How to beat Bell Beast in Hollow Knight Silksong: Location, tips and tricks, and more

Beating the Bell Beast is crucial in all your Hollow Knight Silksong runs, because this boss basically unlocks the primary fast-travel system in the game. By and large, the boss alternates between only three moves. All of these have very obvious tells, so defeating the Bell Beast is simply a skill-check for your fundamentals early on.

In this guide, we'll go over all there is to know about the Bell Beast boss - where to find him, what moves he can pull, as well as some handy tips if you're struggling.

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Hollow Knight Silksong Bell Beast location: Where to find this boss?

The location of the cocoon is where you find this boss (Image via Team Cherry)

If you've located Shakara, the Compass and Map Merchant in Hollow Knight, the Bell Beast is not far away. It's located at the far north-eastern corner of The Marrow. From the location of Shakara, go to the top left and through the passage upwards. When you reach the mossy corridor, the Bell Beast is towards the right. You can also see a rubble of bells cluttering the arena, so it's obvious.

How to free the Bell Beast

Initially, the Bell Beast will be locked away by behind layers of regenerating silk. Striking them with your nail isn't fast enough, as they repair themselves quite fast. To free the Bell Beast in Hollow Knight Silksong, you'll have to obtain the Silkspear ability, which can slice the entire silken coating in one cast. This can be found in Mosshome nearby.

Before you free the Bell Beast, though, make sure you've unlocked the gate left of Shakara, as there's resting bench just past the gate.

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All the boss mechanics of Bell Beast in Hollow Knight Silksong

As we mentioned earlier, there's only three different moves the Bell Beast can pull off. It will always burrow into the ground, so the tell is both the width of the quaking ground once he's about to pop out, and the poise he takes once he's out.

The Pounce

Give it a few slap, but wait patiently for its landing (Image via Team Cherry)

The Bell Beast leaps out of the ground from one end of the arena, and lands on the other end. This is basically instant after he appears, so to be safe, stand at the center of the arena to determine whether it's a charge or a pounce.

After the boss lands on the other side, he'll be stationary for about two seconds, which lets you strike its back with your nail up to three times. If you're feeling confident, you can also Silkspear him for more damage during this point.

The Charge

The Charge is easy to predict (Image via Team Cherry)

If the Bell Beast flattens itself out after unearthing itself, it will charge straight to the other end of the arena. Unlike the poucing move, this has a second-long animation where the Beast winds up looking towards the center of the arena, so that's your cue to jump.

During the charge, you can get a diagonal pounce in towards the Bell Beast as it's passing underneath you. The bounce will land you in a safe spot automatically. However, if you're not proficient at the new diagonal pogo-ing in Silksong yet, you can just stay in the air and avoid him during the charge to be safe.

The Bell-toss

The trajectory of the bells (Image via Team Cherry)

If the rumbling ground appears on a smaller spot near the center of the arena rather than one half, the Beast will dig up two bells, and toss them on each side. The bells bounce once, and then roll towards either edge of the arena before they despawn.

The bells always strike the same spot twice when the bounce, and cannot be struck away with your needle. So the only right thing to do during this is to move away from the rumbling spot when you can see it's a bell-toss, stay out of the vertical bounce's impact, and jump over whichever bell is rolling towards you.

Bell Beast Second phase: Additional bells

Be careful once this phase triggers (Image via Team Cherry)

Once you've done significant damage to the Bell Beast in Hollow Knight Silksong, he'll enter his second phase by letting out a bellow. The force of the roar will cause bells to fall out of the ceiling. You can see where the bells will land by the pillar-like trails of dust that form beforehand. There will be about 4-5 bells during this point, which bounce once, roll for about a second, and then despawn.

There's some RNG involved during the start of the second phase, because it's hard to tell which way a particular bell will roll once it falls out of the ceiling. A relatively safe strategy is to go towards one edge of the arena and stick there. Be ready to move away once the Bell Beast itself is about to be back though: generally, the edge of the arena are very dangerous spots.

After the seond phase is triggered, the bell-toss move will always have one extra bell falling from the top. Plus, there's also a good chance a bell will fall when the Bell Beast ends his charge or pounce moves - so look for the trails of dust.

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General fighting strtegy and tips to beat the Bell Beast in Hollow Knight Silksong

The Bell Beast is overall on the easier end compared to most bosses in Hollow Knight Silksong. Other than the beginning of the second phase, you always want to linger at the center of the arena. Afterwards, check for the location of the rumble when the boss is about to appear:

• If it's a smaller quake and not at either edge of the arena, it's a bell toss. Immediately move away from the point of impact as far away as you can. This is especially dangerous during the second phase.
• If it's at either edge of the arena, wait to check whether there's an animation or a striaght leap. If it's a leap, remain at the center, and then start moving towards where the beast is about to land. This is your main chance to get tow or three hits in relatively safely.
• When the charge animation plays, remain near the center and jump. The safe way to play the Bell Beast fight is not engaging during the charge, but if you want to practice your diagonal pogo game, this is the perfect stress-test environment for that.

Som tips to keep in mind if you're struggling to beat the Bell Beast in Hollow Knight Silksong:

• Instead of trying to play fully off your frame-perfect reaction, keep your eye on the environment instead. The fundamentals are simple: stay away from the narrower rumbles, and position properly during the pounces and charges.
• During the second phase, an added thing you have to keep track of is the trails of dust fortelling an extra bell. Basically, this will always be at the end of a move, so make sure to be more vigilant before you engage. This battle of attrition is easier won by the patient and the methodical.
• Try to do the run hitless. Coming to contact with the Beast or his bells at any point takes away two notches of health, so you can't tank more than three hits. That being said...
• ...If you do get hit, don't heal at an awkward spot, and wait for the right opportunity. Healing in Silksong gets you up to three notches of health at a go early on, but if you do it at the wrong moment or place, you can easily get stunlocked to death. The best time to heal is after the boss burrows down after finishing a move fully.

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Post-fight platforming and rewards for defeating the Bell Beast

Some platforming to get to the first big prize (Image via Team Cherry)

Once you beat the Bell Beast, you're led to a dream vision. Platform your way to the top, and once you reach a platform with a lever sticking out of the middle, repeatedly strike it to spin the wheel and ascend upwards. Getting to the top gives you your first Silk Heart, letting you passively regenerate Silk.

Afterwards, you unlock the primary fast travel system in Hollow Knight Silksong. Like the Stag in Hollow Knight, the Bell Beast is your ride to get around various travel points in Silksong.

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Check out our other guides on the game:

• Will there be a physical edition release of Silksong?
• Is Silksong a sequel to Hollow Knight?
• Can you play Silksong on Xbox Game Pass?