Silksong Grand Mother Silk boss strategy

Grand Mother Silk is the final boss of Silksong, but fighting her doesn't necessarily mean you're done with Pharloom. In fact, if this is your first time facing Silksong's ultimate boss, you're likely to still have the entirety of Act 3 and it's many challenging bosses ahead of you.

But before we delve into Act 3 of Silksong, you'll need to take down Grand Mother Silk, and it's likely you're going to have to do this more than once. To help you get to grips with the fight and keep progressing, here's our Silksong Grand Mother Silk boss strategy, as well as what endings are tied to Grand Mother Silk and how to get them.

On this page:

• Grand Mother Silk boss strategy
• All endings tied to Grand Mother Silk

Silksong Grand Mother Silk boss strategy

Before starting the fight against Grand Mother Silk in Silksong's The Cradle, you'll have had your second duel against the fencing bug that is Lace. Now, the good news is that if you've beaten Lace in The Cradle, you can definitely beat Grand Mother Silk – and you'll no doubt be able to beat her much quicker too.

Grand Mother Silk is much easier to beat than Lace, which might feel underwhelming, but that's because you still have a lot more fights ahead of you – including another, identical fight against Grand Mother Silk – should you choose to proceed with Act 3.

Before we delve into the nitty gritty of Grand Mother Silk's moveset and how to counter it, I've a few suggestions for things to do before entering Act 3 of the game (or to run off and do if you find yourself struggling and in need of a break from bosses at any point).

Assuming you have access to most – if not all – Act 2 areas, these suggestions are as follows:

• Collect all three Needle upgrades available in Act 2.
• Collect all 16 Mask Shards available in Act 2 (allowing you to have ten Masks in total).
• Collect all 18 Spool Fragments (allowing you to have lots of Silk to use).
• Collect all three Silk Hearts (allowing you to regenerate more Silk).
• Collect all four Tool Pouches (which increase how many Tools you can carry).
• Collect all four Crafting Kits (which increase the power of your Tools).

The above list of suggestions is entirely optional and you can go into the fight against Grand Mother Silk at whatever point you please. And as previously mentioned, if you've beaten Lace in The Cradle already, you will no doubt find Grand Mother Silk easier and will not be in need of additional upgrades.

That said, these suggestions are there on the off-chance you do find yourself struggling, and I highly recommend doing these before entering Act 3 of Silksong. I also recommend grabbing your Needle upgrades and some Mask Shards at a minimum, and if you do plan on using Tools, be sure to grab all of the Tool Pouches and Crafting Kits; they're surprisingly easy to get your hands on!

With housekeeping out of the way, let's talk about how to get to Grand Mother Silk following the fight with Lace.

Grand Mother Silk location

After defeating Lace in the Cradle, exit her arena to the right. Keep right from here to eventually arrive at the Terminus Ventrica Station, which has a Bench – that costs no Rosaries – to the right of it.

To proceed to the fight against Grand Mother Silk from here, exit the room containing the Ventrica Station to the left, then head upwards. At the top, enter the room on your left. You'll officially be in The Cradle.

Proceed left into another chamber. Up and to your left, you can purchase The Cradle Map. Down and to your left, you can enter a room with various lore tablets to read. To progress however, keep heading upwards and right.

You'll come to a room with a platforming section. Here, you'll need to hit the levers on the platforms to send them upwards, and will also need to pogo off of any platforms with spikes on them to proceed.

At the very top of this room, however, you'll finally reach Grand Mother Silk's arena. You'll need to interact with the huge orb of Silk here and select 'Challenge' to begin the fight.

Grand Mother Silk moveset and phases

Now that you're ready to challenge Grand Mother Silk, let's talk about what her fight entails and what attacks she uses. First things first, it's worth noting that Grand Mother Silk (who I'll call GMS from here on out) uses six needles to attack you for the most part, but she does use her own claws and her Silk to attack too.

On top of that, the fight against GMS consists of six phases. Yup, that's a lot of phases, but don't let that put you off. GMS will stop and shriek before each phase transition, which often sees GMS become faster and new attacks introduced to the fight.

Here are all of GMS' attacks and exactly which phase you can expect them in:

• Needle Charge (All Phases): GMS charges and fires six needles at Hornet. Three of them move horizontally, while three move vertically. There is always a gap between the horizontal needles for Hornet to jump. These needles also only deal damage while moving, and not while stationary.
• As the fight progresses, GMS can fire these needles out twice in a row in quick succession. Be wary, and always be prepared to jump!
• Needle Swipe (All Phases): GMS charges and fires three horizontal needles at Hornet that bounce back after their first charge, which have a gap for Hornet to jump between. These differ from the Needle Charge attack as they bounce off the wall and boomerang back, so Hornet needs to jump twice.
• Dash (All Phases): GMS will regularly dash left and right, away from Hornet. This is rather annoying as you cannot force GMS into one side of the arena (making her needles easier to dodge) or constantly upwards-jump to attack her. You must keep moving with her.
• Claw Swipe (All Phases): A chime noise plays, and GMS sweeps her claws in an upwards arc towards one side of the arena, damaging Hornet if hit. This attack is followed up by her plunging all six of her needles vertically into the floor.
• Explosive Web (Phase 2 onwards): GMS will produce a web of Silk that explodes after a short delay, similar to the Cogwork Dancers charging dance attack. This is incredibly important for you to avoid, because if Hornet is caught by the Silk, she will lose three Masks. GMS can use her Web multiple times in quick succession.
• Needle Rain (Phase 3 onwards): GMS can now plunge all six of her needles into the ground unprompted, much like how she follows up from her Claw Swipe attack.
• Falling Rocks (Phase 4 onwards): GMS summons multiple strands of Silk from the ceiling, and rocks will begin falling where the Silk strands are. You must avoid this area until the attack has ended. GMS will continue to use her other attacks while Falling Rocks is active.
• Spike Traps (Phase 4 onwards): GMS summons two strands of Silk – twice! – in the arena. After a short delay, the Silk strands disappear and spike traps emerge from the floor. You'll want to avoid these while continuing the fight. GMS will continue to use her other attacks while the Spike Traps are active. You can pogo off them if you need to traverse past them or over them while avoiding GMS' other attacks.
• It's worth noting that Falling Rocks and Spike Trap fortunately will not be active at the same time. If the Spike Traps are active and GMS launches the Falling Rocks attack, the Spike Traps will disappear as the attack starts and vice versa. This prevents you from being limited to a tiny portion of the arena, and gives you some opportunity to attack GMS while either attack is active.

As you can no doubt see, you're in for a rather lengthy fight against GMS and her six phases. That said, as soon as you master dodging GMS' needle attacks, this fight becomes a lot easier provided you can keep up the pace and steer clear of her later attacks which reduce how much of the arena you have to run around in.

Your only method for attacking GMS during this fight is by hitting her stomach, which means a lot of jump attacks are needed. That said, if you manage to get some height – be that while jumping over her needles or pogoing off her spike traps – you can attempt to pogo off her stomach repeatedly while dodging her needles. It's tough but doable as you become more accustomed to her moveset!

The Thread Storm Skill is also great during this fight, often allowing you to deal multiple instances of damage if you time your use of it just right. Ideally, fire this off while GMS is nearby and right after she's dashed and/or her needles have landed. Hopefully, you'll be able to hit her plenty before she dashes or fires out her needles again.

It's also worth noting that following GMS' third phase, she'll let out a shriek and disappear, signalling the end of the fight. However, much like Widow, GMS soon reappears – after dishing out two Falling Rocks attacks – to continue the fight and brings two new attacks (Falling Rocks and Spike Traps) with her. When she fakes her death, this signals that you're just over halfway through the fight; keep persevering!

Her Web attack is by far the most damning of her moves, dealing three Masks of damage if Hornet is caught in its blast, but also happens to be one of the easiest moves to dodge (all you need to do is stand away from the threads). This also makes her Web attack a good time to Bind if need be. That said, I recommend getting caught out by it at least once because the brief scene that ensues as Hornet takes damage is admittedly pretty cool…

Aside from her needles, which are arguably the most troublesome part of this fight, you'll also want to watch out for GMS' Claw Swipe attack. This sees her raise one of her arms behind her before swiping the claw through the arena in a downwards arc, and it's very hard to dodge unless you see it coming well in advance; attempt to jump over her claw, as you would her needles, when this happens.

Grand Mother Silk Recommended Tools and Items

There are plenty of Tools to put to use against Silksong's bosses, though there aren't too many that I'd recommend using for Grand Mother Silk. You have to spend much of this fight fully focused on what the boss – and her needles – are doing, especially as she speeds up, which means there's little time to waste on sending out our own projectiles and so forth.

That said, there's simply no denying that using Tools can help make boss fights easier in Silksong, Grand Mother Silk included. Supportive Blue Tools are your priority for this fight, as well as any Red Tools that buff your pre-existing gear – so you need not spend time slinging projectiles – such as Flea Brew or Flintslate.

Tools and Items I recommend for the Grand Mother Silk fight are as follows:

• Reaper Crest: The Reaper Crest is among the best Crests in Silksong, but you could also consider the likes of the upgraded Hunter Crest or Wanderer Crest too depending on your playstyle. What makes the Reaper Crest stand out is that after Binding, all attacks will generate some additional Silk for you to collect which can come in handy.
• Thread Storm: Thread Storm is a personal favourite Silk Skill, and can be very useful for dealing multiple instances of damage to Grand Mother Silk whenever she is floating nearby or stunned.
• Magnetite Dice: The Magnetite Dice are among the best Yellow Tools available. They increase your luck and as a result, there's a chance you won't take any damage from an incoming attack. This might not seem like much, but it always happens to come in clutch when you least expect it!
• Fractured Mask: This Blue Tool functions as an extra life and comes in handy if you've no better Blue Tools to replace it with. When you've one Mask remaining, this Tool is destroyed instead, giving you a second chance at continuing the fight. The Tool will reset upon resting at a Bench.
• Pollip Pouch: The Pollip Pouch is a Blue Tool that'll imbue all of your offensive Tools with poison when equipped, and who can say no to more damage? I sure can't. That said, it is sometimes better to swap this Tool for something like the Fractured Mask if you wish to use the Flintslate's fiery properties and so forth.
• Cogfly: The Cogfly Red Tool from High Halls is a firm favourite to use throughout Pharloom, as it summons your own Cogfly enemies who'll attack nearby foes on your behalf. Paired with the Pollip Pouch, they'll also deal poison damage. Just be wary that these fellas can often be distracting, especially in fights where you must carefully avoid projectiles…
• Flintslate: This Red Tool, upon use, imbues Hornet's needle with fire and makes her capable of dealing even more damage with her needle. When paired with the Pollip Pouch, Hornet's needle is imbued with poison instead of fire.
• Flea Brew: This Red Tool, put together by Pharloom's Fleas, increases Hornet's movement and attack speed upon consumption. What better way to keep up the pace with Grand Mother Silk than by quite literally chugging your own speed-boosting drink? When paired with the Pollip Pouch, the Flea Brew has Hornet releasing a poisonous smoke that'll damage anyone she comes into contact with too.

All endings tied to Grand Mother Silk

You might've heard that there are five different endings for Silksong, three of which require you to beat Grand Mother Silk in one way or another. Of course, to reach these endings, you'll have to fulfil specific prerequisites before beating her.

These are as follows:

1. Weaver Queen: Defeat Grand Mother Silk and Bind to her following the fight.
2. Snared Silk: Complete the Silk and Soul Wish at the end of Act 2. Then, defeat Grand Mother Silk and play your Needolin – instead of Binding – following the fight. This unlocks Act 3 of the game.
3. Twisted Child: Retrieve the Twisted Bud from Bilewater (via Whispering Vaults) and give it to Greyroot, who curses you. Then, defeat Grand Mother Silk while afflicted with this curse.

There are two more endings on top of the above, but both of those endings can only be accessed during Act 3 of the game (therefore, following the Snared Silk ending).

That's it for Grand Mother Silk, but if this is your first time beating her, you've still got Act 3 to go yet!

For more on Hollow Knight: Silksong, take a look at our Silksong walkthrough.