Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 Citadel of Song walkthrough

Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 Citadel of Song unlocks right after you defeat the Last Judge and head through the Grand Gate. The upcoming areas feature new game mechanics, enemy archetypes, wishes, and Ancentral Arts. There will be a few bosses along the way as Hornet travels deeper inside The Great Citadel. You may also come across familiar faces in these distant lands.

This article guides you through Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 Citadel of Song.

Note: This article is a work in progress, and parts of it are subjective as they reflect the author's opinion. It will be updated and corrected as more details emerge.

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How to complete Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 Citadel of Song

Entering the Grand Gate

After defeating the Last Judge, head inside the Grand Gate that requires you to ring five bells in Act 1 Pharloom. Once inside, inspect the first miniature Citadel model, which will reward you with a map of the area.

Acquiring the map of Grand Gate (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

This map requires you to spend 40 Rosaries. Follow it and head to the extreme right of the Grand Gate region and drop down with the broken lift. You can then slowly make your way up Underworks in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2.

Finding Underworks after the lift malfunction

This area is right underneath the Choral Chambers, which we will get to later. First, make your way to the map of this region by climbing up. On the left side is a room with a broken board that has the Underworks map.

Reaching Underworks in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

Pick it up for free and head back out. Climb out and head right this time. Avoid all the sawblades and make your way past Underworks' enemies.

Explore the Choral Chambers

After climbing to the Choral Chambers, grab the map from the machine for 70 Rosaries. Close to this section of the map is a special tube transport system called the Ventrica Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2. This device is your primary transportation mode for regions inside the Citadel.

Choral Chambers map location (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

Finding the Grand Bellway

Once you explore this area, you will once again face a familiar foe. Lace will be back for a conversation with Hornet. However, she leaves without a fight. Now there are two paths for you.

Path to Grand Bellway (Image via SK Gaming | Team Cherry)

Head to the extreme left of the Choral Chamber to locate The Slab and its Bellway station alongside a resting bench. Keep going to the extreme right, and you will come across the Grand Bellway Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2.

Reach Songclave from Grand Bellway

You can unlock the Bellway station in Grand Bellway and then head up to go towards the east. Upon climbing up to this section of Choral Chambers, you will find a single chair, acting as a resting bench. On its right is the First Shrine that you can enter. After coming out, the Caretaker of the Shrine will interact with it and ask you to check back on the condition of Songclave later.

Songclave in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

Cogwork Dancers boss fight

Now, go back to the left side to reach the Cogwork Core. This is where you will find the Cogwork Dancers - this is a dual-boss fight, so be wary of their moves. While it is easy to understand in which direction they will be attacking, do not underestimate them.

Cogwork Core map (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

After you take one of them down, it becomes a one-on-one boss fight. Defeat the last dancer to have the background change and two floor grates open up. Head down from the left floor grate and jump across to find another room. Hit the device to open up the rest bench and a wall you can climb on the left. Go up to find the Cogwork Core map.

Exploring Cogwork Core secrets

After beating them, go down through the two openings to drop onto a long vertical space and then head back up from the path on the right. As you move to the room on the east side, you will find a giant wheel with a lever that can open up a horizontal path. This is the same wheel whose vertical passage allowed you to reach Songclave from Grand Bellway.

Giant wheel that leads to Whispering Vaults (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

Reaching Whispering Vaults

Use the horizontal passage to reach Whispering Vaults, where you will meet Vaultkeeper Cardinius. Note that some giant boxes might block your path. Hit them to move these boxes along the rails, which you will find floating in the background.

Vaultkeeper Cardinius in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

If you have any Psalm Cylinders, hand them over to the Vaultkeeper. The Whispering Vaults also have a Pale Oil resource that can be used to get a Needle Upgrade in Hollow Knight Silksong.

Trobbio boss fight

Head back to the Cogwork Core and interact with the three statues, which will give you the next primary objective. You will be asked to find the three Melodies. However, before doing this, you must return to the Underworks to acquire the Clawline ability.

Path to reach The Stage in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

If you intend to go via the Whispering Vaults route, then you must head all the way down to the second last floor in this Vault and then to the Trobbio fight in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2.

Acquiring Clawline ability

Once you beat this boss, go right to find a lift, using which you can move down to the Underworks. On your path, you will come across many Fourth Chorus lookalike machines in an area. This is where the Twelfth Architect can be found. Talk to them and then rest on the bench in this area to save your progress.

Path to Clawline from The Stage (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

Now, go left to reach the Cauldron area, where you must traverse a long path to acquire the Clawline Ancestral Art Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2. After this, escape the area using your newly acquired skill to reach an area where the ceiling can be destroyed. Return to the lift that brought you down to Underworks from The Stage boss fight of Trobbio.

Vaultkeeper's Melody and Pale Oil

Once you reach the lift, flick its switch and drop down to reveal a path underneath. Make your way across the region and slowly get back up to a hidden section of Whispering Vaults in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2. This is where you will find the Vaultkeeper's Melody. A bench on the opposite side will let you save your progress.

Red marker denotes Pale Oil, Silver Marker denotes Vaultkeeper's Melody (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

Climb back up to the Whispering Vaults and reach the room right above the corridor that takes you to The Stage. Move the boxes around to find Pale Oil as marked on the map. Flick the Switch and head out into the Choral Chambers.

A quick overview of some benches in Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 (Image via SK Gaming || Team Cherry)

This article will be updated with the Architect's and Conductor's melody locations. Furthermore, regions like The Slab and the path to the Faydown Cloak will also be added in this Hollow Knight Silksong Act 2 guide.

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About the author

Sankalpa is a gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in role-playing games (RPGs) and first-person shooters (FPS). A trained IT engineer, he switched his career to combine his passion for computer hardware and video games. Having done early build testing for Redstorm Entertainment, Sankalpa brings a wealth of insight into his role at Sportskeeda. He actively plays the games he is tasked to cover and then writes unbiased, thoughtful, and accurate features.

Delta Force 1 was the first title Sankalpa played, and it ignited in him a lifelong love for the FPS genre. Currently, he prefers to play multiplayer games on his PC. That said, he would love to explore the majestic landscapes of Far Cry 4's Kyrat in person if he ever finds himself in a Jumanji-type scenario.

Sankalpa follows the esports scene of Rainbow Six quite closely, with he himself playing with and against T2 and T3 teams in R6 tournaments at one point. He enjoys watching the tactics employed by professional players, especially Pengu, a former G2 member and 2x Winner of Rainbow 6 Siege invitationals.

In his spare time, Sankalpa can be found listening to lossless music or editing YouTube videos. He also loves binge-watching anime.

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Edited by Dinesh Renthlei