How to Obtain the Heavy Blow Charm

Team Cherry’s Metroidvania action-adventure game, Hollow Knight, follows the journey of a nameless warrior called the Knight as he travels through Hallownest, which is now a kingdom in ruins because of a supernatural disease. As the Knight journeys through Hallownest, he can unlock new abilities, spells, and charms that will help him traverse through different areas of Hallownest and defeat enemies.

In the game, special items give the Knight different abilities and bonuses called Charms. To equip or unequip these Charms, the Knight must be sitting on a Bench, and the Knight must have enough unused Notches to equip them. In this guide, we will learn about the Heavy Blow charm.

One of the 45 Charms in the game is the Heavy Blow Charm which requires and takes up two Charm Notches. When equipped, the Heavy Blow charm increases the knockback when the Knight hits enemies with attacks using the Nail (the charm does not affect enemies that do not get knocked back).

This charm can be useful when attacking enemies with an uninterruptible attack, as pushing them back means the Knight will not be hit when they attack, which can be an opportunity to dodge, heal, or attack them.

Not only that, but the Heavy Blow charm also decreases the required number of hits to stagger a boss by one (this charm does not work on bosses that do not get staggered). With the Heavy Blow charm, the Knight can push enemies away after each attack!

Location

The Heavy Blow charm can be purchased for 350 Geo from Sly up in Dirtmouth. However, before Sly can sell the Heavy Blow charm and several other items, the Knight must first obtain the Shopkeeper’s Key and bring it to Sly.

The Shopkeeper’s Key can be found in the middle of Crystal Peak. However, to obtain the Shopkeeper’s Key, the Knight must first have the Mantis Claw ability, allowing the Knight to cling to walls and jump off them. 

On the way to acquiring the Shopkeeper’s Key, the Knight will encounter different enemies such as Husk Miners, Glimbacks, Crystal Crawlers, and a Shardmite.

To obtain the Shopkeeper’s Key, this is what the Knight must do:

1. From the bench at the bottom of Crystal Peak, head to the left and take the exit on the left.
2. In the next room, the Knight will encounter a Husk Miner. Head slightly to the left, head up the shaft using the Mantis Claw ability before the gap with the conveyor belts, head to the left again, and take the exit above.
3. Next, take the path on either the left, where the Knight will go up a level and encounter a Glimback, then head up the path above in the middle, where the Knight will encounter two Husk Miners and another Glimback that can be reached by using the Mantis Claw ability to cling to the wall on the left to ride the conveyor belt upwards then jump towards the next level, or take the path on the right where the Knight can use the Mantis Claw ability to cling to the wall on the right then jump towards the next level where the Knight will encounter a Husk Miner. Either way, take the path above on the right that leads upwards. It is worth noting that the path on the right requires the Knight to have the Monarch Wings ability or the double jump ability to reach and continue on the path.
4. After that, head to the left and, using the Mantis Claw ability, cling to the conveyor belt on the wall on the left to ride up, then jump towards the next platform and take the exit above.
5. The Knight will encounter a bunch of Crystal Crawlers in this next room. Head to the left and take the path above. Head to the right, then head up by jumping up the platforms while evading the lasers or defeating the Crystal Crawlers.
6. Next, the Knight will encounter a bunch more Crystal Crawlers. Head up the shaft, head to the right, then head up again, all while evading the lasers or defeating the Crystal Crawlers. Then, take the path above in the middle.
7. After that, the Knight can either take the path above on the left, where the Knight will encounter two more Crystal Crawlers, or the shaft above on the right, where the Knight will encounter a Husk Miner and a Shardmite.
8. Next, head up the shaft with another Shardmite, and at the top, the Knight will find a platform with something glowing. Inspect the glow, and the Knight will obtain the Shopkeeper’s Key!

Now that the Knight has the Shopkeeper’s Key, the Knight can head back to Dirtmouth (there is a shortcut back to Dirtmouth down below on the previous room, then on the left, but this shortcut requires the Knight to have the Crystal Heart ability or super dash ability to cross) and give the Shopkeeper’s Key to Sly.

After that, the Knight can purchase the Heavy Blow charm for 350 Geo and some other new items from Sly!

Now that the Knight has the Heavy Blow charm, the Knight can now equip it while sitting down on the Bench just outside Sly’s shop, and the Knight can now push enemies back when attacking them!