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In Hollow Knight, the Knight’s Nail can be upgraded four times after its starting form, ending with the Pure Nail. The progression raises listed damage per hit from 5 to 9, 13, 17 and finally 21. The Nailsmith in the City of Tears performs the work; the first upgrade costs 250 Geo, while later upgrades also require Pale Ore. Those costs come from a secondary guide, so treat the exact Pale Ore requirements as a useful checklist rather than an official developer specification.
This answers the literal question: there are four upgrade opportunities, not four total Nail forms. Counting the starting Nail, the progression has five forms altogether.
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How many times can you upgrade the Nail in Hollow Knight?
You can upgrade the Nail four times beyond the weapon you start with. The final, fourth upgrade is the Pure Nail. In other words, the complete path is:
- Starting Nail
- First upgrade
- Second upgrade
- Third upgrade
- Fourth upgrade: Pure Nail
The four-upgrade answer is stated by the Indie Game Culture Pale Ore guide and repeated by a separate FAQ page. The guide is dated January 17, 2022 and is secondary coverage, not official game documentation, so it is best used to understand the progression while checking the in-game requirements if a value does not match your save.
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What are the Nail forms and damage values?
The cited guide gives one damage value for each stage. The table below puts the complete progression in order. “Damage” means the guide’s listed damage per hit; it is not a claim about total damage over time, damage from Nail Arts, or damage after other game effects.
| Stage | Form | Damage per hit | Increase from previous stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting | Nail | 5 | — |
| Upgrade 1 | First upgraded Nail | 9 | +4 |
| Upgrade 2 | Second upgraded Nail | 13 | +4 |
| Upgrade 3 | Third upgraded Nail | 17 | +4 |
| Upgrade 4 | Pure Nail | 21 | +4 |
The regular pattern is easy to see: every listed upgrade adds four points of base damage. From 5 to 21, the final form deals 16 more damage per hit according to the guide’s figures. That is a 4.2-times multiplier relative to the starting value, calculated from the published numbers—not a separate performance benchmark.
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Where do you upgrade the Nail?
The Nailsmith is located in the City of Tears. That location is the important destination for the progression: collecting Geo or Pale Ore elsewhere does not itself upgrade the weapon. You need to bring the required resources to the Nailsmith’s service point and complete the applicable upgrade in sequence.
The cited sources do not document a different smith, a second upgrade station, or an alternative route. If you reach the listed location and the expected service is unavailable, check that you are using the Nailsmith interaction rather than looking for a menu elsewhere; the guide does not provide a separate troubleshooting procedure.
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How much does each Nail upgrade cost?
The guide reports the following resource requirements. The first cost is presented as 250 Geo with no Pale Ore. It then lists 800 Geo and one Pale Ore, 2,000 Geo and two Pale Ore, and 4,000 Geo and three Pale Ore for the successive upgrades.
| Upgrade | Geo | Pale Ore | Resulting damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 250 | None required in the guide | 9 |
| 2 | 800 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | 2,000 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | 4,000 | 3 | 21 (Pure Nail) |
Adding the guide’s figures gives a total of 7,050 Geo and six Pale Ore for all four upgrades. The arithmetic is straightforward, but the source itself warns of potentially confusing wording around Pale Ore in its step-by-step descriptions. The second FAQ source confirms the first-upgrade price and the four-upgrade answer, but does not resolve every later requirement. Verify the individual cost shown by your game before spending a rare ore or relying on an old checklist.
What should you collect before visiting the Nailsmith?
For the first upgrade, plan on 250 Geo. For every later upgrade in the guide’s sequence, plan on both currencies: the stated Geo amount and the stated Pale Ore amount. This makes the practical order simple:
- Save at least the Geo listed for the next upgrade.
- Check whether that upgrade also calls for Pale Ore.
- Travel to the Nailsmith in the City of Tears with both resources available.
- Apply the upgrades in order; the guide presents them as a sequence rather than as interchangeable tiers.
- After each upgrade, use the new listed damage value to understand what stage you have reached.
The guide identifies six Pale Ore locations across Hallownest. It does not provide enough detail to reproduce each location safely here, so use its location list as a route reference and confirm the ore requirement at the Nailsmith. Do not assume that a remembered location guide from another version or platform uses the same wording.
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Why does the final upgrade matter?
The Pure Nail is not merely a cosmetic name in the cited progression: it is the fourth upgrade and the stage associated with the guide’s highest listed damage, 21 per hit. Compared with the starting value of 5, that is 16 additional damage on each ordinary hit before considering any other source of damage modification.
The useful way to interpret the numbers is as a progression, not as a promise about how quickly every enemy will fall. Enemy health, attack opportunities, missed swings and other mechanics determine real combat time. The cited sources provide base Nail figures only; they do not provide a universal time-to-defeat chart or a benchmark for particular enemies.
How should you read conflicting cost guides?
Start with the invariant answer: four upgrades, ending at Pure Nail. Then separate the stable progression from the less certain details. The 5/9/13/17/21 damage sequence and the four-upgrade count are directly stated in the principal guide. The Geo and Pale Ore schedule is also printed there, but the guide specifically flags the Pale Ore descriptions as potentially confusing.
If another guide shows a different requirement, compare the upgrade number, not just the headline total. A mismatch may come from a transcription error, a guide using a different edition or version, or a table that describes cumulative rather than per-upgrade resources. The cited guides do not establish which explanation would apply, so the safest practice is to use the in-game prompt as the final authority.
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A quick consistency check
- There should be four paid upgrade stages after the starting Nail.
- The last stage should be identified as Pure Nail.
- The published damage sequence rises by four at each stage.
- The guide’s Geo figures rise from 250 to 800, 2,000 and 4,000.
- Pale Ore first appears in the guide’s second-upgrade entry.
These checks help identify a mislabeled table without pretending that the secondary source is official documentation.
Does the starting Nail count as an upgrade?
No. The starting Nail is the baseline form. “Four upgrades” means four improvements available after that starting weapon, producing five forms when the baseline is included. This distinction explains why some short answers say “five Nails” while the direct answer to the upgrade question remains “four.”
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The cited progression describes the improvements as successive upgrades, with separate resource requirements for upgrade one through upgrade four. It does not describe a shortcut, an alternate smith, or a way to exchange all resources for the final form immediately. Treat the numbered order as the supported route and verify the next available upgrade at the Nailsmith.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does six Pale Ore locations mean for the full route?
The guide identifies six Pale Ore locations across Hallownest, while its listed later upgrades call for one, two and three pieces. Those figures total six pieces, but the guide does not provide enough location-by-location detail to state that every listed location has an identical yield or that no other acquisition nuance exists. Use the location list to plan exploration, then let the Nailsmith’s displayed requirement determine whether you have enough for the next stage.
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What is the most reliable answer if you only need the number?
Four times. The fourth upgrade produces the Pure Nail. The guide’s associated damage values are 5 for the starting Nail, then 9, 13, 17 and 21 per hit; its reported costs are 250 Geo for the first upgrade, followed by 800 Geo plus one Pale Ore, 2,000 Geo plus two Pale Ore, and 4,000 Geo plus three Pale Ore. Because those resource details come from a secondary guide and are specifically flagged for verification, confirm them in-game before committing rare materials.
What the cited sources document
The progression guide reports the upgrade count, weapon names, damage figures, Nailsmith location, reported costs and six-location Pale Ore overview. A second FAQ source corroborates the four-upgrade answer and first-upgrade price. No independent testing, benchmark or hands-on measurement is implied; all numerical gameplay claims are attributed to those published sources or are simple arithmetic from their figures.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Are the Pale Ore costs in every online guide guaranteed to match?
No. The principal guide is a secondary source and its own descriptions are flagged as potentially confusing. If a written checklist conflicts with the requirement displayed in your game, treat the in-game requirement as the deciding information and use the guide as a planning aid.
Should I save Geo before searching for Pale Ore?
Yes, because the reported second, third and fourth upgrades require both resources. Having the listed Geo ready means a Pale Ore discovery can be used for the next eligible upgrade instead of starting a separate currency-gathering trip.
Does the four-upgrade count include the Nail the Knight starts with?
No. The count refers to improvements after the starting weapon. Counting forms instead gives five stages, with Pure Nail as the fifth form.
Is 21 the Nail’s damage against every target?
It is the guide’s listed damage per hit for the Pure Nail stage. Actual combat results can vary with the target and other game mechanics, and the cited sources do not provide a universal damage or defeat-time benchmark.
