You unlock the Needle upgrade in Hollow Knight: Silksong by speaking to Pinmaster Plinney in Bellhart. It’s as simple as that, but the path to get to this point is difficult because you need to defeat two strong bosses almost back-to-back.

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Bellhart is the haunted city you find right after defeating Moorwing in Greymoor. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, bad news: You’re too far from the Needle upgrade and should wait until you defeat Moorwing, which is the fifth boss in Silksong and the one that follows Fourth Chorus.

Pinmaster Plinney is in that haunted city, but before you can find and speak to him, you need to purify Belhart by defeating the area’s boss. To free the city, go all the way to the left from Haunted Belhart, and you’ll be in the new area of Shellwood.

Shellwood expands west and upwards, so you’ll need to do a lot of platform jumping to navigate it. Your key goal in this area is to defeat the Sister Splinter boss and unlock the Wall Jump, also known as Cling Grip. Once you do so, go all the way to the upper right of Shellwood to transition into the upper part of Belhart. You’re about to head to another boss fight, so make sure to save on a bench close to Bellhart.

Once in upper Belhart, head down carefully and east. I say “carefully” because almost every drop is protected by a moving bug with a huge bell on its head, which damages Hornet if she touches it. You’ll need to have precise timing and use Cling Grip to avoid damage as you head down.

Fight the Widow

You’ll eventually hear a creature groaning under you, and that’s where you’ll fight a boss called Widow. The trick here is to pay attention to where Widow’s silk strings point to at all times, as they indicate where an attack is coming to get you. If you want a preview of the fight, check the video below.

Once you defeat Widow, you’ll have to play through a jumping puzzle in a short cutscene. The trick here is to move quickly since all platforms disappear in about two seconds after you step on them, taking a few extra seconds to reappear. Use your Cling Grip to jump from wall to wall and, when holding onto a wall, dash without jumping to clear gaps between adjacent walls. Reach the end of the puzzle and you’ll be back in Bellhart, which won’t be haunted anymore.

Pinmaster Plinney location

Pinmaster Plinney is exactly where Hornet’s icon is on this map. Screenshot by Destructoid.

Pinmaster Plinney is back in Belhart, along with other NPCs. His shop is in the top right corner of the city. To get there, go all the way to the left of Belhart, staying inside the city, and jump on the metal platforms to go up. Head right, where the first shop on a platform is Relic Seeker Scrounge’s. Ignore it for now and jump to the platforms to the right of it, where you’ll see a bell house with needles painted on a sign on top of it. That’s where Pinmaster Plinney is.

This is Plinney’s hut. Screenshot by Destructoid.

Go in and talk to Pinmaster Plinney, who will upgrade your Needle for free after a cool cutscene. If you’ve done everything right, you’ll see a “Needle Sharpened” text on the bottom left of your screen after the cutscene ends.

Now, Hornet’s Needle is stronger, and you can hopefully take down enemies in fewer hits than before.

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