You finally get the Mantis Claw. You’ve climbed through the fungal wastes, suffered through the claustrophobia of Greenpath, and now you’re back at the very start of the game. Most people just walk past the King's Pass. They think they’ve seen it all because the game literally dropped them there in the first five minutes. But if you look up and start wall-jumping, you find the Howling Cliffs in Hollow Knight. It’s a weird place. Honestly, it’s mostly just wind, dust, and a few grumpy mossy enemies.
It feels empty. It feels like a mistake, almost.
But it’s not. In fact, this desolate corner of Hallownest is arguably the narrative lynchpin of the entire experience. It’s where the world begins and where the story truly changes. If you skip the Howling Cliffs, you aren't just missing a map completion percentage; you’re missing the heart of the game's lore and the most significant DLC content Team Cherry ever released.
The First Impression of the Howling Cliffs
When you first scramble up those rocks, the atmosphere shifts. The music is thin. The wind is loud. You’ve gone from the lush, dripping greenery of the caverns into a literal wasteland. It’s the edge of the world.
The Howling Cliffs serve a very specific mechanical purpose: they teach you about the "Wilds" beyond Hallownest. According to the lore found in the game, specifically the tablets left by the Pale King, leaving the kingdom results in a loss of mind. It’s the "stolen memories" trope, but executed through world-building. These cliffs represent the transition from civilization to the mindless void.
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You’ll encounter some standard enemies here like Crawlids and Vengeflies, but the real meat is in the NPCs. You’ve got Mato, one of the three Nailmasters. He’s a big, lonely guy living in a hut, desperate for a student. Meeting him isn't just about getting the Cyclone Slash; it’s about understanding the culture of the nailsmiths and the tragedy of their separation.
What Most Players Miss in the Howling Cliffs
Most people find Mato and think, "Okay, cool, I’m done here."
Wrong.
There is a breakable wall. Actually, there are several. But the most important one is tucked away in the lower eastern section of the cliffs. If you find the corpse of a large bug and Dream Nail it, you trigger the Grimm Troupe. This isn't just some side quest. It’s a massive, theatrical expansion that introduces some of the hardest bosses in the game, like Nightmare King Grimm.
The Grimm Troupe literally starts here. You light a nightmare lantern, the music turns into a gothic circus theme, and suddenly the "empty" cliffs are the reason the entire kingdom is about to get a whole lot weirder. It’s a masterclass in using "dead space" to hide the most vibrant content.
The Lore of the Blue Lake and the Stag Nest
If you keep exploring, you’ll find the entrance to the Stag Nest. This is huge. For the whole game, you’ve been using the Last Stag to travel. He’s old. He’s tired. He thinks he’s the last of his kind.
Finding the Nest in the Howling Cliffs changes his dialogue. It’s one of the few genuinely hopeful moments in a game that is basically a long funeral. You find an egg shell. A broken one. It implies that the Stags aren't actually extinct; they’ve just moved on. It’s a tiny detail, but for players who have bonded with their fast-travel companion, it’s an emotional gut-punch.
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Then there’s the view of the Blue Lake. It’s a serene, quiet spot that overlooks the City of Tears. You can actually see the rain falling on the city from above. It’s a perspective shift. You realize the "ceiling" of the city is just the bottom of this massive lake. The geometry of Hallownest is incredibly tight, and the Howling Cliffs provide the roof for the entire world.
Why the Wind Blows So Hard
Ever wonder about the name? The "Howling" isn't just flavor text.
The wind in this area actually pushes against you. It’s a minor annoyance for platforming, but a major hint for the lore. Hallownest is a stagnant place. It’s a kingdom frozen in a cycle of infection and rebirth. But the Howling Cliffs are where the air moves. It’s where the outside world tries to get in.
In the King’s Pass section (which is technically part of the Cliffs’ biome), you find the spot where the Knight—that’s you—first entered the kingdom. You were a wanderer from the wastes. You came from the cliffs.
This area marks the Knight's origin. You didn't just spawn in Hallownest; you were a vessel that returned to it. The emptiness of the cliffs mirrors the "hollow" nature of the protagonist. You are a void-filled shell coming from a void-filled wasteland. It’s poetic, in a depressing, bug-centric kind of way.
Dealing with the Enemies and Bosses
Let's talk gameplay. The Howling Cliffs isn't particularly difficult in terms of combat, unless you count the DLC stuff.
- Gorb: He’s a "Great Mind" who floats around and shoots needles. He’s a Dream Warrior. Honestly? He’s kind of a joke if you have any range at all. But his dialogue is bizarre. "I am Gorb!" he shouts. It’s become a meme in the community for a reason.
- The Nightmare Lantern: While not a boss itself, lighting it triggers the arrival of Grimm. If you aren't prepared for the difficulty spike of the Troupe, don't touch that lantern. Once you light it, you're locked into a questline that culminates in one of the fastest, most punishing fights in the genre.
- Elder Hu: You might find him nearby depending on your pathing. Another Dream Warrior, another lesson in timing your dashes.
The real challenge here is navigation. The cliffs are vertical. If you don't have the Monarch Wings or the Mantis Claw, you're going to have a bad time. It’s a late-early game area. You can access it early, but you shouldn't really stay there until you've got some mobility.
The Secret of Joni’s Repose
Deep in the cliffs, you’ll find a sub-area called Joni’s Repose. It’s blue. Very blue.
This is where you find Joni’s Blessing. It’s a charm that turns all your health into Lifeblood (the blue masks). You can't heal with Focus anymore, but you get a massive health pool.
Joni was a "kind heretic." The lore here is a bit fuzzy, but the implication is that Lifeblood is seen as a taboo in Hallownest. Finding this shrine at the very edge of the map suggests that those who embraced Lifeblood were exiled or chose to live as far from the Pale King’s light as possible. It’s a quiet, beautiful, and haunting grave. It’s one of the best examples of environmental storytelling in the game. No cutscene. No dialogue. Just a blue glow and a corpse holding a charm.
How to Optimize Your Run Through the Cliffs
If you're trying to be efficient, don't go to the Howling Cliffs as soon as you get the Mantis Claw. Wait.
Wait until you have the Dream Nail.
If you go before you have the Dream Nail, you have to backtrack. You can't fight Gorb. You can't start the Grimm Troupe. You can't talk to the ghosts. It’s a waste of time.
Here is the "Expert Path" for the Howling Cliffs:
- Enter through the top of King's Pass after getting the Mantis Claw and Dream Nail.
- Drop down to find Mato and learn the Cyclone Slash immediately.
- Head left to find the Stag Nest. Collect the Vessel Fragment there.
- Go to the far west to find the Grimm Troupe corpse behind the breakable walls.
- Visit Joni’s Repose on your way out to grab the charm.
- End at the Baldur Shell charm location (inside a giant dead bug, obviously).
By doing it in this order, you clear the entire zone in about fifteen minutes and never have to look at a cliff again.
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The Misconception of "Nothingness"
Many critiques of Hollow Knight mention that the map is too big or that certain areas feel "undercooked." The Howling Cliffs is usually the first example people point to. They see the lack of shops and the lack of a major "required" boss as a flaw.
They’re wrong.
The Howling Cliffs provides the scale. Without the cliffs, Hallownest feels like a closed box. With the cliffs, it feels like a kingdom carved out of a much larger, much more terrifying world. The "nothingness" is the point. It’s the contrast. You need the silence of the cliffs to appreciate the chaos of the Crossroads or the majesty of the City of Tears.
It’s also where you find the Wanderer’s Journal and various Geo clusters that help fund your early-game upgrades. If you’re struggling for cash to buy that lantern from Sly, a quick trip to the cliffs is basically a bank withdrawal.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you are currently playing or planning to jump back into Hallownest, here is how you should handle this area to get the most out of it.
- Upgrade your Dream Nail first. There are hidden dialogue lines from the bugs in the cliffs that reveal a lot about the "falling" of the kingdom.
- Equip the Gathering Swarm charm. The cliffs have a lot of small Geo rocks hidden in high places; you don't want to spend twenty minutes chasing coins that fell off a ledge.
- Listen for the humming. Cornifer is hidden here too. He’s tucked away near the top. If you don't find him, the map is a nightmare to navigate because of the looping verticality.
- Check the walls. The Howling Cliffs has a higher-than-average density of "fake" walls. If a corner looks weird, hit it. Especially in the area leading to the Grimm Troupe lantern.
- Interact with the corpses. Not to be macabre, but the dead bugs in the cliffs hold more lore than the living ones. They tell the story of travelers who almost made it out, or almost made it in.
The Howling Cliffs isn't a transition zone. It’s a destination. It’s the place where the Knight’s past meets the kingdom’s future. Go there for the upgrades, stay for the crushing realization of how small you actually are in the grand scheme of Team Cherry’s masterpiece.
Once you’ve cleared the cliffs and lit the Nightmare Lantern, your next logical step is to head back to Dirtmouth. You’ll notice two new tents have appeared. That is the start of the Grimm Troupe questline proper. Prepare yourself—the combat difficulty is about to quintuple. Make sure you have at least a level 3 Nail (Channeled Nail) before you even attempt the first round of Grimmkin novices, or you’re going to be staring at a "Game Over" screen more than the actual gameplay.
The cliffs are quiet, but what they unleash is the loudest part of the game.