Hollow Knight Wiki Guide

Ancient Basin

This page of the IGN Hollow Knight wiki guide includes instructions on how to progress through the Ancient Basin, an area towards the bottom of Hollow Knight’s expansive map.

For information on other sections, be sure to check out the rest of our Walkthrough. To learn how to obtain the various Collectibles Hollow Knight has to offer, visit our pages on Charms, Spells, Mask Shards, and more.

FINDING CORNIFER & THE PALE ORE

From the Tram, head left and jump off the Tramway. Dash along the ground until you near the Tramway gate and you’ll see a hole in the ground. Jump down, then follow the path to the left. Dash over the shaft in the middle of the tunnel and continue left and up. Kill the Mawleks you encounter, then drop back down and follow the path until you reach a large black orb at the end of the corridor. Inspect it to obtain a Pale Ore (which we’ll need the next time we return to the City of Tears).

Hop down the shaft on the left side, then follow the tunnel to the right. Avoid the dive-bombing enemies and destroy the wooden bracing to unlock the shortcut back to the Tram.

Once you head back up to the Tram platform, drop down into the hole just left of the Tram. Now that you’ve entered the main area of the Ancient Basin, drop off the left side of the platform until you reach the second ledge to the right, where you’ll find our humming friend, Cornifer. Buy the area map, then head down to the bottom of the area and take the exit on the left side.

THE ANCIENT BASIN

Once you enter the next area, you’ll find a toll station. Pay the 150 Geo and a Bench will appear. Rest, then use the Crystal Heart to fly to the left. Around halfway, you’ll pass a platform with a Geo cache and, at the end of the area, you’ll find a platform with spikes on the left side, so hit the Jump button before you hit the spikes to stop and avoid taking damage.

Jump up the ledge and continue into the area to the left. Drop down the hold and you’ll arrive at a four-way passageway and swarms of small, orange enemies will scurry away in every direction.

Head through the bottom left passage and drop down through the floor and into the next area. Follow the path down and you’ll soon encounter an acid-spewing Mawlurk. Dodge the venom and kill it, then continue following the path. Drop down the shaft at the end, then dodge left to avoid the spikes. More small orange enemies will emerge from the walls and head down the next shaft, so follow them down, then left and you’ll find a Mawlurk attached to the ceiling. It is entirely possible you don’t have the means to dispatch it at the moment, so feel free to dodge the acid and continue to the left.

The next platform below will have another Mawlurk spitting venom into the air, dodge over it, then either kill it or continue along the path to the left. Hop down the shaft, then head right and into the dead Mawlurk corpse to find a bug holding a Simple Key.

Take the key for yourself, then hop back up the shaft and continue to the left. Here you’ll find a Mawlurk suspended on a platform above a spike pit, jump up and slash at it with your Nail until it is dead, then wall-jump up the far left wall and continue up the path and to the right. Kill the last Mawlurk along the path, then head right and follow the path into the above area.

In the next area, take the path left, then follow the path up and to the right. Once you hop up to the next ledge, follow the path right and you’ll find a set of wooden planks bracing a section of wall. Destroy it to create a shortcut back to the toll Bench.

Return to the Bench if you need to heal up, then proceed back to the left, through the newly opened shortcut, and into an encounter with the Broken Vessel.

Up Next: Broken Vessel

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