Hornet Sentinel

"Skilled protector of Hallownest's ruins. Wields a needle and thread. I have seen this nimble little creature. I thought her prey and pounced at her, but with a flash she stabbed me with her flying stinger and darted away. Could she be... a Hunter?"

Hornet Sentinel is the second form of Hornet as a boss in Hollow Knight. She challenges the Knight at the entrance to the Cast-Off Shell in Kingdom's Edge to test their resolve and strength in saving Hallownest. She deploys this time her full strength and tools. She must be defeated twice to unlock her Journal entry, but this can be either by defeating both forms or by defeating her Protector form once in Greenpath and once in Godhome.

Behaviour and Tactics
Hornet Sentinel uses tactics similar to her Protector form, but her attacks come at a much more rapid pace. The range of the area of effect on her Gossamer Storm attack is also larger. Her base attacks remain:
 * Lunge: Hornet lunges forward with her needle in front of her.
 * Aerial Lunge: Hornet jumps in the air before aiming at the Knight and rushing downwards.
 * Gossamer Storm: Hornet unleashes an area-of-effect attack centred on herself, using her thread to slice into anything around her. This attack can be done in the air.
 * Throw: Hornet throws her needle forward, then pulls it back. The range of this attack is slightly smaller than the width of the battlefield. The needle can damage the Knight on the way back.
 * Leap: Hornet jumps to move within the arena.
 * Run: Hornet runs to move within the arena.

In addition, she gains two new attacks:
 * Parry: Hornet holds her needle in a defensive stance, blocking any incoming attack. If struck while she is defending, she giggles before unleashing a wide-range counter slash.
 * Spike: Hornet uses her thread to suspend spiked balls in midair. The spikes deal contact damage and remain until they are destroyed by Nail attacks, Spells, or certain Charms. There can only be a maximum of 6 spikes set up at once. Hornet only uses this attack after reaching 480 HP.

Hornet always performs a Leap when recovering from a stagger.

Dashing over her as she Lunges is typically a safe move, and using the Desolate Dive/Descending Dark Spell prevents the Knight from taking damage while it is being cast.

Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul is very potent in this fight, as it can hit from a distance, does sizeable damage, and can also be used to clear away Spikes. This is especially effective with the increased Spirit size and damage provided by the Shaman Stone Charm. It can also push back Hornet, keeping her from hitting the Knight with her Lunge attack.

Hornet's Spikes can be Nail-bounced on.

Having the Quick Focus and/or Soul Catcher/Soul Eater Charms is useful as it allows for more opportunities to heal and/or charge SOUL, respectively.

Using the Great Slash or Dash Slash Nail Art is effective due to the fact that Hornet rarely stays in one place long enough to get more than one or two standard Nail strikes in. However, these must be timed well, as using a Nail Art leaves the Knight stationary for a short time, during which Hornet may perform her next attack.

One strategy is to use the Quick Slash, Lifeblood Heart, Grubsong, and Stalwart Shell Charms, and then repeatedly attack Hornet while tanking her attacks and Focusing to heal whenever she staggers. Stalwart Shell and Lifeblood Heart are not necessary if the Knight has at least 7 Masks and the Coiled Nail.

Location
Hornet Sentinel can be fought in the Kingdom's Edge.

Trivia

 * After defeating Hornet Sentinel, if the Knight uses the Dream Nail on her before talking to her, they gain SOUL as if she were still an enemy.
 * The names of her boss forms "Hornet Protector" and "Hornet Sentinel" were coined in Godmaster, prior to which she was commonly referred to as simply "Hornet 1&2".