How to beat Soul Master in Hollow Knight

Soul Master is a two-phase boss found at the top of the Soul Sanctum in the City of Tears, and learning to read his attack patterns is the key to taking him down cleanly.

Phase 1

Soul Master teleports between each of his attacks, so stay mobile and be ready to react after every teleport. His Phase 1 attacks are:

• Dash: He slides across the arena horizontally — jump over him or dash away to avoid contact damage.
• Orb: He fires a homing orb at you. If he's far away, jump or dash to dodge it. If you're standing right next to him, it won't hit you at all.
• Clock: He floats across the arena with four rotating orbs around him. Approach him when he's about halfway across the arena and jump over the bottom orb when it's nearest the ground. The orbs boomerang back after he disappears, so stay alert.
• Slam: He targets your position from above and slams straight down, sending shockwaves in both directions across the floor. Dash under him or jump over the shockwaves to avoid damage.
• Fake Out Slam: He starts a Slam but resets mid-drop and repositions above you before slamming again. Watch for the reset and reposition immediately.

The best time to deal damage is during the Orb attack — hit him from below while he conjures the homing orbs. The Clock attack also leaves a good healing window: stay in the center of the arena right after the orbs start traveling away and you can heal multiple times.

Phase 2

After enough damage, Soul Master fakes his death, reclaims his Desolate Dive spell, and smashes through the glass floor into a new arena. His Phase 2 attacks are more predictable but leave less time to heal:

• Altered Slams: He chains 4–7 diving slams that home in on you slightly and create a large explosion on impact (no floor shockwaves). Keep dashing and jumping in either direction to dodge them.
• Fake Out Altered Slam: Same as Phase 1's fake-out — watch for the mid-air reset.
• Altered Orb: He hovers in place for up to ~10 seconds and spawns 3–4 homing orbs from random spots around the arena. This is your biggest damage window — get in 2–3 nail hits each time, but keep moving to dodge the orbs.

Tips & Recommended Charms

• Abyss Shriek + Shaman Stone is extremely effective — cast it during the Clock attack by jumping between Soul Master and the orbs for massive damage that can push him into Phase 2 quickly.
• Phase 2 is generally easier than Phase 1, so play conservatively in Phase 1 and save your aggression for the second round.
• Healing opportunities in Phase 2 are scarce, so top off your masks whenever Phase 1 gives you a window.

Stay patient with his teleport rhythm in Phase 1 and punish him hard during the Orb and Altered Orb attacks, and Soul Master will go down.