WhileHollow Knightis mostly praised for its responsive combat, epic battle, and tough-as-nails difficulty, the game also has an unforgettable roster of characters. Through your Hallownest journey, you’ll meet dozens of quirky bugs who are also trying to survive a hostile world taken by a mysterious infection.
Taking the part of the Knight, it’s up to you to help Hallownest’s inhabitants, turning their lives for the better and making the kingdom a better place to live. There’s more than a sense of accomplishment in following NPCs’ sidequests, as each character rewards you with useful items or essential pieces of Hollow Knight’s complex lore. We’ve listed the eight best NPC quests in Hollow Knight, also explaining what they reward.
8Reuniting The Grubfather’s Family
As soon as you start exploring the Forgotten Crossroads, you come acrossthe Grubfather, a caterpillar who stands alone in a room filled with empty nests. As you make your way through the fallen kingdom, you start to find smaller caterpillars trapped inside glass jars. It doesn’t take much longer to discover that freeing these caterpillars, known as Grubs, transports them to the Grubfather room.
Every time you come back to visit the Grubfather, he’ll reward you with large amounts of Geo or a special item, depending on the number of children you release.Finding all 46 Grubs rewards you with one Mask Shard, two relics, the Grubsong Charm, the Grubberfly’s Elegy Charm, one rancid egg, and a piece of Pale Ore. That’s quite the haul! And you don’t need to keep scouring all the game’s areas to find the Grubs on your own, asthe Collector boss keeps a handy map with the location of all the caterpillars.
7Saving Bretta And Finding Her Savior
Bretta can be found in the Fungal Wastes, slowlylosing her mind to the infection spread by Radiance.If you wake Bretta from her dangerous dream, she moves back to Dirtmouth,where she starts to write fanfiction about her savior.
In addition, if yousave Zote in the Crossroads and Deepnest, then defeat him in the Colleseum of Fools, the warrior will move to Dirtmouth too. Beretta will mistake Zote for her savior and build a giant statue in her basement to honor him.Dream nailing the statue takes you to a secret boss fight against Bretta’s dream version of Zote. Even more curious is that defeating this Zote illusion multiple times changes Bretta’s perception of the warrior. In short, you can shatter Bretta’s dream, one victory at a time.
Each subsequent battle with the imaginary Zote is harder. There are ten different levels of difficulty for this boss.
6Delivering The Grey Mourner’s Delicate Flower
When exploring the Resting Grounds, you’ll come acrossthe isolated house of the Grey Mourner,who asks you todeliver a delicate flower to the resting place of the Traitor Lord’s child.Thedelicate flower questis quite challenging, demanding you cross a vast portion of the Hollownest map without being hit, least the flower dies. However, doing so grants you many interesting rewards.
Delivering the flower and returning to see the Grey Mourner gives you aprecious Mask Shard.Furthermore, this quest allows you to read dialogue that helpsput some lore pieces together.That’s because the Grey Mourner is Ze’mer, one of the Five Great Knights of Hallownest.
Other Delicate Flower Recipients
Instead of honoring the Grey Mourner’s wishes, you’re able to alsogive the delicate flower to other Hallownest NPCsto unlock new dialogue and unique interactions with the Elder Bug and Nailmaster Oro. On the other hand, giving the delicate flower to the Godseeker unlocks a new ending for the game. If you have already put the flower on the grave, you can go there to collect new flowers to distribute to other NPCs.
5Uncovering The Secrets Of The Stagways
The Last Stag helps youfast-travel through Hallownestby taking you from one Stag Station to another. Talking to the Last Stag in each location gives you information about the place, painting a vivid picture of Hallownest’s former glory.
The Last Stag regains his memory as you find new Stag Stations. Finding them all allows the Last Stag to remember his place of birth, the Stag Nest. This secret station holds two rewards for you. One is a Vessel Fragment. The other is a set of hatched eggs indicating new Stags might be roaming the world. It’s a hopeful thought that helps enlighten a gloomy game.
4Getting Salubra’s Blessing
Salubra is a Charm vendor who has set shop in the Crossroads. Besides selling powerful Charms, Salubra alsotrades Charm Notchs for Geo.Salubra must ensure you are dedicated to collecting these precious objects before parting ways with her Charm Notches. Salubra will ask you tofind a certain number of Charmsbefore making a new Notch available.
After buying everything Salubra has to sell, sheoffers you a Blessing if you find every Charm in Hollow Knight.Should youcomplete your collection, you are rewarded with a hilarious cutscene in which Salubra gives you a moist kiss.Salubra’s Blessing is also a great endgame tool,since her spirit will fill your focus while resting on a bench.
3Helping The Seer To Find Redemption
The Seer is the last member of the Moth Tribe, which in ancient times worshipped Radiance, long before the arrival of the Pale King. Besides granting you the Dream Nail, the Seer willreward you with critical pieces of loreand useful items every time you see her after having collected Essence
You can collect Essence by findingEssence Rootsor defeating Dream Bosses.
As you collect more Essence,the Seer will grant you the Dream Wielder Charm, a Vessel Fragment, a Pale Ore, a Mask fragment, the Dreamgate ability, and the Awakening of the weapon,which allows you to access the White Palace. Going beyond these rewards, collecting 2400 Essence also allows the Seer to dissipate into Essence, achieving redemption after sharing secrets of Hallownest’s history.
2Giving The Nailsmith A Reason To Live
The City of Tears is home to some important NPCs, such as the Nailsmith.For large amounts of Geo and pieces of Pale Ore, the Nailsmith can increase your Nail’s damage.Once you finish upgrading your weapon, theNailsmith makes you a morbid request.The Nailsmith knows he’ll never make a weapon more fabulous than your fully upgraded Nail, so he wants you to kill him with it. Fulfilling the Nailsmith’s request allows him to feel the power of the weapon he created. But there is another path.
If you refuse to kill the Nailsmith, he willmove to Nailmaster’s Sheo house in Greepath.Sheo has abandoned the life of a warrior to become a painter. Similarly, after having his requested refused, the Nailsmith has found a new reason to live by sharing his life with Sheo. The reward here is just knowing you gave someone a happy ending, even if they saw no meaning in life.
1Completing The Hunter’s Journal
The most demanding NPC quest in Hollow Knight isfilling up the Hunter’s Journal.Given to you by the Hunter, this journal collects information about the creatures you kill while traveling the kingdom.To complete its pages, you must kill dozens of each regular enemy and defeat every boss in the game, including the optional ones but excluding DLC additions.
The monumental task of completing the Hunter’s Journal only rewards you with a short cutscene through which the Huntergives you the Hunter’s Mark, proof that it recognizes you as a deadly kin. It might seem too little, but the satisfaction of having the journal filled comes from knowing you mastered the game to the point no creature can stand in your way.
