The Bell Beast is the first main boss you’ll encounter after leaving the starting area in Silksong, and it might give you quite the challenge until you master its moves. You’ll find this cute (and terrifying) critter at the top of The Marrow, near the map merchant Shakra, as well as the path to Mosshome.
The Bell Beast is trapped in silk when you first find it, requiring you to first head in the opposite direction, into Mosshome, to unlock the Silk Spear skill. This’ll let you break silk strands, like the ones restraining the Bell Beast. Unfortunately, freeing this beast leads to a boss fight, though a rewarding one, as you’ll unlock fast travel in return for giving it a good whack.
How to beat the Bell Beast in Silksong
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The Bell Beast has four main attacks that you need to avoid and exploit consistently to beat it, most of which begin with it bursting out of the ground. In fact, this boss fight always begins with a charge attack.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Charge: After a wide shockwave on the ground, the boss will burst out of the bells and charge at you after a short delay. Counter this attack by jumping over it and using a dive or down attack to deal damage. Once it’s stopped charging, it’ll pause for a moment, letting you attack it a few times before it burrows underground again. You can also attack it briefly when it first emerges, though this is riskier.
- Leap: Similar to the charge attack, you’ll see a wide shockwave on the ground before this one. The Beast will leap up and dive to the other side of the arena. Stay in the middle of the arena and you can hit it with an upwards attack as it jumps, and it’ll also pause for a brief moment when it lands, so you can sneak some more hits in.
- Bouncing bells: Periodically, the Bell Beast will cause a narrow shockwave in the centre of the arena before it emerges and causes two bells to bounce across the floor in both directions. Step back when you see the shockwaves to give yourself plenty of time and room to jump over the bell heading your way.
- Bell hazards: Once you deal enough damage, the Bell Beast will roar and enter a second phase, causing bells to bombard the entire arena for a brief period. These will be telegraphed by a faint pillar of light coming from the ceiling, and they only bounce once before breaking. Like the normal bell attack, simply focus on dodging these hazards.
Once the Bell Beast has entered its second phase, marked by the barrage of bells, additional bells will occasionally fall from the ceiling after its attacks. In other words, you’ll have to keep an eye out for a rogue bell while also countering charges, leaps, and the normal bouncing bells.
My recommendation is to be cautious and play it safe, while exploiting the clear openings in the charge and leap attacks. If you get too greedy and try to chase this critter around the arena, or sneak in an extra hit than you’re allowed, you’ll pay the price. You could also use Silk Spear for some ranged damage, but it’s better to keep your silk to use in case you need to heal with bind.
Once you’ve beaten the Bell Beast, it’ll actually become friendly and you’ll unlock fast travel. It works in much the same way as the first Hollow Knight, letting you travel between unlocked areas by visiting stations, known as Bellways.
However, you’ll also earn a Silk Heart, which regenerates a single spool of silk when you run out. It’s handy in getting access to your binding heal and other skills quicker, which is never a bad thing.
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