How to beat the Hollow Knight Silksong Skull Tyrant

How do you beat the Silksong Skull Tyrant? Forget Skull Brutes, they're small fry in comparison to the monstrous Skull Tyrants that you'll encounter in Silksong's early game areas. However, you won't be able to fight them until towards the end of the game's first act. Considering their might, it's a good thing that you don't need to worry about them during Silksong's opening hours.

There are two Skull Tyrant fights in Hollow Knight Silksong, and you can pretty much do them back to back if you so wish. As far as rewards go in one of the best Metroidvanias, you won't get much for your labors. However, seeing as one of these encounters is tied to a wish board quest, you'll need to do it to unlock the true Silksong ending sooner or later. Below we'll take you through where to find both Skull Tyrants and their encounter requirements, as well as our tried and true strategy to beat them. If you're after a shortcut to victory, we even throw a cheese strat in for good measure.

Where to find the Skull Tyrant in The Marrow

The Marrow's Skull Tyrant can be found in the east of the region, in the area marked with bones on the map. The Cling Grip skill is required to access the boss arena. 

While some have reported you can fight the Skull Tyrant as soon as you're able to clamber up walls, it's worth waiting until later when you can get the Terrible Tyrant wish quest from Bellhart's wish board. By this point you'll have at least one needle upgrade, making the fight much easier.

When you get to the arena on the Silksong map, simply walk up to the huge skull at the back of it and give it a good ol' whack to start the encounter.

Where to find the Skull Tyrant in Bone Bottom

The Bone Bottom Skull Tyrant immediately spawns and begins rampaging through Bone Bottom after you turn in the An Icon of Hope wish quest at the region's wish board.

You can effectively fight both Skull Tyrants back-to-back. If you haven't already completed An Icon of Hope, head back to Bone Bottom after turning in Terrible Tyrant, and cough up the Shell Shards at the wish board. Get ready, the Skull Tyrant will charge in from the right side of Bone Bottom, destroying most of the dwelling (and the bench) in the process.

Both Skull Tyrant fights are a copy-paste from one another, so we can use a one-strat-fits-all method to beat them. They each have three abilities: a charge, a jumping slam, and a roar that calls down boulders. Each is clearly telegraphed, making it a nice and easy fight to learn. Here are the tells:

When the Skull Tyrant shakes its body and lifts its legs from side to side, it will charge across the arena. It sometimes scuttles backwards before doing so, but this isn't always the case.

When the Skull Tyrant shakes its body without lifting its legs, it's preparing to leap diagonally upwards, before slamming down. When it lands, two boulders will fall from the ceiling.

When the Skull Tyrant roars, it'll jump up and down three times, bringing down boulders from the ceiling.

The Skull Tyrant can only take damage from the front, back and underside. Pogo'ing off its skull won't hurt it. Most tools will simply bounce off of its skull, though the Longpin has the ability to pierce armored targets, making it the best Silksong tool for the fight. You can find it in a hidden area in the east of Shellwood, directly above the entrance to the area from Bellhart. Throw on the Pollip Pouch from the Rite of the Pollip quest in Shellwood to poison the Longpin, and you're golden.

During the fight, there'll be plenty of openings to deal damage. If the boulders aren't spawning near its face, close the gap during its roar attack and get some free hits in. As soon as it finishes charging, whack its face; likewise is the case when it lands after jumping. The Skull Tyrant doesn't have phases to worry about, so use your Longpins liberally if you have brought them along.

After defeating the Skull Tyrant in The Morrow, turn in its horn at the Bellhart wish board to receive a Heavy Rosary Necklace worth 220 Rosaries.

Skull Tyrant cheese strategy

To the far left of The Morrow's Skull Tyrant arena, you'll find a small safe spot beneath the gold ledge. If you bait the Tyrant off the ledge, you can simply dip in and out of the marked zone, dealing damage while remaining impervious to its attacks. Easy.

And that's how to beat the Skull Tyrant in Hollow Knight Silksong. If the Terrible Tyrant reward has given you a taste of opulence, check out our Silksong Rosary farm guide to learn where you can earn even more of the coveted currency. Or, you know, just use some of the best Silksong mods to top yourself up.