Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Crest Builds and Tier List

Hollow Knight: Silksong Walkthrough Team

Last updated on: September 16, 2025 05:44 AM

Hollow Knight Silksong - Best Crest Builds and Tier List
Here are all the best builds for each crest in Hollow Knight: Silksong. Check out the best tools and skills you can equip for your crest, and the best crest to use, here!

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Tier List
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Hollow Knight: Silksong Best Crest Tier List

Crest Tier List

Tier	Crests
S-Tier	Reaper Crest	Witch Crest
A-Tier	Wanderer Crest	Architect Crest	Shaman Crest
A-Tier	Hunter Crest
B-Tier	Beast Crest

09/11/25	+ Updated builds for each crest. + Moved Reaper Crest to S-Tier. – Moved Shaman Crest to A-Tier. – Moved Architect Crest to A-Tier.
09/08/25	+ Created Crest Tier List

Tier Placement Explanation

Crest	Explanation
Reaper Crest S-Tier	The Reaper is easily the best crest you can equip in this game due to a lot of factors, mainly its good ranging attacks, Silk Bind effect, and the fact that it's really easy to get early in the game. It has all the qualities of a well-rounded crest that can easily handle all types of situations with its balanced tool slots.
Witch Crest S-Tier	The Witch is a crest that can deal a crazy amount of damage with its unique Silk Bind effect, and pair it up with its amazing moveset, like its disappearing pogo attack, and the amount of Blue Slots it can equip makes it a formidable crest. The downside of this crest is that it's locked behind a fairly long quest chain, but the damage output it provides definitely makes up for it.
Wanderer Crest A-Tier	Wanderer is an amazing crest to use, especially in the early parts of the game, as it's the only crest that lets you equip 2 yellow tool slots at the start. This means you can equip tools like the Magnetite Brooch with the Compass, allowing you to get rosaries much faster as you explore each area. Their moveset is simple but has a fast attack speed, allowing you to obtain Silk quickly for Silk Bind or Skill. Overall, it's a crest that you can benefit from a lot as you progress through the game.
Architect Crest A-Tier	Architect is a Crest that focuses solely on the usage of tools. Its Silk Bind effect allows Hornet to refill the Ammo of its Red Tools to keep the attack going. It also has a fairly good moveset that ensures Architect can still beat enemies without relying on its tools. The major flaw the Architect has is how many Shards it requires, which you need to grind for, and can likely take away from your experience in the game.
Shaman Crest A-Tier	Shaman Crest has an amazing moveset that leaves itself safe from enemy attacks and can use three Silk Skills to deal a lot of damage. Despite how strong it is, it's only A-Tier because you can only get this Crest later in the game. By that time, you've probably cleared most of the content of the game. It also doesn't do well with exploration, as it does not have any yellow tools it can equip.
Hunter Crest A-Tier	Hunter Crest is the starter crest that all players have at the start, but that doesn't mean it's weak. It's a well-balanced Crest, with good range, fast attacks, and an even number of tools it can equip. However, it falls short in comparison to other crests in the list, especially when compared to Reaper, with it being well-rounded than the Hunter Crest.
Beast Crest B-Tier	The Beast Crest has an amazing Silk Bind effect, which, paired with its fast attack speed for its moveset, can deal a massive amount of damage for the duration of its effect. However, there are so many downsides to this crests that makes it B-Tier. One of them is that it's not really fit for exploration since its Pogo attack has an awkward angle that can be detrimental when doing pogo puzzles and has an unreliable way to heal itself when no enemies are present.

Tier List Explanation

Our current tier list is based on our initial playthrough of Hollow Knight: Silksong. This tier list takes into account how well the crest performs in comparison with each other, how well their playstyle works based on their movesets, and their usability throughout the story's progression.

Since this is our initial playthrough, this tier list is subject to change as we continue playing what Hollow Knight: Silksong has to offer!

Which Crest Do You Think is Good for You!

Hunter Crest 116

Votes

Reaper Crest 415

Votes

Wanderer Crest 263

Votes

Beast Crest 49

Votes

Witch Crest 115

Votes

Architect Crest 63

Votes

Shaman Crest 40

Votes

Best Crest Builds

Jump to a build!
Hunter	Reaper	Wanderer
Beast	Witch	Architect
	Shaman

Best Hunter Crest Build

Hunter Crest Build

Best Skill	Silkspear
Red Tools	Cogwork Wheel Plasmium Phial
Blue Tools	Longclaw Pin Badge
Yellow Tools	Magnetite Brooch Magnetite Dice
Vesticrest	Compass Spool Extender
Pros		Cons
・Well balanced movesets. ・Fairly long-range attacks ・Has a good charge attack.		・Takes time before it gets fully upgraded. ・Angled Pogo attack might be difficult to use during exploration and some fights.

This is a generalist build for the Hunter Crest, fit for both combat and exploration. This build focuses on being able to deal with all types of situations when you're progressing through the game.

Hunter Crest is the first crest that you'll be using at the start of the game. Once you've progressed enough, you'll be able to upgrade the crest to make it stronger. Its moveset is very simple and has good attack range.

The tools in this build offer the Hunter Crest all it needs to handle any situation, making it easier to hit enemies with the increased range and making exploration or farming much easier.

Alt. Skill		Silkspear Cross Stitch
Alt. Tools		Weighted Belt Tacks Curveclaw Cogfly Druid's Eye Fractured Mask

Best Reaper Crest Build

Reaper Crest Build

Best Skill	Silkspear
Red Tools	Flintslate Flea Brew
Blue Tools	Spool Extender Longclaw
Yellow Tools	Magnetite Dice Scuttlebrace
Vesticrest	Compass Weavelight
Pros		Cons
・Far reaching attacks. ・Dash attack has a massive range. ・Can knock opponents further back than other Crests. ・Balanced Tool Slots.		・Struggles in narrow areas. ・Attacks are slow.

This build allows the Reaper Crest to increase its attack range to be able to poke enemies at a safe distance. Since Reaper has a very slow moveset, it's important to get items like Flea Brew, which increases its attack speed.

To complement its far-reaching attacks, it's important to get Longclaw during the later phase of the game. However, for the early game, the range should be enough to deal with most enemies. **Flintslate is a good tool to have to further increase our damage.

Because of its slow attack speed, Reaper doesn't generate as much Silk outside of when its Silk buff is active, so you must get Spool Extender to have extra Silk on hand to reactivate your Silk Skills or Silk Bind much faster when you need it.

Alt. Skill		Silkspear Cross Stitch
Alt. Tools		Weighted Belt Tacks Curveclaw Cogfly Druid's Eye Fractured Mask

Best Wanderer Crest Build

Wanderer Crest Build

Best Skill	Silkspear
Red Tools	Plasmium Phial
Blue Tools	Injector Band Longclaw
Yellow Tools	Magnetite Brooch Magnetite Dice Ascendant's Grip
Vesticrest	Compass Spool Extender
Pros		Cons
・3 yellow slots make it ideal for exploration. ・Easy to use moveset. ・Fast attack speed makes it easy to fill out Silk		・Has short ranged attacks

This build for Wanderer Crest mainly focuses on enhancing the quality of life and experience when exploring each and every area of Pharloom by increasing your chance of surviving and being able to collect items more easily.

Wanderer Crest also helps with how you can explore, since their moveset is very simple to use. It also has a very fast attack speed, which lets you fill up Silk much faster, allowing you to heal more often. The jumping down attack also helps tremendously during areas with pogo puzzles.

One of the cons for Wanderer Crest, however, is that it has very short-range attacks. It may prove difficult to hit enemies, especially if they're the flying types. It's recommended that you get Longclaw as you enter the later phase of the game, or by using Silkspear to deal with them.

Alt. Skill		Silkspear Cross Stitch
Alt. Tools		Weighted Belt Tacks Curveclaw Cogfly Druid's Eye Fractured Mask

Best Beast Crest Build

Beast Crest Build

Best Skill	Cross Stitch
Red Tools	Flea Brew Plasmium Phial
Yellow Tools	Weighted Belt Magnetite Dice
Vesticrest	Ascendant's Grip Spool Extender
Pros		Cons
・Can sometimes outheal enemy attacks during Silk Bind. ・Good damage during Silk Bind buff. ・Can chase down enemies with Pogo attack.		・Awkward angle on pogo attack makes it hard for exploration. ・Hard to use. ・No Blue Slots outside of Vesticrest.

Beast Crest is one of the two crests that rely heavily on spamming Silk Bind as much as possible due to its effect. For this Crest, it makes their attacks reach much further, heals them, and deals more damage, which is perfect against bosses. It also has a pogo attack that can chase down enemies from afar and generally has good air time.

Because of its attack speed, you can generate so much Silk and be able to spam Silk Bind as much as possible, allowing you to consistently deal massive damage against enemies. If a boss is big enough, you can even spam its pogo attack and chase down large enemies to keep on top of them easily.

The downside for Beast Crest is that it has a very risky playstyle to get the most out of its Silk Bind buff. It's also not recommended for exploration due to the awkward angle of its Pogo attack, and it isn't able to heal unless you have to fight an opponent, which increases the risk of dying.

Alt. Skill		Thread Storm Sharpdart
Alt. Tools		Dead Bug's Purse Sting Shard Curvesickle Flintslate Druid's Eye

Best Witch Crest Build

Witch Crest Build

Best Skill	Sharpdart
Red Tools	Curvesickle Plasmium Phial
Blue Tools	Injector Band Spool Extender Claw Mirrors
Vesticrest	Compass Reserve Bind
Pros		Cons
・Huge DPS on Silk Bind explosion. ・Moveset is fast and has a pretty good range. ・Can generate Silk fast.		・Doesn't have its own yellow slot. ・No heals if Silk Bind doesn't hit.

Witch Crest's playstyle revolves around building up its Silk with its fast attacks and spamming its Silk Bind to deal a ton of damage against enemies.

This build focuses on allowing the Crest to store more silk with Spool Extender, having less charge time to Silk Bind with Injector Band, and for Hornet to deal more damage during burst with Claw Mirrors.

To cover for its weakness of not being able to heal unless you go in and do a Silk Bind burst, it's recommended to have Plasmium Phial equipped and use it to have more masks to allow you to jump in and use Silk Bind to restore HP without much risk of dying.

Alt. Skill		Cross Stitch Pale Nails
Alt. Tools		Magnetite Dice Tacks Cogfly Flea Brew Druid's Eyes Fractured Mask Weavelight

Best Architect Crest Build

Architect Crest Build

Red Tools	Tacks Cogwork Wheel Cogfly
Blue Tools	Pollip Pouch Quick Sling
Yellow Tools	Shard Pendant Scuttlebrace
Vesticrest	Magnetite Dice Spool Extender
Pros		Cons
・Long range attacks with tools. ・High DPS output ・Potentially infinite usage with Craft Bind.		・Requires a TON of shards to be able to use frequently. ・Craft Bind takes time, leaving you open.

The Architect Crest sacrifices its Silk skill by having more red tool slots, and with its ability to craft ammunition for your tools, makes it the best crest to use if your playstyle is focused on using red tools.

For this build, since we're going to be mainly using tools, we want to prioritize getting the Quick Sling, as this lets you double the tools thrown for more damage. You also need tools like the Shard Pendant to get more shards.

The major downside for the Architect Crest is that you'll have to dedicate time to grind a lot of Shards you can use for your tools. It's only recommended to use Architect Crest during boss fights and save up shards when you're out exploring instead.

Alt. Tools		Sting Shard Throwing Ring Plasmium Phial Druid's Eye Fractured Mask Weavelight Longclaw

Best Shaman Crest Build

Shaman Crest Build

Best Skills	Thread Storm Cross Stitch Pale Nails
Blue Tools	Spool Extender Volt Filament
Vesticrest	Weavelight Egg of Flealia
Pros		Cons
・Very long range attacks to keep itself safe ・Can equip multiple Silk Skills for every situation		・Takes time to build up Silk with its slow attack speed. ・Can only equip blue tools. ・Is only available much later in the game. ・Only good to use on bosses.

Shaman Crest's playstyle focuses on dealing most of its damage via Silk Skills while also being able to attack safely with its long-range attacks. The playstyle is simple yet powerful; build up your Silk and just unleash all your Silk Skills towards your enemies!

For tools, get Spool Extender for more skill usage and Volt Filament to buff your Silk skills with electric charge. Weavelight can help with the initial Silk Regeneration, and Egg of Flealia can help decrease the usage of Silk when spamming skills at full HP.

The cons for this Crest is that you only get this during Act 3, which is essentially the endgame. It also doesn't fair well during exploration as it doesn't have yellow tools outside of the Vestricrest. Not to mention the lack of Red tools it has.

Alt. Skill		Silkspear Sharpdart Rune Rage
Alt. Tools		Druid's Eyes Fractured Mask Reserve Bind

Hollow Knight: Silksong Related Guides

Hollow Knight Silksong

Hollow Knight: Silksong Wiki Top

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List of Categories
Walkthrough	Tips and Tricks
Bosses	Maps
Wishes	Abilities
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Tools	NPCs
Items	Enemies
News and Updates

Recommended Guides

Mask Shard Locations	Spool Fragment Locations
Trophy Guide	Best Crest Builds
100% Checklist Guide	All Ventrica Station and Bellway Locations
How to Get All Endings	-

Comment

Anonymous about 2 months

Reaper is objectively the worst crest in the game for anything but traversing

Anonymous about 2 months

Also recommends Weavelight and Egg of Flealia for Shaman Vesticrest, despite both being blue

See more comments (9 Comments)

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Hollow Knight: Silksong Walkthrough Team

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Hollow Knight: Silksong Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

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Best Crest Builds and Tier List

Hollow Knight: Silksong Best Crest Tier List

Crest Tier List

Tier Placement Explanation

Tier List Explanation

Which Crest Do You Think is Good for You!

Best Crest Builds

Best Hunter Crest Build

Best Reaper Crest Build

Best Wanderer Crest Build

Best Beast Crest Build

Best Witch Crest Build

Best Architect Crest Build

Best Shaman Crest Build

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