Shaman Crest

Bound yourself a new nature, aye? And from the shells of our ancestors, no less, all those many who've called these lands their own. You make it seem so simple-like. All o'that learning, all o'that strength... sucked up in a whirl of Silk.

– Snail Shamans (Caretaker)

The Shaman Crest is a Crest in Hollow Knight: Silksong. It is focused around the use of Silk Skills and safely gathering Silk. While equipped, Hornet can equip multiple Silk Skills, and they will also deal increased damage.

Attacks

Compared to the Hunter Crest, Shaman Crest has roughly -22% attack speed. Shaman Crest replaces Hornet's Needle attacks with a ranged energy wave. These attacks deal standard knockback and do not nudge Hornet back, barring point-blank range. All energy waves vanish after the first enemy they hit.

Neutral Slashes: Hornet fires an energy wave forwards with her Needle.
Down-slash: Hornet fires an energy wave downward. This causes Hornet to move up slightly even if it does not hit a target, although hitting a target moves her further.
Run-slash: Hornet hops forwards and shoots a circular energy wave that pushes her back. This always pushes Hornet back the same amount, but has a small blind spot directly in front of her, meaning it can miss smaller enemies at close range.
Needle Strike: Hornet fires a large energy wave directly forward after a short delay, dealing 2.3 x Needle damage. If she is grounded, she hops slightly upwards.

Mechanics

The Shaman Crest increases the Damage of Silk Skills by 40%.

When Hornet starts a Bind, she slams downward first and only continues the Bind upon touching the ground. This prevents her from healing mid-air.

This occurs even if Hornet uses Bind starting from the ground, which lengthens the time needed to Bind.
If Hornet takes too long to reach the ground or gets hit, she cancels Bind, though the former can be prevented by holding BIND.
Hornet cannot move or attack while descending. The speed that Hornet falls while holding BIND increases over time, and appears to be uncapped, leading to ludicrous speeds over long falls.

Usefulness

The Shaman Crest's increased range, multipleSilk Skills, and damage increase for Silk Skills allow it to be a powerful offensive option, with good versatility.

The ability to equip multiple Silk Skills grants extra flexibility, such as being able to use Thread Storm for damage and Cross Stitch for emergency counters.
- This flexibility also helps each Silk Skill make the most of the increased damage.
The neutral slash of the Shaman Crest has approximately 109% more range than the Hunter Crest's^[1].
- The extra range allows Hornet to easily collect Silk for Silk Skills.
- The Shaman Crest's Needle Strike has by far the longest range of any Crest attack, making it a safe and versatile attack.
  - The long range combined with the somewhat awkward grounded Bind, makes this Crest fit a hit-and-run playstyle, gaining Silk at a distance while avoiding damage, before unleashing empowered Silk Skills.
Weaknesses:
- Shaman Crest lacks any innate Red Tool or Yellow Tool slots.
- Shaman Crest's Bind forces Hornet to be grounded, increasing the risk and time needed to Bind.
- The energy waves of this Crest can only hit a single target, severely limiting the damage potential of Needle attacks against multiple targets.
- The energy wave from Shaman Crest's Needle Strike can sometimes accidentally hit protruding floor terrain with elevated hitboxes (such as metal platforms and cages) and disappear.

Synergies

Volt Filament's 25% damage bonus stacks additively with Shaman Crest's, for a total of +65% damage.
- Silkspear's niche as a long-range horizontal attack is arguably already filled by the Crest's Needle Strike, but can be turned to as a "higher level" attack as desired. In Act 3, its damage and narrow precision makes it extremely useful for dealing with Void Masses from afar, some which may be positioned in spots too tight or at a strategic disadvantage for Shaman's Needle Strike.
Druid's Eye, Weavelight, and Egg of Flealia allow Silk Skills to be used more often.
- Weavelight combined with three Silk Hearts allows Hornet to regenerate 4 Silk strands passively; enough to perform a Silk Skill.
- Egg of Flealia with three Silk Hearts allows Hornet regenerate and use 3-cost Silk Skills at full health without needing extra Silk.
Pin Badge can be used to generate Silk via Needle Strikes from a safe distance.
Longclaw increases the energy wave's range, allowing Hornet to attack even more safely. It does not increase the size of the energy waves though.
Injector Band can help mitigate the risk from the grounded Bind by making it shorter; however, it does not speed up the slam time.
- Warding Bell activates immediately while Binding in the air, which helps with the increased risk of being forced to slam and Bind on the ground.
Reserve Bind can allow Hornet to spend the majority of her Silk on Silk Skills, while still having a heal when needed.
Due to the Crest's inability to Bind in the air, Ascendant's Grip can make combat in rooms without floors much safer.

Sharpdart's 3 extra hits do not get their damage increased, only the main one.

Barbed Bracelet's increased Needle damage does not apply to Silk Skills, resulting in its increased damage taken being too costly.

Wispfire Lantern consumes Silk to deal less damage per Silk than the Silk Skills that the Crest should be focused on, making it an overall detriment.

Pollip Pouch, Quick Sling, and Shell Satchel, have no effect on Shaman Crest as it cannot use Red Tools. Shard Pendant is not very useful for the same reason, though the extra Shell Shards can be used for other Crests. Using a different Yellow Tool will still generally be more useful.

How to Acquire

The Shaman Crest can be obtained from the Ruined Chapel in Moss Grotto during Act 3, requiring the Silk Soar ability to reach. Enter the Shaman's council room and just before the Flickering Flame lore tablet, use Silk Soar to access a hidden area above. There are several breakable walls blocking the path, and at the end is a large snail shell which can be claimed for the Crest.

Location
Hornet binding the Shaman Crest

Trivia

The Shaman Crest adds a bright blue tint and special effects to Needle slashes on contact. Enemies defeated by Silk Skills with the Crest equipped will glow with white particles upon death.

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning/Explanation

Brazilian Portuguese	Xamã
French	Chaman
German	Schamane
Italian	Augure	Augur
Japanese	憑依者 [Missing Romanisation]
Korean	주술사 [Missing Romanisation]
Russian	Шаманка [Missing Romanisation]
Simplified Chinese	萨满 Sàmǎn ^?	Shaman Crest, 萨满 sàmǎn is an established English loanword in Chinese
Spanish	Chamana	Shaman (feminine)
Internal name	`CREST_SPELL` `SHAMAN`