Hollow Knight: Silksong has been blessing (and cursing) our gaming libraries since its long-awaited release back in 2025. Even now, well into 2026, the sprawling kingdom of Pharloom continues to reveal fresh wonders – and fresh frustrations. While the map is a certified masterpiece of interconnected labyrinth design, a few corners of this insectoid kingdom seem precision-engineered to test the limits of human patience. Not every shimmering bell or mossy grotto is a joy to traverse. Some areas seem to have been conjured by a higher being who feeds on broken controllers.

For every breathtaking Citadel climb, there’s a putrid pit that makes you want to respec into a different hobby. This countdown celebrates those unholy corners. Based on countless enraged community rants and personal scars that just won't heal, here are the seven worst areas in Hollow Knight: Silksong – ranked from mildly maddening to absolutely acrid.

7. High Halls

A Symphony of Small Sufferings

On the surface, High Halls is a visual and auditory treat. Soaring architecture, haunting choral music, and the new Clawline mechanic that lets Hornet zip along ceilings make the first five minutes feel exquisite. Then the Ministers and Maestros show up, and the dream curdles into a repetitive nightmare. These hovering dilettantes fill the screen with homing projectiles and shockwave attacks that turn every corridor into a bullet-hell audition. Because the area offers exactly one bench at the start and one at the very end, dying means replaying the entire concerto from scratch – a punishment so severe it could make a Hallownest veteran weep into their rosary beads.

The crescendo of despair hits during the Conductor’s Melody gauntlet: a relentless wave of minions capped off by two Choir Clappers whose area-denial attacks cover every pixel. It’s less a combat challenge and more a test of how many deep breaths you can take before screaming into a pillow. High Halls is beautiful, yes, but it is also a carefully formatted torture suite designed to make speedrunners whimper.

6. Wisp Thicket

All Flame, No Warmth

Just when you think Silksong can’t possibly cram more map into its already overstuffed world, Wisp Thicket flickers into existence like a mirage. The initial awe, however, evaporates fast. This remote pocket dimension is populated by incorporeal fire spirits that deal double mask damage, summoned by lamp-bugs that seem to multiply when you aren’t looking. Every inch of exploration becomes a slog through spectral hitboxes, and the narrow platforms offer zero safe spaces.

The only redeeming feature is the boss, a kinetic platforming marvel that momentarily justifies the suffering. Yet the hateful gauntlet between the nearest bench and the boss arena ensures you’ll arrive singed and spiritually depleted every time. Wisp Thicket is a cruel trick: it glows with promise but leaves behind nothing but ash and bitter memories.

5. Deep Docks

Anchored by Agony

Confession time: Deep Dockets hosts two of the game’s most spectacular boss encounters – Lace and the sibling duo Signis & Gron. But the price of admission is paid in copious molten fury. Every platform is patrolled by bugs you can’t pogo on, airborne menaces that rain giant bombs, and lava-spewing behemoths that chase you across multiple screens. With only a handful of health masks and environmental hazards littering the floor, discovery becomes a fiery trial-and-error loop.

Navigating the docks feels less like exploration and more like a frantic evacuation drill. The constant pressure turns what could have been an atmospheric steampunk harbor into a crucible of anxiety. Many players sprint through gripping their controller like a talisman, praying to reach the next Ventrica station before the next death screen. The bosses are so good that they mercilessly highlight how punishing the backdrop really is.

4. Sinner's Road

The Royal Waterways' Evil Twin

Any Hollow Knight veteran remembers the Royal Waterways with a shudder. Sinner’s Road is its spiritual successor, and it has inherited every ounce of that ancestral dread. The atmosphere is gloriously oppressive – dripping ceilings, haunting echoes, and a pervasive sense of decay – but the enemies turn it into a full-on survival horror segment. Muckroaches possess more health than some mid-tier bosses and hit like freight trains. Roachkeepers fill the tunnels with sticky projectiles and have the endurance of a Pantheon fight. Even the lowliest crawling maggot can cancel your heal with a smug twitch.

And the benches? They trick you. One of them is a fake, wasting precious time and likely getting you killed. Combine that with a forgettable boss and excruciating runbacks, and you get an area whose only real purpose is to connect better places. Every mandatory trek through Sinner’s Road feels like a pilgrimage through pure spite.

3. Sands of Karak

When Innovation Loses Its Shine

The first steps into the Sands of Karak are breathtaking. Towering ruins, shifting sands, and platforming mechanics that demand snap-second precision and grace feel like a revelation. You’ll activate crumbling ledges, ride rising pillars, and dodge ancient traps while the dynamic animations play out like a desert ballet. Then the novelty falters, because you have to do it all again... and again... and again.

The main boss, the Raging Conchfly, lies at the end of a demanding parkour route with no permanent shortcuts. Every death sends you back through the same deathtrap gauntlet, chased by annoying burrowing beetles that love to interrupt your jumps. Secret hunting becomes a repetitive stress test; there’s no “I’ve conquered this” feeling, only a grim resignation that the sand will outlast your enthusiasm. Sands of Karak starts as a masterpiece and eventually reveals itself as a gorgeous hamster wheel.

2. Putrified Ducts

Important? Yes. Enjoyable? Never.

By all objective measures, Putrified Ducts should be a highlight. It holds two of the game’s most engaging questlines – Shakra’s journey and the peculiar Flea Caravan – plus the Pale Oil that unlocks your needle’s final upgrade, and even the key to the incredible First Sinner boss fight. Yet the execution is so aggressively bland and painful that players unionized in their hatred before the first week of release was over.

Enemies here drop no rosaries, which feels like a deliberate insult. The ever-present poisoned water saps your health while unerring projectile spitters and bugs with hitboxes the size of small moons box you in. There’s no boss to punctuate the misery, which is either a mercy or a missed opportunity. The area feels like a dreary service corridor: necessary transit, zero soul. You will return to Putrified Ducts countless times, and each visit will chip away at your love for Pharloom.

1. Bilewater

Swamp of Despair, Rightfully Crowned

If you’ve ever played a game with even a hint of FromSoftware’s DNA, you know the inevitable truth: there will be a swamp, and it will be the most wretched place on the map. Bilewater is Silksong's magnum opus of misery. The community doesn’t debate its position; they just nod grimly in shared trauma. Enemies possess unpredictable, jerky attack patterns. Gigantic pools of maggot-infested water stretch as far as the eye can see, severely limiting movement and healing. Visibility drops to near-zero in places, and the platforming sections are spaced with absolute sadism – one slip drops you into a toxic bath with no safe recovery ledge.

Then there’s the Groal the Great encounter. The runback alone is a masterpiece of despair: minion ambushes, poison traps, and environmental hazards that make you contemplate a simpler life in Dirtmouth. Groal himself is a walking checklist of everything frustrating: minion spam, floor-wide acid, and unpredictable charge attacks. Bilewater’s sole redemption is its stunningly melancholic soundtrack, but that almost makes it worse – such beautiful music deserves a less vile home.

It is, arguably, purposefully abhorrent. Team Cherry designed Bilewater to make you feel hopeless, cornered, and small. And it succeeds so flawlessly that players can’t help but award it the crown. It is the worst area in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and the one we’ll be complaining about until the sequel’s sequel drops.

Despite all this vitriol, these areas also exemplify why Silksong remains unforgettable. They aren’t mistakes; they’re extreme experiences that push players far outside their comfort zones. Love them or loathe them, these seven hellholes have carved permanent scars into the memory of every adventurer who dared thread the needle.

For those who are still contemplating whether to brave the trials of Pharloom or Bilewater, finding the best deal on Hollow Knight: Silksong can make the decision a bit easier. Given the game's reputation for delivering unforgettable adventures, it's worth ensuring you get it at the best price. A reliable resource for exploring options is DealNest, which offers a comprehensive game price comparison tool to help players find the most budget-friendly way to embark on this journey.

Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or new to the series, comparing game prices can be an essential step before diving into the challenges awaiting in Silksong's treacherous landscapes. Platforms like DealNest ensure you're equipped with not just the best price but also confidence in your choice, so you can focus on what truly matters – surviving the unforgettable horrors of Pharloom.