How to beat Trobbio in Hollow Knight Silksong

How do you beat Trobbio in Hollow Knight Silksong? There's no such thing as being too dramatic when it comes to theatre, and glitterbug Trobbio certainly knows how to put on a killer show. Prepare to meet arguably Silksong's best character.

Though he's an optional encounter in Hollow Knight Silksong, Trobbio is one of the Silksong bosses you'll be remiss to not tango with. The Citadel's top performer has a penchant for pyrotechnics, bringing glitz and glam in equal measure both times you get to fight him. In return for besting Trobbio, you'll get a couple of incredibly useful Silksong tools that can aid Hornet during her journey through Pharloom. Below, we'll tell you where to find Trobbio, as well as our tried and true strategies for both encounters.

Where to find Trobbio in Silksong

Trobbio can be found at The Stage in Whispering Vaults. While it looks like he can be accessed from the Choral Chambers, you'll have to head through the vaults first to unlock the shortcut. Don't worry, you won't have to fight Trobbio before doing so.

The second encounter with this diva, Tormented Trobbio, can't be triggered until you've reached Silksong Act 3 and accepted the Pain, Anguish, and Misery quest from the wish board in Songclave. Once again, you'll have to take to The Stage.

The first time you face Trobbio will be during Act 2, and there are plenty of great tools you can make use of to fend him off. In the video above, we run a loadout consisting of the Sting Shard and Flea Brew, both poisoned by the ever-useful Pollip Pouch. As Trobbio likes to roam around a lot, the poison cloud from Flea Brew can help ensure he's always taking damage; the bolstered movement and attack speed from the brew itself is also handy as there are plenty of opportunities to get needle hits in.

Silkstorm can be useful for a reason we'll get onto in a minute, though ultimately we'd recommend retaining your silk for healing. Other tools that you can obtain by this point that are good for this fight include the Fractured Mask for more effective health, the Spool Extender for holding more silk, and the Magnetite Dice for the chance to nullify damage altogether.

Trobbio utilizes a mixture of firework-based attacks in his kit. One of the most common moves you'll see is a flourish of fireworks scattered across the arena. These are safe at first, but will explode after a short delay, so steer clear.

The other Trobbio ability you'll often have to navigate is his bouncing firework balls. Trobbio will throw three of these out at a time, dealing damage not only on direct impact, but after their smoke trail solidifies into a beam. If these look to land in an awkward position for Hornet, try and swat them away, either with your needle or Silkstorm, before they begin emitting smoke.

Trobbio can also delve below the stage, popping up before beginning his artistic assault anew. This is a perfect opportunity to get a hit or two in.

However, it's not always Trobbio that appears from the trap doors. He can, instead, throw out three more firework balls before making his grand reappearance.

Trobbio sometimes hovers across the arena, providing ample opportunity to get an upswing or two in. Just be careful, as he'll either drop vertically at the end of the movement, or launch into a spinning attack.

Though he mostly uses tools, Trobbio himself occasionally attacks Hornet. He can initiate a tornado move either while on the ground, moving horizontally across the arena, or while airborne.

At the spin's conclusion, Trobbio fires out two smaller tornados that arc away and up from his current position. The best way to handle this is to float above Trobbio as soon as he's on the ground. This not only allows you to dodge the full attack, but you can also get a nice pogo hit on him in the process. Your best opportunity to heal comes during this attack. As soon as the tornados have been fired out, bind while remaining above Trobbio.

During phase two, Trobbio introduces a new move. Now, plumes of smoke will jet out from a sequence of trap doors, before solidifying as beams after a short delay. Do your best to not get cornered, as you'll likely tank a hit.

Throughout the fight, you'll find yourself forced into tough positions by the sheer amount of AoE abilities Trobbio has it his disposal. Your focus should first be on finding a safe spot, before returning your attention to the boss himself. As Trobbio spends plenty of time roving the arena, make liberal use of your Sting Shards during phase two when the opportunities to get needle attacks in diminish. Try and maintain as much control over the trajectory of his firework balls as possible, and you'll eventually come out on top.

How to beat Tormented Trobbio

For the most part, Tormented Trobbio makes use of the same moveset as the previous version you fought, albeit with some extra flourishes. He does have a new trick up his sleeve that you'll have to watch out for, though. The fight's also much faster, making this a chaotic, flashy bout. As such, you'll need to bring some new tools to the party.

For round two, we locked in the Architect Crest, opening up the means to carry three offensive tools: Cogflies, Throwing Rings, and Tacks. Cogflies are incredible for ensuring the boss is constantly taking damage, even when Hornet's cornered by his attacks. The small arena we're fighting in gives the bouncing Throwing Rings tons of value. Meanwhile, Trobbio spends plenty of time on the floor, making the Tacks an amazing option. Cogwheels are also good here. You will, of course, want to lock in the Pollip Pouch for those poison ticks.

As before, we're using the Fractured Mask and Magnetite Dice, though by this point we'd also acquired the Reserve Bind tool. This ensures you always have enough silk for an emergency heal or tool recharge mid-fight. Everything else is optional; we simply slapped on whichever yellow tools we had on-hand that could provide some sort of combat value.

The now-nihilistic Trobbio is looking to go out with a real bang, adding extra explosive properties to some of his core abilities. His spin now leaves a trail behind it, exploding after a short delay. When Trobbio uses the diagonal version of his dash, he'll shift horizontally back in the direction he first descended from once he's reached the ground.

There are two ways to dodge this. You can either immediately dash under him once he begins spinning, heading towards the side he started at (as pictured above). Or, double jump and float above the point Trobbio is set to land.

The tornados Trobbio sends out also leave an ignition trail that explodes from the bottom heading upwards, so quickly close the gap with him as soon as you're clear of the tornados.

Trobbio's firework balls are also tougher to steer clear of. Not only do these now fire in two directions, but they randomly protrude in either a '+' or 'X' shape. Again, knocking the balls away from the center of the stage before they begin smoking gives you the best chance of avoiding damage.

Finally, Trobbio's new attack sees him emit an ignition trail from himself, either in a '+' or 'X' shape. If using the latter, this is a good opportunity to get an upswing in.

There's a lot going on visually during the Tormented Trobbio fight, and it can be hard to keep track of everything happening on-screen. There's also a lot of RNG involved in his attack pattern, so be prepared to take damage at some point. Until you can get a feel for the fight, you won't be able to get many needle hits in, which brings us back to the recommendation of bringing Reserve Bind. The fight, while tough, is a pretty short affair with our loadout, so you shouldn't need to heal multiple times throughout.

Keeping the floor loaded up with tacks, maintaining Cogfly uptime, and using the Throwing Rings when you're blocked off from Trobbio by his abilities will help you get through this ordeal quickly. However, we'd recommend trying to hold back as much of your tool payload as you can until phase two; it gets even harder to land a needle hit here.

And that's how to beat Trobbio in Hollow Knight Silksong. Defeating him for the first time will net you the Claw Mirror tool, which subsequently gets upgraded to the Claw Mirrors after Tormented Trobbio is sent packing.

Now you're prepped for the fight ahead, make sure you stay topped up on purchasable Shard Bundles by utilizing our best Rosary farm spots. Or, y'know, use one of the best Silksong mods to generate the precious currency without having to lift a finger.