This is not filled with spoilers or anything I think would ruin your game experience to know. This is stuff that you might not pick up on immediately but is essential to enjoying the game. I have it spoiler tagged in case anyone wants absolutely no help at all but I'd still highly recommend reading this. But like not before you've started playing. Wait til you get a little into it first bc otherwise it's hard to understand.

• Make sure to buy all available benches and all available stagways. The former helps stop you from wanting to rage quit and the latter helps you avoid backtracking as much as possible. It feels really expensive at first but I promise you they're well worth it.
  
• Buy the map the instant you get into a new area. The game usually leaves visual and audible hints as to where to find Cornifer so keep an eye out. If you know you've missed him, you can go back to Dirtmouth to buy it
  
• Get the wayward compass charm in Dirtmouth. It's essential to traversing Hollow Nest and definitely worth the cost of a charm slot.
  
• Don't forget that sometimes characters have more dialogue if you continue to talk to them.
  
• There are things you can miss permanently on rare occasion but none of them are required for 112% completion. I'll mark when stuff like this comes up in the guide but otherwise don't worry too much about it.
  
• While this isn't something to focus on immediately, you should think about whether you'd like to do a nail or spell based build. Because you have limited charm slots, choosing one helps increase damage and survivability by a lot. They both have their advantages and ultimately are equally viable. You don't need to know anything crazy to get a good build, either. Just use the charms you have that you know are helpful. I did this and it turns out I was using the best possible nail build. You can go mixed, but it usually just makes it so you're only mediocre at everything.
  
• Certain charms pair interestingly with other charms to give unique effects. Try messing around with ones that seem like they'd be interesting together.
  
• If you ever need something specifically but don't want to spoil yourself by just straight up googling it, I'd be happy to give you a hint that doesn't spoil its location completely.

You'll enter this area pretty quick after the start of the game. You can take your time exploring the area as well as the town above but be careful about venturing into other areas just yet. You should probably turn around if you get a popup that indicates you're entering into a new area, but it's fine if it just says you don't have a map for the area or the scenery starts to change.

There are two bosses in this area that you should take down before moving on. You'll definitely be able to find both on your own.

Personal recommendations:
Make sure to talk to the NPCs both in the temple and in the crystal area to the top right. You can also fully explore this area and fill out your map. There aren't any large areas locked off by needing certain abilities so you should be able to go everywhere.

Once you've beaten the two bosses and explored as much as you'd like, go to the northwest road that leads to greenery.


This area is more complex than Crossroads so don't be surprised if you end up lost.

There is one boss in this area that's required and an optional second boss. It can be a bit confusing to track the main one, so if you're having trouble try going to the top left.
Giving details on the other boss is inherently a little spoilerey but I will do my best to keep it as light as possible: there's an opportunity to make a decision that can lock you out of some content later. But if you miss it entirely and continue too far into the game the decision will be made for you. Be careful

Personal recommendations:
Dear god please buy any available benches. There are loooong stretches without them and there are some annoying enemies. Not benching is just asking to rage quit

Once you've beaten the primary boss and explored as much as you'd like, you have two options.
If you want to go slow and at your own pace, return to Crossroads. Go directly south of the, uh, elevator (?) area on the west side. You'll have to slightly detour but the path you're taking is directly south. You'll know you're there when you start seeing spores.
If you want to be efficient, go directly from Greenpath to the south (the entrance is on the bottom level and pretty far right on the map). You'll enter a pink bubbly area. This is just a through way. Do not explore. Go down as far as you can, hook a right, and then do it again (including the right). If you enter an area that looks different then you did it correctly.


The 112% route does this area in a very specific way but I think it's only to avoid backtracking because it can get a bit confusing. This area can be very difficult to navigate without a map. There aren't any required boss fights in the area yet but there is a required ability.

Note regarding the thing I said in the last area: Getting this ability is the trigger for the aforementioned decision to be made for you. If you haven't found it already (and care) I'd go back

Once you've gotten the ability and explored as much as you'd like, do the parkour on the east side to advance to the next area. Be careful, the door will lock behind you when going to the next area. You can return later eventually, but you'll have to go through the next area first.

This area has some important vendor NPCs. Don't worry about traveling too far east just yet. When you're ready to leave, go to the area directly east of the main area (should look like the interior of a tower) and head up that until you get to the stag. Go back to Dirtmouth.

The NPCs you should talk to are the Nailsmith to upgrade nail and Lemm to sell relics. They're used exclusively for selling so don't horde unless you've been dying without retrieving your shade and losing money.


Newly accessible boss on the west side and some new NPC dialogue. I won't note new NPC dialogue after this, just be sure to check in whenever you make a major advancement. When you're done, go back to the city


Okay so basically back track to the tower I told you to go through to leave this area originally. There's a side passage leading to the east that's accessible from the top of the tower (well, there are two, but one's a dead end). Make sure to bench at the top of the tower bc that's the last one for a little while. Go through the thing and beat the boss.

This is one of the most annoying bosses because of how long it takes to get back if you die. The best advice I can possible give over text is that he telegraphs his attacks really well so if you get used to it then ur good. Also jump + dash (do you even dash that yet? lol sucks if u don't) whenever he's about to ground slam.

Once you're done, backtrack again to Dirtmouth. At this point you need to buy the Lumafly Lantern if you haven't already. If you don't have the cash then it's grind time babey bc it's required from here on.