How to beat Groal the Great in Silksong

Groal the Great is a daunting opponent in Silksong, but as far as Pharloom's bosses go, he isn't actually too bad. The main issue with Silksong's Groal fight is that there's a particularly grueling runback to his arena, and you'll have to take down a gauntlet of some very annoying Stilkin enemies every single time you attempt to fight him.

If you removed the gauntlet and reduced the runback, Groal the Great himself – and his attacks – aren't too troublesome to deal with, but you ultimately have a lot to manage during this particular duel. To help you with taking this ghastly frog boss down, here's how to beat Groal the Great in Silksong.

Silksong Groal the Great boss strategy

Groal the Great is found in Bilehaven in Silksong, which is a subsection of the horrible region that is Bilewater. He's likely to be the last thing you need to do in Bilewater after thoroughly exploring the area, and he happens to block the path up to Putrified Ducts (though, you can access Putrified Ducts via Memorium instead).

From the eastern Bench in Bilewater, your route to Groal the Great is as follows:

As you can see, you've got quite the runback to the boss if you happen to die, and what makes this fight even worse is that there is a gauntlet prior to Groal too; a gauntlet you need to complete every single time you attempt the boss.

Honestly, I wouldn't blame you for giving up right now and bidding farewell to Groal completely, because his fight – and everything surrounding it – is one huge pain. Alas, this wouldn't be a boss guide if I told you to run off rather than beat him, but first, there are some things you can do to make this fight easier.

• There are three Needle upgrades you can acquire before Groal. I recommend having at least two of them.
• There are 16 Mask Shards available in Act 2. I recommend having seven Masks at minimum at this point in the game.
• Collect at least three (if not all four) Tool Pouches and Crafting Kits, as these upgrade how many Tools you can carry and their damage dealt. This is important because we're going to be using Tools for Groal (and Tools are great in general).
• There's also 18 Spool Fragments and three Silk Hearts to consider collecting in Act 2, but you certainly won't be needing all of them at this point.

With housekeeping out of the way, let's talk about the fight against Groal the Great itself.

First things first, you must face a gauntlet of the following enemies every single time that you attempt to fight Groal the Great:

• 2x Stilkins
• 2x Stilkin Trappers
• 1x Spike Trap, swings once
• 3x Swamp Squits
• 1x Stilkin, 1x Stilkin Trapper
• 1x Spike Trap, swings twice
• 2x Swamp Squits, 1x Stilkin Trapper

In all honesty, I'd argue that the gauntlet is the hardest part (or at least the most frustrating part) of this fight. You must complete it every single time you attempt Groal, and the Stilkins and Stilkin Trappers are a real pain. They'll fly high in the arena, so you'll often need to jump to attack them, and they regularly disappear, making felling them quickly quite troublesome.

On top of that, you'll need to avoid the explosive blasts of the Swamp Squits while ideally not falling into the maggot-infested water in the arena. That said, if you do fall into it, it's not the end of the world! It's also likely you may have no option but to dive into the water whenever the spike traps are swinging, unless you can do a well-time jump.

While I ultimately recommend not falling into the water during the gauntlet phase of the fight (so you can Bind before Groal appears if need be), we will be actively diving into it once Groal the Great appears. So, it's not the be all and end all if you fall into the water early; you'll just need to play particularly safe!

Once the gauntlet is over and Groal the Great finally emerges from the infested water, the attacks you want to prepare for are as follows:

• Inhale (All Phases): Groal performs a large inhale that sees him vacuuming up green air and anything in his line of sight, including Hornet. This is easily avoidable by going in the water.
• You can choose to be inhaled by Groal, which will deal two Masks of damage to Hornet, but you can attack him while inside of his mouth. You can also throw explosive Tools, such as Pimpillo, into his mouth during this attack to deal damage.
• Summons (All Phases): Groal often dives into the water and summons enemies to fight for him. If he reemerges, the enemies will vanish, so you should avoid these enemies and only attack them for Silk if needed.
• Spike Traps (All Phases): Groal unleashes Spike Traps - the same as the ones used during the gauntlet - during the fight. These are avoidable by going in the water or sticking to either side of the arena, and are predictable thanks to a distinct sound cue.
• Green Projectiles (All Phases): Groal can dispense glowing green orbs that bounce off surfaces and explode after a short delay. Hornet can hit these away, but they will explode immediately after.
• Silk Projectiles (Phase 2): Groal's eyes and mouth whill glow white, and he will dispense fast white orbs of Silk from his mouth that travel horizontally and quickly. These track Hornet, but can easily be avoided by staying in the water beneath Groal.

Groal the Great has just two phases total, and he will let out a shriek as he transitions between them. He also, fortunately, doesn't have the largest health pool. Bosses such as Cogwork Dancers, Trobbio, and The Last Judge actually have more HP than him, but of course, the gauntlet prior to Groal makes an otherwise not-so-bad fight rather challenging.

One thing to note is that lots of Groal's attacks can be avoided by simply staying in the infested water, which is why I encourage diving into the water once Groal appears and jumping up to attack him. You do, however, need to be careful of him diving back into the water and hope that he doesn't dive directly onto you. One way to try and rule this out is by sticking to either side of the arena, rather than using the middle, as there's no room to swim out of Groal's path if he dives into the middle of the arena.

On top of that, Tools can be pretty useful for dealing damage to Groal without you necessarily needing to leave the water and can do a good portion of the work for you. We've listed some recommended Tools and other items – such as Crests and Silk Skills – for Groal below.

Groal the Great Recommended Tools and Items

As mentioned, Tools can do a good portion of damage without Hornet needing to do much of anything at all if you use them effectively in Silksong. While I don't recommend using Tools for every fight – as sometimes they can be more of a distraction than anything else – Groal the Great's fight is one duel that you should definitely use them for.

Given we're spending a lot of time in the water while Groal is active, and will also have to dispel some of the Stilkin and Stilkin Trapper enemies that he spawns, Tools can aid us with consistently dealing damage to the boss while also making light work of his minions, and they'll allow us to keep floating – relatively safely – in the water.

Tools and items we recommend for Groal the Great in Silksong are as follows:

• Witch Crest: The Witch Crest can be difficult to use effectively as it doesn't have a traditional Bind. Instead, vines emerge from Hornet upon Binding and these must hit enemies in order to receive any healing. The upside is that the Witch Crest has increased reach, making attacking aerial foes such as Groal the Great easier. Given we won't have many opportunities to Bind during this fight as is thanks to the Muckmaggot infested waters, it's worth giving the Witch Crest a whirl.
• Reaper Crest: If you aren't getting along with the Witch Crest, the Reaper Crest is a personal favourite. Upon Binding, it allows us to regenerate additional Silk upon attacking enemies. Now, this is tricky given we won't have many opportunities to Bind during this fight, but if you manage to Bind once, you might – with some luck – be able to land enough attacks to fill your Silk spool and Bind again.
• Pollip Pouch: The Pollip Pouch will apply poison effects to your offensive Tools, such as the Cogfly, allowing them to deal extra damage over time.
• Cogfly: The Cogfly Tool allows you to summon your own Cogfly enemies to fight for you, and these can deal damage while you're in the water or dodging attacks. They're particularly good for quickly killing Stilkins and Stilkin Trappers, but can be useful for quickly depleting Groal's HP too.
• Pimpillo: The Pimpillo is an explosive Tool that will detonate after a short delay or upon contact with an enemy. This is great to throw into Groal's mouth whenever he is performing his Inhale attack, as he has no option but to inhale it, and it'll then detonate while in his mouth and deal damage.
• Curveclaw: The Curveclaw is a projectile that boomerangs across the arena, and it is one of the highest-damage dealing Red Tools in the game, so it can never go amiss. It's especially good against aerial enemies such as Groal and the Stilkins/Stilkin Trappers he spawns.
• Multibinder: The Multibinder is an interesting Tool in that it makes Binding longer, but allows you to heal for four Masks rather than three. During a fight like Groals where we have minimal opportunity to Bind, the additional Mask can go a long way.
• Wreath of Purity: The Wreath of Purity can protect you from being infested by Muckmaggots during this fight, but it will be destroyed after six seconds of being in infested waters. It'll reset when resting at a Bench.

For more on Hollow Knight: Silksong, take a look at our Silksong walkthrough, where to find all lost Fleas, and how to get all Spool Fragments.