (on both PC and Xbox versions). It’s a faster animation than Hollow Knight’s regenerative ability, meaning it gives players a quicker lifeline in battle. But here’s the catch: it consumes your entire Silk gauge. Not a sliver. Not half. All of it.
That means every press of the A button when you’re hurting is a high-stakes gamble. One moment of mistimed healing, and you’ve lost a key resource, potentially wasting time and opening yourself up to even more damage.
Interruption corner: Silk is not forgiving
Let me be blunt: If you get interrupted while Binding, you lose all of your Silk, even if you were close to finishing the heal. Not only does this cancel the healing effect, but it also means you’re fresh out of Silk for both healing and abilities. That’s huge! It leaves you vulnerable and forces you to farm more Silk just to get back on track.
In other words, timing and positioning are everything.
The chill option: Resting at benches
When you’re in no rush and just want to patch yourself up safely, benches are your new best friend. Sitting at a bench will fully restore Hornet’s health and act as a save point: just like in the original Hollow Knight. These benches double as checkpoints for game progress, and you’ll find them peppered across the map like little oases in a hostile world.
The long game: Boost your max health
Health upgrades aren’t going anywhere. Just like in the original game, collecting four Mask Shards will not only heal Hornet to full but also permanently increase her max health by one. Keep an eye out for these: you’ll want that extra breathing room when bosses start turning up the heat.
Silk Soul Mode: When You’re Ready for the Real Pain
Think you’re good at Silksong? Good enough to play with no second chances? Enter Silk Soul Mode.
What is Silk Soul Mode?
Silk Soul Mode is Silksong’s version of Steel Soul Mode from Hollow Knight. Team Cherry first revealed it in a developer video back in 2019, and it cranks up the challenge in a major way. Here’s what we know:
- Permanent death: Yep, it’s a permadeath mode. Die once, and it’s game over.
- Tweaked gameplay: Unlike Steel Soul, Silk Soul Mode adds more than just permadeath. Expect new enemy behaviors, different boss move sets, and possible changes to the map. This isn’t just a harder run: it’s a whole new way to experience the game.
All of this combines into a brutally fresh replay for veterans. It’s not just about surviving, it’s about adapting on the fly. If you thought Hollow Knight was intense, wait until you’re juggling new boss phases without a backup plan.
How to unlock Silk Soul Mode
You don’t get access to Silk Soul Mode straight away. According to Team Cherry, you need to complete Silksong at least once to unlock it. So before you start dreaming of permadeath glory, you’ve got to earn your wings the regular way first.
Once unlocked, Silk Soul Mode becomes an ultimate test of your knowledge, reflexes, and mental endurance. It’s the kind of challenge that demands perfection, and ruthlessly punishes anything less.
Ready your thread
Hollow Knight: Silksong brings both finesse and fury when it comes to survival mechanics. Healing isn’t just a button press: it’s a resource battle, a tactical decision, and sometimes, a desperate prayer.
Whether you’re clutch-binding during a boss fight or banking on the safety of a bench, knowing when and how to heal is every bit as important as when to strike. And when you finally reach Silk Soul Mode? You’ll need every edge you can get.