Hollow Knight Silksong: How To Beat Shrine Guardian Seth (Boss Guide)

Shrine Guardian Seth in Hollow Knight Silksong is a boss whom you have to defeat before challenging Nyleth, one of the three memory bosses. He was designed and named by Seth Goldman, a Hollow Knight fan who unfortunately passed away due to Ewing sarcoma, a type of cancer.

In one of Seth’s old Reddit posts, he mentioned getting the chance to talk with Team Cherry as one of his wishes. After the talk, they said that he can make his own boss and name it after himself. Moreover, his character was teased in the official Hollow Knight Discord server years ago as part of a series of two riddles, making him one of the earliest bosses to be revealed.

To help you out, here’s how you can find and defeat Shrine Guardian Seth in Hollow Knight Silksong.

Location of Shrine Guardian Seth in Hollow Knight Silksong

Shrine Guardian Seth is located in a secret area of Shellwood, accessible through the Grand Gate. You also have to enter Act 3 and learn Elegy of the Deep to encounter him. Follow these steps to reach Seth in Hollow Knight Silksong:

• Start from the middle of the Grand Gate and proceed to the right.
• Use the Silk Soar ability to reach Point A.
• Enter the chute to the right and traverse through it to the lower levels of Grand Gate.
• Break a fragile wall at Point B and jump down.
• Continue moving left and jump down again. There is a challenging platforming section in this area that you must pass through.
• Climb up from Point C and go left to enter Shrine Guardian Seth’s boss room.

There are multiple ways to make this runback shorter by breaking two vine walls in previous locations. Doing so allows you to skip the entire parkour section.

Shrine Guardian Seth Boss Overview

Seth in Hollow Knight: Silksong wields a bronze shield and a long pin. Moreover, his duel is one of the hardest in the game, as you have to learn all his attack patterns. Seth can use his shield to block your attacks, meaning you can only damage him by punishing his own attacks. However, he can use his shield both offensively and defensively. That said, he has two phases, and here are all his movesets:

Phase 1

• Tri-slash: Seth uses his pin to slash three times in front of him. 
• Shield Throw: Seth throws his shield horizontally and teleports to it after two seconds.
• Whiplash: Seth slashes forward once and spins while rising in the air. He can change his direction of moving depending on Hornet’s location.
• Aerial Shield Throw: Seth teleports in the air and throws his shield at the ground. The shield then bounces off for Seth to teleport back and catch it. The entire attack forms a V-shaped pattern.
• Shield Bash: Seth teleports in the air and charges before lunging at the ground with his shield. This creates a yellow sphere that takes a massive chunk out of your health if you are caught in it. Lastly, Seth follows this up with a forward charge with his pin.

Phase 2

Seth not only gets much more aggressive in this phase, but his attack gets modified as well. Here is the change:

• Tri-Sheild Bash: Instead of lunging at the ground once, Seth does it three times before doing the follow-up attack.

Now that you know all of Seth’s moveset, here’s how to best him in combat.

Also Read: Hollow Knight Silksong: How To Beat Tormented Trobbio (Boss Guide)

How to Beat Shrine Guardian Seth: Tips and Tricks

Nearly all of Seth’s moves in Hollow Knight Silksong are punishable if you are good at positioning yourself. In addition, the arena for fighting Seth is one, if not the largest, in the game, which gives you enough space to run around and dodge his attacks. That said, here are some tips on countering his attacks:

• For regular slashes, you can jump up in the air to pogo off his head to deal damage.
• The damage from the Aerial Shield Throw can be avoided by jumping where the shield lands on the floor.
• You can heavily punish the Whiplash attack by using Cross Stitch, which is a Silk Skill that enables you to parry.
• You can run from the Shield Bash to avoid damage and jump once in the air to pogo off Seth’s head while he charges at you.
• Use poisoned Tacks and cover the ground to deal hundreds of damage to Seth easily.
• Do not heal while Seth is off-screen. He can teleport quite quickly, making most healing attempts fail. It is best to dodge one of his attacks and heal immediately instead of punishing him.

Finally, after defeating him, you can find him in the arena after defeating Nyleth. Moreover, you can find him at several locations in Pharloom, only for him to end up in Fleatopia.

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