Underworks Walkthrough

The Underworks is one of the first main area of Act 2 in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and is likely the first big region you'll begin to explore if you've taken the main route to the Citadel. Found far below the Grand Gate, the Underworks is a torture chamber disguised as a maintenance facility where downtrodden bugs are forced to toil endlessly to power the grand Citadel above. The region is filled with platforming challenges, deadly enemies, traps, and tight congested rooms. Though it is a relatively small area, you may spend longer here than you expect due to how challenging it is.

As you've likely entered this area from a one-way trip down a broken lift, you will be unable to backtrack down to the lower Pharloom regions initially. Once you make it through the Underworks, you will be able to return to the Citadel's Choral Chambers and find a Bellway to be able to backtrack once more.

Note that the Underworks is technically split up into two distinct areas, the western section where you'll arrive from the Grand Gate or Choral Chambers, and an eastern Cauldron section only accessible by the Whispering Vaults and Whiteward. This walkthrough will focus on the initial exploration of the western side, while the eastern side will be covered in ourWhispering Vaults Walkthrough.

Jump to a section:

• Passing the Initial Gauntlet
• Unlocking the Ventrica Station
• Reaching The Exit to the Choral Chambers

Passing the Initial Gauntlet - The Western Shaft

After the elevator in the Grand Gate collapses, head to the right to find a device you can activate for 15 Rosary Beads. This is actually a bench, and almost all of the rest areas in the Underworks will cost Rosary Beads to use every time you sit down, apart from when you respawn on them after you die. Yay, Capitalism!

Next to it is another device that can be activated to spawn another bench. Don't overspend your Rosary Beads for no reason. Just use one of the devices.

Hit the switch on the right to open the door and enter the Underworks properly.

Just ahead, you can find some of the flying worker bugs. The first one, an Underloft, uses small sickle tools that can be thrown. The other, an Underpoke, dives with a long needle pin. Functionally, they behave just like any of the other flying enemies, although they do have more health than the bugs you fought in Act 1. They can prove to be a rude awakening as you venture into the Citadel, and you'll want to avoid the Underloft's spinning dive bomb, while using your own Tools or Silk Skills to isolate and defeat the pair.

Climb up using the hanging cargo lifts and the ledges, which you can reach with jumps and wall grabs. Just above, you will find another Underworker bug. This one will perform side hits with its pin and can curl up into its shell to protect itself from hits. Keep at a distance greater than its weapon's length, and you will be able to land a few hits, back off, and repeat. You can also deflect the attacks with attacks of your own.

Hit the switch on the left, causing a cargo lift up to the right to descend, and then climb even further up through the new opening. Hanging from a platform about halfway up is another Underpoke, and a path leading to the left with a sign depicting a map.

In here, you can find the Underworks Map. You'll come to find that Shakra won't be penning most of the Citadel's maps, and will instead need to look for alternatives.

Underworks Secret Room 1

On the left, you can attack the wall to open a secret path. Halfway down, you can find some scant Rosary Beads lying on the floor, but you will need to avoid the gust of steam.

Drop down and continue to the right to find a small bat-like Drapefly and a Bone Scroll.

Underworks Bone Scroll

Return to the main room in the Underworks, where we previously were and continue upwards once again. A long metal rail will block you from continuing too far upward, so this time, head into the path on your right.

Now is where the real challenge starts. Above, you can find some cogs that will deal damage if you hit them. Occasionally, they will drop a platform, which will then be crushed by some other cogs below.

You have to time your jump to land on the platform below, which drops.

Once you do, hop to the left to find some Shell Shards. On the right, you can find another new worker bug. These Underscrubs will lunge forward and carry themselves forward slightly with the lunge, but they aren't too complex to defeat, only taking five hits to kill.

Jump up above where that bug was and to the right.

Once again, you will need to jump onto the platforms as they drop onto the cogs below, although this time you need to jump across several of them. Ideally, jump to the platform just as it falls and then hop directly to the next one, and then to the ledge on the other side.

You want to short-hop and not glide until you can see the ledge on the other side.

Continue into the next room.

In the next room, a large spiky cube will constantly move along a vertical rail. You need to jump over it to the other side when it is travelling downwards.

Jump down on the right, and then when the two cubes separate and move in opposite directions, jump down to the left. Continue down and to the left and enter the room on your direct left.

In here, the large worker bug will make you think it is friendly, only to trick you and attack you when you get close.

The Undercrank's main attack is a short-range hop and a slam, which you can back away from. The other main attack is a side-swipe, which is denoted by the bug holding the pin by its side. It is best to jump over this and perform a pogo attack to reposition. When in doubt, use powerful Tools like the Pimpillo or hard-hitting Silk Skills to take these big bugs out before they can deal damage.

Once it is dead, attack the wall on the left and jump over the fan. At the end of the path, you can find a Shard Bundle.

Return to the previous room before the large bug and head to the right. Jump over to the platform and quickly run to the right, as the platform will collapse. You will have to run and jump to reach this path in the future.

In the next room, jump across to the right again and avoid the large spiky cube. Do the same for the second one by jumping to it, dashing, and then jumping to the next platform.

Wait for the cube to move away from the left wall toward the right, and then quickly hop up it to the path above. On the left is an Undersweep that will mirror the hop attack from the large bug you just fought, and lunge forward with the spiky brush it is holding. Since it's a lot smaller than the big bug, this attack can be jumped over.

Underworks Secret Room 2

After defeating the Undersweep in this crawlspace, attack the ceiling above the bug and hop up the wall. Head to the left and then jump up the wall halfway along. Hit the switch and then enter the next room, which opens.

In here, you can find Loam, a poor bug who seems to be keeping the entirety of the Underworks -- and by extension the Citadel -- running. Sadly, poor Loam is so far gone that they will not abandon their post, believing at any moment the holy ones above will come to praise Loam for a good job and grant them rest. There isn't really anything you can do for Loam beside play a tune on your Needolin, but you can try to clock in a shift by running on the treadmill next to him. If you watch the small arrow nearby slowly move from left to right, you'll be rewarded for your hard work with just one Rosary Bead. This place really ought to form a union.

Return to the previous room and continue to the left. Here you can find some Shell Shards, but be careful, as the floor will give out just before the stockpile. This leads back to the jumping sections with the spiky cubes.

Continue past the first cube and wait for the third cube to move to the far left. From there, jump to the platform on the right, and watch out for one more flying Underpoke enemy.

Unlocking the Ventrica Station - The Central Shaft

Leaving the room full of banging gears behind, you'll find yourself in another long vertical shaft room.

Defeat the lurking Underloft before starting your climb up. You may notice a doorway with a sign outside, but if you try to enter you'll find a Spool Fragment tauntingly out of reach behind a locked door.

Continue climbing up and defeating the bugs until you reach a room halfway up on the right. In here, you can jump up, defeat two bugs and grab a Frayed Rosary String.

As you head up to the top of the shaft, you'll find two doorways. The one on the left has a sign for a bench, which you can head to first quickly if you are low on health and worried about dying. However if you'd rather want to wrap around to grabbing the Spool Fragment you saw below, take the pathway to the right.

Jump upwards and defeat the bugs in the crawlspace above, avoiding the gusts of steam. You can then jump down on the other side of the grinding wheels. Hit the switch to allow you to jump across a platform on these wheels in the future by performing a sprinting leap across the gears.

Continue to the right and into the next room. There is only a limited area of the Underworks we can explore here for now -- everything beyond the fiery eastern shaft is home to the Cauldron which we'll explore later. Thankfully, you can still find something useful here: Look below for a room with a sign depicting a tube. Inside, you'll be able to activate your first Ventrica Station.

In here, you can pay 80 Rosary Beads to activate the Ventrica Station. This is a separate fast travel system used to move around the Citadel instead of using the Bellways to travel around lower Pharloom, and while you won't be using this just yet, it is handy to unlock it for later on.

You can also travel to the Terminus station right now, which doesn't have anything except a bench and a lore note to read. It is worth doing this as a challenging fight lies ahead.

Return to the Underworks station and hit the switch to jump down further. Continue down, avoiding the gusts of steam and enter the room on the left. Hit the switch in the room to gain access to another wave-based fight.

This one isn't too complex. The first wave includes an Underworker and Underloft, and you can even get the jump on them by tossing a projectile like a Pimpillo or Sting Shard while they are sitting in the corner.

The second wave is against three of the worker bugs: An Underpoke, Underscrub, and Undersweep. This one is tricky, as they all have different attacks, but try to use your Tools or a Silk Skill like Thread Storm to hit several of them at once. Stick to the air if you have to to attack from above.

The third wave is against a flying Underloft and a bigger Undercrank. Try to take out the flying bug first, as they are more annoying to deal with by pinning them to the left side of the room. You can then fight the larger bug more openly.

Once they are dead, the game will trick you into thinking you are done. But another of the larger bugs will fall in the middle of the room. However, after a second or two, the ground will give way, and they will fall into the grinding wheels below, so keep to either side of the arena or you'll fall in too! On the plus side, you'll have one less enemy to worry about.

Finally, an Underloft and Underpoke duo will appear, forcing you to fight them while jumping over the grinding wheels. Since they stick to the air, you won't be able to lure them into the pit yourself, so be wary of your positioning.

With the fight done, head to the left to grab a Spool Fragment. You can hit the switch to return to the Underworks central shaft.

Underworks Spool Fragment 1

Reaching The Exit to the Choral Chambers

Back in the central shaft, climb up to the top again, and this time take the left path with the sign for the bench.

Here, you will have to jump over some gaps and avoid the clouds of debris falling down from above to be ground up by the gears.

Time the jump and then hop on the platforms once again, just as they fall onto the grinding wheels below. Quickly hop across and avoid the falling debris by gliding and waiting until it finishes to reach the next platform. You'll also need to alternate jumping onto the temporary junk platforms, holding your position, and then jumping between falling debris when there are short gaps. It may take some timing, so watch from safe platforms when you can.

Climb upwards and hit the switch where you'll spot the bench sign. Jump up into the next room This rest room was apparently designed for the underworkers, and includes several benches (you have to pay for) and light somehow filtering in from a nearby window despite how deep you are under the Citadel.

On the right, you can find a mysterious booth you can pay 25 Rosaries to. Unlocking this will reveal a sort of automated confessional booth designed to tell the underworkers to get back to work to absolve their sins... wonderful. To the left is a bench, which will cost 15 Rosary Beads to use, but it means you don't have to go through the entire gauntlet anymore.

Jump up the wall to the left and to the platform on the right to find some Shell Shards in a chest you can collect as well.

Underworks Secret Room 3

Just to the left of the chest full of Shell Shards, try jumping upward, and you can stumble across a secret crawlspace above the bench room.

Move all the way to the left and you'll find a small tunnel to slide down, revealing the sunlight filtering in through the window of the bench room was all artificial (you can destroy it to cast the rest room into darkness if you wish). Next to the lights is a dead husk holding a Memory Locket you can claim.

Underworks Memory Locket

Leave the room and then head to the left. Once again, jump and glide over the wheels, avoiding the debris falling from above and landing on the temporary platforms that drop. On the left is an Underworker you can defeat (careful he doesn't push you into the gears), and one final jump to make before you proceed into a new room.

Immediately, jump upwards, avoiding the gust of steam to find some Rosary Beads in an alcove in the ceiling.

To the left is another fight. The fight is against one of the larger Undercranks and a flying Underloft. Tools are handy here to hit both of them at once. It is best to focus on the flying bug first so it can't distract you with its annoying projectiles, and then turn your attention to the bigger and slower foe.

Be ready for a third opponent -- another large Undercrank will drop down from above, and perform a slam attack with its weapon as it does that can easily catch you if you aren't ready to dodge it! He'll be soon joined by one more Underpoke

Once both groups are defeated, you can proceed to the left, avoiding the blasts of steam.

In the next room, you'll find yourself near the top of the western shaft. There are a few more Underworkers here you'll need to watch out for. The way out is above you, but there's one last thing to look for before we leave this area and head to the Citadel proper.

Jump to the left side of the shaft. Nearby is a lever that opens a small empty room, but you can look below to find a second lever. Hit this one, and it will cause one of the cargo containers to smash through the walkway, rocketing down and creating a giant hole in its wake!

Jump into the hole created by the cargo and fall all the way down to the very bottom of this shaft, and you'll find it also opened up a new area at the very bottom where thorny vines have covered the floor. There's an opening to the right, but its blocked by another cargo container. Luckily, you can spot a lever on the landing above to raise the container out of the way.

You'll need to cross another passage full of churning gears and temporary scrap platforms falling from above. Use your Drifter's Cloak to slowfall when needed to adjust to new falling platforms.

On the other side, you'll find a forgotten workbench, and can uncover a new offensive Tool here, the Delver's Drill. This weapon allows you to perform a downward melee drill attack which can rack up damage when used from above!

Delver's Drill

Note that there's an opening just past the tool, and it leads to what appears to be a large bell above Bellhart if your map is correct, with the faint sound of something within. A mystery to be solved later, it seems.

With the last big item found here, return back to the western shaft. Climb upwards and then into the room on the right. In this room, on the far right, you can find a small flying bat-like Drapemite which attacks with arced swoops and a Underscrub worker to defeat.

Just before the end of the corridor, you can jump upwards using the wall. Halfway up, attack the wall on your right.

Once it is destroyed, jump up using wall grabs and avoiding the fans. Light taps of the jump button allow you to perform small wall hops rather than the standard, larger jumps (alternatively, use your dash button to make a short run up the wall to avoid jumping at all). At the top is a Frayed Rosary String.

Jump back down and continue further upwards. Ignore the side paths, as there isn't anything else here. Instead, further up, you can find another of Drapemite and a wall which you can jump up using Cling Grip.

Continue into the room on the right and jump up past the fan. Hit the switch at the end of the platform above and then jump upwards.

At last, you'll have found your way out of the oppressively dank Underworks, and into a well lit room with a peaceful fountain. To the left, you'll find a bench (free of charge, how about that?) and beyond you will enter the Choral Chambers, a sprawling area that serves as the main core of the Citadel.

Underworks

Underworks Checklist
Tools Collected
Delver's Drill	---
Spool Fragments	Memory Lockets
Moss Grotto Spool Fragment	Underworks Memory Locket
Relics
Underworks Bone Scroll	---

Up Next: Choral Chambers Walkthrough

PreviousGrand Gate WalkthroughNextChoral Chambers Walkthrough

Top Guide Sections

• Differences and New Features
• Essential Tips and Tricks
• Walkthrough
• Boss Guides and Boss Order

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Hollow Knight: SilksongTeam Cherry

Initial Release: Sep 4, 2025

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