Mantis Village - Hollow Knight Guide - IGN (2024)

This page of the IGN Hollow Knight Wiki Guide includes instructions on how to navigate Mantis territory, including Mantis Village, leading up to the Mantis Lords boss encounter.

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.

After unlocking the shortcut between Queen's Station and the right side of the Fungal Wastes, return to the vertical chamber to the right and continue down. Once you reach the bottom, head right. At this point, you’ll begin to to encounter Mantis enemy types.

Mantis Warriors will utilize quick dashing attacks, then retreat slightly before attacking again, so engage them carefully, and always try to take on one at a time until you are intimately familiar with their attacks. Mantis Youths will harry you with flying dash attacks, so watch the walls and ceilings as you continue through the area to avoid being boxes in by gangs of rowdy Youths.

After dispatching (or running from) your first Mantis enemies, head down into the next area. Follow the shaft down to the bottom and sit on the Bench in the lower right corner, then continue through the bottom left exit and downward to find the Dashmaster Charm sitting at the foot of a statue.

After you claim the Dashmaster Charm, head back up to the previous area and take the middle-left exit, which is guarded by a Mantis Warrior and several Mantis Youths. Continue left and you’ll soon arrive at Mantis Village.

Stay at floor level and proceed all the way through to the far left side, then strike the lever on the ceiling to open a gate on the platform above. Make your way back to the entrance of Mantis Village and, this time, take the upper set of platforms all the way to the left side. Watch out for hiding Mantis Youths and utilize your air dash to jet between platforms.

Make your way to the upper left corner of the area, through the open gate, then drop down and claim the next major item, the Mantis Claw.

Once you have the Mantis Claw, you'll be able to explore the rest of the upper section of Mantis Village, so return to the right and use your new item to wall-jump and dash through the spiky platforming section at the top of Mantis Village to reach a lever which will open a large hole in the main floor of the village.

Return to ground level and jump in the new opening in the floor to descend to the lower level of the village, heading down either side and dashing to avoid the spiked pits.

NOTE: Hitting the Dash button while sliding down a wall will automatically dash away from the wall. Some platforming sections in the area are made significantly easier by utilizing this technique to make much more precise maneuvers than could be made by jumping then dashing.

Continue down, then take the first left and navigating the spiked avenues back up to the top until you reach a level unlocking a shortcut to the pit entrance. After unlocking that lever, slide down the left wall until you reach a lever which opens the middle-left gate, then hop down one more time to unlock the lowest gate on the left side.

Once you've done that, hop down one more level, dispatch the Mantis Warrior and cross over to the right side, then ascend the right side and hit the lever to unlock the bottom right gate. Once those area gates have been opened, descend to the very bottom of the pit and challenge the Mantis Lords.

NOTE: Defeating the Mantis Lords at this point is fairly challenging, but awards one of the more universally useful Charms in the game, the Mark of Pride, which significantly increases the striking distance of your Nail. If you find the Mantis Lords too challenging, you can skip ahead to the City of Tears as soon as you have the Mantis Claw.