Charm Notches in Hollow Knight: How to Acquire All of Them

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Max out Knight’s stats ASAP with this simple guide
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In Hollow Knight, charm notches are arguably the most important resource. They give you room to connect charms, which improve your skills, stats, and abilities, so getting as many notches as you can is pretty important if you want to beat the game. Here, we’ll show you how to get the eight possible charm notches you can acquire.

How many charm notches are in Hollow Knight ?

You start with 3 charm notches by default, and there are 8 more charms you can unlock in the game for a total of 11. The unlockable charm locations are:

  • Notches 1-4: Forgotten Crossroads
    • Salubra sells all of them.
  • Notch 5: Fog Canyon (hidden room at the top)
  • Notch 6: Fungal Wastes (bottom left)
  • Notch 7: Colosseum of Fools (top right of Kingdom’s Edge)
  • Notch 8: Dirtmouth (after beating Grimm)
Section 1 of 3:

All Charm Notch Locations & Requirements

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  1. The first charm (alongside the second, third, and fourth) that you’ll be offered is sold by Salubra, the Charm Lover. She’s a shopkeeper located in the very bottom right of The Forgotten Crossroads. To reach her shop, you must have the Mothwing Cloak (double jump) or the Mantis Claw (wall climb). You can also reach her by pogo-jumping on a Shade or by entering backwards from Blue Lake in the Resting Grounds
    • Requirements to obtain: You must own 5 charms.
    • Pro tip: Salubra also sells a ton of charms. As a rule of thumb, if you can only afford a charm or a charm notch, it’s better to buy the notch. The more charms you can equip, the stronger you’ll be.
  2. The second notch is also sold by Salubra at the bottom right of the Forgotten Crossroads. After buying the first charm and getting at least 10 charms, go back to visit her, and it’ll be available.
    • Requirements to obtain: You must own 10 charms.
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  3. The third notch is sold by Salubra. Visit her after getting 18 charms and she’ll have a third notch charm for you to buy.
    • Requirements to obtain: You must own 18 charms.
  4. Salubra’s final charm notch will be available for purchase after you purchase the first three and get 25 charms.
    • Requirements to obtain: You must own 25 charms.
    • Pro tip: While you probably have her location memorized at this point, don’t forget to keep coming back whenever you’ve got extra Geo to spare. Salubra carries some extremely helpful items and charms for later in the game.
  5. There are two ways to get this notch:
    With Isma’s Tear: Go to the large, horizontal room in the bottom left of the Forgotten Crossroads. Drop into the acid water, swim all the way to the right, and drop down into Fog Canyon from above. Enter the hallway on the left about halfway down the room and use the opening on the bottom left of the map. Then, wall jump your way up the top left path. The notch is in the room with the column in the middle of the noxious water at the end. [1]
    With Monarch Wings: Go to Greenpath and drop down the opening in the bottom right of the map to enter Fog Canyon. Fight and platform your way all the way to the right until you reach the vertical column and enter the first room above you on the left side. Follow the top left path and you’ll find the room with the charm notch. [2]
    • Requirements to obtain: You must have Isma’s Tear (which allows you to swim in the toxic water) or the Monarch Wings (the double jump).
    • Pro tip: It’s okay to skip this one and come back for it later once you’ve got more of Fog Canyon mapped out. Fog Canyon is arguably one of the most confusing locations in the game, just because you get the map so late, and many of the rooms in the Canyon are locked behind ability checks you can’t complete until later on.
  6. From the Forgotten Crossroads, drop down into the Fungal Wastes using the opening in the bottom left of the map. Drop down the left side of the map and work your way to the right once you reach the big room with the floating fire-breathers. Continue dropping down and leave through the left. Enter the big greenhouse with the two Shurumal Ogres (the big mushroom guys), beat them, and you’ll be rewarded with a notch. [3]
    • Requirements to obtain: Defeat the two Shrumal Ogres that pop up when you enter the greenhouse in Fungal Wastes.
    • Pro tip: When the Ogres use their ranged attack, dash in to hit them. They don’t change their attack once they’ve begun a cycle.
  7. The Colosseum of Fools is located in the top right of Kingdom’s Edge. You just have to climb up the left side of the western-most chasm in Kingdom’s Edge and then go right from the elevator. It’s actually pretty hard to miss it if you’re exploring Kingdom’s Edge—it’s not designed to be hard to find. [4]
    • Requirements to obtain: Complete the Trial of the Warrior, which is the first (and easiest) trial of the Colosseum.
    • Pro tip: You do have to pay to unlock each trial at the Colosseum of Fools, but you only have to pay once. If you pay for the entry fee, you can play that specific trial over and over again without re-paying, so don’t let the cost freak you out.
  8. In the Howling Cliffs, go all the way to the location where you first fall down and walk into the wall on the left to access the secret room. Jump your way up the column all the way and destroy the breakable wall. Keep going left and up. Once you exit the room, drop halfway down and destroy the breakable wall. Drop down and break the other wall. Walk all the way to the right and hit the large dead bug with your dream nail. Hit the big pyre under the torch on the left, and the torches will light up. You can now find the Grimm Troupe in the Hollow Cliffs in the tents on the left. Defeat Grimm to get the last notch. [5]
    • Requirements to obtain: Defeat Grimm. To access Grimm, you must have the free Grimm Troupe DLC downloaded (just update your game and it’ll appear if you don’t already have it).
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Section 2 of 3:

Overcharming

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  1. Most players assume you are gated by the number of charm notches you have, but this isn’t true. If you keep pressing the button to equip a charm and it keeps getting rejected because you don’t have enough notches, you can keep trying to insert it over and over again. Eventually, the game will let you equip the extra charm. You are now “Overcharmed.” [6]
    • Here’s the kicker, though! When you’re Overcharmed, you take double damage. This means that Overcharming is usually not worth it unless one of three scenarios applies:
      • You’re fighting a one-hit boss. Either you’re fighting Absolute Radiance or you’re on Radiant difficulty.
      • You’re racing through the early game. If you’re just replaying Hollow Knight to refresh yourself for Silksong, go ahead and Overcharm. You should be good enough at the game to get through the early bosses faster.
      • You’re doing a hitless run. The mother of all accomplishments!
Section 3 of 3:

What are notches?

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  1. Picture charms kind of like bullets, and the charm notches like the openings inside of a revolver—the notches are how many slots you have for charms at any given time. Charms are the way you improve and modify your character, so the more notches you have, the more freedom, power, and control you have.
    • What are notches flavor-wise? The game doesn’t really give you an answer, but it seems like the notches might be openings on a belt or necklace. Salubra, the charm vendor in Forgotten Crossroads, specifically mentions “wearing” the charms, so the implication is that the notches are on an accessory or clothing item.
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      • As a very general rule of thumb, if you’re trying to replay Hollow Knight and you’re wondering what order you should prioritize tasks, focus on obtaining ability upgrades first, then charm notches.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://youtu.be/9t488o-_Kzw?t=215
      2. ↑ https://gamerwalkthroughs.com/hollow-knight/fog-canyon/
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/YHqzQH4GeoE?t=5
      4. ↑ https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Colosseum_of_Fools
      5. ↑ https://youtu.be/e8RVINmVjkU?t=21
      6. ↑ https://youtu.be/mq02M1K_a1g?t=4

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