How to beat Phantom in Silksong

Phantom is an optional boss hidden away in Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Exhaust Organ, and beating them is one of two ways in which you can gain access to Act 2. While tucked away in a perilous area, Silksong’s Phantom is actually much easier that The Last Judge of Blasted Steps and provides a pretty fun battle, with the enemy having a moveset similar to Hornet’s.

If you need a helping hand taking this swift and nimble foe down, here’s our guide on how to beat Phantom in Silksong.

How to beat Phantom in Silksong

Phantom is an alternative end of Act 1 boss in Silksong, meaning that beating him will grant you passage into Act 2 of the game without needing to beat The Last Judge in Blasted Steps.

All in all, this alternate route into Act 2 is slightly easier than the former. The areas you must navigate – Sinner’s Road and The Mist – are laden with traps and enemies but quite short, and the fight against Phantom himself isn’t too troubling if you hold onto your patience. This fight also lacks the awful runback to The Last Judge’s boss arena which is another positive.

As soon as you enter the fight, two blasts of steam will occur that obscure Phantom leaving his organ and entering the boss arena. The first happens in the middle of the arena and the second happens on the left-hand side of the arena. Be careful not to walk into these as the fight starts or you will lose two Masks of health.

On top of that, I’d be sure to bring some kind of projectile Tool with you – such as the Straight Pin, Sting Shard, or Longpin – as well as Silkspear, which will allow you to deal some ranged damage Phantom in a pinch. Thread Storm also did me well here, but it is risky given you need to be quite close to Phantom for a short period of time while using it. Ultimately, Phantom is very agile and often aerial, which means landing attacks on him safely can be quite challenging. Tools will allow us to deal a good chunk of damage without getting close to the boss and can never go amiss.

Also if you’ve the Pollip Pouch equipped (from completing the Rite of the Pollip Wish), your equipped Tools (in the red slot) will also deal poison damage over time which you might as well start making the most of if you haven't already.

Phantom’s moveset is as follows, with the boss getting faster as the fight goes on:

• Needle Throw: Phantom draws his Needle back before throwing it at Hornet with plenty of range. Walking into Phantom or his Needle will damage you. Jump over his Needle – and him, if need be – to avoid this attack. If you can jump over the Needle and pogo off Phantom’s head, even better.
• Aerial Needle Throw: Phantom leaps into the air, draws his Needle back, and then throws it at Hornet. He will then dive onto and retrieve his Needle. Dash out of the way of the Needle then back towards it, using this as an opportunity to land an attack on Phantom.
• Needle Slashes: While on the ground, and if Hornet is nearby, Phantom will unleash slash attacks while dashing at Hornet. You can dash away or jump over Phantom to avoid these, and can also parry these attacks. Be careful when parrying Phantom while he is guarding (holding his Needle vertically in front of him) however, as this is when his next move – Cross Stitch – comes into play.
• Cross Stitch: Phantom has the ability to parry your attacks and will often unleash a devastating counter-attack if you parry him while he is guarding. This sees him deal a flurry of stabs with his Needle, much like the Lace fight in Far Fields, but with more range. If Phantom parries one of your attacks, I would prepare to jump over him before he unleashes his counterattack.
• Ground Pound: After stunning Phantom at least once, he adds a new move to his arsenal that’s fortunately very easy to avoid. Phantom will disappear and a portion of the arena’s flooring will begin to glow. Dodge out of the way of this glow to avoid Phantom’s ground pound attack. You can quickly dash towards him to attack following this, but there’s every chance he disappears again.

The fight against Phantom is both long and short. For example, you only need to stun him three times, with the third stun marking the end of the fight, but your opportunities to attack during this fight are quite limited given how fast and agile Phantom is. That, and he’s constantly disappearing into thin air.

As a result, making sure that you are as fast and nimble as Phantom is important. This means utilising your dash ability to keep up with the boss and ensuring you land an attack on him when the opportunity presents itself, usually after one of his Needle Throw or Ground Pound attacks.

After either of these attacks – provided Phantom doesn’t disappear to launch another attack again – you’ve a good opportunity to pogo off the boss or jump behind him and quickly slash at him before retreating. The Reaper Crest is also valuable here, as it provides your attacks with a little bit more range, but the diagonal pogo of the Hunter Crest feels easier to pull off during this fight in my opinion, as opposed to the Reaper Crest’s straight-downwards pogo. Experiment if you're struggling and see which works best for you.

Phantom’s Ground Pound attack will appear during his second phase and be present for the rest of the fight. This sees him disappear and a portion of the ground of the arena will begin glowing. Shortly after, he’ll slam down where the glow is. This, much like the explosive attack from Lace’s final phase in Far Fields, is very easy to avoid. If you then dash towards Phantom following the attack, you should be able to attack him once or twice with ease provided he doesn’t immediately launch another Ground Pound attack.

Also watch out for his third and final phase, in which he will unleash multiple Ground Pound attacks in quick succession before continuing the fight as normal.

Once you finally beat Phantom, there’ll be a final clang of blades before you’re prompted to parry the boss. This ends the fight and sees you rewarded with the Cross Stitch ability, which allows you to Bind Silk around Hornet’s needle to deflect enemy attacks and counterattack them.

Good luck taking down Phantom!

For more on Hollow Knight: Silksong, take a look at our list of all Tool locations, our list of all bosses, and our Silksong walkthrough.