Trial of the Fool

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Trial of the Fool. Fight for Geo... and the glory of being a Fool.

The Trial of the Fool is the third and final trial available in the Colosseum of Fools to the Knight.

Requires  800 and completing the Trial of the Conqueror to open.

Upon clearing it for the first time, the Knight receives  3000-3020 and the Fool achievement. Subsequent completions reward  3000-3020.

Tips

Equipment, Spells, and Abilities

As a late game area, the Knight is expected to have almost maximum equipment, especially the Pure Nail, as well as all Nail Arts and upgraded Spells. It is also recommended to have at least 8 Masks and 2 Soul Vessels.

Charms

  • Nailmaster's Glory is very helpful, as it allows the Knight to charge Nail Arts much quicker. Cyclone Slash tears through most foes, while Great Slash and Dash Slash usually kill flying enemies in a single hit. With a very low cost of 1 Notch, it is recommended even if the Knight goes for a Spell build or hybrid build.
  • Shaman Stone allows Shade Soul to kill many flying enemies (most notably Primal Aspids and Armoured Squits) in a single blast, allowing the Knight to deal with enemies from afar and not risk getting hit. This is especially useful during the section without any floor, as the SOUL can't be spent on healing anyway.
  • Mark of Pride and Longnail can help with down-slashing, which is especially useful during the floorless section. The extra reach is helpful when standing on a platform.
  • Dream Wielder allows the Knight to easily gather lots of SOUL for Spells or healing using the Dream Nail. If a slow enemy is saved until the end of a wave, it can be farmed for SOUL, and the Knight can heal to full.
  • During waves 14-16, having Nailmaster's Glory equipped, clinging to a wall, and performing the Great Slash Nail Art can be a good strategy, but it is risky when getting close to the spikes, because if an enemy is too close to the Knight, it is hard to climb without going straight into the enemy.
  • If timed properly the Knight can use the Dream Nail on the Garpedes during wave 13 to obtain some SOUL.
  • Weaversong makes the final boss trivial. Simply sticking to one of the walls of the arena using the charge of Crystal Heart keeps the Knight completely safe while the Weaverlings slowly kill the two enemies.
    • Together with Grubsong the Weaverlings can generate a fair amount of SOUL. Even more so if a weak enemy is kept alive until the end of a wave and one allows the Weaverlings to hit it repeatedly. This combo can also help extract SOUL from the Garpede section mentioned above.

Many charms are helpful in some specific situations.

  • Hiveblood can be used to heal during the section without a floor.
  • Grubsong and Thorns of Agony turn any hit into an advantage (SOUL and damage output, respectively), and it is likely to get hit a lot during this intense, drawn-out battle.
  • Dreamshield provides protection (albeit not very reliable) against most forms of projectiles. It also gives additional reach while standing on platforms or clinging to walls, which is particularly helpful for the floor-less section.

Enemies

  • Shielded Fools are not very aggressive, only have melee attacks and are slow, therefore they are the best target for SOUL farming and healing. Always leave these foes till last so it is easier to heal and refill SOUL.
  • Primal Aspids, in any situation, are a grave threat, so kill them as fast as possible, either using Great Slash, Dash Slash or Shade Soul upgraded by Shaman Stone.
  • Armoured Squits usually appear in multiples, they are very fast and usually strike at the same time. Cyclone Slash can protect the Knight from both sides and easily deflect them all.
  • Mantis Petras and Soul Twisters are very dangerous airborne foes, but they fall in a single Great Slash. It is recommended to deal with them fast before they have a chance to do anything.

Enemy Waves

Wave 1
Transition: None
Heavy Fool, left

Sturdy Fool, right

Defeating one of these enemies spawns the next row.
Armoured Squit x2, centre Defeating the remaining enemies spawns the next row.
Shielded Fool, left

Shielded Fool, right
Primal Aspid, top centre

Winged Fool, left

Winged Fool, right
Sharp Baldur, left
Sharp Baldur, right

Cyclone Slash can protect the Knight from all directions while damaging foes left and right.
Wave 2
Transition: Two platforms spring up, followed by spikes covering the floor.
Sturdy Fool, left

Sturdy Fool, right
Primal Aspid, top centre

Stay on the platform and take down the Primal Aspid, spikes will take care of those Sturdy Fools.
Wave 3
Transition: Ceiling drops down to about 75% of arena height.
Battle Obble, top left

Battle Obble, top right
Battle Obble, centre
Winged Fool, centre

After taking down the Winged Fool, it is a good time to heal as Battle Obbles do not actively try to aim at the Knight.
Furious Vengefly, top left

Furious Vengefly, top right

Prepare Nail Arts beforehand as Furious Vengeflies are extremely aggressive.
Wave 4
Transition: The platforms and spikes go away.
Heavy Fool, left

Heavy Fool, right

Stay clinging at high as possible, let those Belflies take care of the rest.
Belfly x6 (one after another)
Wave 5
Transition: The ceiling rises, returning the arena to its original state.
Death Loodle, top centre

Death Loodle, top left
Death Loodle, top right

The Death Loodles spawn one after another
Wave 6
Transition: Four platforms rise up.
Death Loodle, bottom left

Death Loodle, top left
Death Loodle, top centre
Death Loodle, top right
Death Loodle, bottom right

Wave 7
Transition: The platforms go away, returning the arena to its original state.
Death Loodle, left

Death Loodle, right
Death Loodle, centre

Wave 8
Transition: Four platforms stacked in a column rise up in the centre and spikes cover the floor.
Armoured Squit, left

Armoured Squit, top right

Defeating each above enemy spawns 1 of each enemy from the next row.
Kill 1 Squit, then wait for the Primal Aspid to spawn and take care of it before killing the other Squit.
Primal Aspid, top left

Primal Aspid, top right

Defeating 1 Primal Aspid spawns the next row.
Primal Aspid, left

Winged Fool, right

Garpede x4 Crawling across the arena, reaching each platform at a different time. They cross platforms in this order: 3, 4, 2, 1 (1 is the top platform).

Once all four Garpedes are done crossing, the next row spawns. Stay at the top platform to get the longest possible time to heal.

Winged Fool, top left

Armoured Squit, right
Armoured Squit, top right

Wave 9
Transition: Platforms and spikes go away, returning the arena to its original state.
Shielded Fool, left

Heavy Fool, right
Primal Aspid, centre

Defeating 2 of the above enemies spawns the next row.
Mantis Traitor, centre Defeating 1 of the above enemies spawns the next row.
Mantis Petra, centre Defeating all of the above enemies spawns the next row.
Mantis Petra, left

Mantis Petra, right
Mantis Traitor, centre

Defeating 2 of the above enemies spawns the next row.
Mantis Petra, left

Heavy Fool, right

Defeating all enemies spawns the next row.
Soul Twister x2
Mistake x3

3 (one after another)

Leave 1 of them alive to farm soul with the Dreamnail.
Soul Warrior

Folly
spawn every 8 seconds until Soul Warrior is beaten.

Wave 10
Transition: Six platforms rise up and spikes cover the floor.
Volt Twister, top centre
Soul Twister, top centre
Volt Twister, top right
Volt Twister, right
Soul Twister, right
Wave 11
Transition: The platforms and spikes go away, returning the arena to its original state.
Soul Warrior
Soul Twister
Wave 12
Transition: The walls close in, shrinking the arena floorspace to about half.
Winged Fool, left

Sturdy Fool, right

Lesser Mawlek, left

Lesser Mawlek, right

Lesser Mawlek, left

Lesser Mawlek, right
Winged Fool, top centre

Cling as high as possible to safely take down the Winged Fool.
Brooding Mawlek, centre
Wave 13
Transition: The walls close in even more, keeping The Knight stuck in place for several seconds. Then they expand to 3 Garpedes' worth of space.
Garpede x8 This wave starts with 1 Garpede crawling down in the centre. Before it reaches The Knight, the walls open a bit. Then Garpedes crawl down in pairs (except the 5th which crawls down solo), leaving The Knight just enough space to survive each wave.

Wave 1: centre
Wave 2: left, centre
Wave 3: left, right
Wave 4: centre
Wave 5: left, right

With the help of Dream Wielder it is possible to get a handful of soul and heal a decent amount afterward.

Wave 14
Transition: The walls spread out to half of the arena's size and spikes cover the floor.
Winged Fool, centre

Armoured Squit, top
Armoured Squit, bottom

Primal Aspid, top

Armoured Squit, bottom

Mantis Petra, top

Armoured Squit, bottom

Battle Obble x4 Defeating 3 of these enemies spawns the next row.
Winged Fool x2, centre
Wave 15
Transition: The ceiling drops down to about halfway.
Armoured Squit, centre
Armoured Squit, centre
Wave 16
Transition: The walls and ceiling return to their original state and 3 platforms rise up.

Death Loodle x14
(one after another)

Stay steady on any platform and let these Loodles kill themselves. It is possible to Dreamnail them and even heal at this time. If the platform is (unluckily) overwhelmed, Cyclone Slash will easily clear it.
Wave 17
Transition: The platforms and spikes go away, returning the arena to its original state.
Heavy Fool, left

Sturdy Fool, right

Mantis Traitor, left
Winged Fool, centre Defeating one of these enemies spawns the next row.
Mantis Petra, centre

Shielded Fool, right

Soul Twister
Shielded Fool, right
Volt Twister

Heavy Fool, left

Sharp Baldur, left

Sharp Baldur, right
Armoured Squit, top left
Armoured Squit, top right

Heavy Fool, left

Winged Fool, top centre
Shielded Fool, right

Defeating one of these enemies spawns the next row.
Sturdy Fool, left
God Tamer

Achievements

Fool
Complete the Trial of the Fool.
20G

Quests

Grimm TroupeDelicate FlowerTrials (WarriorConquerorFool)
Pantheons (The MasterThe ArtistThe SageThe KnightHallownest)