Team Cherry admits Silksong is too hard as first patch lowers difficulty

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Hollow Knight Silksong Hornet silhouetted against red background — Even fans who loved the first game find Silksong too tough at times (Team Cherry)

Aside from a litany of bug fixes, Silksong’s first post-launch patch promises to ease the difficulty, particularly in the early game.

Given how much anticipation and hype there’s been for Hollow Knight: Silksong – which finally launched last week after a six-year wait – it’s no surprise it’s been dominating the news.

Even before launch, a lot of the online conversation was focused on developer Team Cherry’s decision not to send out review codes and whether the sudden launch was fair to other indie studios.

There’s also the subject of the game’s difficulty, which many have found far too high for their liking, but which, surprisingly, Team Cherry is about to lower.

In a Steam post, Team Cherry laid out the details for Silksong’s first post-launch patch, and while it’s primarily focused on bug fixes, the team seems to recognise that the game is too unfair, at least in the early game.

What are the patch notes for Silksong?

Silksong’s patch notes mention that two early game bosses – Moorwing and Sister Splinter – and the Sandcarver enemies will see a ‘slight difficulty reduction.’

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At the same time, you’ll see an increase in rosaries (the game’s main currency) from relics, psalm cylinders, and courier deliveries.

This is especially welcome since, aside from purchasing helpful items, you need rosaries for unlocking benches (which let you save and rest up) and bellway stations (which serve as fast travel points).

You can find the full patch notes below.

Silksong 1.0.28470 patch notes

Fixed situation where players could remain cloakless after Slab escape sequence.
Fixed wish Infestation Operation often not being completable during the late game.
Fixed wish Beast in the Bells not being completable when Bell Beast is summoned at the Bilewater Bellway during the late game.
Fixed getting stuck floating after down-bouncing on certain projectiles.
Fixed courier deliveries sometimes being inaccessible in the late game.
Fixed craft bind behaving incorrectly when in memories.
Fixed Lace tool deflect soft-lock at start of battle in Deep Docks.
Fixed Silk Snippers in Chapel of the Reaper sometimes getting stuck out of bounds.
Fixed Claw Mirrors leaving Hornet inverted if taking damage during a specific moment while binding.
Fixed Snitch Pick not giving rosaries and shell shards as intended.
Removed float override input (down + jump, after player has Faydown Cloak).
Slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter.
Reduction in damage from Sandcarvers.
Slight increase in pea pod collider scale.
Slight reduction in mid-game Bellway and Bell Bench prices.
Slight increase in rosary rewards from relics and psalm cylinders.
Increase in rosary rewards for courier deliveries.
Various additional fixes and tweaks.

The patch is technically available now on PC but only through a public beta branch on Steam and GOG. Team Cherry hasn’t stated a proper release date for it, either for PC or consoles, but the wait shouldn’t be long.

What’s most surprising about changing the difficulty is that Team Cherry has previously boasted that the game’s enjoyed two years of polishing, and yet here they are altering the difficulty just five days after launch.

Many fans certainly think they’ve got the balance wrong, as over on NexusMods, the most popular Silksong mods are all about reducing the difficulty. There’s one mod that prevents enemies from dealing double damage and another that doubles the amount of rosaries you earn.

Some mods offer very minor changes, such as simply showing enemies’ health bars or adding a permanent compass effect so you can always see your position on the map.

Responses to the patch on the Silksong subreddit seem mostly positive, with one fan describing it as a ‘fine patch’, since it addresses the early game rather than makes things easier across the board.

‘I think this is a fine patch that works into what was bothering people the most, which was that initial frustration before really fully grasping the game’s mechanics against early game bosses that weren’t that strong anyway,’ they said.

Another fan thinks the patch is ‘pretty fair,’ especially the nerf for the Sandcarvers, while others joke about how fans who asserted Team Cherry would never adjust the difficulty are ‘in shambles.’