How to beat the Hollow Knight Silksong Sister Splinter

How do you beat the Hollow Knight Silksong Sister Splinter boss? Staying firmly wedged in the ceiling for almost the entire fight, there's little variety in how you can approach this bothersome battle. You either adapt to the handicap or take a royal beating. If you're struggling to make a dent in her, we have some simple Sister Splinter hints and tips to see you through.

Being one of many Silksong bosses you'll have to tussle with sooner or later, sending Sister Splinter packing has a multitude of benefits. Not sure how to get back to her chamber? Use our Hollow Knight Silksong map to find your bearings. And if you haven't already, look into how to upgrade Needle. Some extra damage might be all you need to figure this battle out.

Where to find Sister Splinter

Sister Splinter is found in the Shellwood area of Pharloom. The arena is located along the route to the Hollow Knight Silksong Wall Jump location, which means it doubles as the unlock requirement for that specific skill. It also means you won't need to hold onto any walls to beat it, which fits given Sister Splinter attacks exclusively from the ceiling above.

To reach Sister Splinter, step on the pressure plate just right of the Shellwood bench. Hop on the elevator and head into the room to the right of its final destination. Travel to the opposite side of the room, up, and take the first left. Jump along the platforms and strike the blooms to bounce over the brambles leading left. Continue down the path to reach the Sister Splinter location.

To beat Sister Splinter, you'll need to rely on a short jump and upward strike combo. Jump too high and you'll collide with the boss and take damage. You'll have a chance to use your other attacks on her minions, obstacles, or whenever she's stunned, but your upward strike will be the solution to most of your problems in this fight.

After emerging from the vines above, Sister Splinter makes her basic attack known: three powerful strikes of her claws in a left-right-left pattern. She tracks and follows your movements throughout this attack chain, so focus on evasion first and attacking later.

Once you've been introduced to that particular attack, Sister Splinter dashes away and retreats into the thorns above. Watch for the debris and ray of light emerging from the ceiling and dodge to avoid the spike that soon slams down. Strike it a few times to remove it from play. She'll start to spawn more of these in one go as the fight progresses. Put off breaking them and you risk having nowhere to run from her basic combo.

Deal enough damage to Sister Splinter during the window afforded by her basic three-hit combo to stun her, dropping her to the ground. Quickly use some of your stronger attacks while she's grounded to really dent her health pool. This transitions her to the second phase of the fight, which doesn't change much.

After her shriek, Sister Splinter retreats, calling in some airborne enemies to distract you further. Once they stop spinning, use either your silk strikes or three quick upward stabs to take them down.

From this point on, she'll summon other flying attackers while calling in spikes on slightly acute angles. The moving targets are unpredictable and can make avoiding her other attacks particularly difficult, so focus on dispatching these at all costs.

Once she screams again and floods the arena with spikes, only break enough of the thorn walls to give yourself room to dodge her typical attacks. Destroying them all will only eat into the time spent striking back.

After enough back and forth, Sister Splinter should hit the ground for the last time. We hope she wasn't too much of a thorn in your side.

With Sister Splinter dealt with, you might want to look ahead to your next great action platforming title with our list of the best Metroidvanias to play right now. And if this one posed a particular challenge, check out the Hollow Knight Silksong Mask Shard locations to boost your health, or try a new attack style by following our Hollow Knight Silksong best crests guide.