Firstly, a huge thanks to TubbinSauce who helped me updating some of the route images with better quality versions!

I created this guide using Steel Soul mode as a foundation, but it’s applicable to any 100% completion run. I highly recommend going into your first playthrough completely blind, but if you’re looking for a step-by-step guide to help you get everything needed for the 100% achievement, this guide has you covered.

One thing to clarify: in Steel Soul mode, you can't die, since it's a permadeath mode. This means you’ll need to be more aware of what you’re doing, but it also ensures you won’t waste time replaying sections. You should be able to complete everything in under 30 hours without much trouble—even without any help. The main goal of this guide is to offer fast routes that let you complete everything in a streamlined order, minimizing backtracking.

The first section of the guide focuses on a speedrun through the first act until we unlock the double jump. From there, we’ll start backtracking to collect everything in each area (100% sections). It's also good to point out—make sure to defeat every enemy you come across to complete Nuu’s Wish ASAP and naturally rack up some Shards and Rosaries along the way; As soon as you get the sprint, the fastest way to move is by spamming jump + sprint repeatedly. This lets you move through areas like a true speedrunner, though it’s not necessary—I personally didn’t do it, but it can save some time.

Also, using the challenge button (Garama – Right Stick Button or V on keyboard) instantly starts boss fights by skipping dialogue, and it also works as a quick way to summon the Bell Beast in any Bellway Station for fast travels.

It took me roughly 18 hours to do a full replaythrough of the game, and some of that time was spent just looking at the map and planning what to do next. So, your time could easily be shorter than mine, depending on how quickly you complete the Act 1 speedrun and how long it takes you to beat some bosses. I'd also like to add that the guide includes suggested routes—some aren't perfect, and there's definitely room to tweak them for better flow. Feel free to try alternative paths or change the order to suit you!



Here you can check every collectable in Pharloom, this will certainly help if you have any trouble finding some of the stuff I didn't explicitly show with images: Silksong Interactive Map[mapgenie.io]

If you want a guide for all the other achievements, this one has a lot of info to help you:
https://eo.steamhost.cc/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3562089042

You'll mostly ignore everything here, except for the two mossberries you can collect before reaching the Moss Mother boss fight. Learn to use pogos to move faster; it’s the quickest movement technique we have early on.



The first mossberry is easy to spot, located above a cliff near the starting area, while the second requires you to pogo off an enemy to reach it.



The Moss Mother boss fight is very easy. The only tip I can offer is to stay on the right side of the arena, as it allows you to land more hits.



Progress through Bone Bottom, ignoring all NPCs, and head straight to the next area.

Right at the beginning of the Marrow, you're going to do your first skip. Bait the enemy onto this platform and pogo off his head to reach the upper area.




This can be a bit tricky — if you're having a hard time with it, just take the normal route (fight the enemy arena, open the gate for Sherma, etc.). The skip is just to save some time.

You'll meet Shakra here for the first time. Ignore all the map stuff for now and head left toward your first skill. On the way, you'll come across a breakable wall — go through it to grab a relic that'll help with rosaries later.



Near the same area, you'll find the moss druid. In the room below, you'll find the third mossberry. Grab it and return to her to accept and complete your first wish, which will grant your first piece of equipment.



Now run straight to get the Silk Spear and go fight the Bell Beast. This fight is pretty easy — just take it slow and don’t get too greedy, since being overly aggressive usually leads to taking contact damage. After the fight, fast travel to Bone Bottom and accept all the quests available.



Fast travel back to the Marrow and now head right toward the next skill upgrade. Make sure to defeat as many pilgrims as you can to advance the Shawl quest. Also, remember to break this wall here to grab your first Craftmetal:



Now make a quick stop at the prison to get your first tool and some rosaries.



Keep advancing until you reach the next area and hear Shakra singing. Make sure to unlock any easy shortcuts — they'll make backtracking a lot easier later on.

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!

In the room where you hear Shakra singing, exit through the top-right and head toward your next skill — the sprint. Go left to exit through the locked door, then loop back to the area where you first heard Shakra and unlock the fast travel point at the bottom-left.



Now go right and head straight into the Lace fight. This fight isn’t too bad — just don’t get greedy. Be careful not to hit her when she’s ready to parry. Always let Lace attack first, and use those openings to land your hits.

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!

Again, you mostly want to run toward the next upgrade, but along the way, you’ll find some ants that drop a nice amount of rosaries. Defeat them all to farm some rosaries. After reaching the tall corridor, you’ll find a pipe to the lower left that leads to the Warding Bell. You can skip it and come back later if you want, but it’s a useful tool that helps keep you safer.



After grabbing it, exit through the bottom right to reach the Seamstress area. Sit on the bench and accept her quest.



Access the room on the right to farm Spine Cores. There’s an enemy that respawns every time you reenter the room, so just keep farming him until you complete the quest.



When done, just quit to the menu and reload your save — you’ll be sitting next to the Seamstress to unlock your next upgrade. Now exit through the left to find the Fourth Chorus.



You can actually completely skip this fight for now by doing a sprint jump + float + heal stall + float + sprint to the left. It’s an easy skip, but you SHOULD watch a speedrun to understand how it works. This will save a few minutes, and you can come back to fight him later with double jump for an insta-kill.



If you can’t manage the skip, just fight the boss normally — the fight is incredibly easy, and I don’t really have any tips other than to just smash him as fast as you can.

You’ll end up back at the tall corridor. Go to one of the top-right rooms to unlock the fast travel, then go back and continue through the top right to find Sherma (don’t say hi).



Open the shortcut to the left and keep floating until you reach the next area.

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!



After reaching Greymoor, keep running left until you find this area with water. Access this hidden area to get another relic.



At this point, you’ll probably complete the Shawl quest from Bone Bottom.



Meet Nuu and accept the Hunter’s Journal quest.



Keep going left until you get to the fast travel — unlock it for later.



After reaching this tower, you’ll have to climb it.



Exiting through one of the right doors will lead you to Garmond and Zaza. Talk to them so they can appear later in the game, helping you fight enemies randomly. After exiting the tower from the left, make sure to unlock this shortcut for later:



Before entering the Moorwing area, you can enter this spot on the left to get the Reaper Crest — one of people’s favorites. It’s really good for early bosses, so make sure to grab it.



Keep going left to encounter Moorwing, one of the community’s least favorite fights. I don't think it’s bad if you take it slow and avoid staying too close to the boss. If you don’t feel confident, people have found a lot of cheeses for this one — just go for it.



After the fight, you can access Bellhart. Make sure to unlock this fast travel — it's one of the most important ones.

This area will be really quick. One of the first rooms has a hidden tool behind a nest — get it since it’ll be important later for one of the quests.



Keep advancing to the left, and you’ll eventually run into an elevator that you need to take. You’ll also find Shakra on the way, which will help you know you’re in the right place. Once you find a spot with some parkour and a flower to pogo on, climb it:



To the left, there’s also another fast travel point you should grab to help later.



Going right, you'll find an area where you can pull off one of the coolest skips in the game. Keep taunting the enemy at the top right, close to you, by pressing the taunt button (Garama!). On controller, press the right stick (R3 on PS controllers), on keyboard it should be V.



Keep spamming the command until the flower makes it to the other side. When it finally gets aggro on you, wait until it flies up and pogo onto it to access the upper area without fighting any boss.



Go get the Wall Climb skill and start running to the top right of the area. You’ll find the bell place here — just enter it and exit from mid bottom left to reach the Widow.



This boss fight isn’t hard if you avoid trying to hit her nonstop — be patient and wait for openings. After the fight, you can unlock a shortcut to the left and exit through the right to reach Bellhart. Accept all new quests:



Go to the relic bug to get some money:



First needle upgrade:

Fast travel back to Bone Bottom to buy the Simple Key and accept any new quests. Fast travel to The Marrow and take one of the top-left exits to unlock the elevator at Bone Bottom:



Down this area, you can also access one of the first Spool Fragments:



In the elevator area, keep dashing left to reach the spot with a big spitting ceiling enemy. Ignore it for now and just keep going left until you find the door with a simple lock:



Bellow the door we can find a mask shard hidden behind a breakable wall, you can get this now or get it later when we come back during the 100% section:



You can access Wormways, but for now we will ignore it. Take the first bottom exit to reach a mossy area. Make sure to unlock the door on the bottom right. Going left, you can unlock the Wanderer Crest, which is basically the Quick Slash of this game — best crest imo and really comfortable for pogo sections. I may add, though, that this crest starts without any blue slots, and this can be frustrating for people who like the survivability that some of the other crests provide early on without the need to use memory lockets. Feel free not to use this crest if you don’t like it, or to use any memory locket as soon as you get one to unlock the blue slot. You can save memory lockets for your favorite crest, but in the end, we should have enough to unlock all the slots for the first 6 crests.



Go back to Bone Bottom and go down using the moss hole close to the town. By going right, you can access the first Weavenest:



Explore a little to the right to find some hidden doors that will lead you to a Mask Shard:



Exploring to the left, you can also find your second Spool Fragment:



We won't be talking to Eva now because we still don’t have any Memory Lockets used, so to reduce the amount of backtracking, her first visit will take a while.

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!

Travel back to Greymoor so you can climb the tower next to the inn and unlock the elevator:



Keep going right from there to access a hidden wall with the Creep Flea:



On the top right exit you can access SR. Keep going right until the second area. Here, you can also pogo an enemy to access the upper area early, but this one is a bit tricky, so feel free to take the long way and zigzag back to here. Unlock the shortcut and access the area with a bench.



Break the wall on the top left to solve the broken bench puzzle and unlock this bench. You’ll certainly want this just in case you mess up during the next area.



Keep going up towards the left side until you find this spot with a breakable wall. Break it and enter to access the next area.

This place is annoying and really random, so take it slow to keep your Steel Soul save intact. If you get into a bad situation with low HP (I’d say less than 4 is already quite dangerous), quit and reload your save from the Sinner’s Road bench...



Play the Needolin to the butterflies and they will show you the right way. Avoid the ghosts and be careful with the traps, since this place has plenty.



To fight a ghost, just find a wide area and stay still until you hear a scream. As soon as they start moving, jump, turn around, hit it once or twice, and repeat.

After exiting the mist, you’ll find the Phantom’s Lair. Make sure to unlock the safety bench here so you can reload your save if needed.



There’s also a shortcut here you should unlock, making the runbacks to this boss faster (if, again, you end up needing to reload your save because you’re at 2 HP or lower).



Now go challenge the Phantom. This fight is not bad and is waaaaay easier than some of the bosses you could be facing now, like the Last Judge (oof). Their attacks are really slow and easy to dodge. You can also abuse this fight with pogos if you’re comfortable doing so — just make sure to avoid the parry attacks (just jump) and the big aerial attack (avoid the light).

After the fight, leave the area through the new exit and you should now reach the Citadel Station.



Unlock the map (we will finally start using maps soon), both fast travels, and now we start Act 2.

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!

Here things get a bit more complicated if you don’t know the rooms, but I’ll try to make stuff really clear. Again, check a speedrun video if you’re having trouble. After encountering Lace, you’ll start climbing the first area all the way to the top to reach the wheel.



Keep climbing until you reach the right exit, then run towards the first shrine. Enter, activate the bell, and unlock another safety bench. You should also get the White Key to the right of the area:



Also, to the left and upwards you can unlock the fast travel for the area:



Keep going left from here—you’ll find these guys on the way. They’re a good source of rosaries to farm later:



There’s also a hole here that leads to a shortcut. Make sure to unlock this one for later too. After that, quit and reload your save to unlock the Songclave quests.



Now keep going left to fight the Cogwork Dancers. This fight is pretty easy—the attacks are really simple to dodge and it won’t punish you for being greedy. Keep attacking the same dancer; the fight will go a lot faster this way.



After the fight, accept the quest and access the Cogwork area.



Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!



Access the bench right at the beginning of the area, unlock the map, and enter the room below.



Here you’ll fight a small arena and get your next mask shard as a reward.



Keep climbing towards the right side, unlock a shortcut, and enter the next room.



Keep going right—you’ll be back in the wheel room. Follow all the way to the right until you reach the Vaults arena.



Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!

After entering this place, go top right to unlock a shortcut to Songclave—this will be important later.



Keep advancing through the area and unlocking all shortcuts you can along the way. Once you reach the room with the mask sound effect, below it you’ll find a room with a hidden lever that unlocks a wall to climb. This will lead you to the third mask shard.



You’ll soon find the area that leads you to Trobbio. Unlock the shortcut and enter the room at the top of it.



On the top right of this room, you’ll find a flea. There’s no reason to come back here later, so just save it now.



In the same room, enter the top left exit, solve the basic puzzle, and you’ll get your first pale oil.



Unlock the shortcut if you want, but now you need to go back to the Vaults and enter the Trobbio area. Here you’ll finally get your map quill for free—with a majestic red one (or, if you feel like you can navigate easily without a quill, you can wait until Act 3 to get an exclusive purple one).



Keep advancing through the stage area, unlock the shortcut on the left, and leave. Go back to the fast travel point and fast travel to Bellhart to upgrade your nail again. Now get back to the Citadel stages and challenge Trobbio. I know I’ve been saying the same thing for every boss, but again, this one is pretty easy. If you’re using the Wanderer Crest, the tornado attack becomes a joke—just keep pogoing Trobbio for free damage. You also have the parry skill from the phantom fight now, which makes most double damage attacks easy to avoid. After winning, take the elevator and go left to reach the next area.







Won’t do much here for now. Just keep going left until you reach the tall lava corridor. Enter the bottom right area and progress through the platform challenge. Take it slow to avoid losing HP from bad positioning—I personally lost one of my Steel Soul runs here because I forgot how deadly lava can be. On the upper area, taking the left-down entrance, you’ll find one more craftmetal:



Back on track, you’ll find the harpoon ability. After picking it up, start climbing towards the right side of the room to reach this little arena.



After the fight, you’ll be back in the first room. Now all you need to do is go right and instead of taking the elevator, go down the hole below it.



From here, keep climbing right until you find a breakable wall that will give you access to one of the vault pipes. Climb up to enter the area with the dead Vault Keeper, getting the first melody needed for the main quest.



To the left of this area, there’s also a Cogwork heart piece you should get. Make sure to give the main quest psalm cylinder to the vault NPC ASAP (top right of Trobbio room) since it’ll help a lot with rosaries and will teach you the first melody needed to progress history.



Now we want to leave the place and get the next upgrade, which will unlock all the stuff we can get during Act 2. Exit the Vaults through the stage, then fast travel to Songclave to have a good starting point. I’ll leave a route here, but feel free to take a different path if you want. It’s also good to point out that you should keep fighting all enemies on your way here because they give a decent amount of rosaries. We should also make a quick stop to get the Taste of Pharloom wish—this will be really useful since we’ll go back to the Marrow soon.

After reaching the bridge, you can exit from the left and get to the next area.

After leaving the Citadel, we’ll enter the Slab—but we won’t be here for long. Just keep going down and left until you find the fast travel sign. Follow it, unlock it, and we can skip directly to Mount Fay.



The funny thing about this place is it wants you to be fast so you don’t die from cold. Speeding through this area is pretty simple. Since we have all the required skills, we can hook our way up the mountain and climb it:



Remember we finally got a quill from Trobbio? After this place, we’ll have all the movement needed, so now we want maps to clear all the areas. If you haven’t yet, buy all the maps available from Shakra—and of course, the compass.



When you reach the far left, you’ll find a bench locked below a trapdoor. Go outside using the left exit, then get down and break a wall to access the bench. To the right of the bench, you can also find the Memory Crystal tool. From here, we want to climb up until the next cave area. Inside, there will be a crystal wall towards the top left—climb it and you’ll find a flea inside a crystal. Now progress through the right, following the route.

I can’t say much about Mount Fay—it’s basically a platforming challenge. Just climb and grab the safety bench on the way. If you screw up really bad, save and reload; don’t waste your Steel Soul save. After climbing all the way to the top, you can finally unlock double jump, and now you can pretty much clear 90% of the map pretty fast.



After getting the upgrade, you can slide down the mountain to the left. Close to the bench on the far left of the map, you can get one more mask shard.



Now you can go full right until you reach the fast travel—and the backtracking commences...

This is the first route we’ll be following:



We’ll start by fast traveling back to The Marrow to meet the moss druid again. This will give us one of the items for the Taste of Pharloom wish:



Now, head left to access Wormways, right next to where we unlocked the Simple Key door. Here, we can get another Mask Shark (unless you already picked it during the Bone Bottom Fast Revisit):



Next, go all the way left to find a Weavenest. Play the Needolin and enter it.



In here, we’ll unlock the Sharp Dart skill, which is pretty darn good, to be honest!



Now, head right and up to get the Plasmium quest. Sit on the bench for a hard save point.



Leave the room and keep following the route towards all the blue markers to gather all the Plasmium you need:



In the last area, you can also find a Memory Locket. Grab it, then pick up the final Plasmium:



Now, quit and reload to complete Zango’s quest.

Now, for the second route (orange), go right to unlock the shortcut. Right next to it is a breakable wall with a flea inside:



Climbing up, you’ll find the last important item in the area—a Shell Satchel on Steel Soul mode (if you’re playing normal mode, it’ll be Bug's Purse):



Now, leave the area towards Bone Bottom, but before jumping all the way down, climb down the left side to find the missing courier:



Now you can jump down to Bone Bottom.

After returning from Wormways, buy everything you can from the shop if you haven’t already:

• 1 Mask Shard
  
• 1 Craftmetal
  
• 1 Simple Key
  
• 1 Magnetite Brooch

We’ll also start cleaning up all quests in the area:

• Donate 200 shards > 300 shards > 440 shards (You probably won’t have enough, but make sure to come back later. You can buy shard bundles from the merchant in bellhart, 50 rosaries for 80 shards.)
  
• 15 Garb of Pilgrims (This is probably already cleared during the speedrun section.)
  
• Skull Tyrant (Marked with an X on the map. The fight is easy—just don’t be greedy and avoid contact damage.)
  
• 3 Volatile Flintbeetles (Locations marked in yellow.)
  
• 5 Fleas saved (We’ll talk to the Flea Master on the route.)

Here is the route to follow starting from Bone Bottom:



We’ll encounter our first Flint Beetle, then get the Shard Pendant:



Go up to find the next Flint Beetle and a lost flea:



Then, enter the cave on the right in the same room to grab a Memory Locket:



Next stop: fight the last Flint Beetle to update the quest:



Going down, we’ll find the Target Minigame. Sit on the bench and win the game to get a Tool Pouch upgrade:



Now go fight the Skull Tyrant on the way to the Flea Master. The fight is pretty basic—just jump to dodge and attack when you get the chance:



To finish the route, we’ll talk to the Flea Master and complete the wish for saving 5 fleas. He’ll then move on to the next location (don’t accept going with him).

Now we’ll move on to the next area.

This area will be incredibly fast to clear with all the movement upgrades. Here’s the route you will follow:



In one of the first sections, we’ll find 1 lost flea:



Next, head up to the left to find the trap bench. Be sure to disable the trap before sitting on it. After that, we’ll go get the Fractured Mask (the NPC will be dead, so you can grab it for free):



Equip this as soon as you get it; it will make your Steel Soul playthrough much safer. At the top left of the area, we’ll have a fun fight with the big guy. It should be a piece of cake with all the upgrades we have now. This will reward you with the Curveclaw.



Next, visit the bottom-right area to find one more Memory Locket:



Now, we can enter the Beast Crest area to unlock our next Crest. You’ll have a little boss fight here, but once again, it should be a breeze with all the upgrades you have.



Afterward, we can leave the area and head towards the Docks.

This area is a bit more complex, but we can clear it easily without needing to use a simple key. Here's the route:



First, we'll find one lost flea near a bench:



Next, head left toward The Marrow. We can make a zigzag climb to reach a mask shard (you could also try pogoing an enemy right at the start of the path to save time):



Returning to the bench area, we can head down and left to find another lost flea. You can just double jump to reach it, without needing to go through the lava platforming:



Now, we can Fast Travel back to Far Fields, and from there, we'll be able to access the rest of the Deep Docks area. Enter the pipe where we found the Warding Bell earlier:



Breaking through a wall here gives us access to the next part of Deep Docks. In this area, you'll find your next Craftmetal inside a chest behind a cobblestone wall:



In the room bellow you can find a hidden passage leading to a Spool Fragment:



As you progress, you'll find another lost flea in a mossy pipe area:



In the next area, just pogo the bell guy marked with a red X to reach the lever faster. This will allow you to access the Flintslate above the newly opened platform:



Continue along the route until you reach the boss arena marked with a white X. This fight can be really annoying without the Magma Bell, so feel free to buy it before attempting. Focus on the melee brother and ignore the one throwing spears until he’s the last one standing. If you're having trouble with the fight, you can skip it for now and come back later. It’s only required to unlock the Diving Bell shortcut and a Memory Locket. However, be warned: you’ll need to complete it before Act 3! The fight becomes harder with Abyssal enemies if you wait until later.



You don’t need all 20 Memory Lockets for 100%, but you do need 18 to bind Eva during Act 2, so make sure to collect all available lockets, including this one:



After unlocking the shortcut door, head up to find a room with a Spool Fragment:



Finally, you'll meet the Forge Daughter and can buy the following:

• Sting Shard
  
• Magma Bell
  
• Crafting Kit Upgrade

(If you skipped the Brothers boss for now, save and quit to reload next to the bell bench at the entrance to Far Fields. Do the Forge Daughter section first, then grab the Spool Fragment.)

Now, exit from the Far Fields bell and start clearing that area.

We can't access the whole Far Fields before Act 3, but exploring now will help speed up the cleanup later. Here’s the route for this region, starting from the bell bench located at Deep Docks:



First, we’ll find a lost flea in a cage:



Next, head towards the Fast Travel to access a hidden area. Going left, we can unlock a shortcut to the Seamstress. Make sure to bench here for later. To the left of her, you'll find a room with another mask shard:



Then, head back to the top area and keep advancing until you reach another lost flea at the top right:



Unlock the door and visit the Pilgrim’s Rest. Here, you’ll be able to buy the following:

• 1 Memory Locket
  
• Weighted Bell
  
• Tool Pouch Upgrade

Now, save and quit to reload close to the Seamstress, and follow the second route (orange). This will lead you into the "Indiana Jones" section—make sure to bring a Magma Bell if you want to play it safe:



After surviving the rising lava, you’ll get another mask shard:



Now, leave the area and go right to enter the Weavenest. Here, you'll find something to make exploration faster. Whether you use it or not is totally up to you.



Save and quit again, close to the Seamstress, and now head back towards the Fourth Chorus Way. If you, like me, skipped the fight with the Heal Stall trick, now’s your chance to destroy it (you’ll need to do this to unlock a quest later). Just double jump to pogo onto its head, then double jump again and hit the explosive stones at the top. The fight will end almost instantly.



Now, get the Fast Travel and head to Greymoor.

Here’s the route for Greymoor. It’s a bit convoluted, but I’ll try to explain it as clearly as I can:




The first route is the red one, starting from Bellhart. Every time you hit a split, make sure to quit and reload at the closest bench before heading to the next area. The second route (orange) covers the right side of the map—fight all the Craws here to complete the Scarecrow quest. Afterward, we’ll return to the Halfway Home to finish the Scarecrow Wish and climb toward Sinner’s Road.

Here’s the step-by-step:


After entering Greymoor, you’ll meet the fleas and get the Flea Brew:



Next, explore the area toward the Bellway Station. You’ll find a Memory Locket along the way (it’s easy to reach with a double jump):



Then, head toward the inn to do the following:

Finish Nuu's Wish:



Get the Memory Locket hidden in the top-left corner:



Start the Vintage Nectar section by defeating all the ants:



Next, climb the tower and head toward the Whisp Thicket (remember to equip the Magma Bell, or this place is a nightmare). This is where the route starts to split. Quit and reload at the bench after getting each item (except Craftmetal). To the right, you’ll find a mask shard:



To the left and up, you’ll reach an area with Craftmetal:



Keep climbing until you reach the Underworks area, where you’ll rescue a flea you can only access from here:



Next, head toward the “Boss.” This fight is only punishing if you try to spam attacks. The best way to deal with it is to do two attacks, dodge, and repeat. Keep this up (with pogos) until the second phase. When the bullet hell attack starts, just stay on the ground; otherwise, keep using the same pattern to win the fight.



Afterward, leave the area to rescue a flea below and head back to the inn:




Now, start following the second route (orange). You’ll want to visit Craw Lake (this area will give you all 25 Ragpelts needed to build the Scarecrow). Invade the area to unlock the upper side of the map. To the right, you’ll find a lost flea:



Next to it, on the upper area, you’ll find the Threefold Pin behind a hidden wall:



Keep climbing all the way up to learn Thread Storm:



Now, head to the top left, pass by the Bell Shrine, unlock the door, and return to the Halfway Home. From there, take the upper path back to the top of the Bell Shrine. Afterward, activate some levers and shortcuts, and then climb up to find a Spool Fragment.



At this point, you’ll need to travel all the way back to Halfway Home to finish the Scarecrow Wish, which will reward you with a Crafting Kit upgrade:



Finally, use the elevator and climb toward Sinner’s Road.

This will be one of the more complex routes since we’ll be making a number of area swaps, but this will help save time. I’ll be splitting this guide into two parts to keep it clean and easier to follow.

We’ll start with this route:



Starting from the Inn, take the elevator and head towards Sinner's Road.



The goal is to make a quick bench visit to create a save spot here for later. Progressing to the right, you’ll find the Barbed Bracelet inside a hole:



From here, head straight to the boss fight located at the top-right of this area (marked with an X):



This fight can be tricky if you try to tank it head-on, but it’s much easier if you take it slow. Keep your distance from the boss, hitting it only 2 or 3 times before dodging away. When it summons maggots from the water, dash towards it for a safe zone and land a few hits. The fight should be over quickly, and it shouldn’t pose any trouble if you’ve already handled everything else so far. You’ll receive the Pickled Muckmaggot for the "Taste of Pharloom" quest:



Next, we’ll meet Crull and Benjin to start the Guts quest. We’ll complete it soon, but first, we need to gather some other items.



Continuing along the route, we’ll fight for a simple key at the top of this area:



From here, head down and enter a room on the right to find a Flea:



The next area is completely optional on Steel Soul (you can ignore the bench). Here, you’ll meet an exclusive character who buys Silk Grubs in exchange for rosaries. If you’ve collected any while progressing through the route, feel free to sell them for some money, but again, this is optional.



Save and quit to reload close to the Sinner's Road entrance. We’ll farm Roach Guts here. Collect 3 in the first area, then quit and reload. Repeat until you have all the Guts. Afterward, return to Crull and Benjin to complete the wish and receive the Tacks (this tool is pretty useful).



Now we’re leaving Sinner's Road behind, but you should do all of this next to save time later. We’ll save and quit again, but this time, we need to leave Sinner's Road entirely. Head all the way back to the Greymoor Bell station, then fast travel to Grand Bellway. At the top-right, climb the wall, and going left will lead you to a Memory Locket:



Now, fast travel to Songclave (clear any pending donations and accept any new Wishes). Remember the shortcut we unlocked for the Vaults earlier? It’s time to use it. Our objective is the Twisted Bud, and this is the only way to access it. Here’s the route:



As you descend the Vaults, follow the path to the right where we previously found a Mask Shard. In the next room, there’s no exit to the right, but you’ll find a hidden passage at the top:



After entering the next room, climb up to the left to find another Memory Locket:



Next, we’ll tackle a platforming puzzle, which should be easier now that we have all the Act 2 movement skills. First, use the hook to activate this lever:



Continue progressing through the platforming area until you reach the bottom. Instead of falling into the pit, go left and climb to the lever bridge area:



Here, you can unlock an airflow that will help you reach the outside area:



Now, climb the wall on the right to rescue a Flea:



Next, drop down to the bottom. You’ll fall into the infamous Bilewater, but don’t worry, this is just a quick visit. First, grab the Twisted Bud behind the vines:



Continue down to the next area and head to the far left to find another Memory Locket:



Keep going down until you reach the fast travel point. Here, get a save spot and activate the fast travel for later:



Head up and exit through the right. Keep heading right until you start seeing signs of Shakra (rings all over the place). Follow them to find Shakra and get her map of this area:



Now, take the lower-right path into a tall corridor. Here, you’ll find a breakable wall on the left with a Flea inside to rescue:



Head all the way down to the right to access the Weavenest, hidden among all the maggots. Here, you’ll find the Ruined Tool, which you can use to craft an item later:



Save and quit, then reload at the fast travel point (marked with the orange X). From here, head left, break a wall, and enter the Exhaust Organ area (old Mist). Re-enter the Phantom’s Lair, but this time, exit through the middle-left. You’ll find this room with a spool. Go left to find a secret exit and rescue another Flea:



Save and quit again to reload at the Bell Station, then head into the next area.

First, let’s go back to Bone Bottom to deliver all the items we’ve collected (Crown Fragment, Flintbeetles, and Shard Donations). This will grant us some money and a Memory Locket:



From here, we will go to Bellhart and start any new quests available:




This is the route we will follow:



The first thing we need to do is farm Silver Bells. Go down to the Bell Station and explore the area until you find 4 Silver Bells (random spawn). If you can’t find more than 2 or 3, simply reload at the bench and enter the area again to find more. After getting all 4 Bells, head to the Bell area at the top. Here, you can find the other 4 Bells. The same rule applies—if you can’t find them all in one run, reload at the nearest bench and search the area again.



From here, we will head towards Shellwood to get our first Pollip Heart:



Go back inside the Bells Cave and look for the lost Flea located at the top left:



Now, we can exit through the top-left exit towards Shellwood to hunt more Pollip Hearts. Along the route, you’ll find one at the top, one in the center, and one near the spot where we learned Wall Climb. Then, exit through the top-left and go down to find another lost Flea:



Climb up and enter the first room to the right to find the next Mask Shard:



Quit to the menu and reload at the Bellhart bench. Now, follow the second route (marked in orange) and head left from Bellhart to get the next 2 Pollip Hearts. The first will be at the very top-right of the area near Bellhart, and the last one will be near the Greyroot area. Meet Greyroot to complete the Pollip Heart quest and also deliver the Twisted Bud to start the Witch Crest quest.




We will be sent to the bottom of Shellwood, infected by Greyroot. To the right, you can find an effigy for money, and to the left, we can exit the area. Climb to the top and head all the way right until you reach Bellhart again. Here’s the next route to follow:



We will go back to Greymoor and get the bench at the Halfway Home Inn. From here, use the elevator and go all the way left to find Yarnaby. At the top of this area, you can find the Pimpillo Bomb:



You will ask Yarnaby to remove the virus. Now we need to gather the spines for the surgery.



After starting the quest, quit and reload at the Halfway Home bench. From here, we need to visit Sinner’s Road again, but this time, we won’t be able to heal (yikes). On the way to find Crull and Benjin, we will meet the courier getting bullied. Save them to finish the quest.



Now, go meet Crull and Benjin to buy the spines needed for the surgery.



Again, quit and reload at the Halfway Home bench, then go visit Yarnaby again. This will complete the quest and grant you the Witch Crest.



Now, we have a hard save. We need to climb down and go back to Bellhome. Deliver the Silver Bells to finish the quest and buy all the items from the shop (you should have enough money if you’ve been killing most enemies on the routes).



You will end up with:

• Multibinder
  
• Spool Fragment
  
• Memory Locket

We are going to start fast traveling to Shellwood. From there, we will climb down and go around to open the Bell Gate. This will also lead us to the Blasted Steps area. Here is the route:



The first stop will be at the very edge of the map. Here, we can perform a trick to reach the platform: do a sprint jump, then a hook, and finish with the double jump:




Now we can climb this area all the way to the top, which will grant us another Mask Shard:



Go down and move towards the Blasted Steps. Right after the bench, we can cheese some platforming here with hook + double jump. Unlock the shortcut on the way to the right and move forward until you find a corpse with a shiny item. Go around and pick up the Memory Locket:



We will then proceed to find Shakra in a room to the right. Buy her map, climb the right side to find a breakable wall, and inside, you can find the exclusive Steel Soul quest from Zi (not needed for 100%):



Now, keep going all the way to the left. Unlock the shortcut for later, and continue towards the Pinstress.



Before reaching her, we will have a little encounter with our annoying conehead friends. With all the upgrades we have, this fight won’t give us much trouble. Conchflies actually have a shared health pool, so hit any of the two as much as you can. After the fight, you can meet the Pinstress and learn the Needle Strike.



Now we will climb this area with the hook and enter the Sands of Karak region. We won’t be exploring it entirely for now; it’s just a nice bridge along our route. After a short platforming section, we can find a Memory Locket here:



Proceeding all the way to the right, we reach the next area with a tall corridor. First, we want to meet Shakra and buy her map, then go back and break this huge cone to unlock the area below.



Before going down, we will enter the hidden area on the left, which will lead us to the Crustnut for the Taste of Pharloom.



Now we can head down. Here, we'll find a lost flea right next to the connection between the Blasted Steps and the Sands of Karak. Just below that, we’ll meet our little thief friend (who charges some very steep prices).

If you have all the money you need (which I doubt), go ahead and grab everything. Otherwise, get only the Thief's Mark since it makes farming a lot easier, then feel free to leave him for now—we’ll return here in Act 3 and can buy his stock then. Also you need to keep some money for the next area since it's hard to farm there, so be aware of your rosaries.



Going all the way down and left, we can enter the area where our gambling friend would be, but well, he’s dead for some reason. So here we go—free Clutch Dice!



Now go right to unlock the Bell Station for later (and a safety bench just in case). Don’t forget to equip your Magma Bell for the next big fight.



Now, going all the way to the right, we find a small area filled with worms. You can float down to find a hidden Craftmetal here:



Reach the Bell Gate, and if you followed the routes, you most certainly activated all the bells needed. So help the little pilgrims with a song and open the majestic citadel door!



Now we can proceed to obliterate the Last Judge with all the upgrades we’ve acquired before fighting it! The fight is really chill with all the extra health and the Magma Bell. You can spam attacks to cause many staggers and even face tank a little. Just pay attention during the fire phase—don’t get hit by the flames when the Judge starts rolling the bell. Also, don’t forget that this thing explodes at the end of the fight!



Now access the Citadel area (grab the map) and climb all the way to the top left to find one more Spool Fragment:



Go down and access the elevator so we can proceed to the next area.

This is the route we will be following (starting from the bottom left with the number 1):



After entering Underworks, the first thing we want to do is get the map located in the top-left room:



Now go right and all the way around until you reach the room with three paid benches. Use one to create a save spot here. The same room contains a Memory Locket located at the top.



From here, we will follow the path to the left until we reach the top of the first area. Here, we will activate a lever that allows us to reach the bottom. All the way down to the right, we can activate one more lever to open the room below it.



Inside, we can find the Delver's Drill.



Now quit and reload at the bench. We will now head right, following the second route (orange). We will enter a room with a small arena; after defeating all the enemies, we can get one more Spool Fragment:



Then go back and unlock the fast travel. From here, return to the Bellway Station and bench to create a save spot. Next, we need to head towards the Trobbio Stage. Take the elevator all the way down and go left to access the other side of the Underworks area.



Here is the route:



Inside a huge pit, we can find one more Spool Fragment behind a breakable wall:



Now, go left and traverse through the Architect room until we reach the lava area. Here, we will go downwards to the left and find a Lost Flea behind a barrage of exploding enemies:



Save and quit to reload at the Bellway Station. We can now start exploring the Citadel.

First, we should fast travel to Songclave. Here, we will meet Sherma again—talk to them and accept any new quests available. Before exploring the area, we should complete the Fine Pins quest and unlock the Whiteward elevator.

Now fast travel back to Bellway and bench there. Then go left and fight the Pin Warrior. The pin drop is random, so just return to the bench and repeat the fight until you have all the pins needed. After that, head towards the Whiteward area to unlock the elevator, enter it, go down until and explore a little until you see the "Whiteward" title drop, maybe kill a enemy or 2, then we'll be able to trigger a Sherma quest here later.





Quit and reload at the Bellway bench, then fast travel once more to Songclave. Deliver the pins to complete the quest and receive some money.



Use the bench inside the Bell Shrine, then quit to the menu and reload your save. You should now have new quests available—one asking you to collect Pilgrim Garbs, and another involving Sherma, who has decided to visit Whiteward. If the Sherma quest hasn’t triggered yet, come back later to accept it.



Now, without further ado—



We’ll start the first section of the Citadel cleanup. First, we’ll make a quick visit to Cogwork. At the bottom right, we can access a room with one more Spool Fragment guarded by the goofball robot. You don’t even need to fight him if you don’t want to.




Next, climb all the way to the top of Cogwork Core. You can access the upper area by entering the door on the top right:



You’ll face a platforming challenge here, but you can easily bypass it by using pogos, double jumps, and hooking onto the cogs, making it quick to reach the top. Solve the puzzle (start from the bottom—it makes it easier to find the patterns) and receive the second melody.



This place has a hard save, so now you’ll need to climb down—but it’s easy, just float slowly until you reach the bottom.



From the bench at Cogwork, head left to explore the rest of the Choral Chambers. The goal of this route is to unlock all the passages needed for the Courier Meat delivery. After exiting the dining room, you’ll reach a tall corridor. Here, break a wall to activate a vent, which will help you reach a flea hidden inside a breakable wall above it.



Now head towards the top left, near the High Halls area. We want this bench as a save spot:



Go back and climb all the way down. Then head left to find another tall corridor. Access the room at the top right and rescue a flea:



In the room to the left, you’ll find the second Cogheart.



Now climb all the way down towards the left, unlocking all shortcuts. We will unlock the Ventrica Station and finally find the Choral Chambers map.



Keep going down, unlocking shortcuts and breaking any walls or floors. We’ll do the courier’s quest right after this.



To make your life easier, defeat all enemies on the route and avoid benches so they don’t respawn. Here is the route (do it backwards to defeat all enemies on the way, then return with the Courier’s Meat):



Back at Bellhart, you’ll get the Shakra quest now that we have all her maps. Accept it and talk to our courier friends to start the Courier’s Meat course:



The delivery will be really easy with the double jump. The Blasted Steps can mostly be skipped using double jumps and hooks. I made some mistakes on the way but still arrived with time to spare. Finish the quest and get the Pale Oil.



Save and quit (the game probably created a hard save at Bellhart—if not, fast travel there) and go get your next Nail upgrade.

Back in the Citadel, head all the way back to the High Halls bench—we’re finally going to start climbing this area.



As soon as you reach the area with the wheel, climb all the way to the top to find a Spool Fragment.



Going back down, continue towards the right. Here you can access a room to the left with the Cogfly crafting station—this tool is definitely one of the coolest!



Now, go all the way down until you reach the bottom. Here you’ll find a strange room with a cart. Hit the cart once to move it to the right, then keep hitting it until it reaches this spot:



Perform a double jump and climb the next area. You’ll encounter a group of Clawmaidens—ignore them and keep progressing. You’ll also need to move another cart to reach the top area. Make sure to break the strings to disable their spawn entirely, which makes the upcoming fight much easier:



Going back down to the right, you’ll find a bench and the map of the area.



Now for a fun coliseum battle against two big enemies. They attack one at a time, so it’s easy to dodge. With all the movement upgrades, dodging is simple, and parrying makes the fight trivial.



After the battle, use the simple key to access this door:



Inside, you’ll find a bunch of rosaries. Hidden behind one of the walls is the Rosary Cannon.



Grab the Conductor’s Melody, and we’re done here.

Use the fast travel and visit Songclave if you haven’t received the Sherma quest yet—it should be available now. Here is the route:



Fast travel to the Choral Chambers and head all the way to the right. Before entering Whiteward, you can find Jubilana (the Songclave merchant) in a room to the left. Then proceed towards Whiteward and start exploring the area.

You’ll need to take the elevator down and go around to the left to reach the top again. Call the elevator once more, but before it reaches the top, drop down one of the holes. At the bottom, you’ll find a Spool Shard:



Heading right, continue through the area. After finding the map, you’ll encounter some weird scissors-like bugs. They’re a good source of rosaries, so be sure to defeat them before moving on (pogo makes this easy). Next, climb left where you’ll find the Injector Band:



Enter the nearby door to find Sherma trapped behind a wall of wheelchairs. Talk to them to trigger an enemy arena. After defeating all enemies, Sherma will reward you with another Spool Fragment:



Go back, and just to the right of where you climbed, use a double jump to access a hidden area with a corpse holding the Surgeon Key:



Save and quit to reload at the bench. Then, take the elevator down again and use the Surgeon’s Key on the door to the left:



This leads to an arena where you’ll fight some creepy silk bugs and The Unravelled boss. Keep your distance from the boss and use tacks effectively. When the boss starts spitting bugs, run into it and abuse quickslash—if you take damage, you’ll likely recover silk to heal. Winning this fight grants you the second Silk Heart:



The game will hard save here. Exit through the bottom via Underworks. It’s not too bad—head right to access fast travel and visit Songclave.

Buy everything from Jubilana except the simple key. You’ll get:

• Spool Extender
  
• Ascendant's Grip
  
• 1 Mask Shard

If you’re short on money, farm the enemy in the room to the left. Equip an offensive skill like Thread Storm, kill it, return to the bench, then repeat.



After shopping, go to the Bell Shrine, bench there, quit the game, and reload. This should unlock the next Jubilana quest. If not, do some other activities and come back later.

Now we will head toward the Memorium area, accessible using the double jump.



Here is the first route we will follow:



First, grab the bench at the very start of the area, located in the room to the right. Then, start climbing the Memorium and proceed through the top-right room. You’ll find a tall corridor—climb to the top-left room, where a memory locket awaits:



Next, continue upward and to the left. Drop down to unlock a shortcut for later, then enter the room on the left. Inside, you’ll find a spool fragment hidden behind a platforming section:



Go back and keep ascending toward the right. You will reach the Materium—no need to complete it for 100%, so don’t worry.



At the top-right of the same room, find a hidden passage leading to two enemies guarding the voltvessels:



Head back and enter the room at the top, where you’ll encounter the big flea boss. Don’t forget you have to fight it, but it’s quite easy. You can even stay on the bottom platform and hit it until the fight ends.



Now quit and reload at the bench to start following the second route:



All the way to the right, you’ll find the last cogheart piece:



Then, head down to the left to grab a mossberry and unlock the bench shortcut, which might be useful later.



Going all the way to the right again, you’ll find the Memorium map and a hidden passage leading to the next area. If you accepted the second Jubilana quest, you can find her here.



Now climb the right side, break the wall, and access the next area.

We will start at a very long corridor. Go all the way to the right, using the upper area to avoid the maggots below. As soon as we reach the tall corridor, we will find the fast travel sign—unlock it and activate the safety bench here:



Going back, we can access a room to the left with fake vines. Get captured by a Barnark to reach the top and obtain a map:



Return to the tall corridor and exit through the bottom left. At the top left of this room, you will find the Key of Apostate:



Next, head down to the huntress’s house and visit our friend. Accept the quest—we will farm all the required materials soon.



Leave this room and continue walking all the way to the right until you reach the Pale Lake. Finding this place will allow the fleas to move in. You can also find one more craftmetal at the end of the room:



Go back to the large corridor (the one before the Pale Lake). Head to the top right to find a breakable wall to the left of this Barnark:



From here, we can access the upper area. Going right will lead us to the Wreath of Purity, which will be very useful for the Bilehaven fight that we will inevitably have to face later.



Continue going up, using the Barnarks to assist with platforming (the hook is your best friend here). We will find Vog at the top:



Now you can drop into the pit to access the bell station. We will fast travel to the slab from there.

After fast traveling back to the slab, we can start our first route for this area:



Right next to the fast travel point, above the bench, you’ll find a lost flea:



Next, go up and leave the area to the right using the Key of Apostate.



You’ll enter a tall corridor. Step up and access the room on the left. Here, climb to the top and reach the outside area to find another spool fragment:



Return to the tall corridor and jump into the hidden passage. Enter the cave to find a memory locket inside, which leads you to the upper area of the tall corridor:



Heading all the way to the left, you will find a lost flea trapped in a cage:



Back in the tall corridor, continue to the right to find a bench. At the far right of the room, you can find the map:



Use this bench as a save spot for later. Continue climbing the tall corridor until you reach a breakable ceiling. At the top right, you’ll find another door that requires the Apostate key:



Inside, there’s a platforming challenge with buzzsaws. It’s much easier with double jump. Clear this to get a mask shard:



Next, go down the left entrance (near where you broke the ceiling) to find a door requiring the Indolent key. In this room, you can also break the ceiling to access the upper area and circle around to find the key on the other side:



With the key in hand, quit and reload at the bench to start the second part of the route:



Open the door requiring the Indolent key, located in the room below the bench. From here, climb all the way to the top of the prison, circle around, and after defeating all enemies, find the Heretic Key:



Now descend to the bottom area to find a secret room (using double jump) behind a locked door requiring the Heretic key:



Unlock all the cage bindings inside and prepare to face the First Sinner:



This is definitely my favorite boss fight. Once you learn how to handle it, it becomes quite simple. Be very aggressive—dash towards the Sinner and attack nonstop. This will cancel most of her attacks, and you’ll only need to dodge the few she manages to cast. Aggression also prevents her from healing.

Whenever you see her preparing a slash attack, jump away to create distance. Use this opportunity to heal if needed; if not, use the parry. Staggers are also great moments to heal, but try to keep attacking to finish the fight quickly. The second phase can get hectic, so spam some cogflies to end it fast.

Defeating her grants you the Rune Rage skill, and that completes this section.

This is probably the most boring part of the run, but we need to clean up before heading toward Bilewater, which y'all hate anyway. Let’s make it as painless as possible.

You’ve probably finished everything here, but double-check. The second Tyrant Encounter only triggers if you sit on the bench, so avoid it if you don’t want to destroy this area. By now, you should have completed:

• Bone Bottom Repairs- Donate 200 Shell Shards.
  
• Garb of the Pilgrims - Deliver 12 Pilgrim Shawls.
  
• A Lifesaving Bridge - Donate 300 Shell Shards.
  
• Volatile Flintbeetles - Deliver 3 Flintgems.
  
• The Terrible Tyrant - Defeat the Skull Tyrant and deliver its crown.
  
• An Icon of Hope - Donate 440 Shell Shards.

You might find a few unfinished quests. First, talk to Pavo to unlock the donation quests. Leave and return to find the first one available:



Next, hunt the Savage Beastfly at the Far Fields (from the Fourth Chorus fight):





This fight is tricky—bring the magma bell and an AoE skill to handle the adds. The boss can be cheesed with double jump, but be careful of contact damage. Afterward, grab the Horn Fragment and return to Bellhart.



Completing the quest gives you a mask shard and unlocks the next donation quest:



Here’s the full list of completed quests (except Shakra, which we’ll do later):

• Pinmaster's Oil - Deliver one pale oil to the Pinmaster.
  
• Silver Bells - Deliver 8 Silver Bells.
  
• My Missing Courier - Find Tipp.
  
• My Missing Brother - Find Pill.
  
• Crawbug Clearing - Donate 25 Ragpelts.
  
• Restoration of Bellhart - Donate 250 Rosaries.
  
• Bellhart's Glory - Donate 400 Rosaries.
  
• Savage Beastfly - Defeat the Savage Beastfly and deliver its horn.

After the last donation, leave and return to get your Bellhome Key from Pavo. Mount the Materium, and we’re done here for now.



Now things get grindy. We need to farm rosaries for items and collect organs for the Huntress quest. Start by fast traveling to Bellway and farming the two mobs on the left, kill them with longpins to get Skewered Organs:



Switch to fire damage and kill enemies to get Seared Organs:



Use the Beast Crest and defeat enemies using pogos to get Shredded Organs:



Afterward, fast travel to Songclave for a new hunt quest and to buy Jubilana’s stock (if you haven't finished her second quest, find her at the left entrance of the Putrified Ducts, shown in the 100% Memorium section):



Buy:

• Spider Strings
  
• 1 Spool Fragment
  
• 1 Craftmetal

If you’re low on money, farm the big bugs in the top-left area.

Then, hunt the mob at the slab:



In the room where we got the Heretic Key, a passage leads to the boss. It’s an easy fight—spam attacks and watch for jumps:



Return to Songclave to deliver the egg, then farm money with the big guys in the top-left room:



Before farming, activate the Sentinel in the Cogwork Core by completing the Cogheart pieces:


Double-jump to reach the hidden room:



You'll encounter her twice in the Citadel. Check these spots:





Return to Songclave for a new quest and fight her in one of the rooms to the right of High Halls:



Use the airborne advantage in this battle of patience. Don’t spam hits—respect her space. After the fight, you'll get the Reserve Bind tool:



Return to rosary farming to gather 4570 for architect and Grindle items (or 1420 for just the architect). Once you’ve farmed enough, fast travel to the Underworks, use the left lever to cross, then climb up to reach the architect’s room:



Buy everything here:

• Silkshot (Using the Ruined Tool)
  
• Cogwork Wheel
  
• Scuttlebrace
  
• Architect's Key
  
• Sawtooth Circlet
  
• Crafting Kit Upgrade

Head to the top-left of the room to find the Architect’s door. Bind the Architect Crest, and you're done with Act 2 cleanup:

Equip your favorite build and bring along our friend, Wreath of Purity, because now we're heading to Bilewater! We’ll begin with fast travel from the bottom left and then follow this route:



In the area where we found Shakra’s room earlier, we’ll climb a bit further to explore more on the right. We’ll eventually reach a tall area, and from here, we’ll continue right until we reach the swamp with the roaches. At the end of this room, we’ll find our next mask shard:



Going back one room, we’ll continue climbing up until we reach a breakable ceiling. Here, we’ll find the Quick Sling:



Returning to the tall corridor room, we’ll climb to the top left and continue progressing through Bilewater. In the next room, we’ll head right, and things start to get tricky. This area is filled with traps and tribal bugs, so we need to run through quickly and reach the far-right side. Here, we can find a flea hidden behind a wall:



Next, we want to find the secret bench in this area. At the end of the room, there’s a hole filled with traps. We’ll want to fall into it to find a breakable wall that leads us to the bench:



Moving left, we can break a wall to find some breakable sacks. Breaking one of them will give us another memory locket:



Now, let’s continue upwards to the top-right. Along the way, we’ll find traces of Shakra. Following these traces will lead us to them, where we’ll complete the Trail’s End quest:



Once that’s done, we just need to go left to face the area boss. Every time the fight starts, we have to deal with an enemy arena, so being in Steel Soul mode is great—since we can’t die, we won’t need to repeat this tedious sequence (unless things go really badly, in which case, quit to the menu and reload your save just to be safe, heh).



My best tip for this fight is to stay here when the trap activates:



Then, force the boss to stay on the right side of the arena. From here, you can spam attacks, and his spitting attacks won’t reach you.



When he starts using Soul attacks, this spot will also give you a good advantage for dodging. After defeating him, we can proceed to claim the Seeker’s Soul:



Now, we’ll leave the area via the top-left to reach the Putrefied Ducts. Here, we’ll deliver all the organs to the Huntress and complete her quest:



Finally, grab the fast travel, and let’s visit our flea friends at Greymoor!

Now that we’ve completed everything we need to, talk to the Fleamaster at Greymoor to progress the Fleas quest. Agree to travel together to the next area. Once you reach it, sit on the bench, leave the area (one scene should be enough), then quit and reload. You should now be able to ask them to travel again.



You’ll get a Spool Fragment for reaching the Bell Gate and a Tool Pouch Expansion for reaching Fleatopia:



Next, we need to travel back to the Citadel and face Lace for the second time. After all the fights we’ve had and with all the upgrades, I doubt this will give you any trouble. If you find yourself in a tough spot during her second phase, just spam Cogflies and GG.



Now, climb to The Cradle and unlock the fast travel point. Then, head back to Songclave to begin the final Act 2 quest, Silk and Soul. I got it directly from the Caretaker, but apparently, this wish can also appear at the Bellhart Wish Wall.



The Caretaker will ask us to gather 3 souls and a Weaver Trap. First, let’s travel to Bellhart. From the bell station, head down and left to find our next soul:



Next, head back to Bone Bottom and find the Old Lady at the Ruined Chapel:



We’ll also visit Eva. If you’ve followed all the steps correctly, you should have 18 Memory Lockets (unless you skipped the Forebrothers Signis & Gron at the Deep Docks, in which case you’ll need to go back and do it now since we’ll be going there in Act 3 anyway).

Sit on the Weavenest Atla bench and use all 18 Memory Lockets. This will unlock all your Crest slots. Then, talk to Eva to get all the upgrades and bind her.



To the top left of the Weaver’s area, you can get the Snare Setter needed for the quest.



Now, head left to find a hidden area by the water.



Here, we’ll find a Moss Mother nest. Normally, we’d fight two at once, but we’re so strong now that we can obliterate the first one before the second even spawns. Winning the fight will grant us the Weavelight.



Next, we need to return to Songclave to deliver everything needed for the Grand Mother Silk Trap.



Use fast travel to go back to Terminus. We’ll find the Caretaker here, and then we can proceed to fight the Grand Mother Silk.



We’re so overpowered now that this fight becomes a joke. Just keep dashing toward the Grand Mother and spam attacks as much as you can. She’ll go down really fast, and we can use the Needolin to activate the trap.



This will conclude Act 2, and you’ll get the credits screen. Here’s how long it took me to reach this point (keep in mind that I was constantly stopping to check the map and plan routes for the guide, so your time should be lower, unless you make mistakes or reload a few times).



Act 3 cleanup will be really fast, so we’ll have plenty of time to spare!

Load your save filled with void tentacles and start climbing down the Cradle. After reaching the top, you’ll encounter Cogwork in the same spot where we got the Melody. Quitting and reloading will actually restore your HP to full if you need it. Before escaping this area, we’ll face our first Void enemies:



Be careful not to take too much contact damage here. I completely forgot the game automatically unequips the Skull Mask and almost died...

After the fight, Hornet will fall, and we’ll wake up again at Songclave. Now, we need to pay a visit to our snail friends at the Ruined Chapel.

Going down into the Citadel towards the Bell Station will trigger our encounter with the Bell Eater. This fight can be tough if you focus on attacking more than dodging. It’s really a test of patience, so focus on the butt (it always follows the same poop pattern) and you should be fine.



After surviving the fight for long enough, the Bell Beast will appear and save you! Gotta love our fast travel bug. We’ll then learn the Beastling Call, which will be very helpful for fast travels.



Now we can fast travel to Bone Bottom. Inside the Ruined Chapel, we’ll find the snails and unlock the next objective:



Next, fast travel to The Docks to meet the Forge Daughter and Ballow. Talking to Ballow will trigger the next objective. We’ll then descend toward the shortcut we unlocked after fighting the Forebrothers Signis & Gron:



Going right and down, we’ll start a simple platforming section. Remember to equip the Magma Bell. Also, unlock the shortcut at the end, as we’ll be back here later.



We’ll now find Ballow and receive the Bell Key, which will allow us to enter the Diving Bell and reach The Abyss.



The area is straightforward, and we won’t find anything important until we reach the bottom. So, no route needed—just keep descending all the way down. To avoid the large spitting enemy, look for tunnels like this one:



We’ll soon reach an area filled with void.



There’s a bench in the next room, and above it, we’ll find the rune depicting the Abyss:



Now, head right to meet Lace one more time. From here, continue going right to progress.



After climbing all the way up, we’ll find a Weavenest. At the far right, we can grab the only cool collectible from this area:



We can then head down and bind our last Weaver, granting us the Super Jump needed to escape the Abyss. Head back to the top where the Diving Bell fell and start climbing.



Now, we’ll have a cool platforming section challenging us to reach the top while the lava rises. After completing it, we’ll be back at The Docks.



Now, we need to return to the snails (remember to use Beastling Call, as this will fast travel you directly to the last Bell Station) to learn a new song. From there, head right and use the Super Jump to access our final Crest:




Use Beastling Call to return to the Bell Station, and now we’re off to the Blasted Steps.

Ok, before continuing, make sure to farm money—a LOT of money. We’ll need around 3000 rosaries for the final items (unless you already bought everything from Grindle during the 100% Blasted Steps visit—in that case, you only need 600). The big guys around Songclave are still one of the best sources:



The Abyss will make farming slower, which is why I recommended doing it before Act 3.

Now that we have all the money needed, let’s fast travel to the Blasted Steps. Here’s the route:



First, we’ll make a quick stop at Grindle and buy all the important stuff (unless you already bought everything—then just proceed to the next part).



This will grant us:

• Crafting Kit Upgrade
  
• Spool Fragment
  
• Thief’s Mark
  
• Snitch Pick

Now we can keep climbing back up to the Sands of Karak and start exploring the area. In the very first room to the right, there’s a flea. To reach it easily, you can use Silk Soar right at the start of the area instead of taking the normal route.



Next, we need to progress through the area and go all the way around until we reach the top. Platforming here can be tricky, just remember you can hook into spiky rocks, and Hornet will pogo automatically when you do. After reaching the top, we can use Silk Soar to access the Voltnest:



Exploring this area leads to a boss fight. This one’s really easy—all attacks are well telegraphed, so just keep dodging and hit the boss when you get the chance. After defeating Voltvyrm, we can get the Volt Filament:



We can now go back and progress toward the left. Be sure to unlock the shortcut in case you need to reload, because we’ve got another boss fight coming. Conchfly can be really annoying if you try to face-tank it—you should take the fight slowly. When it starts spawning adds, you can easily kill the bottom one before it attacks you, and this will also create a passage to hit the boss more consistently.



After the fight, we can access the Coral Tower. Here, we’ll get the Conchcutter, and by using the Shaman’s Song, we can access Crust King Khann’s memory.



Using Silk Soar, we can start climbing the tower and fight through some enemy arenas. This gave me Coliseum of the Fools PTSD during my first playthrough, but once you know all the enemies, it’s not too bad on a second run. Also, you CAN die during the memory sections, even on Steel Soul—you’re not actually dying, just waking up (same mechanic as dream bosses in Hollow Knight).



After two arenas, we can unlock a shortcut and start the final battle. First, clear the adds, then use Silk Soar to reach Crust King Khann. This guy is a joke—you can cheese all of his attacks with parry. After winning, we get our first Hero Heart:



Use the Beastling Call and we can move on to our next objective.

From the Blasted Steps, we can head toward the Grand Gate and use our Silk Soar to reach the top. Then, climb down the elevator area until you reach a safety bench at the bottom right. After that, look for a breakable wall on the left:



After progressing through the forest area, we’ll find our big friend Seth, ready for a challenge! This fight is pretty cool and serves as a beautiful tribute from Team Cherry. It’s more like a dance—take turns attacking. If you try to face-tank, things can get dangerous.



After winning, we can enter the sanctuary and dive into Nyleth’s memory. This fight is... interesting? You can keep pogoing Nyleth and use parry as soon as she decides to attack, so it ends pretty quickly.



After the fight, we’ll receive our next Hero Heart.



Once again, use the Beastling Call and fast travel to Bellhart.

Now that we’ve saved all the fleas, it’s time to start the Fleatopia questline. Pick up all the new quests available in Bellhart and sit on the bench. Don’t forget to enter your Bell House to assemble the Farsight—this will show your overall game completion %. From here, travel all the way to Fleatopia and talk to the Fleamaster. You’ll receive one of our last Tools:



Save and reload at Bellhart, and you’ll find a new quest available:



Head back to Fleatopia to start the Flea Festival. We need to beat three scores here to get the last Pale Oil:



The first minigame is Flea Juggle, where you need to beat a score of 30 juggles. The best strategy is to equip the Beast Crest with Longclaw. You don’t need to attack upwards here—just make sure to juggle all fleas toward the same side. When the game starts throwing three fleas at once, juggle them to the center, then start juggling all to one side. It takes a bit of practice but gets easier once you find the rhythm.



Next is Flea Dodge. This one is more about staying still and only moving if a flea flies directly at you, since most fleas will miss naturally.



For Flea Bounce, equip the Wanderer Crest and Longclaw for the best pogo stability. This one’s easy with all the movement techs you have. Remember, you can float and use the hook to stall in the air, and you don’t need to pogo every flea—just maintain your air combo.



After beating all the minigames, the Fleamaster will celebrate your victory, and you’ll receive your final Pale Oil.



Now use the Beastling Call and travel to Shellwood. We need to find the Pinmaster before upgrading our nail to its final form. You can find him here:



After rescuing him, return to Bellhart and upgrade your nail one last time (680 rosaries).

While still in Bellhart, exit through the bell cave beneath the Bellway Station—this is now the fastest way to enter Hunter’s March, since the other entrances are blocked. Head all the way to the Karmelita statue, then use Silk Soar to reach the upper area.



To the far right, you’ll find the Sprintmaster. Accept his Wish to challenge him in a race, and after three victories, you’ll earn a mask shard:



Now climb to the top to find Skarrsinger Karmelita. Enter her memory to face her prime self.



This is easily one of the best and hardest fights in the game. Karmelita is fast and feral, and this battle plays like a dance—she moves, then you move. You can deflect her projectiles, and pogoes help since she blocks many attacks from below. After defeating her, you’ll receive your final Hero Heart.



The game performs a hard save here—make use of it. Use Beastling Call to return to Bellhart, where a new wish about a stolen doll will appear.



Save and quit to reload near Karmelita. From here, head down to find a trap—interact with it to trigger the Gurr encounter.



This fight is straightforward: avoid traps by staying still and hit Gurr when he approaches. After winning, find the doll on the left side of the room. Use Beastling Call to return to Bellhart, deliver the doll, and claim another mask shard.

You should have received the Pinstress quest, which asks you to duel her. Start by visiting her home at the Blasted Steps, where you'll find a letter that tells you where to find her. We’re almost done—now, it’s time to visit Mount Fay one final time. Follow this route:



Climb until you reach the second area with the lake. Use Silk Soar to access Brightvein.



There’s a platforming section here—use the hook for better mobility. Reaching the top rewards you with another mask shard:



Head back outside and climb until you find the Pinstress sleeping. Attack her to wake her for a fight.



This fight can be tricky since she stays airborne most of the time. Be patient and strike when she comes down—parries work wonders here. After defeating her, you’ll earn the Pin Badge, your last tool.



Next, collect your final mask shard by destroying 12 void masses scattered across the map. Big thanks to https://mapgenie.io/hollow-knight-silksong/maps/pharloom for this—here are all the void mass locations:



Once you’ve destroyed 12, return to Bellhart to claim your last mask shard.



One last task before finishing the game—climb the Cradle once more using Silk Soar to bind your final ability:

Use the Beastling Call and return to Bonebottom. Here, we’ll meet the snails one last time and trigger the red memory sequence—a beautiful piece of storytelling from Team Cherry. After the cutscenes, you can claim the Everbloom:



At this point, your completion percentage should hit 100%:



Next, fast travel to the Docks one last time. Head to the Diving Bell to meet Ballow and let him know you’re ready to dive again.



Now, dive all the way down into the Abyss for the final battle.



This fight is definitely challenging—practice on your normal save before trying it on Steel Soul. Once you’re consistent, defeat Lost Lace to unlock the true ending and finish 100% in under 30 hours.



And that’s it! You made it—congratulations!

The final section will cover the exclusive Steel Soul boss challenge, which is completely optional.

Before talking about the quest, there's a small thing I'd like to mention: since we skipped the Sister Splinter boss fight during the Shellwood speedrun, we can still find her there, awaiting to pierce us with her spiny vines... So yeah, she is truly just an optional boss, which I find really funny.



Also, if you take the time to decorate your Bellhome, you can paint it in an exclusive metallic color, available only on Steel Soul (it replaces the white color).





Okay, now back to business:

We met Zi during the 100% Blasted Steps visit, and she marked some spots on the map that we need to visit. The locations she chooses are randomly selected from a pool of possible spots (there may be more than six, but these are the ones I know about):

• Resting Site - Moss Grotto
  
• Resting Site - Far Fields
  
• Resting Site - Putrified Ducts
  
• Resting Site - High Halls
  
• Resting Site - Shellwood
  
• Resting Site - Sands of Karak

These are the locations she marked for me:



After visiting all the locations, Hornet will mark a spot in the very bottom left of the map, close to the Bonegrave area.



Inside, we will find the Vassal performing a dark ritual, which summons the "Saviour," a being of void. This is a very easy and underwhelming boss fight that ends up being more of a "just smash him to win" situation.



The Vassal will then flee, and we can return to Zi to receive our reward: an infinite Shells Shard source.



I do expect to see some further expansion of this questline with the release of future DLC. If that happens, count on me to post everything about it here!