Hollow Knight: Silksong: The Underworks Guide to Not Getting Steam-Cooked
As of 2026, the Underworks remains one of Hollow Knight: Silksong's most charmingly hostile detours. After the Last Judge finally stops being a nightmare and the Grand Gate swings open, the game whispers sweet promises about the Citadel. Then the elevator coughs, dies, and drops the player into a dark industrial basement. The Underworks is less a zone and more a grumpy landlord with a pipe wrench, and it has three main visits' worth of secrets, spikes, and steam-powered bad manners. Here is how to survive all of them without losing one's mind, or at least not all of it.
Visit One: Down the Chute, Up to Choral Chamber
From the landing spot after the elevator betrayal, the player can pay 15 Rosaries for a bench. It is technically an option, but the way down from the Grand Gate is blocked, so the bench is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Death will respawn them nearby anyway. Save the coin.
Instead, head down first. Avoid alerting enemies while dropping into a small spike corridor on the right. Carefully navigate it to grab the Delver's Drill Tool. Then climb back up, deal with the Underpoke enemies, and rise until a lever lowers a hanging platform. On the left, a signposted area hides a Bone Scroll through a hidden pathway. While in that room, also pick up the Map of the Underworks.
Back out and to the right, the enclosed Underworks begin in earnest. Mechanical spiky contraptions demand speed and dashing. Move fast, dash often, and do not let the moving spiky squares get too familiar. After that, the player can go left into a room with an Undercrank and reveal a hidden Shard Bundle, or continue right to a crossroads marked by a spiky square moving in an upside-down L shape.
Going up here leads to a hidden path and an NPC named Loam, who powers all of the Underworks. He is not useful yet, but it is genuinely cool to see how the sausage is made. Otherwise, head right and ignore him. Then ascend through various Underwork enemies until a sign on the left points to a bench. It costs 25 Rosaries, so bring cash. Before leaving, check the left wall for secret passageways; a Memory Locket is very close by.
Continue left and carefully navigate platforms while avoiding spikes and hot steam. Then prepare for an enemy wave. First comes an Undercrank, then an Underpoke, then another group of the same variety. The trick is to kill the flying enemy first, then keep the larger enemy at arm's length and chip away. This opens the way to the top of the starting area. Drop to the bridge below and activate the switch to open a shortcut linking the start and the current location. Ascend again and take the highest exit on the right.
What follows is a maze of dark corridors filled with Drapeflies and Drapemites. Keep heading up until a switch opens a latch to the Choral Chambers. That ends the first spell in the Underworks. Good grief, but it is only the beginning.
Visit Two: The Cauldron and the Clawline
After Choral Chambers and Whiteward, the player eventually returns to the Underworks on the other side of the barrier leading to the Cauldron. Head left, rest at the nearby bench, then go left and down into the Cauldron. There is an option to head back and use the shortcut, but progression wants an updraft and a glide upward.
From there, descend slowly. The best approach is to glide and pogo on enemies as they appear, because trying to dodge everything can lead to being overwhelmed. At the bottom, go left through a room of exploding enemies for a chance to collect one of the Lost Fleas. Before heading right into the lava waterfall section, head up and left into an arena battle.
The arena throws the following at the player:
| Wave |
Enemies |
| 1 |
1x Underworker, 1x Underloft |
| 2 |
1x Underworker, 1x Underloft, 1x Undersweep |
| 3 |
1x Underloft, 1x Undercrank |
| 4 |
1x Undercrank (breaks floor and dies) |
| 5 |
1x Underloft, 1x Underpoke |
This fight is brutally difficult. Platforms are limited, some cannot be stood on for long, and enemies swarm like they are paid overtime. Survive, and the reward is a Spool Fragment and a shortcut.
After the arena, head back out and right, past the exploding enemy and through a long hall filled with lava. This leads to a tricky platforming section with temporary platforms, ceiling lava, exploding enemies, and hot coals that cannot be stood on for too long. The key is to hop on the coals as the safest platform, then time dashes through the breaks in the lava.
Head back and up afterward to acquire the Clawline, a grappling hook power that is extremely useful. The room then alters, and the player must use the new Clawline to ascend out, closing the Cauldron loop and spitting them out near the initial bench of this portion.
Before checking out, use the bench, then grapple up above to access the Twelfth Architect, a merchant who sells helpful gear, including the Architect's Key and various great tools. Left of the Architect is a spiky area with Underpoke enemies. Glide deep into it to uncover another Spool Fragment.
Visit Three: Trobbio's Stage and the Grand Bellway Shortcut
The final round of new Underworks exploration likely comes after defeating Trobbio. Exit stage left and head through the Whispering Vaults, which links back to the Underworks. With the Clawline in hand, the player can explore this area fully, unlocking new shortcuts to the Grand Bellway and earning a Memory Locket in the bargain.
This route eventually links the Underworks with the Exhaust Organ, though sadly not from this side. And with that, the Underworks has offered up nearly everything it has. Congratulations are in order, along with a long bath and perhaps a quiet scream.
Quick Underworks Checklist
| Item or Shortcut |
Where to Find It |
Notes |
| Delver's Drill Tool |
First visit, lower spike corridor |
Drop down before heading up |
| Bone Scroll |
First visit, hidden path in left signposted room |
Also grab the map |
| Map of the Underworks |
Same room as Bone Scroll |
Very helpful for the maze |
| Memory Locket |
First vi
game deals today |
