Traitor Lord in Hollow Knight: Best Spells, Charms, & Strategies

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Defeat the Traitor Lord boss battle using our simple walkthrough

Co-authored by Hunter Rising

Last Updated: February 25, 2026 Fact Checked

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How to Beat Traitor Lord

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Moveset & Counters

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Best Charms & Spells

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Lore

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Location

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FAQ

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The Traitor Lord is one of the tougher bosses in Hollow Knight due to his fast attacks that don’t give you time to heal. If you’re having trouble beating him and need some help in your fight, we’ve found the best strategies to help you win and progress through the game. Keep reading to learn all about where to find the Traitor Lord, how to counter the Traitor Lord’s attacks, and which charms and spells to equip to take him down for good!

Best Strategies to Beat the Traitor Lord Boss

Use Shadow Dash to evade the Traitor Lord’s attacks.
Focus on dealing damage fast to end the fight quickly.
Use the Sharp Shadow and Dashmaster charms to deal damage while avoiding attacks.
Rely on Cloth or charms like Glowing Womb, Grimmchild, or Weaversong to deal extra damage.

Section 1 of 6:

How to Beat Traitor Lord in Hollow Knight

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Dash through each of the Traitor Lord’s attacks. You can easily dodge all of the Traitor Lord’s attacks using well-timed Shadow Dashes. When the Traitor Lord rears up for an attack, use your Shadow Dash to move through him without getting damaged. Just keep in mind that your dash has to recharge, but there’s usually enough time before he attacks again.^{[1]
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- Try to stay on the ground as much as possible during the fight because it’s easier to focus on dashing at the proper time.
- If your dash isn’t available, try jumping or running out of the way.
Traitor Lord’s arena is pretty small, and he moves pretty fast, so try to stay in his face and deal as much damage as you can. The faster you can chip away at his health, the less time you’ll spend trying to dodge his attacks and survive.^{[2]
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The Traitor Lord strings his attacks together really quickly, and he doesn’t get staggered during battle, so there isn’t a lot of time to heal. Rather than trying to heal any damage that he’s done to you, go on the offensive and attack as much as possible to end the fight.
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Hide in the corner while Cloth or minions deal damage. Cloth is a wanderer who joins your fight if you save her from the Ancient Basin, and each of her hits does 15 damage. If you want to cheese the Traitor Lord, jump up and stay in the top right corner of the arena, and let Cloth do all the hard work for you.^{[3]
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- While you’re in the corner, the Traitor Lord won’t be able to reach you with attacks until he drops below 500 health and gains a new attack. You can easily dash to avoid the attack and return to the corner.

Section 2 of 6:

Traitor Lord Attacks and Counters

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Dash The Traitor Lord crouches down and looks toward you before dashing across the arena’s floor and slashing at you. His dash covers about a third of the room and deals 2 masks of damage if he hits you.
- How to Counter: Time your dash when the Traitor Lord approaches you so move through him without taking damage. Alternatively, jump into the air and slash downward to deal damage while avoiding the attack.
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Dive The Traitor Lord leaps straight up into the air and then dives forward at a 45-degree angle toward you. If the Traitor Lord runs into you at any point during his initial jump or dive, he deals 2 masks of damage.^{[4]
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- How to Counter: Stand right in front of the Traitor Lord when he first jumps up. When he dives, he’ll move above you without making contact or dealing damage. If you’re in the area where his dive lands, just dash out of the way to avoid getting hit.
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Dancing Glaive When the Traitor Lord uses this attack, he throws out 2 spinning orange discs that move up and down across the arena. He normally uses the Dancing Glaive attack when you’re far away, and getting hit by one deals 1 mask of damage.^{[5]
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- How to Counter: Stay a good distance away from the Traitor Lord so you’re able to run or dash through the gap between the discs.
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Ground Pound After the Traitor Lord drops below 500 health, he unlocks his Ground Pound attack. He’ll strike the ground with full force to create a shockwave that reaches up to the top of the arena and travels toward both sides of the room. Getting hit by the shockwave does 2 masks of damage.
- How to Counter: Dash through the shockwave using your Shade Cloak to avoid getting damaged.

Section 3 of 6:

Best Charms and Spells to Beat Traitor Lord

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Desolate Dive is a spell that allows you to dive down and create a shockwave on the ground. While you’re using Desolate Dive, you become invincible for about a half-second during and after casting it. Use the Dive when the Traitor Lord attacks to avoid getting hurt while damaging him at the same time.
The Sharp Shadow charm lets you Shadow Dash even further than before, plus you deal damage to any enemies in your path. Dashing is the best way to dodge the Traitor Lord’s attacks, so equip this charm to inflict damage even faster.^{[6]
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The Dashmaster Charm reduces the recharge time for your Shadow Dash, so it allows you to do it more frequently. When you pair this charm with Sharp Shadow, your dash does even more damage to the Traitor Lord.
The Glowing Womb charm summons hatchlings that fight for you. When the hatchlings come into contact with the Traitor Lord, they each deal 9 damage to him. Glowing Womb can be helpful if you want to deal damage quickly without the risk of getting hurt.
The Grimmchild charm summons a creature called The Grimmchild to fight by your side as long as you’ve collected its Flames from around the map. Each shot from the Grimmchild does between 5 and 11 damage, depending on what stage it’s in and how many Flames you’ve found.
The Weaversong charm summons 3 small creatures called Weaverlings that each do 3 damage when they land a hit. If you want to deal damage without getting close to the Traitor Lord, send the Weaverlings out to deal damage for you.
If you’re worried about losing health and want to have enough time to heal, Quick Focus lets you heal faster. The Shape of Unn lets you move around while you’re focusing so you’re still able to dodge the Traitor Lord’s attacks.^{[7]
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Section 4 of 6:

Traitor Lord Lore in Hollow Knight

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The Traitor Lord was cast out of the Mantis Tribe after becoming infected. The Traitor Lord and his sisters, the Mantis Lords, were leaders of the Mantis tribe. When the Infection arrived in the kingdom, the Traitor Lord and his followers embraced it to grow even stronger than before. After that, they were all cast out from the Mantis Village and arrived in the Queen’s Gardens.^{[8]
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- The Traitor Lord and his followers tried to take over the gardens from the White Lady, but the Dryya, one of the Five Great Knights, defended her.
- The Traitor Lord has a daughter who died, known as the Traitors’ Child. You can find her grave in the Queen’s Gardens.

Section 5 of 6:

How to Access the Traitor Lord Boss Fight

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Find the Traitor Lord in the upper left section of the Queen’s Gardens. The Queen’s Gardens are on the west side of the Hollownest map, and they’re overgrown with vegetation. Make your way to the northwest corner of the Gardens and look for a Shade Gate. Use your Shadow Dash to go through it and enter the room.^{[9]
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- Mantis Traitors will appear in the room first, so defeat them to fight the Traitor Lord.
- You have to defeat the Traitor Lord if you want to reach the White Lady in the next room and receive half of the Kingsoul.
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Fight the Traitor Lord in Godhome after defeating him. Once you defeat the Traitor Lord in the Queen’s Gardens, he becomes available to battle against in Godhome. When you challenge the Traitor Lord again, you can change the difficulty between Attuned, Ascended, and Radiant for even more of a challenge.^{[10]
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- At Attuned, the Traitor Lord has the same stats as when you first fought him.
- At Ascended, the Traitor Lord goes from 800 Health to 1,300 Health.
- On Radiant, the Traitor Lord has 1,300 Health and any attack will instantly kill you.

Section 6 of 6:

Traitor Lord FAQs

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Do you need to fight the Traitor Lord to get the true ending? There is no “true” ending to Hollow Knight, but defeating the Traitor Lord allows you to unlock alternate endings. In the room after the Traitor Lord, the White Lady gives you half of the Kingsoul, which you can use to unlock new areas of the map. It also transforms into the Void Heart, which is a requirement for the secret endings.^{[11]
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Where is the closest bench to the Traitor Lord? The closest bench to the Traitor Lord’s room is the Stag Station in the middle of the Queen’s Gardens. If you lose against the Traitor Lord, you’ll respawn back at the bench and have to platform up to his room again.^{[12]
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- If you don’t want to go so far from a bench to the Traitor Lord’s room, use the Dreamgate ability to create a warp point nearby. That way, if you have to retry the battle, you can easily teleport to the room.
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Can Cloth survive the Traitor Lord? If you haven’t run into Cloth when you first fight the Traitor Lord, then you’ll see her alive and well later in the game. However, if you’ve already saved her from the Ancient Basin and she joins you in the fight, she’ll sacrifice herself to deal the final blow and take out the Traitor King.