Even Hornet needs to loosen a few strings.

After six long years of waiting, Hollow Knight: Silksong finally landed, and true to Team Cherry’s style, it didn’t go easy on players. 

Some are revelling in the punishing difficulty, even going so far as to discover the infamous perma-death mode called Steel Soul Mode, while others are struggling to make it past the opening hours. 

Now, the developers are stepping in with the game’s first patch, set to roll out next week, to smooth over some of the sharpest edges.

Team Cherry turns down the heat

In a post on the game’s Steam community page, Team Cherry outlined patch 1.0.28470. While this is primarily a bug-fixing update, it also tones down some of the early-game hurdles that have left players stuck. 

Both Moorwing and Sister Splinter, Act 1 bosses notorious for crushing hopeful explorers, are getting nerfed. Sister Splinter in particular has been a source of frustration, as players need to beat her to unlock the all-important wall jump ability.

Sandcarvers, another common source of early-game damage, are also being toned down. On the flip side, rosary rewards are being bumped up, making progression feel a little more generous. The changes mark a rare moment where Team Cherry acknowledges the difficulty might have swung too far, though, just like in Elden Ring, some players will forever boast about conquering these bosses pre-patch.

Beyond balance tweaks, patch 1.0.28470 clears up a long list of bugs, from cloakless escapes after the Slab sequence to courier deliveries failing to appear in the late game. Other fixes cover soft-locks with Lace tool deflects, Claw Mirrors leaving Hornet inverted, and Silk Snippers getting stuck out of bounds. Even rosary payouts from courier runs have been corrected.

The patch is expected to go live for everyone by mid next week, but PC players eager for relief can already access it through the public beta branch on Steam and GOG. Console players will have to hold on a little longer, but Team Cherry reassures that progress-blocking bugs will be fixed retroactively once the update lands.

The studio has also teased that a second patch already in the works, suggesting that Silksong’s post-launch support is only just beginning. For those still stuck in the thick of Hornet’s journey, help is on the way, but the bragging rights for beating Sister Splinter before the nerf will last forever.