You’ll come across plenty of bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong, some of which might give you trouble. Once you reach Shellwood, you will eventually happen upon a room where some spiked vines close you in, leading to a boss fight with Sister Splinter. The boss itself is fairly easy, but it’s made complicated by the fact she spawns adds during the second phase, making it a lot harder. This page will detail all of the Sister Splinter’s attacks, as well as how to easily deal with the adds and the boss itself.
Sister Splinter is the boss you’ll face in the Shellwood area.
Sister Splinter’s Attacks¶
The boss doesn’t have too many attacks, although there are three distinct phases. As usual, the phases are shown when the boss does a roar during the middle of the battle.
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Ground Pound: Sister Splinter will follow you and attempt to smash the ground with her arm. Note that this always comes in sets of three, with her alternating arms every time It’s best to dash away from the boss when it does this.
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Summon Vines: Usually after one or two sets of the above move, the boss will retreat into the ceiling and summon vines that act like barriers. These can be destroyed by hitting them (takes three hits) and you can see rays of light, signaling the location of the vines.
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Summon Enemies: Second Phase. The boss will scream and initially summon two Splinterbarks. These enemies spin with their blades, making it hard to defeat them. They also deal two damage each if you get hit by their attack. All subsequent summons after the first time will only bring one out.
(1 of 2) One of the two main attacks from the boss involves her slamming her claws into the ground.
One of the two main attacks from the boss involves her slamming her claws into the ground. (left), The other has her conjuring up vines that act as barriers. (right)
Sister Splinter Boss Strategy¶
It doesn’t really matter which Crest you have equipped, but the Hunter or Wanderer one should be better, simply because their up attacks have a wider range. When the fight first starts, the boss will only have two main attacks. She will either do the ground pound attack with her claws, or retreat into the ceiling to summon vines. Remember that the claws come down in alternating patterns, so it will always be left-right-left or right-left-right. The best thing to do is to dash away while she’s doing this, but remember that she won’t chase you across the entire arena, so keep close enough that dashing will just avoid getting hit.
When she retreats into the ceiling, some rays of light will appear, showing you where the vines will come into the arena. These vines deal one damage to you, should you touch them, but you can simply destroy them by hitting them three times. Note that the boss can also destroy them with the claw attacks, plus all vines will disappear upon stunning Sister Splinter. At some point during the fight, after the boss has taken enough damage, she will do a roar and enter the second phase.
The first thing the boss will do during the second phase will summon two Splinterbarks. These lesser enemies fly around and will spin whenever you get close to them, essentially becoming a small bladed tornado. Hitting them normally can be a bit of a pain, and they are the sole reason why this boss fight has any difficulty (they deal two damage each time they hit you with their spinning attack). You’re left with them for a bit of time, but Splinter Sister will eventually come back into the fray, which means that it will get really busy. The best way to deal with the Splinterbarks is to use your Silkspear ability to one-shot them.
Doing this also has the added benefit of destroying any vines that may be in the arena. Note that Sister Splinter can also destroy the lesser enemies with her claw attacks, similar to the vines. Every other time she spawns more, they will come in one at a time, but you should immediately use a Silkspear to get rid of it. Outside of the lesser enemies, the second phase will pretty much be the same as the first. As before, once you do enough damage, she will roar once more and go into the final phase.
Sister Splinter starts this final phase by conjuring a bunch of vines in the room. Stay in the center and destroy them once they all appear, sticking to one side (can also use a Silkspear here, if you want). That’s about the only new thing, although she seems to summon a lot more vines during this phase. The rest of the fight will be the same, though, with the Splinterbarks and claw attacks. Concentrate on the lesser enemies when they show up, then you can easily do jumping up attacks to finish off the boss for good.
With Sister Splinter finally downed, you can continue exploring the rest of Shellwood, with you eventually finding the Cling Grip ability, which allows you to wall jump!
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