Hollow Knight DLC Guide: What’s Included and How to Start

All four Hollow Knight content packs — Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood and Godmaster — are free, and every one of them is already built into any current copy of the game, so there is nothing to buy, download or activate separately. The only paid “DLC” that exists is the Voidheart Edition, which is just the base game bundled with those same four free updates. If a storefront is offering you Hollow Knight add-ons, what you are looking at is an edition, not a content pack.

The four content packs at a glance

Per Team Cherry’s own patch notes, each of the four packs shipped as a free update to the existing game rather than as paid add-on content. That is unusual for a game of Hollow Knight’s scale, and it is the single most important thing to understand before you go looking for a season pass that does not exist.

Free versus paid: what you actually pay for

Hollow Knight itself sits in the roughly $15 USD / £11 / €15 band at full price, and it is discounted to about half that often enough that paying full price is optional rather than necessary. The Voidheart Edition carries the same price as the standard game — it is not a premium tier, it is simply the name used for the console releases that shipped after Godmaster. Buying it gives you nothing extra beyond the four packs described above.

Two things sit outside this picture. The first is the soundtrack and art book, sold separately as merchandise rather than as playable content. The second is Hollow Knight: Silksong, which is a standalone sequel with its own price tag — it is not a Hollow Knight DLC pack and does not plug into the original game’s save file. Searches for “Hollow Knight DLC” frequently surface Silksong, which is why the distinction matters.

To confirm what you already own, look at the version string in the corner of the main menu. Anything in the 1.4 or 1.5 line contains all four content packs. Lifeblood landed at 1.3, Godmaster at 1.4, and the 1.5 builds are the later console and compilation releases. If your number starts with 1.4 or higher, you are complete.

How to start each pack

Because the packs are integrated rather than launched from a menu, “accessing” them means meeting an in-game condition. Here is what each one actually asks of you, and why.

Hidden Dreams: unlock the Dream Nail first

1. Get the Dream Nail in the Resting Grounds. Both Hidden Dreams bosses are entered through dreams, so without it the content is literally invisible to you.
2. Bank Essence with the Seer. Her reward track is where the Dream Gate — the pack’s quality-of-life addition — sits, along with the Dream Wielder charm that makes the Nail faster to charge. Reason: the Dream Gate turns backtracking into a single button press, which shortens every later trip.
3. Defeat the Dung Defender in the Royal Waterways, then Dream Nail his arena. This drops you into the White Defender fight, a rematch that scales harder each time you win.
4. Rescue Bretta and save Zote, then Dream Nail the statue in Bretta’s house in Dirtmouth. That statue is the gateway to Grey Prince Zote, a fight you can repeat roughly ten times, each round adding new attacks and more health to the boss.

The Grimm Troupe: light the lantern in the Howling Cliffs

1. Travel to the Howling Cliffs and break the false wall near the top of the map. Behind it is the Nightmare Lantern — the pack’s only entry point.
2. Use the Dream Nail on the lantern. Reason: this is the trigger that summons the Troupe tent into Dirtmouth. Nothing happens until you do it, which is why some players finish the game convinced the pack is missing.
3. Collect three flames across Hallownest. Each one is guarded by a Grimmkin, and the flames are what advance the ritual.
4. Fight Troupe Master Grimm, then decide whether to complete or banish the ritual. This choice is permanent for that save file and determines which charm you end up with — see the next section.

Lifeblood: nothing to do

Lifeblood is the smallest of the four and the one most often mistaken for a content drop. It is primarily a performance, balance and bug-fix pass, with small changes to tuning and journal entries rather than new areas or bosses. If your game is up to date, you already have it, and there is no in-game trigger to chase.

Godmaster: find the Godseeker in the Junk Pit

1. Buy a Simple Key from Sly in Dirtmouth. Reason: the Godseeker’s cocoon is locked, and this is the only key that opens it.
2. Enter the Junk Pit in the Royal Waterways and open the cocoon. This unlocks Godhome, a separate hub reached through the dream world.
3. Clear the five Pantheons in order: Master, Artist, Sage, Knight and Hallownest. Each one is a boss rush, and the final Pantheon strings together the game’s major bosses in a single run before its own unique final encounter.
4. Use the Hall of Gods to practise. Reason: it lets you fight any boss you have already met in isolation, which is by far the fastest way to prepare for the later Pantheons instead of losing a 30-minute run to one bad pattern.

Grimmchild or Carefree Melody? A one-save decision

The Grimm Troupe ends with a fork that cannot be undone without a new save file. Completing the ritual gives you the fully upgraded Grimmchild; banishing the Troupe with Brumm’s help gives you Carefree Melody instead. You cannot hold both on one save.

Mistakes that cost you content

• Beating the game and assuming you are done. Godmaster’s Pantheons and Hidden Dreams’ rematches are all post-credits content, and the final Pantheon adds endings that a first playthrough never shows you.
• Ignoring the Howling Cliffs. The Nightmare Lantern is behind a breakable wall in a corner of the map many players only visit once. Missing it is the most common reason people believe the Grimm Troupe pack is absent.
• Burning your only Simple Key. Keys are finite on a save file. If you spend them on optional doors before the Junk Pit, you will need to find another before Godhome opens.
• Banishing the Troupe early. The decision is final, and it removes the Nightmare King Grimm fight as well as the Grimmchild from that save.
• Assuming a patch broke your save. Content packs were applied to existing saves rather than requiring a restart, so old files carry forward. If content looks missing, check the version number first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hollow Knight DLC free?

Yes. All four content packs — Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood and Godmaster — were released free of charge to anyone who already owned the game, per the developer’s patch notes. There has never been a paid expansion for Hollow Knight. The only money involved is the price of the base game itself.

Do I need to buy anything to play Godmaster?

No. Godmaster is included in every current copy of the game at no extra cost. You reach it by buying a Simple Key from Sly and opening the Godseeker’s cocoon in the Junk Pit within the Royal Waterways. The only real requirement is late-game progression, since the Pantheons assume you have most abilities and upgrades.

Can I get both Grimmchild and Carefree Melody in one save file?

No. The Grimm Troupe questline ends in a permanent choice: complete the ritual and keep the upgraded Grimmchild, or banish the Troupe and receive Carefree Melody. Getting both requires two separate save files. If you want to see everything in one run, complete the ritual and watch the banishment ending online, or vice versa.

What is the difference between Hollow Knight and the Voidheart Edition?

The Voidheart Edition is the base game plus all four free content packs, packaged under a single name for console storefronts from September 2018 onward. It contains no exclusive content. Buying it is the same as buying Hollow Knight on PC, where the packs arrive as automatic updates.

Is Silksong a Hollow Knight DLC?

No. Hollow Knight: Silksong is a separate standalone game with its own release and its own price, not an add-on to the original. It does not extend a Hollow Knight save file and does not require you to own the first game. Treat it as a sequel, not as a content pack.

Do I need to finish the base game before starting the content packs?

Not strictly, but practically yes for two of them. The Grimm Troupe can be started fairly early once you have the Dream Nail and access to the Howling Cliffs, and Lifeblood applies from the first launch. Hidden Dreams’ rematches and all of Godmaster’s Pantheons assume late-game equipment, so leaving them until after the credits is the sensible order.