The first boss fight ofHollow Knightcan be an absolute beast if you aren’t prepared. The False Knight is big, imposing, and hitting him seems to do nothing, not even fill your health bar. But don’t worry! It’s not as hard as it seems; you just need to know what you’re doing.
If you haven’t gotten there yet, The False Knight is the mandatory first boss of the game. you may’t explore further than the Forgotten Crossroads until you’ve defeated him. His fight not only gives you access to the ability that lets you explore Greenpath but it’s the only way to acquire the item to get into The Pale City. There’s no getting around this fight.
Where To Go
If you don’t know how to get to the False Knight, start at the Forgotten Crossroads Stag Station (don’t forget to rest on the bench there). Head up until you come to a glowing opening on your left. Head on in and keep to the platforms - don’t jump down to the floor.
The Path To The Knight
There’s a big guy waiting to smack you if you’re not careful. Thankfully, he’s easy enough to avoid. He can’t see you if you stay above him, and once you jump down to the far left he can’t follow you too far since the ceiling is too low for him. Saved by being short!
Before The Fight
Once you’ve fought your way past the various tiny enemies that litter the path to the False Knight you’ll enter a large, empty area. You can’t keep going to the left as there’s a metal gate thing in the way, so head up.
Upwards and rightwards is the way to the fight. You’ll know you’re there when you come across a trio of minor enemies. They’re easy enough to despatch of, but be careful not to go too far to the left - that will trigger the boss fight.
If You Die
If you die during the boss fight (or while killing the little guys beforehand), your shade will be waiting for you here. Be sure to take care of it before initiating the main fight. Don’t forget to heal up, too!
The False Knight
Once you’ve triggered the fight, get ready. The False Knight only has two real attacks, but he jumps around a lot. His movements are telegraphed well in advanced though, so if you spend a little time just watching his movements before trying to get a hit in you’ll be golden.
The gimmick of this fight is that your hits on his armor don’t do any damage, which means they don’t fill up your Soul and you can’t heal. It’ll stand you in good stead to prioritize not getting hit over hitting him. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to give the False Knight a big ol' smack when you run beneath him when he goes for a big jump-then-hit attack.
The shockwave attack is a bit harder to avoid, but it’s all in the timing. He’ll wind up for a hot moment before smacking the ground, sending white vibrations towards you. Jump over them right before they reach you.
If you’re feeling confident there’s a brief window here where you can hit the False Knight before he launches into his next attack. Just keep chipping away at him while avoiding damage and soon you’ll have him staggered.
When his white, maggot head pops out run over and start whaling on him. You’ll notice very quickly that these hits are filling up your Soul. Don’t worry about healing just yet, just keep on hitting until his head disappears and he gets back up.
The Second Phase
When the False Knight gets up he’ll throw a big tantrum, causing things to fall from the ceiling. Hug the wall and take the opportunity to heal. After this, the fight will continue much the same way it did before, only now he’ll occasionally cause more debris to fall. Avoid it if you can.
Depending on your efficiency, you may have to stagger the False Knight anywhere from once to twice more. It can be hard to keep track if he keeps killing you. Just don’t let your frustration get the better of you on your walk back from the Stag Station bench.
The End Of The Fight
At a certain point, the floor of the arena will collapse. If you don’t fall through, jump after the False Knight.
He’ll just be lying there with his head out, so you know what to do. Just keep hitting him until he explodes.
There’s no need to run off, that orange stuff won’t hurt you. He’ll pop out of his armor, showing how tiny he truly is. The fight is over, the False Knight has been vanquished. Pick up the City Crest that he drops by his empty armor and head left.
Before you leave, make sure to explore the room. There’s a treasure chest you may hit that’ll give you plenty of funds to spend on map upgrades and charms. Once you’ve collected that, head left to meet a weird little bug and get your ranged attack.
