MasterMode

Usage

Install the mod, then start a new file in any game mode. You'll know if it's installed properly:)

Motivation

When I play Hollow Knight, I almost exclusively use the nail for damage. It does more DPS and that's the playstyle I've grown the most comfortable using. So, when it came time to play Silksong, I did the exact same thing. I never used silk skills or red tools save for testing what they did. I just whacked away at everything with the needle until it died. That worked really well, and I had little trouble getting through the game. I don't think anything killed me more than 15 times, and only a handful went above 10. I never had to use a silkeater, and I also never had to farm for rosaries to afford a bench or fast travel station. All in all, I found the experience lacking in challenge.

Now that I have hundreds of hours in the game, the problem is even worse. I would never consider using tools in combat, because I know I can beat everything first try with just the needle. Why would I try anything else? I don't even buy most toll benches anymore because I know I'm not going to die anytime soon. Once you play the game enough, a lot of its systems simply become irrelevant to you. You rarely feel like you are respecting the game's challenge or having the intended experience. Because of that, replays are less fun and less memorable than your casual playthrough.

This mod changes that. It feels like I'm playing the game for the first time again; it also feels like I have the fine motor skills of a toddler now. Somehow, that's a ton of fun. If you felt the same way I did, this mod is absolutely for you.

Changes

• Your maximum health starts at 2 (down from 5).
• Attacks with the needle are capped to 1 damage (down from 5). This applies after all other modifiers, so it is not affected by needle upgrades, elemental buffs, barbed bracelet, etc. All other attacks, including Needle Strike, are unchanged.
• This cap is increased to 2 if the player taunted within the last 6 seconds.
• Mask shards and spool fragments no longer increase your maximum health and silk. Instead, gaining an extra mask or spool grants 1000 and 500 rosaries, respectively.
• When you die, you will regain any tools you used since your last save.

Why These Changes?

That may sound like an odd set of changes, so allow me to explain why I chose to design the mod like this.

Maximum health decrease: It goes without saying that you will get one-shot by a lot of attacks with just 2 HP. This change was inspired by the Souls games, where many attacks from bosses deal more than half your health and can even kill you in one hit. That makes the combat very high-stakes and more exciting. Team Cherry were likely thinking along these lines when they made double damage more widespread in Silksong, but I'm taking the idea even further. In Master Mode, anything can kill you.

Why not go down to 1 HP instead? Well, I think that would be too punishing for an engaging experience. It would remove the difference between single damage and double damage attacks, and since double damage attacks are usually slower and better telegraphed to compensate, they would become less dangerous than their counterparts. We don't want that. Besides, getting hit by a single damage attack while on 2 HP creates an interesting choice: do you risk it and use your silk on extra damage to defeat the threat? Or do you play it safe and carefully collect enough silk to heal back to full? With just 1 HP, that complexity is gone, and you are forced to just not get hit ever.

Naturally, being on lower health means you will die a lot more. That's a good thing. It allows you to play the game at a slower pace, and it means you will lose your rosaries more often. That means you have to explore more to be rich enough to afford things. You know, like in your casual playthrough. Getting to soak in all the details of this wonderfully crafted world is more fun than blasting through it, in my opinion. (Though that