Crests are essential equipment in Hollow Knight: Silksong that can be used to change Hornet’s movesets and attach tools to them for buffs. You can collect them during your journey through Pharloom, though you will have to go through tough challenges to acquire them.
The Crests pretty much change how you play, which means every time you equip one, it will give you advantages and disadvantages in battle. Most of them have a specific use, but some are better than the rest. Even then, it’s always recommended to pick up what you feel is better for you, since your personal experience should always be prioritized over a defined meta.
7. Witch Crest
The Witch Crest can be picked up by completing the Rite of Rebirth Wayfarer Quest in Act II. You can pick up the quest from the board in Bone Bottom. In order to complete the quest, you’ll have to visit Bilewater, which is one of the endgame areas of Silksong.
The Witch Crest is pretty average, even though it allows you to use your Needle to whip at enemies and leech life off enemies. The problem is that, to leech life, you’ll need to Bind it, and you can get interrupted while doing it. The leeching life only works when you use it on stationary enemies, where you don’t have any threat of interruption.
Finally, the Witch Crest comes with 1 Red Slot, 1 Blue Slot, and zero Yellow Slots for tools. This means you cannot attach any exploration tools to the Crest, such as a Compass, which makes it very difficult to find your way through Pharloom. Overall, the Witch Crest isn’t recommended, even though the long-range attacks you get can make it feel good.
6. Hunter Crest
The Hunter Crest is the default Crest you get right from the start. You don’t have to do anything to get it, but it’s a pretty balanced Crest for the early game. It doesn’t offer anything special, but that is also what makes this Crest pretty useful in learning the basics of Hollow Knight: Silksong.
It comes with 1 Yellow Slot, 1 Blue Slot, and 1 Red Slot, which means you get to create a balanced build that offers both offense and defense. You also have a Yellow Slot for attaching a Compass that will help you with exploration. There is nothing wrong with using this Crest, but the simple nature of it makes it fall off later in the game.
5. Beast Crest
Beast Crest is a very powerful Crest that can be picked up from the Chapel of the Beast in Hunter’s March. You’ll have to defeat the Savage Beastfly boss, which is quite difficult, but the reward for it is worth the trouble.
The Beast Crest lets you release powerful slashes that can deal high damage to enemies. Additionally, you can also Bind it to enter a fury state that lets you leech life off enemies. This means you can play aggressively and get hit, while also healing in return for the damage you deal. The Crest comes with 2 Red Slots, and you can upgrade it to get 2 Yellow Slots. It doesn’t have any Blue Slots, which means you will miss out on any form of Passive Buffs you can get from the Blue tools.
The problem with the Crest is that the healing you receive from life steal replaces your fast healing from Silk. This makes the Crest a detriment during exploration, where you can’t get enough hits on enemies. However, it is very good against bosses. The healing is better than how you do it in the Witch Crest, but the fact you have to bind it puts it lower in the ranking order.
4. Wanderer Crest
Wanderer Crest can be picked up in the early game from the Chapel of the Wanderer. You can reach this area from Mosshome by traveling to the left. You’ll need a Simple Key to access the area from where the Chapel can be reached.
The Wanderer Crest isn’t as special, but the reason you want to use it is because it turns the Hornet’s angular Pogo into a version of the downward Pogo from the original Hollow Knight. This makes it a lot easier to explore some of the high difficulty areas of the game, such as Hunter’s March, where you need the ability to Pogo to progress through the area.
The Wanderer Crest also comes with 1 Red Slot and 2 Yellow Slots, which can be upgraded to 2 Blue Slots, and 3 Yellow Slots. This makes it one of the most balanced Crests in the game, especially for the early game. You get a mix of defense and exploration with some offense.
The problem with this Crest is that it doesn’t have the offensive power of the other Crests, but the defensive balance makes your journey through Pharloom a lot easier. You can also pick it up early, which makes it easier to clear the initial sections, especially the platforming parts. However, the lack of offensive power means it falls off in the mid-game.
3. Architect Crest
The Architect Crest is one of the best Crests in the game, and you can pick it up after purchasing a key from the Twelfth Architect and unlocking a gate from above her room. This can be done in The Cauldron, which is one of the later areas of the game. This Crest lets you spin your Needle and drill into enemies while dealing massive damage to them. It also allows you to craft Red Tools using Silk in the middle of battle, thereby turning you into a spell caster.
Every attack you deal with this Crest equipped, irrespective of in-air or grounded hits, will multihit, which means you will shred through enemies with ease. It also comes with 3 Red Slots and can be upgraded to add 2 Blue and 2 Yellow Slots. This makes it a very powerful Crest that offers high offense, high defense, and seamless exploration.
The only reason it’s not ranked higher is that the Crest is hard to get, as you need a certain number of tools unlocked to get it. The number you need can be found from the Twelfth Architect shop key entry. Apart from that, it is offense coded, as initially you don’t even get access to the Blue and Yellow slots, which means you will have to struggle a bit before you can add some defense and exploration to it.
2. Shaman Crest
The Shaman Crest can be obtained very late in the game in the Ruined Chapel. You’ll also need access to the Silk Soar ability to reach the Crest. Additionally, you can get it only after you reach Act 3, which means it will be towards the end of the game.
The Crest is unique as it allows you to empower all your best Silk skills in Silksong, which are essentially your spells in the game. This allows you to deal a lot of spell damage in the game, and the damage boost is enough to take down the most difficult enemies with ease. It comes with only three White slots and can be upgraded to add 2 Blue slots.
The Shaman Crest also has a unique ability where you can spam waves whenever you swing your Needle. This allows you to deal damage from a distance, which is quite effective against most of the bosses in the game.
The reason it is ranked second is that you get it very late in the game, which means you don’t get to use it in the mid-game sections where you really struggle with the bosses. By the time you reach the endgame where you get the Shaman Crest, you’re already accustomed to the combat of Silksong, and something like the Reaper’s Crest or Architect Crest will carry you through the rest of the bosses. You will definitely get an advantage from the Shaman Crest, but the lack of accessibility when the game is extremely difficult during Act 2 puts it lower in the order.
1. Reaper Crest
The Reaper Crest can be picked up from the Chapel of the Reaper in Greymoor. It is the best Crest for the midgame that also carries you all the way until the endgame. This Crest can be considered an upgrade over the Hunter Crest as it offers even more offensive and defensive balance. You also get it around the beginning of Act 2, which means you can use it’s power to your advantage from quite early in the game.
The Reaper Crest gives you slow slicing attacks, which deal higher damage, but it takes some time to get used to. The downward Pogo from the Reaper Crest is also slower, so you’ll have to get used to the timing. However, the slower Pogo allows more control, which is handy in areas where the platforming is difficult. The Crest comes with 1 Red, 1 Blue, and 1 Yellow Slot, but can be upgraded to get 2 of each. This means you can attach multiple offensive, defensive, and exploration tools, thereby offering you a complete package.
The reason it’s ranked at the number one spot is because of its balance in terms of accessibility and power. The slicing attacks deal high damage, and when you upgrade it, you get the most balance out of all the Crests in the game. You might wonder how it’s different from the Hunter Crest, where you also get 2 Yellow and Blue slots. The difference is in the Reaper Crest, you get higher damage and 2 Red Slots, which makes a lot of difference even in the late game of Hollow Knight: Silksong.
