Crests change how you play Hollow Knight: Silksong by effectively giving you a new weapon.
Crests are where you equip your tools in the menu, and each crest comes with its own fighting style and slots. Additionally, crests will come with a variety of colored slots, changing the tools you can equip and how you take on Silksong‘s powerful enemies. There are tons of builds to choose from, but crests act as your starting point. The only problem is, these crests can be fairly hard to find, and you’ll need a few abilities to unlock them.
Here’s where to find the crests in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and if you need additional help, check out our interactive map.
All crests in Hollow Knight: Silksong
There are seven crests in Hollow Knight: Silksong (eight if you include the Vesticrest):
- Hunter Crest — Default crest, but can be upgraded by Eva in the Weavenest Alta.
- Wanderer Crest — Chapel of the Wanderer in Bonegrave
- Beast Crest — Chapel of the Beast in the southeast corner of Hunter’s March
- Reaper Crest — Chapel of the Reaper on the west side of Greymoor
- Architect Crest — Chapel of the Architect in the Underworks above the Twelfth Architect
- Witch Crest — Northwest corner of Greymoor after you complete the Twisted Bud quest line
- Shaman Crest — Above the Ruined Chapel in Act 3
For a more detailed location, check out the sections below.
Hunter Crest location
The Hunter Crest is the crest that you start out with in Silksong, but it can be upgraded after you unlock the Needolin. Head to the southeastern corner of Moss Grotto to find a door with a weaver’s face on it. Play your Needolin to unlock the door and head inside. At the end of the hallway, you’ll find three silk spools. Hit them to empower Weavenest Alta, and take the elevator down. On your right, you’ll find Eva, who will upgrade your Hunter’s Crest.
Once you upgrade the Hunter Crest, each attack will grant focus, and the more focus you have, the more damage your attacks will do. However, if you get hit, you’ll lose all of your focus. An easy way to check how much focus you have is to look to the left of your masks in the top left corner of your screen. There will be a white bar indicating how much focus you have.
The Hunter Crest can be upgraded by Eva again after you find all seven crests. The upgrade will increase the size of your focus bar, increasing the amount of damage you can do.
The Hunter Crest starts with one red, one blue, one yellow, and one white slot. After you unlock all the slots, you’ll gain one red slot, one blue slot, and one yellow slot.
Wanderer Crest location
The Wanderer Crest can be found in Bonegrave, which is to the left of Moss Grotto. To reach this area, you’ll want to start on the left side of Mosshome, just beside the hanging cages. Make your way across to the other side, and from here, there are two ways to continue: one with Swift Step and a simple key and another with Cling Grip and the Drifter’s Cloak. For the first method, you’ll need to continue to the left to find a locked door that leads to Wormways. Head to the bottom of Wormways to find a path to Bonegrave.
To enter Bonegrave with Cling Grip and Drifter’s Cloak, you’ll need to float downwards until you find a platform on your left. You’ll essentially want to glide all the way to the left until you land on the rooftop. Continue to the left and climb up the wall to enter Bonegrave.
The Wanderer Crest lets you play Silksong like it’s Hollow Knight by copying the Knight’s attack patterns. Additionally, if you have enough silk to bind, your attacks have a very small chance of dealing critical damage.
The Wanderer Crest starts with one red slot, zero blue slots, two yellow slots, and one white slot. Once you unlock all of its slots, you’ll gain two blue slots and one yellow slot.
Beast Crest location
The Beast Crest is unlocked after completing the Chapel of the Beast, which is located in the southeastern region of Hunter’s March. To reach this area, you’ll first need to unlock the Drifter’s Cloak from the Seamstress in Farfields. Once you have it, make your way to the southeastern corner of Hunter’s March and use your Drifter’s Cloak to ride the air current upward. At the end of the path, you’ll find the Chapel of the Beast. Inside, you’ll need to defeat the Savage Beastfly in order to get the Beast’s Crest.
This crest is perfect for aggressive players who like to stay up close and personal as its bind is replaced with lifesteal. After you use your bind, you’ll enter a fury state where your attacks gain increased range, speed, and damage. Additionally, rather than healing a flat amount of masks, your attacks will heal one mask, with each bind healing up to three masks total.
The Beast Crest starts with two red slots, zero blue slots, zero yellow slots, and one white slot. Once fully unlocked, you’ll gain two yellow slots.
Reaper Crest location
The Reaper Crest is unlocked after completing the Chapel of the Reaper, which is located to the left of the western tower in Greymoor. To reach this area, climb up to the top of the left tower, and proceed left into the next area. Head downward, but do not drop down to the lowest level. Drop down to the platform just below the Dreg Catcher, which looks like a beetle wielding a staff, and go through the exit on the left to find the Chapel of the Reaper. Inside, you’ll face off against a gauntlet of critters that you faced on the way here.
The Reaper Crest changes your attacks to be slower and adds a bit of an arc to them. However, the main change is in its bind, which will heal you normally, but also create silk balls after you hit an enemy. This effect will last for around 10 seconds after you use your bind, but if you collect the floating silk, you’ll fill your spool and be able to cast another bind in no time.
The Reaper Crest starts with one red slot, one blue slot, one yellow slot, and one white slot. Once fully unlocked, it’ll gain one red slot, one blue slot, and one yellow slot.
Architect Crest location
The Architect Crest is found in the Underworks, but to enter, you need to purchase the Architect’s Key from the Twelfth Architect. To find them, you’ll need to first get the Clawline ability, which can be found in The Cauldron. After you unlock the harpoon, return to the bench above The Cauldron and grapple to the ring just above it. Jump over to the platform on your right, hit the switch, and enter the room to find the Twelfth Architect. You can purchase the key for 110 rosaries as long as you have enough tools. Once you have the key, hit the switch to the right of the Twelfth Architect, climb up the wall, and hit the switch above. At the end of the path ahead, you’ll find the entrance to the Chapel of the Architect. From here, all you’ll need to do is head inside and claim the crest.
This crest is a bit unique as it turns all of your attacks into a drill attack. Your attacks can also be charged to give them longer range and deal extra damage. Your bind is the same, but now you can use silk to craft new tools by holding Up and the bind key at the same time.
The Architect Crest starts with three red slots, zero blue slots, zero yellow slots, and zero white slots. Once it’s fully unlocked, it’ll gain two blue slots and two yellow slots.
Witch Crest location
The Witch Crest can be unlocked after completing a long quest chain involving the Twisted Bud, a weird little baby that cries incessantly in your menus. The Twisted Bud can be found in Bilewater after you’ve completed the “Rite of the Pollip” quest in Shellwood. You’ll need to take this crying baby back to Greyroot in Shellwood, but before you do, you should know that giving the Twisted Bud to Greyroot will curse you until you finish its associated quest line. This will give you a new moveset, take away all of your tools, and prevent you from healing.
You’ll want to head to Yarnaby, who is a surgeon found in the top left corner of Greymoor, but it’s important to know that there is an achievement that you can earn if you reach the credits while cursed. After you speak to Yarnaby, you’ll need to complete the “Infestation Operation” quest, where you’ll need to purchase Steel Spines from Crull and Benjin, who can be found top right of the hanging cages in Sinner’s Road. Return to Yarnaby to complete the quest and unlock the Witch’s Crest.
When you have the Witch Crest equipped, your downward and dash attack will attack twice and allow you to weave in and out of battle. However, the biggest change with this crest is its bind. The bind will no longer immediately heal you, but instead, it’ll deal damage in an area around you. In order to heal, the bind will have to deal damage to an enemy, with each damage dealt healing one mask.
The Witch Crest starts out with one red slot, one blue slot, zero yellow slots, and one white slot. When fully unlocked, it’ll gain two blue slots and one red slot.
Shaman Crest location
The Shaman Crest can be found in the Ruined Chapel in Act 3. You’ll first need to unlock the Silk Soar ability, which is unlocked naturally as you progress through Act 3. After you have Silk Soar, return to the Ruined Chapel where you’ll find the Snail Shamans. Walk to the right of the bench to find a small hole in the ceiling with a glimmer of sunlight peering down. Super jump through the hole and continue through the passageway to unlock the Shaman’s Crest.
The Shaman Crest gives your attacks extra range as whenever you swing the needle, you’ll send out a wave projectile. Additionally, the crest will empower your Silk Skills, making them deal more damage. As for the crest’s bind, Hornet must be touching the ground in order for the heal to go through. If Hornet is in the air, it’ll propel Hornet downward until she lands on the ground.
The Shaman Crest starts with zero red slots, zero blue slots, zero yellow slots, and three white slots. Once it has been fully unlocked, it’ll gain two blue slots.
Vesticrest location
The Vesticrest acts as additional tool slots regardless of whichever crest you choose to use. You can unlock the Vesticrest the same way you upgraded your Hunter Crest, by talking to Eva in the Weavenest Alta. There are two Vesticrest slots that you can unlock, but their requirements are a little unclear. Here’s what worked for us:
- Yellow slot — Four crests unlocked with at least 12 slots open
- Blue slot — Five crests unlocked with at least 20 slots open
Update (Dec. 10): We’ve updated this guide with more context about the crests and unlocks.
Looking for more Silksong help? Check out our essential beginner tips and top rosary bead farming locations if you’re just getting started, and if you’re running up against a few locked doors, our simple key locations guide is the one for you.
While you’re exploring and completing quests like the “Rite of the Pollip” wish or “Silver Bells” request, make sure to spend some time progressing the main story as well, as you’ll get some upgrades that make battles easier. After “The Threadspun Town” quest, for instance, you can upgrade your needle to deal more damage.
