Hey. Hey you. Yes, you. The one who plays Hollow Knight: Silksong. Before you go any further, I just wanted to let you know that you’re missing a bench in Bilewater. In case this helps.
If you haven’t been to Bilewater yet, this PSA is still for you. You’ll get there and you’ll want to know it. In this article I’m going to spoil what’s going on in Bilewater, so if you don’t want to know this information, leave and come back when you get incensed enough at Bilewater.
Bilewater is celebrated. This is a huge, gross zone on the other side of the already frustrating Sinful Road that you may encounter quite early on in Silksong’s first act, and is required if you ever want to see the game’s third act. There are many reasons why Bilewater is gross: it’s full of nasty enemy types that can attack you and ruin your day, there are plenty of spikes for you to fall on and hurt yourself, and especially it’s full of worm-infested water that will stop you from healing and regenerating your silk. Bilewater is terrible.
But apart from the larvae water, one of Bilewater’s most distinctive horrors is the lack of benches. There is one bench leading to the Bell Beast Station, at the bottom of Bilewater. At first you may think that there is a second bench closer to the upper left corner of the zone, but surprise! It’s a trap. Not a bench at all. You fall into the water with worms.
So…uh…that’s it? Is the Bell Beast bench really the only bench in Bilewater? Do you really have to make it through the entire zone and the long, painful run back to the boss through rivers of bugs, past piles of spikes and exploding bug enemies, and those nasty things that breathe poison at you, all non-stop?
You don’t. Power. You’re missing the bench at Bilewater. is here:
We’ve got a detailed guide to getting around Bilewater here at IGN that you should utilize to find that bench when the time comes. The compact version is that the hidden Bilewater bench is located behind a destructible wall on the right side of the cave, behind a giant puddle of worm soup at the bottom of the pit. Break the wall and drop down through the next pit, then break the next wall on the left to find a secret bench. Fortunately, this one is safe and sound and won’t unceremoniously throw you into a pool of misery when you try to sit down.
This bench is much, much closer to Bilewater’s boss, Groal, although it’s still a ways away. Once again, I recommend our guide to lend a hand you survive Bilewater, because it’s a really disgusting and hard place.
Many people have suggested that returning to Groal, even with the lend a hand of a hidden bench, is one of the worst returns in the Souls genre. We’re curious if you agree, so we’ve prepared the survey above. Vote to find out which of these bosses is the worst at returning from safety to the arena every time you die and have to try to fight him again. Or let us know in the comments if there’s a worse fight we haven’t mentioned here.
In addition to our Bilewater guide, we have a detailed Wiki to lend a hand you with every step of your Pharloom journey, so check it out before, during and after Bilewater.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Her posts can be found on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
