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There is no single best Tool for every fight in Hollow Knight: Silksong. The strongest choice depends on what you need it to do: hit a distant target, handle a crowd, support defense, or solve an exploration problem. This ranking compares the Tools described in the available guide material by role and practical fit—not by invented damage numbers or a claim of universal superiority.
Silksong’s Tools are grouped as red, blue, and yellow: broadly, activated offense, passive support, and exploration utility. They equip through Crests, whose colored slots constrain the combinations you can carry. Red Tools have limited uses and can be replenished at benches through crafting with Shell Shards, so deployment and upkeep matter alongside the effect itself.
How to read this ranking
This is a role-based ranking of the Tool behaviors specifically described in the cited guides, not a verified, exhaustive ranking of every item in the game. The source guides disagree on roster size: Nintendo Life lists 51 Tools in its May 11, 2026 guide, while Game8 lists 59 in its guide last updated September 24, 2025. Neither figure is established here as the authoritative total, and the difference is unexplained.
Rather than assign unsupported damage scores, the entries below weigh qualitative usefulness: coverage and target reach, deployment, defensive or healing support, and the cost of limited uses or loadout space. Check each Tool’s current in-game description before building around a specific effect; official Steam patch notes include fixes involving Tool behavior, including Conchcutter and Curveclaw.
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![Hollow Knight: Silksong Standard - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mOgOC8xEL._SL160_.jpg)
- Discover the fallen insect kingdom of Pharloom! Explore mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors as you ascend to the shining citadel at the top of the world.
- Engage in lethal acrobatic action! Wield a huge suite of deadly moves as you dance between foes in swift, beautiful combat.
- Craft powerful tools! Master an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons, traps, and mechanisms to vanquish your enemies and explore new heights.
- Solve shocking quests! Hunt down rare beasts and solve ancient mysteries to grant the wishes of the downtrodden and restore the kingdom’s hope.
- Face over 200 ferocious foes! Beasts and hunters, monsters and knights. Defeat them all with bravery and skill!
Ranked Tools by practical role
1. Enemy-tracking sawblade — best described option for pressure on moving targets
Nintendo Life describes a sawblade that tracks enemies. Tracking can reduce the aiming burden compared with a projectile that must be lined up manually, making this behavior a promising fit when targets move or when maintaining pressure matters. The available material does not establish its damage, duration, effectiveness against bosses, or whether it can reliably hit any particular enemy.
2. Bouncing missile — strongest-sounding fit for clustered encounters
A bouncing missile has the potential to cover space beyond a single straight projectile path, which makes it a natural candidate for groups or constrained arenas. That is a use-case inference from the described behavior, not a confirmed guarantee of multiple hits. Its real value depends on how it behaves in the current game version and whether the encounter gives it room to bounce.
Rank #2
- Hollow Knight: Silksong is the epic sequel to Hollow Knight, the award winning action-adventure.
- Journey to all-new lands, discover new powers, battle vast hordes of bugs and beasts and uncover secrets tied to your nature and your past.
3. Projectile — straightforward ranged option
A projectile offers a direct way to threaten targets at range. Its practical appeal is simplicity: it can suit situations where approaching is risky or a target is separated from Hornet. The source material does not specify its precise trajectory, damage, range, or whether it is better than other ranged Tools, so treat it as a basic role rather than a damage leader.
4. Drill attack — a specialized close-range choice
The drill attack is a distinct offensive behavior identified by Nintendo Life. It may be worth considering when an encounter rewards committing to a concentrated attack, but the available descriptions do not verify its reach, interruption, boss performance, or damage. It ranks below the more broadly suggestive ranged and tracking options because the evidence supports a narrower role, not because its measured performance is known to be worse.
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- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Explore a vast interconnected world of forgotten highways, overgrown wilds and ruined cities.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!.Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favourites and make your journey unique!.An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation..
5. Defensive or healing-related effects — best when survival is the priority
Nintendo Life’s examples include defensive and healing-related Tool effects. Their value is encounter-dependent: a defensive effect can matter more than another attack when avoiding damage is the main challenge, while healing support can change how safely Hornet sustains a run. The source material does not identify enough specific effects or conditions to compare them individually.
6. Exploration utility — situationally essential, not a combat ranking
Yellow Tools are characterized by Game8 as exploration utility. These effects may be the right choice when progressing through the world requires a tool-specific interaction, even if they do not improve a particular fight. Their value is therefore measured by access and problem-solving, not by combat output.
Rank #4
![Hollow Knight - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nXCF+sf5L._SL160_.jpg)
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!
- Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favorites and make your journey unique!
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
How categories and loadout limits change the ranking
| Category | General role | Loadout implication |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Activated offense, including limited-use subweapons, according to Nintendo Life and Game8. | Nintendo Life says red Tools have limited uses and are replenished by crafting at benches with Shell Shards. Consider whether the encounter justifies spending a use. |
| Blue | Passive buffs, according to Game8. | A passive effect can provide value without an activation decision, but it still competes for Crest-compatible slots. |
| Yellow | Exploration utility, according to Game8. | Useful when traversal or interaction is the goal; its value may be lower in a combat-only loadout. |
Tools equip on Crests at benches. Game8 says the Crest determines which slot colors are available, and Memory Lockets can unlock additional slots. That makes the best theoretical combination less important than the one your current Crest can actually hold. A loadout also has an opportunity cost: a Tool that excels in one situation may displace a passive benefit or exploration option better suited to the next stretch.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Build a loadout around the next problem
- Identify the main challenge. For moving or distant targets, consider the described tracking sawblade or projectile role. For groups, consider whether a bouncing missile’s behavior suits the arena. For survival, look at defensive or healing-related effects; for traversal, prioritize yellow utility.
- Check Crest slots at a bench. Equip only combinations that fit the Crest’s available slot colors. If a desired combination does not fit, use a compatible option or revisit the setup when you have additional slots.
- Account for limited-use Tools. Before relying on a red Tool, consider its remaining uses and the Shell Shards needed to replenish it through bench crafting.
- Reassess when the task changes. A combat loadout need not be the right setup for exploration. Swap Tools at a bench when the next obstacle calls for a different role.
There is also a broader resource trade-off around healing. In a September 9, 2025 PlayStation Blog article, Phil Hornshaw describes Bind as a Silk-powered action usable in mid-air that restores three health when Hornet has full Silk, while consuming all Silk. This is contextual guidance rather than a developer specification, but it illustrates why an offensive or support choice should be judged alongside the resources you may want available for recovery.
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What the ranking cannot establish
The published guide descriptions support identifying Tool roles and comparing their likely fit, but they do not provide a consistent set of measured damage, speed, coverage, or boss-performance values for every item. They also do not resolve the total number of Tools. Team Cherry’s official Steam announcement describes the system as an “enormous arsenal of weapons, traps and mechanisms,” but that promotional description is not a complete roster or a balance ranking. The most reliable decision is to match a Tool’s current in-game behavior to the encounter and the slots your Crest allows.
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