How to unlock Dash (Swift Step) in Hollow Knight Silksong

Dashes are extremely important in Hollow Knight Silksong as they allow you to evade enemy attacks, especially against late-game bosses, where agility is crucial to defeating them.

Unlike the first game, you can unlock the Dash pretty early in Hollow Knight Silksong, but it is tricky because the location requires you to find a particular spot. If you’re finding it difficult to gain this early game dash skill, we’ve got you covered. 

How to unlock Dash in Hollow Knight Silksong

To unlock Dash (Swift Step) in Hollow Knight Silksong, make your way to the Deep Docks area on the map. Now, make your way to the right while going through the middle area until you find lava on the ground. Even though you die immediately when you step on lava, this isn’t your regular lava because it’s solidified. 

You can move on solidified lava by jumping on it, but standing on it for too long burns you and eventually kills you, so stick to jumping. Use the lava here to go to the end and jump up a few platforms to find a glowing yellow explosive rock you can hit. Move away quickly to detonate a blast, and it’ll unlock the only way to go up. 

Now, make your way to the west, and you should have a platform similar to the Silkspear ability unlock, where you can bind your needle to learn the dash ability for the rest of the game. You can also keep going west because it helps you use a lever to unlock a direct entry to the top level right next to the checkpoint, so you don’t have to do parkour every time you come here.

Once you’ve unlocked it, press C on your keyboard or hold R2 on your controller to Dash. There is no cooldown on the Dash ability, so you can use it without a penalty and even use it to run away from more challenging enemies.

Next up, you can read our guides to defeat the Bell Beast boss and get Rosary Strings in Hollow Knight Silksong.