Hollow Knight: Silksong: Steel Soul 100% in Under 30 Hours…

Steam Community guide by vivictor.

Introduction

Firstly, a huge thanks to TubbinSauce who helped me updating some of the route images with better quality versions!
I created this guide using Steel Soul mode as a foundation, but it’s applicable to any 100% completion run. I highly recommend going into your first playthrough completely blind, but if you’re looking for a step-by-step guide to help you get everything needed for the 100% achievement, this guide has you covered.
One thing to clarify: in Steel Soul mode, you can't die, since it's a permadeath mode. This means you’ll need to be more aware of what you’re doing, but it also ensures you won’t waste time replaying sections. You should be able to complete everything in under 30 hours without much trouble—even without any help. The main goal of this guide is to offer fast routes that let you complete everything in a streamlined order, minimizing backtracking.
The first section of the guide focuses on a speedrun through the first act until we unlock the double jump. From there, we’ll start backtracking to collect everything in each area (100% sections). It's also good to point out—make sure to defeat every enemy you come across to complete Nuu’s Wish ASAP and naturally rack up some Shards and Rosaries along the way; As soon as you get the sprint, the fastest way to move is by spamming jump + sprint repeatedly. This lets you move through areas like a true speedrunner, though it’s not necessary—I personally didn’t do it, but it can save some time.
Also, using the challenge button (Garama – Right Stick Button or V on keyboard) instantly starts boss fights by skipping dialogue, and it also works as a quick way to summon the Bell Beast in any Bellway Station for fast travels.
It took me roughly 18 hours to do a full replaythrough of the game, and some of that time was spent just looking at the map and planning what to do next. So, your time could easily be shorter than mine, depending on how quickly you complete the Act 1 speedrun and how long it takes you to beat some bosses. I'd also like to add that the guide includes suggested routes—some aren't perfect, and there's definitely room to tweak them for better flow. Feel free to try alternative paths or change the order to suit you!

Useful Links

Here you can check every collectable in Pharloom, this will certainly help if you have any trouble finding some of the stuff I didn't explicitly show with images: Silksong Interactive Map[mapgenie.io]
If you want a guide for all the other achievements, this one has a lot of info to help you:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3562089042

Moss Grotto Speedrun

You'll mostly ignore everything here, except for the two mossberries you can collect before reaching the Moss Mother boss fight. Learn to use pogos to move faster; it’s the quickest movement technique we have early on.

The first mossberry is easy to spot, located above a cliff near the starting area, while the second requires you to pogo off an enemy to reach it.

The Moss Mother boss fight is very easy. The only tip I can offer is to stay on the right side of the arena, as it allows you to land more hits.

Progress through Bone Bottom, ignoring all NPCs, and head straight to the next area.

The Marrow Speedrun

Right at the beginning of the Marrow, you're going to do your first skip. Bait the enemy onto this platform and pogo off his head to reach the upper area.

This can be a bit tricky — if you're having a hard time with it, just take the normal route (fight the enemy arena, open the gate for Sherma, etc.). The skip is just to save some time.
You'll meet Shakra here for the first time. Ignore all the map stuff for now and head left toward your first skill. On the way, you'll come across a breakable wall — go through it to grab a relic that'll help with rosaries later.

Near the same area, you'll find the moss druid. In the room below, you'll find the third mossberry. Grab it and return to her to accept and complete your first wish, which will grant your first piece of equipment.

Now run straight to get the Silk Spear and go fight the Bell Beast. This fight is pretty easy — just take it slow and don’t get too greedy, since being overly aggressive usually leads to taking contact damage. After the fight, fast travel to Bone Bottom and accept all the quests available.

Fast travel back to the Marrow and now head right toward the next skill upgrade. Make sure to defeat as many pilgrims as you can to advance the Shawl quest. Also, remember to break this wall here to grab your first Craftmetal:

Now make a quick stop at the prison to get your first tool and some rosaries.

Keep advancing until you reach the next area and hear Shakra singing. Make sure to unlock any easy shortcuts — they'll make backtracking a lot easier later on.

Deep Docks Speedrun

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!
In the room where you hear Shakra singing, exit through the top-right and head toward your next skill — the sprint. Go left to exit through the locked door, then loop back to the area where you first heard Shakra and unlock the fast travel point at the bottom-left.

Now go right and head straight into the Lace fight. This fight isn’t too bad — just don’t get greedy. Be careful not to hit her when she’s ready to parry. Always let Lace attack first, and use those openings to land your hits.

Far Fields Speedrun

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!
Again, you mostly want to run toward the next upgrade, but along the way, you’ll find some ants that drop a nice amount of rosaries. Defeat them all to farm some rosaries. After reaching the tall corridor, you’ll find a pipe to the lower left that leads to the Warding Bell. You can skip it and come back later if you want, but it’s a useful tool that helps keep you safer.

After grabbing it, exit through the bottom right to reach the Seamstress area. Sit on the bench and accept her quest.

Access the room on the right to farm Spine Cores. There’s an enemy that respawns every time you reenter the room, so just keep farming him until you complete the quest.

When done, just quit to the menu and reload your save — you’ll be sitting next to the Seamstress to unlock your next upgrade. Now exit through the left to find the Fourth Chorus.

You can actually completely skip this fight for now by doing a sprint jump + float + heal stall + float + sprint to the left. It’s an easy skip, but you SHOULD watch a speedrun to understand how it works. This will save a few minutes, and you can come back to fight him later with double jump for an insta-kill.

If you can’t manage the skip, just fight the boss normally — the fight is incredibly easy, and I don’t really have any tips other than to just smash him as fast as you can.
You’ll end up back at the tall corridor. Go to one of the top-right rooms to unlock the fast travel, then go back and continue through the top right to find Sherma (don’t say hi).

Open the shortcut to the left and keep floating until you reach the next area.

Greymoor Speedrun

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!

After reaching Greymoor, keep running left until you find this area with water. Access this hidden area to get another relic.

At this point, you’ll probably complete the Shawl quest from Bone Bottom.

Meet Nuu and accept the Hunter’s Journal quest.

Keep going left until you get to the fast travel — unlock it for later.

After reaching this tower, you’ll have to climb it.

Exiting through one of the right doors will lead you to Garmond and Zaza. Talk to them so they can appear later in the game, helping you fight enemies randomly. After exiting the tower from the left, make sure to unlock this shortcut for later:

Before entering the Moorwing area, you can enter this spot on the left to get the Reaper Crest — one of people’s favorites. It’s really good for early bosses, so make sure to grab it.

Keep going left to encounter Moorwing, one of the community’s least favorite fights. I don't think it’s bad if you take it slow and avoid staying too close to the boss. If you don’t feel confident, people have found a lot of cheeses for this one — just go for it.

After the fight, you can access Bellhart. Make sure to unlock this fast travel — it's one of the most important ones.

Shellwood Speedrun

This area will be really quick. One of the first rooms has a hidden tool behind a nest — get it since it’ll be important later for one of the quests.

Keep advancing to the left, and you’ll eventually run into an elevator that you need to take. You’ll also find Shakra on the way, which will help you know you’re in the right place. Once you find a spot with some parkour and a flower to pogo on, climb it:

To the left, there’s also another fast travel point you should grab to help later.

Going right, you'll find an area where you can pull off one of the coolest skips in the game. Keep taunting the enemy at the top right, close to you, by pressing the taunt button (Garama!). On controller, press the right stick (R3 on PS controllers), on keyboard it should be V.

Keep spamming the command until the flower makes it to the other side. When it finally gets aggro on you, wait until it flies up and pogo onto it to access the upper area without fighting any boss.

Go get the Wall Climb skill and start running to the top right of the area. You’ll find the bell place here — just enter it and exit from mid bottom left to reach the Widow.

This boss fight isn’t hard if you avoid trying to hit her nonstop — be patient and wait for openings. After the fight, you can unlock a shortcut to the left and exit through the right to reach Bellhart. Accept all new quests:

Go to the relic bug to get some money:

First needle upgrade:

Bone Bottom Fast Revisit

Fast travel back to Bone Bottom to buy the Simple Key and accept any new quests. Fast travel to The Marrow and take one of the top-left exits to unlock the elevator at Bone Bottom:

Down this area, you can also access one of the first Spool Fragments:

In the elevator area, keep dashing left to reach the spot with a big spitting ceiling enemy. Ignore it for now and just keep going left until you find the door with a simple lock:

Bellow the door we can find a mask shard hidden behind a breakable wall, you can get this now or get it later when we come back during the 100% section:

You can access Wormways, but for now we will ignore it. Take the first bottom exit to reach a mossy area. Make sure to unlock the door on the bottom right. Going left, you can unlock the Wanderer Crest, which is basically the Quick Slash of this game — best crest imo and really comfortable for pogo sections. I may add, though, that this crest starts without any blue slots, and this can be frustrating for people who like the survivability that some of the other crests provide early on without the need to use memory lockets. Feel free not to use this crest if you don’t like it, or to use any memory locket as soon as you get one to unlock the blue slot. You can save memory lockets for your favorite crest, but in the end, we should have enough to unlock all the slots for the first 6 crests.

Go back to Bone Bottom and go down using the moss hole close to the town. By going right, you can access the first Weavenest:

Explore a little to the right to find some hidden doors that will lead you to a Mask Shard:

Exploring to the left, you can also find your second Spool Fragment:

We won't be talking to Eva now because we still don’t have any Memory Lockets used, so to reduce the amount of backtracking, her first visit will take a while.

Sinner's Road Speedrun

Credits to TubbinSauce for this image!
Travel back to Greymoor so you can climb the tower next to the inn and unlock the elevator:

Keep going right from there to access a hidden wall with the Creep Flea:

On the top right exit you can access SR. Keep going right until the second area. Here, you can also pogo an enemy to access the upper area early, but this one is a bit tricky, so feel free to take the long way and zigzag back to here. Unlock the shortcut and access the area with a bench.

Break the wall on the top left to solve the broken bench puzzle and unlock this bench. You’ll certainly want this just in case you mess up during the next area.

Keep going up towards the left side until you find this spot with a breakable wall. Break it and enter to access the next area.