Hollow Knight: How to Defeat the Collector

Team Cherry’s Metroidvania action-adventure game, Hollow Knight, follows the journey of a nameless warrior called the Knight as he travels through Hallownest, a kingdom ruined by a supernatural disease. As the Knight journeys through Hallownest, they encounter different enemies, bosses, and even hidden bosses. One of these hidden bosses is the Collector.

The Collector is a creature of Void that lives in the locked Tower of Love with its collection of bugs from around Hallownest that are stored and preserved, some are alive, yet some are dead, inside glass jars. The Collector’s only concern is preserving other creatures, which is why it captured and trapped Grubs from their colony in the Forgotten Crossroads and recorded their location around Hallownest on a map aptly called the Collector’s Map.

In this guide, you will learn how to defeat the Collector!

Location

As mentioned above, the Collector can be found up the Tower of Love, a sub-area on the easternmost part of the City of Tears.

Before the Knight can find and attempt to defeat the Collector, the Knight must first obtain the Love Key to enter the Tower of Love.

Love Key

A corpse holds the Love Key at the end of the room near the southeasternmost part of the Queen’s Gardens.

In the Queen’s Gardens, the Knight encounters different enemies. However, the Knight will encounter these specific enemies on the way to the Love Key: Oomas, Uomas, Spiny Husks, Fool Eaters, Mossflies, Mantis Petras, and Mantis Traitors.

Before the Knight can head to the Queen’s Gardens and find Love Key, it is required that the Knight has the Isma’s Tear ability, which allows the Knight to swim in pools of acid, the Mantis Claw ability, which allows the Knight to cling to walls and jump off of them, and the Mothwing Cloak ability, which allows the Knight to perform a horizontal dash forward. Although not required, it would also help if the Knight had the Monarch Wings ability, which allows the Knight to perform a secondary jump in mid-air. With these abilities, reaching the Queen’s Gardens area and finding the Love Key will be no challenge.

To find the Love Key in the Queen’s Gardens, this is what the Knight must do (assuming this is the Knight’s first time in the area):

1. Starting from the Queen’s Station Stagway Bench, take the exit on the right, jump up the platforms, head to the very top, then take the exit on the left.
2. The Knight has now arrived in Fog Canyon. In this room, the Knight will encounter a lot of Uomas and Oomas. Be careful when attacking Oomas, as it will result in its shell popping, and its orange core will home in on the Knight and explode. Head upwards by jumping on the platforms, stick to the left side of the room while heading up, and take the next exit on the left, which is in the middle part of the room.
3. Next, head to the left, where there is a pool of acid and a wall of thorns. Drop down on the pool of acid, swim to the left (thanks to Isma’s Tear ability) below the wall of thorns, and jump towards the next platform where there is a gate, and the room will be filled with vegetation. Continue heading to the left, jump up the platforms, and take the exit on the left.
4. Then, upon entering the room, the Knight has now arrived in the Queen’s Gardens! Head to the left, where the Knight will encounter a Spiny Husk, drop down a few platforms where the Knight will encounter a Mossfly, and continue heading to the left, where the Knight will encounter two Mossflies, a Spiny Husk and another separate Spiny Husk.
5. As the Knight continues heading to the left, you will see that part of the floor is vines filled with thorns. Jump over the thorns with the help of the Monarch Wings ability or the Mothwing Cloak ability, head to the left, then take the exit on the left.
6. After that, continue heading to the left, where the Knight will encounter a Mantis Petra, drop down on the gap on the left, then head downwards using the small dropping platforms (be careful not to fall to the bottom of the room where there are vines filled with thorns) where the Knight will encounter another Mantis Petra and another two Mossflies, then head for the exit on the bottom right of the room next to the vines with thorns.
7. Next, head to the right, where there are several stable and dropping platforms with vines filled with thorns on the bottom. Upon getting to the middle of this part of the room, the path back and to continue will be closed, and the Knight must defeat the enemies in the room to open them. Here the Knight will encounter three Mantis Petras. 
8. After defeating all the Mantis Petras, head to the right where the path is now opened, drop down the gap, head to the right, drop down another gap with a closed exit on the right, drop down the gap on the left towards a dropping platform, jump towards the next dropping platform on the left but be careful not to hit the thorns on the ceiling and below on the floor, and dash towards the safe ground on the left where the Knight will encounter a Fool Eater.
9. Then, dash towards the next dropping platform on the left, jump and dash towards the safe platform on the left where the Knight will encounter another Fool Eater, and jump towards the shaft on the left where the Knight will encounter another Fool Eater at the bottom.
10. Next, jump and dash towards the dropping platform on the right, jump and dash towards the safe ground on the right where the Knight will encounter a Mantis Petra, jump and dash towards the dropping platform on the right, jump and dash towards the platform on the right with a lever, and strike the lever to open the path to the exit above.
11. After that, jump and dash towards the platform on the right, jump up the wall on the right, head up the shaft with the help of the Mantis Claw ability where at the top on the left wooden barriers are holding up the wall, strike the wooden barrier several times to break it and reveal a path, jump up towards the platform above, and take the exit on the right.
12. Then, jump across the gap towards the platform above on the right, head to the right, dash across the gap with the help of the Mothwing Cloak ability, continue heading to the right, drop down the gap, head down using the dropping platforms where the Knight will encounter two Mossflies, then take the next exit on the right.
13. Next, head to the right where the Knight encounter a Mossfly, drop down the small platform below on the right where the Knight will encounter another Mossfly, drop down another small platform below on the left where the Knight will encounter another Mossfly, drop down the small platform below on the right, and jump towards the platform on the right where there will be a Geo Deposit.
14. After that, jump up the elevated platform on the right, head to the right, drop and swim on the pool of acid to the right through the very low ceiling, jump up the platform, and head to the right where the Knight will encounter two Mantis Traitors.
15. Finally, head to the right, and at the end of the room, the Knight will find a corpse holding something glowing. Inspect the glowing thing, and the Knight will obtain the Love Key!

The Collector in the Tower of Love

Now that the Knight has obtained the Love Key from the Queen’s Gardens, the Knight can access the Tower of Love and find the Collector. As mentioned above, the Collector can be found in the Tower of Love which is a sub-area on the easternmost part of the City of Tears but is accessed through the middle part of the Kingdom’s Edge.

In the City of Tears and Kingdom’s Edge, the Knight will encounter different kinds of enemies. However, the Knight will encounter these specific enemies on the way to the Collector: a Husk Hornhead, a Husk Dandy, a Gluttonous Husk, Vengeflies, Belflies, Booflies, Hoppers, and Primal Aspids.

Before the Knight can find the Collector, it is required that the Knight must have the Mantis Claw ability, which allows the Knight to cling to walls and jump off of them. Although not required, it is recommended that the Knight has the Isma’s Tear ability, which allows the Knight to swim in pools of acid, the Mothwing Cloak ability, which allows the Knight to perform a horizontal dash, and the Monarch Wings ability, which allows the Knight to perform a secondary jump in mid-air. With these abilities, reaching the Tower of Love will be no challenge at all.

In order for the Knight to find the Collector, this is what the Knight must do:

1. Starting from the Bench in the King’s Station Stagway Station, take the exit to the left, the Knight will be in a room where they will encounter a Husk Hornead, a Husk Dandy, and a Gluttonous Husk, drop to the bottom, and take the exit on the right which will have another Stagway sign.
2. Upon entering, the Knight will see a broken Bench in half, a flooded Stagway Station, and two Vengeflies. Kill both Vengeflies and drop down on the water.
3. Next, keep swimming to the right, where the Knight will go through a hidden passageway.
4. Upon entering, you will immediately encounter a dive-bombing Belfly, so dodge or hide below an elevated platform to avoid being damaged.
5. Then, jump up the platform, head to the right, where the Knight will encounter two Belflies, and take the exit at the end of the path.
6. Upon entering, the Knight will be on the central cliff of Kingdom’s Edge! If the Knight has not learned Isma’s Tear ability, then the Knight would have to take the exit on the bottom right of the room and take the next exit that leads upwards, then continue heading upwards. If the Knight did learn Isma’s Tear ability. Head to the right from the entrance to the central cliff of Kingdom’s Edge, where the Knight will encounter a Boofly; jump towards the small platforms, and follow it upwards until you see the next ledge and exit on the right. 
7. Next, continue to the right, drop down the pool of acid (thanks to Isma’s Tear ability), swim to the right below the narrow opening, jump up towards the small platform, head upwards of the room with the help of the ledges and the platforms where the Knight will encounter a Primal Aspid, a Boofly, another Primal Aspid, another Boofly, and another Primal Aspid, then take the next exit on the left.
8. Then, the Knight will be back on the central cliff but higher than before. Head to the left, where the Knight will encounter a Hopper and a Boofly; jump towards the small platform below on the left, where the Knight will encounter a Primal Aspid and a Belfly; jump towards the small platform below on the left, jump towards another small platform below on the left; jump towards the small platform on the left, and jump towards the platform on the left where the Knight will encounter another Belfly.
9. After that, head to the left, drop down the platform, drop down the shaft on the left, where the Knight will encounter another Hopper, then take the large exit on the left.
10. Next, the Knight is now at the entrance of the Tower of Love! head to the left, jump across the gap, inspect the locked door at the end of the path, confirm on the prompt to use the Love Key, and enter the newly-opened exit.
11. Then, head to the left, head up the wall on the left with the help of the Mantis Claw ability, jump towards the platform on the right at the top, and head to the right where there will be glass jars with one having a dead bug inside and with one of the glass jars having a live Vengefly, at the end of the path head up with the help of the Mantis Claw ability, jump towards the platform on the left at the top, head to the left where there will be more glass jars with dead bugs inside and with one of them having another live Vengefly, at the end of the path head up with the help of the Mantis Claw ability, and jump towards the platform on the right.
12. Finally, head to the right, where the Knight will be in a large room and, near the middle, the path back and to continue will be closed, the Collector will drop down from the ceiling, and the fight will start!

It is recommended to open the shortcut that can be accessed just past the King’s Station by heading down the previous shaft before the door inside the Tower of Love, then strike the switch on the right side near the bottom of the area. With this shortcut, the Knight does not need to traverse using all of the steps above and instead use the exit above before the exit at the end of the path before entering Kingdom’s Edge. 

Moves

In battle, the Collector will perform the following moves:

The Collector will hop around as a way of moving around the arena. There is a set number of hops that the Collector will make before performing its next attack.

The Collector will jump into the ceiling and cause glass jars to fall down from random parts of the ceiling. Upon hitting the floor and breaking, the fallen glass jars will randomly let out either a Vengefly, an Aspid Hunter, or a Baldur. The glass jars will not break once it falls and hits the Knight but will deal contact damage.

The player can tell the number of glass jars falling by listening to the rattling glass noises for each jar that comes down. Additionally, the player can tell where the glass jars will fall by looking at the trail of dust it leaves when it is falling. Once all of the glass jars have fallen, the Collector will drop back down into the arena.

The Collector will jump towards where the Knight is and make a grabbing motion that deals contact damage if the Knight is hit.

Strategy

The main challenge of the fight against the Collector is that the Knight will not generate Soul for striking it with the Nail, which makes healing and casting Spells difficult.

The only way to gain Soul while fighting the Collector is by using the Dream Nail to hit it, with Weaverlings from the Weaversong Charm paired with the Grubsong Charm, or by attacking the summoned enemies in the arena. The best time to use the Dream Nail against the Collector is when it is staggered.

As mentioned above, the Collector will perform the Hop attack to move around the arena and avoid the Knight’s attacks. However, the main challenge in the fight against the Collector is the Jar attack that also spawns other small enemies.

When the Collector performs the Jar attack, the number of glass jars that will be dropped depends on the number of summoned enemies still alive in the arena and the current phase of the fight. The Collector will stop dropping glass jars if there are four or more summoned enemies alive in the arena.

For the first phase, the Collector will drop one to two glass jars at once, and the maximum number of summoned enemies is five. After the Knight has dealt 350 damage to the Collector, the fight will switch to phase 2, increasing the speed at which the Collector will drop glass jars.

For the second phase, the Collector will drop two to three glass jars at once, and the maximum number of summoned enemies at once is six.

If the Knight really needs to heal, it is recommended that the player practice caution as the Collector moves fast and it has a movement pattern that can be hard to read. Additionally, be watchful of the Collector’s Grab attack when healing, as it has a long range.

It is recommended that the Knight stays on the ground while fighting the Collector as, again, the Collector’s movement speed is fast. The Knight can simply dash under the Collector when it hops around the arena.

If dodging the Collector’s attacks is still a challenge, then it is recommended that the Knight has the Shade Cloak ability (the upgrade to the Mothwing Cloak ability), which allows the Knight to dash through enemies and their attacks without taking damage.

As for the Knight’s Nail, it is recommended that the Knight’s Nail is at least the Coiled Nail, as this can kill the summoned enemies with only one hit.

Nail Arts, like the Cyclone Slash Nail Art, and Spells, like the Vengeful Spirit spell, the Shade Soul spell (the upgrade to the Vengeful Spirit spell), the Desolate Dive spell, and the Descending Dark spell (the upgrade to the Desolate Dive spell) are also effective in dealing huge damage to the Collector and its summoned enemies. However, as Soul is a little bit of a luxury in the fight against the Collector, it is recommended to use the Knight’s Soul for healing.

If the Knight dies while fighting the Collector, the Knight can return to the Tower of Love and find the Knight’s Shade trapped inside a glass jar just before entering the arena to fight the Collector.

When the Collector’s health is completely depleted, it will become intangible and appear as if it is staggered while slowly chuckling. To completely defeat the Collector, the Knight must keep striking it with the Nail 15 more times.

Charms are also very beneficial in fighting the Collector: the Quick Focus Charm can be great to have as it can help the Knight heal faster, the Shape of Unn charm can help by allowing the Knight to move while healing, the Mark of Pride and Longnail Charm can help by increasing the length of the Knight’s Nail, the Shaman Stone Charm can help by increasing the size and damage of Spells, the Soul Catcher and Soul Eater Charm can help by increasing the amount of Soul that the Knight will gain when hitting enemies, The Kingsoul Charm can help by regenerating Soul every two seconds, the Grubsong Charm can help by gaining Soul every time the Knight takes damage, the Spell Twister Charm can help by reducing the amount of Soul needed to cast Spells, the Stalwart Shell Charm can help by increasing the invincibility time and decreasing the recoil every time the Knight takes damage, and the Fragile Strength Charm or the Unbreakable Strength Charm which can help by increasing the damage output of the Knight’s Nail by 50%.

It is important that you do not get greedy in attacking the Collector, as this will result in the Knight taking damage, especially when the Collector will suddenly perform the Grab or Hop attack. Learn when to attack, when not to attack, and when to dodge, and you will defeat the Collector in no time.