One thing that I think is interesting is that even though a lot of enemies may be uninteresting or easy to kill, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. They're adds, after all, and the game would feel really unbalanced if you were at risk of dying to every enemy you face; similarly, i think the pacing of the game would feel off if enemy moves were complex to learn. Great video so far!
Also having weak and/or "boring" enemies in addition to the more threatening ones just makes the areas feel more natural. Like they are just the natural fauna in the area and not necessarily meant to be a threat. It really adds to the worldbuilding to have them just vibing there and not everything be an aggressive apex predator.
1:12:35 Carver Hatchers actually do have another attack. After they spawn a certain amount of Dirtcarvers (I think it’s 5) they charge towards you in the air and make a really disturbing noise..
@@DireBowser I used the two carver Hatcher rooms. Got first the two by the bench to spawn their 12, then got the other four to spawn 28. This was with greed tho. Imma try the hopper one you mentioned to see how that works out
That just means there were too many chapters so instead of being able to name it it’s just called “chapter limit reached”. It’s not an actual enemy in Hollow Knight.
1:18:40 for me aspid hatchlings are gonna be an s-tier because one time while fighting a large group of them one bugged out (ha) and became unable to damage me, in return i became unable to damage it so i just hung around with that little friend for a bit longer, just appreciating the very clingy friend i gained... up untill i left the room rip little buddy you were awesome
i think mantis warriors/youth deserved to be higher due to their lore significance and the fact that they are some of the only enemies in the game (besides siblings) that stop attacking you once you complete a milestone within the game.
@@gg-yx4cjThat's different because it's only if you have the charm equipped. You don't need any charms equipped for the Mantises to respect you, and the Void Heart takes up no slots and can't be unequipped, so that also doesn't really count.
I think the fact that the husk dandy just kind of slaps at you and its range is so short you basically have to walk into it on purpose to get hit does make it cute.
i think the fact the city of tears husks always have that vibe like theyre panic screaming during their "attacks" (husks dandy's being flailing in your direction screaming that he knows kung fu) and their whole deal seems to be that theyre rich and they suck makes them top tier enemies. i am very enchanted by them lol
heh, Pilflip is a palindrome, and the character is something one flips upside down to be almost the same enemy. It's simple but clever and I like it a lot
Siblings deserve S tier because they emotionally fucked me up the first time I opened up the hunters journal and saw that they were just named “siblings”.
As you were going through the waterways enemies, I had the realization that I really love a lot of the enemy designs and even the area design as a whole, it's just that the fluke noises singlehandedly make the entire experience deeply unpleasant, to the point where it even affects me when i'm not playing (why do streamers always go into waterways right when i've got my food ready to eat?) fan of this vid tho! eagerly awaiting the grub tier list next
I love gulkas (though I didn't know that is what they were called). They shoot at you with a ball you can hit back at them (or other targets) for damage. That's cool and fun. A tier for me.
Another thing I kind of like about Belflies is that if you're being cautious, they give plenty of warning. They make noises when you're close enough to them, so that should be your cue to be on the lookout. Also, the noise sounds just a little bit like a trapped Grub if you're not paying close attention... which quickly teaches you to pay closer attention. 😄
My biggest problem with Crystal Hunters is them having, like, no telegraph to their attack. Even Primal Aspids, you can clearly see they're about to fire and can attempt to dodge, but you have no reaction time on Crystal Hunters unless you, I dunno, count seconds between shots or something.
1:12:40 while carver hatchers are typically easy yes, i think there is another factor, if you dont kill them and go straight for the tram pass (like i did...), you will pretty much get cornered in the tram with a ton of carvers lol
Great teir list man. Honestly I love all of the enemies. It’s great how each one just reminds you of a certain area, they’re all really special. This game in general is really special
My favorit enemies are usually the nail-wielding ones. (WITHOUT SHIELDS, shields are annoying) They all feel like equals, being skilled in the same weapon as you. Every encounter with them is a tiny duel of it's own
As a casual player, the stalking devout is probably my favorite enemy in the game. I totally understand your take, but I just think they add so much to the feel of darknest and beast’s den. Also neat design! (Great vid btw)
This thing about baldurs shooting 50/50 fireballs and baldurs is a great example of why I always hesitate to use RNG for anything in game design. Using RNG is an easy way to make something more interesting, but it can also be a nightmare for speedrunners, so I try to come up with other ways to implement variation without resorting to straight RNG. If I was designing the Elder Baldur, I'd probably either make it go back and forth between a fireball and a Baldur, or, if that wasn't random enough, I'd make it shoot randomly, BUT, I'd make it so that each Baldur has a consistent seed each time you play the game, so in a speedrun, the pattern that the one in ancestral mound, for instance, shoots would be the same every run, so everyone loses the same amount of time, every single time.
the fungoon is s tier for me. i feel like fungoons are the symbol of fungal wastes. one of my favorite transitions in the whole game is going out of queens station into fungal wastes, hearing the start of the fungal wastes theme, and having the fungoon blow down at you. also, i love that they’re like balloons when you kill them. im not a speedrunner, but from a casual perspective, they are one of my favorite enemies in the game.
I really appreciate that you take the time to actually analyze the purpose of the enemies in addition to determining how difficult/easy/fun/annoying they are, it’s a great touch.
My thoughts (updating as I go) I personally think the Grimmkin Novice is one of the worst enemies in the game, simply because by the time you get the Grimmchild charm, you're massively overequipped, and have to backtrack to fight a single enemy that poses no real threat in an annoying tedious fight. If you could get Grimmchild early on, they'd be better, but you can't get it until you have mantis claw, dash, and dream nail, with dream nail itself requiring crystal heart and lantern in a standard casual playthrough.
Dream Nail doesn't require Crystal Heart casually, but other than that I see your point. Arguably though, the Grimmkin Novices are just there to prepare you for the harder Grimmkins.
@@gen1136 afaik there's at least three other paths, 1. get the tram pass and take the upper tram from forgotten crossroads 2. get the tram pass, take the lower tram from deepnest, get to right side city through either basin or kingdom's edge, take the elevator from king's station 3. go through waterways, fight dung defender, climb out to right side city and take the elevator
Yeah, I didn’t get crystal heart until after I got to the ancient basin and was confused as to how to get across the spike gap. You don’t need crystal heart for grimmchild.
I'd argue moss charger is a very interesting enemy on a casual playthrough. As first time player, getting jumpscared by a fairly large enemy that moves really fast means you're probably getting hit, and it took me quite a while to figure out the timing to break the moss. I was so scared of the enemy I focused more on dodging it instead of fighting which made it a very unique enemy for me! Of course, once I got the timing down it became a joke enemy but I still have a special place in my heart for it. One of the most memorable non-boss enemies for me
I have been playing hollow knight for over 400 hours and only a week ago I found out the mossy vagabonds are actual fightable enemies because I always got there when they died of the infection already and only found out due to having to go to the prophet for a bingo challenge
Jumping Husk's purpose is to teach player different enemy patterns, and not try to jump over everything. I remember first couple of hours I was constantly trying to jump over those husks when I tried to skip them.
I liked that with belflies they'd have this soft cooing noise that would put you on edge wondering where they are, then right as you forget you go around the corner, hear the screech and get an "oh shit!" moment.
Fun fact, Crawlids are so Goomba-like that when they originally didn't have spikes in alphas and betas of the game, playtesters kept trying to stomp them like they're playing Mario.
It's quite fun to see a speedrunner's perspective on enemies, and definitely very interesting to see the reasoning behind your views on the enemy design as well. I will admit, as someone with zero inclination towards speedrunning, or at least serious speedrunning, I think maybe 20% of my opinions on enemies matched yours, but that was part of the fun. I know this video took ages to make and edit, and it shows. Thank you for the effort.
damn i kinda thought big baldurs were at least d tier. they’re just like the husks in that they force you to use your spells. the fact that you need to wait for it to spit a baldur makes you learn that first spell your using a little more and shows the player that these new abilities give you new areas especially if your fresh fresh to the game like me. I think speedrunning may have skewed this down like 2-4 tiers since the husks were in B. Edit: AY AY AY WHY IS THAT GROBBLEDYGOOK OBBLE IN C TIER AS A POOR LITTLE GUY
I feel the need to stand up for Gulka - I am pretty sure that thing is supposed to teach you that sometimes, projectiles can be reflected and used to hurt enemies, because hitting those things in any other way, at the point in time you encounter them on your ordinary playthrough, is either pretty hard or impossible. In the room where the No Eyes bench entrance is, there is a spot where the Gulka is positioned so you just stand on a little ledge facing it and if you manage to hit the projectlie, it's a guaranteed hit, and that is 100% deliberate. You say that people can just walk past but I still remember the sudden surge of bloodlust I experienced after getting the Hunter's Journal and how I'd spend ages killing everything for the entries, including this thing. Feels like an interlude to Crystal Fuc- Hunters. I'd place it in C tier personally because it's a cool way to learn a new mechanic and I like plant based enemies.
Grimmkin (all of them but especially nightmare and novis) are my sworn enemies. I hate everything about them. The fact they are almost never vulnerable to anything, the fact they are in the middle of nowhere and the fact they gatekeep Grimm are the biggest offenders
Fire: "I think that the grim nightmares are a good enemy, they're pretty tough and I'm glad we had the other..." Fire's editor: *HELLO YES I AM HERE DO YOU LIKE THE MUSIC*
not to mention the place you find Primal Aspids is treacherous as heck. you can dodge the attack only to fall into spikes, acid, another enemy, the aspid itself, or halfway down kingdom' edge. and they .never. leave. you. alone.
I was a person who got killed by the kingsmold at the end of path of pain. After grinding for hours through it, I finally dropped down that hole and got out of my chair in celebration. Turned around just in time to see the ghost get killed by a boomerang
I love Pogo Knight. Also I did not know all that about the Shade, I thought it was just a two hit geo pinata. I lost my first 100% run to one of those final grimmkin nightmare dudes 😢
This is one of the rare instances with tier lists like these where I feel the more experienced you are with the game the less fairly you can rank these. Most of the enemies kind of feel like they’re at their best when you’re a brand new player. Though I obviously still love to hear from the perspective of a speedrunner.
your crystal peaks/crystal hunter opinions are so correct. i totally get why people hate them - i’m not particularly good, and i hated crystal peaks on my first playthrough - but for some reason the platforming in that section (esp w the hunters) is like crack to me now. so good, it’s my favorite area in the game
Winged fools have a really simplistic combat approach, and thats why I like them. They give a sense of regularity that the battle squits don't have. Heavy fool is just kind of annoying. A lot of health with a pretty boring moveset. Not a fan. Death Loodle... fuck em. They just throw a dozen at you and its annoying as hell. Volt twister is a really fun enemy for me, since they pose such an immediate threat that you HAVE to deal with, since they cut off your movement options. I think they're fine. Kingsmoulds are just kinda boring with the limited moveset. For how intimidating they are, they dont have enough options. The placement at the end of PoP is pretty funny, but dickish. Siblings are such a dope threat. Especially since dreamnail one shots them, dreamwielder makes them a nice kill. Shade itself is neat, since its just you but slow and floating. But its too slow to really be a threat, more an annoyance. Makes sense though. all zotelings are annoying to me, not bothering Grimmkin novice has such a basic but kind of annoying moveset, I don't really have thoughts Leaping husk definitely exists, not much else to say. Its a tutorial enemy basically Grimmkin master is decent. It gives a little bit of movement between fireballs to get attacks Grimmkin nightmare was pretty fun, but it was annoying to go get them. same for all the grimmkin i guess Flukemunga is cool as an obstacle, annoying to kill for the entry. husk bully is just the basic husk but it does stuff. its uhhh there. Maybe gets you used to hitting them away? also no this isnt the most basic husk, the next one is. Husk warrior is your tutorial for shield enemies, thats it. Without this guy, moss knights and great husks would be worse. Husk guard is kinda nice to fight fast, just wish it did the back dash less often. Entombed husks aren't ones I hate. They're the only reason the crypt is interesting. You can hear them groaning, so you can know they show up. Baldurs are decent. They have their purpose Elder baldur sure does exist. They needed to be more likely to shoot baldurs Mosscreeps are just cute little guys, what do you want me to say? Mossflies are also cute, but less so. Neat how they interact with the mantis petras as well, and give you movement options in there. Mosskin is like a better husk bully, that's it Crawlid exists, what do I say. It's there to tell you "this isn't mario you can't jump on them" Volatile Mosskin is decent, its delayed when it explodes after death, so you can usually just run past them Fool eaters are well placed, annoying enemies. It's really well done. Fuck squits, they're annoying when trying to pogo and then it goes up. Obble are supposed to be annoying, and they succeed at it. Gulka is basically a projectile deflect tutorial, which almost never shows up in the game. They're a tutorial enemy for almost nothing else. Mosscharger is cool, and they act as a cool tutorial for using dash in combat to rush enemies. Moss knight is surprisingly strong, and a decent fight. Nothing much to mention. Mossy vagabond does nothing and is nothing, and there's a decent chance they all die before you reach them. Durandoo also exists? You can pogo them and that's what they are for. Duranda is cool, and you can't convince me otherwise. Fun to pogo, fun to fly around Vengefly is the level one flying enemy, but hey you can use them to skip stuff and get that one mask shard earlier Charged lumafly is just an obstacle? What do I say to judge them. They, again, exist. Uomas are flying dreamnail charges for free soul. that's it. Ooma is damn cool. I love figuring out how to hit them to avoid damage. Also, I love how the explosive is just a little Uoma. i also like dunking them into acid. And fuck it, the Uumuu with Uuma is way better. Amblooms are funny little guys, 10/10 enemy Fungling is pogo fodder and that is the best part to move around fungal faster Fungoon is decent, and encourages you to manuever around them instead of going below. I never pogod off of sporgs before so I have no love for them. They annoy me. Fungified husk is just a reskinned volatile mosskin, and like 3 total exist tee hee little shrumeling Owen wilson mushroom with a decent moveset, fun to fight and funny sounding Man I'm bored now, this is done
Fireb0rn: If you knew these were called gulka then your too big of a hollow knight nerd Me: oh don't mind me just someone who is too big of a Hollow Knight nerd
I know this a personal opinion video but seems to me a lot of cool enemies got downgraded because you basically can’t skip them in a speedrun. As far as an objective tier list goes, not sure I agree with this one. Great presentation tho!
Yeah he mentioned speed runner bias but there’s also actually being good at the game, I know people that hate some of the enemies he rated highly just because there not a super skillful handsome speed runner guy like fire
"so unless you're experienced with the eternal ordeal. Which the hell would you..." me : spent 20 hours trying to beat it and this enemy being my favorite cause I could predict it
One thing that I think is interesting is that even though a lot of enemies may be uninteresting or easy to kill, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. They're adds, after all, and the game would feel really unbalanced if you were at risk of dying to every enemy you face; similarly, i think the pacing of the game would feel off if enemy moves were complex to learn. Great video so far!
@Arda K ah yes, because land squirts were just as hard as runebears
@Arda K Not even close to the same genre of game
@Arda K regular elden ring enemies aren't that hard. Not even that complex either.
Also having weak and/or "boring" enemies in addition to the more threatening ones just makes the areas feel more natural. Like they are just the natural fauna in the area and not necessarily meant to be a threat. It really adds to the worldbuilding to have them just vibing there and not everything be an aggressive apex predator.
Thank you for putting mantis Petra where they belong.
1:12:35 Carver Hatchers actually do have another attack.
After they spawn a certain amount of Dirtcarvers (I think it’s 5) they charge towards you in the air and make a really disturbing noise..
Yep, probably a way of preventing you on farming dirtcarvers endlessly
6 to be exact, I used them to farm geos many times
@@ucnguyen6375 I'm surprised fireb0rn didn't mention the geo farming potential, I used them to get unbreakable charms on my first playthrough.
@@Syrange13 I went to the room with like 5 hoppers in Kingdom's Edge to the left of the Warrior Dream.
@@DireBowser I used the two carver Hatcher rooms. Got first the two by the bench to spawn their 12, then got the other four to spawn 28. This was with greed tho. Imma try the hopper one you mentioned to see how that works out
Ah yes, "chapter limit reached," my favorite enemy
I was about to make that exact same comment.
S tier enemy
I died to this enemy a few times. Put in a really well spot.
@@fnafmaster_1 its actually really difficult to take out quickly because of its sheild do to me it feels like a mini boss
That just means there were too many chapters so instead of being able to name it it’s just called “chapter limit reached”. It’s not an actual enemy in Hollow Knight.
1:18:40 for me aspid hatchlings are gonna be an s-tier because one time while fighting a large group of them one bugged out (ha) and became unable to damage me, in return i became unable to damage it so i just hung around with that little friend for a bit longer, just appreciating the very clingy friend i gained... up untill i left the room rip little buddy you were awesome
12:02 “I shouldn’t let it affect my tier list, but you know what, I’m going to” -probably everyone who’s ever ran all achievements
i think mantis warriors/youth deserved to be higher due to their lore significance and the fact that they are some of the only enemies in the game (besides siblings) that stop attacking you once you complete a milestone within the game.
Yeah I thought it was really cool that they bowed to me since they respected me
Im pretty sure in the hive bees stop attacking you if you equip hive blood which is very niche but pretty cool none the less
They are also the only enemies that only give off soul when attacked, due to those previously mentioned lore
@@gg-yx4cjThat's different because it's only if you have the charm equipped. You don't need any charms equipped for the Mantises to respect you, and the Void Heart takes up no slots and can't be unequipped, so that also doesn't really count.
@@Isuream6331So we're ignoring Hornet, Dung/White Defender and Pure Vessel then?
I think husk guard was also there to be a mini false knight to learn the "big telegraphed swing" and "jump with sonic wave on ground" attacks.
The first time I played the game, I went directly all the way to the right and found a husk guard, and then proceeded to get absolute pummeled
This guy is harder than the false knight
seeing you putting primal aspid in the "super annoying" tier made my day
he should've made a teir for just the primal aspid if imma be honest
And that flying crystal shit.
I hate it.
@@kribyV_ Hot Take: Primal Aspids are S-tier.
@@HumanoidDerpling That's not a hot take, it's just wrong.
I was scared for a second that he was gonna say he actually likes them
I think the fact that the husk dandy just kind of slaps at you and its range is so short you basically have to walk into it on purpose to get hit does make it cute.
i think the fact the city of tears husks always have that vibe like theyre panic screaming during their "attacks" (husks dandy's being flailing in your direction screaming that he knows kung fu) and their whole deal seems to be that theyre rich and they suck makes them top tier enemies. i am very enchanted by them lol
Istg they always hit me
You're fighting a literal civilian, so it makes sense that they have no fighting prowess besides flailing in your direction.
heh, Pilflip is a palindrome, and the character is something one flips upside down to be almost the same enemy. It's simple but clever and I like it a lot
I just call em Philip lol
The shroomal warriors also have the same telegraphs as watcher knights, for those who paid attention to that.
...wow i somehow never noticed
Weird way to practice
Siblings deserve S tier because they emotionally fucked me up the first time I opened up the hunters journal and saw that they were just named “siblings”.
As you were going through the waterways enemies, I had the realization that I really love a lot of the enemy designs and even the area design as a whole, it's just that the fluke noises singlehandedly make the entire experience deeply unpleasant, to the point where it even affects me when i'm not playing (why do streamers always go into waterways right when i've got my food ready to eat?) fan of this vid tho! eagerly awaiting the grub tier list next
GRUB TEIR LIST
To be fair, "deeply unpleasant" was the goal for waterways, and they definitely succeeded
Fun fact: the fluke sounds were made by the same voice actress as hornet.
For me, the Hwurmp sounds are funny enough to counterbalance it
I love gulkas (though I didn't know that is what they were called).
They shoot at you with a ball you can hit back at them (or other targets) for damage.
That's cool and fun. A tier for me.
Another thing I kind of like about Belflies is that if you're being cautious, they give plenty of warning. They make noises when you're close enough to them, so that should be your cue to be on the lookout. Also, the noise sounds just a little bit like a trapped Grub if you're not paying close attention... which quickly teaches you to pay closer attention. 😄
man i could literally absorb any hollowknight content and it makes my day so much better
What about a grub genocide animation
@@defrosted_ice187 well obviously that would be amazing
39:15 how fitting that while talking about the hardest boss in the game, Gruz Mother, the final boss music is playing.
My biggest problem with Crystal Hunters is them having, like, no telegraph to their attack. Even Primal Aspids, you can clearly see they're about to fire and can attempt to dodge, but you have no reaction time on Crystal Hunters unless you, I dunno, count seconds between shots or something.
Ik that I am 10 months late, but their crystal section actually glows just before they fire, so there is a slight telegraph
@@devilsblade2543 They also pull it up a little.
with the way the music swelled, i was very intimidated at 36:30 okay fire, i didnt realise you were so mad that team cherry removed E.pogo
I just hate those mushrooms like (when i was in fungal) getting mantis claw i died a lot on my way there
1:12:40 while carver hatchers are typically easy yes, i think there is another factor, if you dont kill them and go straight for the tram pass (like i did...), you will pretty much get cornered in the tram with a ton of carvers lol
Great teir list man. Honestly I love all of the enemies. It’s great how each one just reminds you of a certain area, they’re all really special. This game in general is really special
Flukemunga in a tier? This is the best video ever
My favorit enemies are usually the nail-wielding ones. (WITHOUT SHIELDS, shields are annoying) They all feel like equals, being skilled in the same weapon as you. Every encounter with them is a tiny duel of it's own
As a casual player, the stalking devout is probably my favorite enemy in the game. I totally understand your take, but I just think they add so much to the feel of darknest and beast’s den. Also neat design! (Great vid btw)
This thing about baldurs shooting 50/50 fireballs and baldurs is a great example of why I always hesitate to use RNG for anything in game design. Using RNG is an easy way to make something more interesting, but it can also be a nightmare for speedrunners, so I try to come up with other ways to implement variation without resorting to straight RNG. If I was designing the Elder Baldur, I'd probably either make it go back and forth between a fireball and a Baldur, or, if that wasn't random enough, I'd make it shoot randomly, BUT, I'd make it so that each Baldur has a consistent seed each time you play the game, so in a speedrun, the pattern that the one in ancestral mound, for instance, shoots would be the same every run, so everyone loses the same amount of time, every single time.
Speedrunners appreciate you.
the fungoon is s tier for me. i feel like fungoons are the symbol of fungal wastes. one of my favorite transitions in the whole game is going out of queens station into fungal wastes, hearing the start of the fungal wastes theme, and having the fungoon blow down at you. also, i love that they’re like balloons when you kill them. im not a speedrunner, but from a casual perspective, they are one of my favorite enemies in the game.
Can we take a moment and appreciate whoever segmented out each part of the video for each enemy
I really appreciate that you take the time to actually analyze the purpose of the enemies in addition to determining how difficult/easy/fun/annoying they are, it’s a great touch.
My thoughts (updating as I go)
I personally think the Grimmkin Novice is one of the worst enemies in the game, simply because by the time you get the Grimmchild charm, you're massively overequipped, and have to backtrack to fight a single enemy that poses no real threat in an annoying tedious fight. If you could get Grimmchild early on, they'd be better, but you can't get it until you have mantis claw, dash, and dream nail, with dream nail itself requiring crystal heart and lantern in a standard casual playthrough.
Dream Nail doesn't require Crystal Heart casually, but other than that I see your point. Arguably though, the Grimmkin Novices are just there to prepare you for the harder Grimmkins.
@@Nomen_Latinum how else do you get dream nail
@@gen1136 afaik there's at least three other paths,
1. get the tram pass and take the upper tram from forgotten crossroads
2. get the tram pass, take the lower tram from deepnest, get to right side city through either basin or kingdom's edge, take the elevator from king's station
3. go through waterways, fight dung defender, climb out to right side city and take the elevator
When do you need crystal heart for dream nail?
Yeah, I didn’t get crystal heart until after I got to the ancient basin and was confused as to how to get across the spike gap. You don’t need crystal heart for grimmchild.
I'd argue moss charger is a very interesting enemy on a casual playthrough. As first time player, getting jumpscared by a fairly large enemy that moves really fast means you're probably getting hit, and it took me quite a while to figure out the timing to break the moss. I was so scared of the enemy I focused more on dodging it instead of fighting which made it a very unique enemy for me! Of course, once I got the timing down it became a joke enemy but I still have a special place in my heart for it. One of the most memorable non-boss enemies for me
I have been playing hollow knight for over 400 hours and only a week ago I found out the mossy vagabonds are actual fightable enemies because I always got there when they died of the infection already and only found out due to having to go to the prophet for a bingo challenge
Jumping Husk's purpose is to teach player different enemy patterns, and not try to jump over everything. I remember first couple of hours I was constantly trying to jump over those husks when I tried to skip them.
I liked that with belflies they'd have this soft cooing noise that would put you on edge wondering where they are, then right as you forget you go around the corner, hear the screech and get an "oh shit!" moment.
When you think it'll be a calm evening, fireborn just appears out of nowhere and drops a 90 minute banger on you 😂
Fun fact, Crawlids are so Goomba-like that when they originally didn't have spikes in alphas and betas of the game, playtesters kept trying to stomp them like they're playing Mario.
"Husk warrior is intended to teach you that after hitting their shield they open up for a counter" yet all I learned was "hehe, it dies to a fireball"
The Radiance theme is very accurate for the god gamer’s description of the shrumal warrior.
thanks for taking the time to do this tier list, great vid!
The soul warrior is in the list...as he should be
I didn't know I wanted a bench tier list, but now that you mention it... Bench tier list hype!!!
really liking these tier lists keep up the good work!
mans you posted this 2 minutes into the video. how do ya know its good
@@joshpollnitz1618 because it's fireb0rn
Most memorable war cry in hollow knight going to the shrumal warrior is so disrespectful to the dung defender
It's quite fun to see a speedrunner's perspective on enemies, and definitely very interesting to see the reasoning behind your views on the enemy design as well. I will admit, as someone with zero inclination towards speedrunning, or at least serious speedrunning, I think maybe 20% of my opinions on enemies matched yours, but that was part of the fun.
I know this video took ages to make and edit, and it shows. Thank you for the effort.
Fire: explaining his opinions on enemies.
Me, jamming out to the Hollow Knight music.
Thanks for your vid on HK Wordle. It really helped me commit the health pools of these enemies to memory.
The Vengefly skips in Crossroads empower you to get 6 masks before False Knight, which is really cool and excellent for Steel Soul.
Chapter Limit Reached is actually an S tier enemy. Struggled for days against it.
damn i kinda thought big baldurs were at least d tier. they’re just like the husks in that they force you to use your spells. the fact that you need to wait for it to spit a baldur makes you learn that first spell your using a little more and shows the player that these new abilities give you new areas especially if your fresh fresh to the game like me. I think speedrunning may have skewed this down like 2-4 tiers since the husks were in B.
Edit: AY AY AY WHY IS THAT GROBBLEDYGOOK OBBLE IN C TIER AS A POOR LITTLE GUY
Loving the tier list!
I feel the need to stand up for Gulka - I am pretty sure that thing is supposed to teach you that sometimes, projectiles can be reflected and used to hurt enemies, because hitting those things in any other way, at the point in time you encounter them on your ordinary playthrough, is either pretty hard or impossible. In the room where the No Eyes bench entrance is, there is a spot where the Gulka is positioned so you just stand on a little ledge facing it and if you manage to hit the projectlie, it's a guaranteed hit, and that is 100% deliberate. You say that people can just walk past but I still remember the sudden surge of bloodlust I experienced after getting the Hunter's Journal and how I'd spend ages killing everything for the entries, including this thing. Feels like an interlude to Crystal Fuc- Hunters. I'd place it in C tier personally because it's a cool way to learn a new mechanic and I like plant based enemies.
Grimmkin (all of them but especially nightmare and novis) are my sworn enemies. I hate everything about them. The fact they are almost never vulnerable to anything, the fact they are in the middle of nowhere and the fact they gatekeep Grimm are the biggest offenders
Is it even a surprise that the primal aspid made it to the bottom?
Started path of pain for the first time at the beginning of this video, ended at 1:15:39. Perfect background noise to get through it.
Kingsmold killed me in path of pain on one of my steel soul runs. I didnt know they were there…
24:30 when fireborn calls you a hk nerd, you know its true
shade needs to be s tier for skips alone
Your videos are always amazing. Please never stop making them!
My man reached the chapter limit for this video. Didn't know that existed. Good job! :D
Fire: "I think that the grim nightmares are a good enemy, they're pretty tough and I'm glad we had the other..."
Fire's editor: *HELLO YES I AM HERE DO YOU LIKE THE MUSIC*
Don't remember whose idea this was originally but: what if instead of random kingsmould at the end of path of pain, instead it was pure vessel
not to mention the place you find Primal Aspids is treacherous as heck. you can dodge the attack only to fall into spikes, acid, another enemy, the aspid itself, or halfway down kingdom' edge. and they .never. leave. you. alone.
Talking about "limit reached" for a total of 15 minutes and saving it for the last entry was a good idea.
the only good thing about primal aspids, is that you can one shot them with Shaman void shadowball thing
To bring the comparison further, the Husk Bully is specifically like a 3D World Goomba, they have pretty much the exact same behavior
Interesting how soul warrior is in this list, I guess they are more enemy then boss, which I can agree with.
The mantis warrior should have been at least an a because of the story and not hitting you after you defeat the mantis lords
I knew from the title this video is going to take a while
I was a person who got killed by the kingsmold at the end of path of pain. After grinding for hours through it, I finally dropped down that hole and got out of my chair in celebration. Turned around just in time to see the ghost get killed by a boomerang
YOU PUT MY BOY BIG BEE IN SUPER ANNOYING
HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO THE CHUNKY BOYO
Yep, I love all the hive enemies just because how cute and goofy they are. Also Hiveblood in White Pallace is godly.
I love Pogo Knight. Also I did not know all that about the Shade, I thought it was just a two hit geo pinata. I lost my first 100% run to one of those final grimmkin nightmare dudes 😢
chapter limit reached is my favorite enemy
the second i saw him put those big bouncy schnoz things in S tier i knew we were simply from two different worlds
A bench tier list sounds like fun. Rating by aesthetics, atmosphere, convenience of nearby landmarks... I'm down.
This is one of the rare instances with tier lists like these where I feel the more experienced you are with the game the less fairly you can rank these. Most of the enemies kind of feel like they’re at their best when you’re a brand new player. Though I obviously still love to hear from the perspective of a speedrunner.
"The lumafly is not completely static"
My guy, how do you think they have the lightning attack?
Just kidding, love the vids!
your crystal peaks/crystal hunter opinions are so correct. i totally get why people hate them - i’m not particularly good, and i hated crystal peaks on my first playthrough - but for some reason the platforming in that section (esp w the hunters) is like crack to me now. so good, it’s my favorite area in the game
You can really feel the power creep really reach him as he approaches City of Tears. Goes from objective to completely his opinion.
Winged fools have a really simplistic combat approach, and thats why I like them. They give a sense of regularity that the battle squits don't have.
Heavy fool is just kind of annoying. A lot of health with a pretty boring moveset. Not a fan.
Death Loodle... fuck em. They just throw a dozen at you and its annoying as hell.
Volt twister is a really fun enemy for me, since they pose such an immediate threat that you HAVE to deal with, since they cut off your movement options. I think they're fine.
Kingsmoulds are just kinda boring with the limited moveset. For how intimidating they are, they dont have enough options. The placement at the end of PoP is pretty funny, but dickish.
Siblings are such a dope threat. Especially since dreamnail one shots them, dreamwielder makes them a nice kill.
Shade itself is neat, since its just you but slow and floating. But its too slow to really be a threat, more an annoyance. Makes sense though.
all zotelings are annoying to me, not bothering
Grimmkin novice has such a basic but kind of annoying moveset, I don't really have thoughts
Leaping husk definitely exists, not much else to say. Its a tutorial enemy basically
Grimmkin master is decent. It gives a little bit of movement between fireballs to get attacks
Grimmkin nightmare was pretty fun, but it was annoying to go get them. same for all the grimmkin i guess
Flukemunga is cool as an obstacle, annoying to kill for the entry.
husk bully is just the basic husk but it does stuff. its uhhh there. Maybe gets you used to hitting them away? also no this isnt the most basic husk, the next one is.
Husk warrior is your tutorial for shield enemies, thats it. Without this guy, moss knights and great husks would be worse.
Husk guard is kinda nice to fight fast, just wish it did the back dash less often.
Entombed husks aren't ones I hate. They're the only reason the crypt is interesting. You can hear them groaning, so you can know they show up.
Baldurs are decent. They have their purpose
Elder baldur sure does exist. They needed to be more likely to shoot baldurs
Mosscreeps are just cute little guys, what do you want me to say?
Mossflies are also cute, but less so. Neat how they interact with the mantis petras as well, and give you movement options in there.
Mosskin is like a better husk bully, that's it
Crawlid exists, what do I say. It's there to tell you "this isn't mario you can't jump on them"
Volatile Mosskin is decent, its delayed when it explodes after death, so you can usually just run past them
Fool eaters are well placed, annoying enemies. It's really well done.
Fuck squits, they're annoying when trying to pogo and then it goes up.
Obble are supposed to be annoying, and they succeed at it.
Gulka is basically a projectile deflect tutorial, which almost never shows up in the game. They're a tutorial enemy for almost nothing else.
Mosscharger is cool, and they act as a cool tutorial for using dash in combat to rush enemies.
Moss knight is surprisingly strong, and a decent fight. Nothing much to mention.
Mossy vagabond does nothing and is nothing, and there's a decent chance they all die before you reach them.
Durandoo also exists? You can pogo them and that's what they are for.
Duranda is cool, and you can't convince me otherwise. Fun to pogo, fun to fly around
Vengefly is the level one flying enemy, but hey you can use them to skip stuff and get that one mask shard earlier
Charged lumafly is just an obstacle? What do I say to judge them. They, again, exist.
Uomas are flying dreamnail charges for free soul. that's it.
Ooma is damn cool. I love figuring out how to hit them to avoid damage. Also, I love how the explosive is just a little Uoma. i also like dunking them into acid. And fuck it, the Uumuu with Uuma is way better.
Amblooms are funny little guys, 10/10 enemy
Fungling is pogo fodder and that is the best part to move around fungal faster
Fungoon is decent, and encourages you to manuever around them instead of going below.
I never pogod off of sporgs before so I have no love for them. They annoy me.
Fungified husk is just a reskinned volatile mosskin, and like 3 total exist
tee hee little shrumeling
Owen wilson mushroom with a decent moveset, fun to fight and funny sounding
Man I'm bored now, this is done
Do a tier list on hollow knight tier lists
I support Belfly S tier. As a Mark of Pride -abuser- user, I loved smacking those things while out of range of their explosion. So satisfying!
I honestly thought the elder baulder was scripted because I just never get the tiny ones
your vidoes on bosses and enemies r really goodfor my handmade hunters journel
UA-cam has committed a crime by not recommending this to me
Fireb0rn: If you knew these were called gulka then your too big of a hollow knight nerd
Me: oh don't mind me just someone who is too big of a Hollow Knight nerd
Charged lumafly not fully static, I love that.
babe wake up, new banger just dropped
Aaaahh yeah seeing you put in super annoying the stalking devout you make me rlly happy, he killed me in steel soul like 7 times :(
I wonder how many people didn't understand when he referred to goombas...
Fireborn: _Puts Moss Charger in S Tier._
Me: As you should.
30:46 i tried that on my first playthrough
it didn't go too well
7:00 shade yh i think its cool i know of all the mechanics cuz i died a lot when i beat the game my first time :D
I’m convinced that this video was made just to shit on the primal aspid
now it is more hunter journal than regular tier list
two funny things:
this tier list doesn't have a E tier
8:16 "but I'm still taking a Markoth for that one" hehe
E is often skiped in tier lists, because in many school grading systems it is A, B, C, D, and then F(presumably for Fail)
21:38 when I first played I thought it was a fungus infection
I know this a personal opinion video but seems to me a lot of cool enemies got downgraded because you basically can’t skip them in a speedrun. As far as an objective tier list goes, not sure I agree with this one. Great presentation tho!
mosskin don't just explode when they die, they can also release gas when your nearby
Yeah he mentioned speed runner bias but there’s also actually being good at the game, I know people that hate some of the enemies he rated highly just because there not a super skillful handsome speed runner guy like fire
108:43 hearing "intended solution" in the context of speedrunning gave me brain damage
"so unless you're experienced with the eternal ordeal. Which the hell would you..."
me : spent 20 hours trying to beat it and this enemy being my favorite cause I could predict it