Hollow Knight

Rivals Workshop Design Doc

Gameplay
Strengths:

● Disjoint and range

● Extremely high air mobility
● Pretty good recovery

Weaknesses:

● Lightweight (to make up for the healing mechanic)

● Slashes don’t have wide arcs or long active frames
● Somewhat slow on the ground
● Loses access to 3 of his special moves when he has no meter
Unique Mechanics
Sliding Wall Cling - Hold jump to wall cling. While wall clinging, Hollow Knight will
slide downward slowly

Soul Meter - Soul meter is built up by dealing damage. He will have a full meter
after dealing 60%. Moves that cost meter to use (Shade Soul and Descending
Dark) do not count.
Jab - Quick Slash
A repeatable, quick version of the nail swing from Hollow Knight. Either hit of the jab combo can be
cancelled into tilt attacks.

The jab is strongest close to Hollow Knight, so the tip of the nail is not great to hit with.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Quick_Slash
Forward Tilt - Dream Nail
Strike enemies with an attack that doesn’t combo well but gains a large amount of Soul meter. The startup
of the move behaves as if Hollow Knight has the Dream Wielder charm equipped.

Easter Egg: If you hold the taunt button when striking an opponent, a text box will appear that reads your
opponent’s mind. Each character will have 3 different lines of text that cycle through each time you read
their mind.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Dream_Nail
Up Tilt - Upward Nail Slash
Upward slash that combos very well and has very
little startup. Cannot be repeated as quickly as in
Hollow Knight, but is still relatively fast.

Reaches almost entirely vertical, leaving him open

to attacks from the sides.

Strongest at the bottom, but the top can still be

useful for comboing if the opponent is damaged
enough.
Down Tilt - Dreamgate
Hollow Knight leaps forward a short distance and stabs downward,
knocking enemies far away and placing a dreamgate. This attack also hits
far below platforms if used on one, but is much weaker. The forward leap
cannot jump over ledges, so you cannot accidentally dive offstage with it.

If the dreamgate is active, this move quickly teleports to the dreamgate

with a weak hitbox that is great for combos.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Dreamgate
Dash Attack - Dash Slash
Long range slash with a bit of startup and a lot of endlag. Can possibly combo into
other moves if an enemy is caught off guard. The tip of this attack is much weaker
than the rest of the move, making it not great to hit with.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Dash_Slash
Forward Strong - Great Slash
Big, slow, powerful nail attack. Hits
slightly above and below Hollow Knight,
giving him more coverage than both
Jab and Forward Tilt.

The attack is strongest near Hollow

Knight.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Great
_Slash
Up Strong - Abyss Shriek
Powerful but very slow Vertical KO move. Huge hitbox and
strong power but one of the slowest Strong attacks in the
game.
Has low friction so he can slide while charging it or out of
dash to use in combos. Long recovery as well so it’s
punishable.

Strongest at the base, right above Hollow Knight’s head.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Abyss_Shriek
Down Strong - Cyclone Slash
Giant spin attack that hits enemies multiple times and knocks them out horizontally
at the end. The final hit is strongest in the center, but still isn’t super strong
compared to other Strong attacks.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Cyclone_Slash
Neutral Air - Thorns of Agony
A large, slow kill move that deals 5% damage to
Hollow Knight when he uses it.

The center of this move is extremely powerful, but the

edges are still pretty strong and knockback goes
straight outward from Hollow Knight’s center, so it is
amazing at killing.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Thorns_of_Agony
Forward Air - Nail Slash
A fast forward nail swing similar to his jab combo. Cannot be repeated as quickly as the jab combo after
the second nail swing.

Extremely fast and great for comboing opponents.

Strongest at the base of the sword, but the tip can be useful if you cancel the move by landing right after it
hits.
Up Air - Upward Nail Slash
A quick upward slash, much like up tilt.

Great for comboing, but must be directly beneath the

opponent for it to hit.

Strongest at the bottom, but the top is useful for

juggling high damage opponents.
Back Air - Monarch Wings
A quick attack using the Monarch Wings to strike behind him. Very strong finishing
move, but has a ton of endlag.

The wings propel Hollow Knight forward a bit, so it can be used for recovery
purposes as well.
Down Air - Downward Nail Slash
Quick downward slash. Cannot be repeated nearly as fast as in Hollow
Knight.

Bounces upward when striking an enemy.

The base of the sword will spike opponents straight downward, making it a
good KO move when offstage. The spiking hitbox is fairly hard to land, but the
rest of the move is great for comboing.
Neutral Special - Shade Soul
Fires a strong projectile forward using Soul meter. The projectile does not get destroyed upon hitting an opponent but can
still be destroyed by attacks. Extremely powerful and fast, but leaves Hollow Knight vulnerable after use. The projectile
grows weaker as it travels, but is still pretty powerful even at max range.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Shade_Soul)
Forward Special - Shade Cloak/Mothwing Cloak
After a short startup, he dashes forward invincibly. Shade
Cloak has a short cooldown separate from the dash
cooldown, just like in the game (including the visual of the
shadow particles surrounding him). During this cooldown,
using Fspecial will use the regular Mothwing Cloak, still
dashing forward but with no invincibility. Fspecial can only
be used once per airtime.

The dash has very little recovery and does not go into
special fall afterward, making it great for approaching
enemies, recovering, and keeping combos going.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Shade_Cloak
Up Special - Crystal Heart
Hold this move to surround yourself with
crystals. On release, Hollow Knight launches in
the direction of the joystick. His speed and
range depend on how long you charge the
move. At maximum charge, the range is infinite.
Pressing any button stops his motion and
sends him into special fall. Hitting an enemy
does not stop your movement. The hitbox is
strongest right after launching.

Gravity is stopped on startup and then severely

reduced while charging, meaning he will slowly
fall while the crystals form

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Crystal_Heart
Down Special Ground - Focus
Hold this move to drain your Soul meter and heal yourself in bursts.

With a full meter, you can heal yourself 3 times. Each healing burst takes about a second of channeling.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Focus
Down Special Air - Descending Dark
Hollow Knight stalls for a second and then slams into the
ground. After the startup, the downward dive reaches the
ground basically instantaneously. Does not stop when hitting an
enemy and will self-destruct if used offstage.

On connecting with the ground, it sends shockwaves in both

directions that launch grounded opponents. The dive knocks
enemies straight downward, knocking them into the
shockwaves.

This move costs Soul meter to use.

http://hollowknight.wikia.com/wiki/Descending_Dark
Other Visual Notes
Double jump uses the Monarch Wings animation.

When above 100% he spews dark particles mimicking when he is on one health in
Hollow Knight.