#hk great sage sly

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I DID IT!!! I POSTED A CHAPTER AFTER ALMOST FIVE MONTHS!!! i am a winner a winner is me

[hollow-knight-fights]

HKBF Quarterfinals

Propaganda and asks welcome!

[hollowknighthelp]

Hi :]

I beat the first two pantheons, but I'm having trouble beating GNS Sly.

Do you have any suggestions for him ^^'? /genq

Hello again! Congrats on beating Pantheons 1 and 2!!

For Sly, I'd recommend trying to stay in the middle of the arena as much as possible. When he does his "Grounded slash 1, grounded slash 2, jump sawblade spin" attack, you cannot dash through that first slash. He'll just turn around for his second slash and you're guaranteed to get hit at that point. Jumping also tends to be pretty risky due to how much Range those attacks have.

So, your best bet is to run away from him as he's doing the grounded slashes, then dash under him once he jumps. But! You need the space to be able to walk that far without him cornering you! Hence why I'd suggest generally sticking to the middle.

You might also be able to land a good Abyss Shriek on him when he's Sawblading, but I haven't tested that much so I can't guarantee that it's safe. It might just cause him to fall on top of you.

For that attack where he starts by jumping, he only does that grounded overhead slash if you're close to him! Just something that might be nice to keep in mind. And usually you can land at least one nail hit on him after he does the overhead slash I believe.

When he does Cyclone Slash, I just stick to the top of the wall. Though sometimes I'll also try to pogo him or Descending Dark once the attack starts to end?

I believe Sly only does Dash Slash from the edges of the arena, so that's probably your best way of figuring out whether he's about to use that or Great Slash. I just jump over it.

I don't have much to say for Great Slash, aside from Watch Out for it because it does two masks of damage dgsgsf. One dash is enough to get you out of its range though, I believe? So as soon as you see Sly charging it up, dash away from him.

Sly takes 15 hits to stagger, and you can reliably heal two masks while he's in that state!

Finally, his second phase. I find the best way to deal with him here is to use your own Great Slash the moment he stops spinning. The range is just enough to safely hit him! Shade Soul is also a good option, if you have the SOUL for it. Also note that you cannot Shade Cloak through his attacks here unless you have Sharp Shadow equipped (from what I remember, at least). So, sticking to the middle of the arena is once again a good idea, probably! He has 250 health in this last phase, which is 5 Great Slashes.

As for Charms, my personal favourite loadout for every section of every Pantheon (with one very slight exception) is Fragile/Unbreakable Strength, Shaman Stone, Steady Body, and Soul Eater. Getting one spell after only two nail hits my beloved <3

For Sly specifically though, Nailmaster's Glory could probably be helpful on the second phase (plus it's thematically fitting!), and Mark of Pride's range buff would likely help with out-ranging Sly. You might not even need to rely on Great Slash for the second phase if you have it (though it does still do more damage than a regular nail hit, so it still has value). Sharp Shadow should allow you to dash through his sawblade attacks, if you want to do that. And Sprintmaster might help with running away, maybe? But, of course, you've got more to fight than just Sly, so you don't want your Charms to be set up exclusively for his fight.

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[hollow-knight-fights]

Hollow Knight Boss Fight: Round 2