secret area: How to reach the secret area of Moss Grotto in Hollow Knight Silksong

Hollow Knight Silksong hides many secret areas across its labyrinthine world, including one accessible from the moment players gain control of protagonist Hornet. After escaping from her gilded prison and drops down into Moss Grotto, the tutorial area, she will arrive in a safe haven with no enemies to be found

However, instead of heading left past the broken carriage and into the unknown brimming with danger, you should turn right to find a secret area with its own real surprise. Here's everything to know about it.

Also Read: All Mossberry locations in Hollow Knight Silksong

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Where is the Moss Grotto Secret Area in Hollow Knight Silksong?

Jump toward the "wall" on the right to find the first of the two secret rooms (Image via Team Cherry)

At the starting point of the game, turn right and jump into the "wall" to the right of the broken carriage to enter a hidden area. There wpn't be anything of interest here besides a stone pillar that can be broken because this isn't the secret area to look out for; rather, this room provides a vital clue to the real secret location.

If you linger here, you can hear the faint breathing sound in the background, as if someone is resting. It is not Hornet, nor is it ambient noise. To find out the truth, jump diagonally upward in the upper-right corner of the screen to climb into another secret room hidden inside this hidden area.

Here, you will encounter a giant white bug soundly asleep. Contrary to initial impressions, even this starting area of Moss Grotto is not safe, as this is a unique enemy encounter. Attack the bug with Hornet's needle to enrage it, following which it will start rolling left and right around the room.

A deadly surprise awaits, so tread with caution (Image via Team Cherry)

Now, since this is a tightly knit space and there is no room to fight in the room, any first-time no-death runs will undoubtedly come to an end here. Since it is impossible to avoid damage here, especially this early on in the game, the only trick to beating this bug is to drop out of this second hidden chamber into the first and wait for the beast to stop causing havoc.

Once it has quietened down, climb back up, hit it a couple of times again, and then remove yourself from its vicinity to pacify it. Repeat this process until it is defeated. The giant bug will drop a Beast Shard. This consumable item is similar to the Frayed Rosary Strings, except it grants players 120 Shell Shards upon use.

Shell Shards are one of the several resources Hornet has at her disposal to deal with foes, and they also back up as ammo for equipment like the Straight Pins. Since these Shards only drop from defeated enemies, we recommend only using the Beast Shard when needed as ammo backup in a pinch during challenging battles.

That said, you will likely die on the first try if you're caught by surprise by the bug's moveset, so we recommend resting at the Bone Bottom town bench to make it easier to return to this area, as it is a relatively straight affair down the pit.

Hollow Knight Silksong is on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2 platforms.

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About the author

Siddharth is an esports and gaming writer at Sportkseeda. With nearly 10 years of experience in the industry, he also contributed to renowned publications like Gameffine (formerly IndianNoob), the British retro FPS magazine E1M1, and Gaming Purists, the latter being a passion project which he founded with friends.

Holding a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Siddharth's journalistic pursuits extend beyond reporting; he throws himself into the heart of gaming communities. His positive exploits in the industry have led him to interviewing Rohit Jain, a prominent Tekken 7 player from India.

Though he currently specializes in Nintendo, Overwatch 2, and RPG coverage, Siddharth's expertise spans a multitude of platforms and genres. He believes in doing extensive research across a mix of official, community-driven and diverse media sources for all of his article categories.

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Edited by Angad Sharma