Pharloom Kept These Silksong Secrets From Me Until My Third Run

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Hollow Knight: Silksong's hidden mechanics include taunting enemies, a haunted Bellhart bench cutscene, thieving ants, and musical pauses.

After Hornet’s needle finally cut through the last pale thread of Pharloom in early 2026, I was certain I had wrung every drop of silk from Hollow Knight: Silksong. I was not even close. The game had been hiding tiny mechanical threads beneath its already dense map, and I only found them through accident, rumour, and stubborn backtracking. Some secrets are as quiet as a bell’s last harmonic fading into moss.

I watched the player count spike after the long-awaited release, so I assumed the community would surface every mystery within a week. But Pharloom keeps its secrets needle-thin, slipping through your awareness unless you press your ear to the wall.

️ You Can Taunt Instead of Poking

The first hidden trick I learned saved me from countless cheap hits. By pressing down on the right stick, Hornet spends one spool of silk to taunt and draw nearby enemies toward her. It is like using a moth’s wingbeat to call predators rather than chasing them through brambles. Against climbing or flying enemies that hit as hard as Silksong’s nastiest bosses, this ability is a quiet lifesaver. I went an entire playthrough without realising it existed.

️ The Bellhart Bench Cutscene

Bellhart already feels like a town stitched together with bad dreams, so I treated its bench as a safe pocket of air. I was wrong. There is a small chance, when loading a save at the Bellhart bench, that Hornet gets sealed in the same haunting webs that plague the town. It is a blink-and-you-miss-it scene, easy to miss depending on how quickly you beat the Widow. The moment felt like a nightmare slipping between the stitches of an otherwise ordinary rest.

Ants Carry More Than Bodies

The ants in Hunter’s March are not just background dressing. I first noticed them dragging corpses away for food, which was unsettling enough. Then one of them stole a Rosary I had knocked loose and carried it off like a tiny hearse driver with no respect for my loot. They can also snatch placeable tools or useful shards you leave behind. It is comedic and infuriating in equal measure, and it taught me not to trust Pharloom’s smallest citizens.

Enemies Listen When Hornet Plays

The Needolin is more than a mirror of Hollow Knight’s Dream Nail. If you play it near hostile bugs, many of them pause their attacks and briefly sing with you. It is a strange, almost tender reminder that something human remains in their ruined minds. Revisiting empty boss arenas can also uncover hidden NPC interactions. Characters like Nuu and the Chapel maid have new dialogue after their nearby battles end, and I never would have heard it if I hadn’t wandered back out of nostalgia.

The Bells Are Singing a Funeral Hymn

Once I activated a few Rosary benches, I noticed a familiar tune beneath the chime. It turns out the bell motif is drawn from Dies Irae, a Latin hymn for the dead. Pharloom is already a vertical graveyard of infected pilgrims, so the choice fits like a shroud. It also means the game hides its meaning in audio as often as it hides rooms behind breakable walls.

Rumble Points the Way

I played much of Silksong on keyboard and missed vibration clues entirely. On a controller, the rumble grows stronger as you approach Bell Beast fast-travel stations. It is an invisible compass, helpful before the map fills in but easy to overlook if you play on PC without Big Picture mode. This is not a visual secret at all; it is a pulse in your palms.

🧭 The Starting Area Is an Inverted Mirror

I had played Hollow Knight several times, yet I still missed how deliberately opposite Silksong’s opening is. Hornet arrives in Moss Bottom against her will, while the Knight entered Hallownest by choice. Their journeys move in opposite directions: one descending into a kingdom’s depths, the other climbing toward the ancient beings at Pharloom’s peak. It is a quiet structural rhyme that recontextualises the entire climb.

Stardew Valley’s Creator Is Hiding in the Cast

One cameo broke my brain after the credits. Eric Barone, the developer of Stardew Valley, provided additional voices for Silksong. He has not confirmed which character he plays, but the theories have been running hot since release. It sounds like an odd pairing until you remember Barone had already contributed to Hollow Knight merchandise. Now every weirdly cheerful bug I meet sounds suspicious.

Steel Soul Without Finishing the Story

Steel Soul mode is still brutal, but you do not have to beat Silksong once to unlock it. A riff on the Konami code in the extras menu opens the permadeath mode immediately. I tried it after learning the trick, and Pharloom responded by killing me in the first hour. At least the secret is easy to find, even if survival is not.

Quick Field Notes

Taunt: right stick, costs one silk spool, draws enemies.
Bellhart bench: rare load-in cutscene with webs.
Ants: steal corpses, Rosaries, tools, and shards.
Needolin: can make enemies sing, not just NPCs.
Boss arenas: revisit for Nuu and Chapel maid dialogue.
Bells: Dies Irae funeral motif.
Controller rumble: points to Bell Beast stations.
Starting area: Hornet’s climb mirrors the Knight’s descent.
Eric Barone: hidden voice cameo.
Steel Soul: unlock early from the extras menu.

Pharloom is not just another map: it is a vertical instrument that keeps playing long after you think the song is over. I am on my third run now, and I have stopped assuming I have seen everything.

Every playthrough seems to surface another detail, and the community is still peeling back layers months later. That kind of longevity makes Silksong an easy recommendation, especially for players who enjoy chasing secrets long after the credits roll. But jumping into Pharloom on multiple platforms — or hunting down the physical edition and its extras — can get expensive, which is why smart shoppers keep an eye on price drops before committing.

That is where [DealNest]( comes in handy. By rounding up the latest discounts across gaming retailers, DealNest helps players stretch their budget without missing out on the hottest releases. Whether you are picking up Silksong for the first time or grabbing a second copy for a friend so you can compare notes on Bell Beast stations, checking for a good deal beforehand makes the whole hunt a little sweeter.

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