First Sinner boss strategy for Hollow Knight: Silksong.
The Первый грешник in Silksong is perhaps one of the coolest boss fights in the game, but it also happens to be one of the more frustrating fights. This particular weaver is incredibly agile and quite annoying thanks to their ability to teleport around the arena, making landing hits on them rather difficult.
What makes this fight even more challenging? Well, the First Sinner is also one of only bosses (if not the only) boss who can heal herself in Silksong, capable of binding just like Hornet would. That said, this is easy enough to counter once you know what to expect. On that note, here’s our guide on how to beat the First Sinner in Silksong.
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How to beat First Sinner in Silksong
The First Sinner is a secret boss found deep beneath The Slab, but it’s highly likely you won’t encounter them on your first visit to the area. This boss is locked behind a door that requires the Apostate Key, which is collected from the Putrified Ducts area that is north of Bilewater.
If you’re yet to collect the Apostate Key, take a look at our Putrified Ducts walkthrough which explains exactly where to get it. You’ll also need to explore Memorium to access the region.
Once you do have the Apostate Key in your possession, the closest Bench to the First Sinner is located in the south of The Slab, directly beside the Bellway there. From there, you’ll find First Sinner in a subsection behind a locked door – which requires the Apostate Key – in the southwest of the map (pictured below). You’ll then need to track down her chamber and head on inside.
That said, if you die to the First Sinner, you won’t be respawned at a Bench. Because the fight against First Sinner technically has you entering a memory to fight her, you’ll respawn directly outside of their arena, which is pretty handy if you don’t fancy running back to them over and over again. The downside of this is that your Tools will not regenerate without having rested at a Bench, so you may need to run to the Bench and back either way if you’re utilising Tools.
Another word of forewarning: the fight against the First Sinner is very long and very difficult, and thanks to her teleportation and Binding abilities, it can be very frustrating. The fight is very much doable though, and you’ll want to use everything you have learnt in your fights against Widow, Lace, and the game’s final boss to help take the First Sinner down. Think of her as a combination of Widow and the final boss, though she’s arguably much more challenging to beat.
First things first, you’ll want to prepare for the First Sinner’s moveset. All in all, she has six different attacks in her arsenal which may be intimidating, but only four of them are offensive/damage-dealing (and one of these only appears during her second phase). That means you’ve only three moves to go about dodging initially, and eventually four, so focus on mastering dodging those. One non-offensive attack you need to constantly be on the lookout for, however, is the First Sinner’s ability to Bind; you must attack her and interrupt this attack before she completes it, or else she’ll heal some of her HP.
If you let the First Sinner heal, this fight is going to be significantly longer than it needs to be, so it’s very important that you keep a careful eye on her and disrupt this. This can be easily done using a ranged Skill, Tool or ability, such as the Silkspear Skill, the Clawline ability, or the Straight Pin Tool/Threefold Pin Tool.
The First Sinner’s moveset (and how to counter her attacks) is as follows:
- Bind (All Phases): First Sinner will begin to weave Silk around herself, indicating that she is about to Bind and heal herself. You can interrupt this attack and stop her from healing if you hit her before she finishes Binding. Clawline and the Silkspear Skill are particularly great for this, as they’ll allow you to interrupt her Bind from a distance.
- Teleport (All Phases): While not an offensive attack, this is perhaps one of the First Sinner’s most frustrating moves. Throughout the fight, the First Sinner will constantly teleport across the arena, and she does this quicker than you can blink. This fight features a lot of dashing back and forth between her in an attempt to land hits while being careful to not run into her as she teleports and dishes out her other attacks.
- Pincer Attack (All Phases): Exactly like Bellhart’s boss, Widow, First Sinner will jump into the air at an angle before diving and slicing at you twice with her claws. You can run beneath her when she jumps into the air to avoid the attack, or dash over her as she lunges back down. You can also parry this attack, but it’s very easy to parry her and then be caught out by her second swipe so I don’t suggest doing this unless you’re some sort of parrying pro.
- Charge Attack (All Phases): Also just like Widow, First Sinner will scurry across the floor while slashing away with her claws. If Hornet is caught by this, she is briefly stunned and loses two Masks. Once you see First Sinner crouch and prepare her claws, I suggest preparing to immediately jump or Clawline over this attack.
- Needle Attacks (All Phases): Much like Silksong’s final boss, if you happen to have attempted them, First Sinner can command needles and fire them off at Hornet from various angles throughout the fight. These each have a thread indicating what direction they’re going in once summoned, so you need to be careful to avoid their path (while also keeping on eye on First Sinner for attacking or Binding).
- There are multiple variations of this attack that see the needles being fired off at Hornet from different angles. In one instance, First Sinner may fire five Needles downwards, and these are the easiest to dodge. In other instances, First Sinner may fire two to three Needles diagonally towards the Hornets location, or she may fire them horizontally, forcing Hornet to jump between the Needles. Keep an eye on the thread trails indicating where the Needles are soon headed.
- Rune Rage (Phase Two): During the second phase of the fight (and you’ll know точно, when the second phase has started), First Sinner uses the Rune Rage Silk Skill. This sees her conjuring up multiple circles of light that explode after a short delay. Much like Lace’s circle attacks – and even the Voltvyrm’s circle attacks – if you have met them, these are easily avoided by simply staying out of the way until they have exploded. Again, just be wary of what First Sinner is getting up to in the meantime, as she may launch more attacks.
Another thing to be aware of – and another similarity that First Sinner has with Widow – is that when you think this fight is over, it sadly isn’t. First Sinner will fake her death, like Widow, and return for her second phase; this is when the Rune Rage attack is immediately introduced. Fortunately, once First Sinner is in her second phase, there are no more phases or fake deaths to worry about; once you manage to kill her after this point, she is gone for good.
The main ‘strategy’ for this fight, if you could call it a strategy, is to hit and run. This means landing a singular attack on First Sinner once you find an opportunity to do so, then immediately dashing away and retreating until the next opportunity to attack arises. For the most part, this will likely have you dashing from side to side as you try to hit First Sinner before she teleports away; just be wary that she can get her claws out and dive or charge at you at any point.
Ultimately, First Sinner is incredibly fast (even more so in her second phase), and you really do not want to run the risk of getting greedy during this fight. Stick to attacking her just once at a time and ensuring that she doesn’t heal. It might take a while – and a hell of a lot of dashing back and forth – but you’ll whittle down her HP eventually.
In the meantime, when you’re not dodging attacks or battling with the teleporting weaver to land a single hit, you should also use Tools against this boss.
First Sinner Recommended Tools and Items
Tools are incredibly handy bits of gear that can help you in any fight, whether they’re offensive damage-dealing Tools or supportive Tools that help keep Hornet alive for longer, you definitely want to make the most of them if you’re struggling at any point.
On that note, if you do plan on using Tools, don’t forget to go about getting all Crafting Kits and all Tool Pouches sooner or later. These upgrades improve how many Tools you can carry at a time and how much damage they deal.
Though, do remember that you will need to run back to the Bench whenever you wish to regenerate your Tools between attempts, as being defeated by the First Sinner spawns you just outside of her arena (rather than at the Bench). With this in mind, I’d save your offensive Red Tools for once First Sinner is in her second phase and would ultimately try not to rely on them too much.
Tools and items that I recommend for the fight against the First Sinner are as follows:
- Герб Жнеца: I’m a big fan of the Reaper Crest, but it is great for this fight. Its slashes have decent range, and upon Binding, it allows you to regenerate additional Silk by attacking. Now, given it’s hard enough to attack First Sinner and regenerate Silk, these extra Silk orbs can go a long way. Especially so if you’re planning on using Silk Skills such as Silkspear.
- Silkspear: Silkspear is one of the first Silk Skills you unlock, and it allows you to fire off a spear of Silk horizontally at a target. This is great for quickly disrupting First Sinner’s Bind ability or attacking them from afar, and you’ll get more use out of it than you would Thread Storm.
- Straight Pin/Threefold Pin: The Straight Pin Tool allows you to fire off a pin horizontally at a target. The Threefold Pin allows you to do the same, but fires off an arc of three pins instead, meaning it has more coverage and can deal more damage, so definitely use the latter if you have it. I’d save these for disrupting First Sinner from Binding whenever you cannot pull Silkspear off.
- Блошиный напиток: Upon consuming Flea Brew, your movement and attack speed is improved, giving you extra opportunities to attack (though, not many). Paired with the Pollip Pouch Tool however, the Flea Brew gives Hornet a poisonous aura that can poison enemies who are nearby, allowing you to deal a little damage to the First Sinner just by being close to them.
- Мешочек Поллипа: This Tool is another personal favourite, as it imbues Hornet’s other Tools with poison, allowing her to deal poison damage over time. For example, if you fire off the Threefold Pin with the Pollip Pouch equipped, the Threefold Pin will deal its initial damage plus poison damage over time (for a brief period).
- Игральные кости магнетита: The Magnetite Dice are a lucky charm of sorts that occasionally save you from taking damage from an attack. It’s RNG as to whether you’ll lose Masks or not, but this Tool comes in clutch more than you’d imagine.
- Сломанная маска: The Fractured Mask Tool acts as an extra life almost. Rather than dying once your final Mask is depleted, the Fractured Mask is destroyed instead, letting you continue the fight. This is great for survivability during any boss fight but the downside when using it against the First Sinner is that you’ll need to rest at a Bench to reset it.
💡Профессиональный совет от Келси
Before leaving The Slab forever, there is one more door that the Apostate Key can be used on in the northwest of the area. Here, you’ll be able to retrieve a Mask Shard!
After successfully defeating the First Sinner in Silksong, you’ll be transported to a ghostly world. Here, you’ll need to ascend the platforms and walls to eventually reach the Рунический навык ярости шелка and a brief cutscene that details how the First Sinner came to exist.
For more on Hollow Knight: Silksong, take a look at all Silk Heart locations, all Spool Fragment locations, and all Craftmetal locations.
