Jam Packed with action and adventure, Hollow Knight is one of the most popular video games worldwide. The game requires you to control an insect-like knight and use spells and weapons to defeat powerful bosses. One particular boss called Nosk is a bit more tricky to defeat. He is a shapeshifting beast with several powerful attacks who can take down an unprepared knight in minutes. However, using the right strategy and combat method makes defeating him quite easy. You can read our guide on Hollow Knight- How to Defeat Nosk to find the best strategy to send this demon back to Hell.
How to find Nosk in Hollow Knight?
Before discussing the battle strategy, let’s talk about how to find Nosk in Hollow Knight.
To find this boss, you will need to go to his lair which is located in the deepest part of the Deepest. Follow the steps given below to encounter Nosk.
Go to the Hot Spring present on the West of Tram in the Deepnest.
Locate the room with a wall on the left side of the Hot Spring and break the wall.
You will spot Grub behind the broken wall. Once you deal with the Grub, you will see another wall that you must break.
Behind the wall are tunnels that will take you to Nosk’s lair. Once you reach the last tunnel, several barriers of organic matter will close and Nosk will appear. He will undergo a grotesque transformation and begin the battle.
Nosk’s Attack Pattern
You must be familiarized with Nosk’s attack patterns to defeat him. He has only four different move sets and he shifts between them during battle. They have been mentioned down below.
- Charge- Nosk chases down the Knight by rapidly running behind him. He runs around the whole arena during this attack and does not stop even after hitting the Knight.
- Leap- Nosk traverses the arena by leaping 1-3 times around it. He uses this attack to target the Knight and leap on him.
- Eruption- Nosk runs towards the center of the arena and ejects several blobs of infection. He spews two at its feet along with eight at his right and eight at his left. Once the blobs hit the ground, they linger for half a second. After spewing the blobs, Nosk uses his charge attack immediately to take down the Knight.
- Rain- Nosk disappears by leaping into the ceiling. Then, he rains down blobs of infections at the Knight. This attack lasts for 6.5 seconds with a new blob raining down every half second. Once the attack is complete, Nosk comes down from the ceiling and uses other attacks to deal damage to players.
How to Defeat Nosk?
Nosk moves around the screen pretty fast and constantly changes his location. This makes avoiding him quite challenging. However, you can avoid his moves and know when and how to attack him by following the tips and tricks given down below.
Avoid the Charged attacks by jumping upwards. Alternatively, you can also use the Shade Clock which will make you immune to these attacks. We recommend pairing the Sharp Shadow Charm with the Shade Clock to inflict damage upon Nosk by dashing through him.
You can also use the Shade Cloak to avoid the leap attacks. Every time that Nosk tries to land on you, this cloak will make the attack ineffective by activating an invisibility frame around you.
There are two spaces in Nosk’s lair where he can’t reach you. They are located against the right and left walls of the middle platform. Immediately go to these spaces when Nosk starts his eruption attack. His blobs of infection will be unable to hit you here. Additionally, his leap attacks won’t work in these two safe spaces as well. However, these spots won’t be able to protect you from his rain and charged attacks.
The only way to avoid the rain attacks is to anticipate where the blobs will fall. You can do this by predicting Nosk’s location which is indicated by a puff of dust on the ceiling.
Spells, Abilities, and Charms on Hollow Knight- How to Defeat Nosk
Players should prepare themselves for battling Nosk by having the following Spells and Abilities.
- Shade Cloak- This will allow you to dash through Nosk without getting damaged by his attacks.
- Mothwing Cloak- This cloak helps you in avoiding charged attacks by giving you the ability to double jump.
- Shade Soul- An extremely powerful spell that will deal maximum damage to Nosk.
- Abyss Shriek- Use this spell when you are in the safe spaces by the middle platform to deal damage to Nosk.
Charms give players special abilities in Hollow Knight. You should have the following charms to successfully defeat Nosk.
- Sharp Shadow- This charm weaponizes the Shade Clock so that you can inflict damage upon Nosk while dashing through him.
- Quick Slash- This increases players’ attack speed. Thus, you will be able to attack Nosk faster and keep up with his fast pace.
- Shaman Stone- Use this charm to maximize the strength of your spells.
- Quick Focus- If you get hit by Nosk, use this charm to heal quickly.
Benefits of Hollow Knight- How to Defeat Nosk
Although Nosk is an optional boss, we recommend fighting him. Defeating him will give you a Pale Ore which is required to upgrade your Nail and make it more powerful.
