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The Needle is your main weapon in Hollow Knight: Silksong — it’s the weapon Hornet always has by her side, and it can be made better. There are two upgrades you can find, one relatively early in the game and one much further in. The first upgrade is very easy to miss if you’re not completing every quest you come across, and this might be one of the most important upgrades in the game. If you don’t get it, you can easily screw yourself over. Learn how to upgrade the Needle ASAP and make all these tough boss fights a whole lot easier.
How To Upgrade The Needle
The Pinmaster is a special NPC that will upgrade your Needle weapon. Upgrades cause you to deal more damage, making this one of the most important upgrades in the game.
- To unlock the Pinmaster, you must reach the settlement of Bellhart. Bellhart is a settlement right in the center of the map. You’ll reach it after accessing Greymoor — go west in Greymoor to reach Bellhart.
Go west to Shellwood, where you’ll get the Wall-Jump Traversal upgrade. From here, go north and then east in Shellwood to each the area above Bellhart. There you’ll find the Widow boss. Defeat it to free the people of Bellhart.
- Once the people are free, complete quests to repair Bellhart. Complete all the quests and the Pinmaster NPC will become available. His workshop door will unlock, allowing you to enter. He’ll give you a free upgrade to your sword. This improves your base damage.
Instead of leaving Bellhart immediately, work on saving the people and restoring the town by completing sidequests. Finish all the quests to repair Bellhart and you can get a powerful upgrade.
How To Get Pale Oil
Pale Oil is an item required to upgrade the Needle further. The first upgrade doesn’t cost anything. The second upgrade requires the Pale Oil key item.
Talk to the Pinmaster several times in Bellhart and you’ll unlock the quest “Pinmaster’s Oil” — you’ll learn that the Pale Oil item is located somewhere in the Citadel.
- Where To Find Pale Oil: Progress the story until you reach Act 2 and enter the Citadel. To enter the Citadel, go west in Shellwood to Blasted Steps, then northeast to the Grand Gate — you must ring all five bells. There’s one bell in Bellhart you can skip past. The rest must be rang to progress.
- At the Grand Gate, the elevator takes you to the Underworks, which leads back up to the Choral Chambers. From here, you’ll need to go east and north to access the First Shrine, and then from Songclave, travel west and encounter the Cogwork Dancers.
Defeat the Cogwork Dancers, and you’ll be able to access a large banquet hall. On the east side, attack the glass container to wake up an NPC — he’ll give you a quest. “The Great Taste of Pharloom” — he wants you to collect five delicacies of Pharloom. Learn where to find all five food items here.
- Mossberry Stew
- Vintage Nectar
- Courier’s Rasher
- Crustnut
- Pickled Muchmaggot
Each one is carried by a different NPC, so you’ll need to complete quests and help NPCs all over the game world to get all five delicacies. This is one of the longest, most involved quests in the game, but the Pale Oil is used to upgrade your sword even more, making this one of the most useful side-quests to complete in the game.
