Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

The Swift Step dash ability transforms Hornet's mobility in Hollow Knight: Silksong, turning impossible jumps into effortless maneuvers. This game-changing skill becomes available in the Deep Docks area, but reaching it requires careful navigation through treacherous terrain and strategic enemy encounters. You'll need to master platforming sequences, manage your resources wisely, and prepare for mandatory combat encounters along the way.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

How to Get Swift Step

The Swift Step shrine awaits you in the depths of Deep Docks, accessible only after completing The Marrow area. This isn't a simple fetch quest - you'll embark on a complex loop through dangerous territory filled with lava hazards and aggressive enemies.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

Begin at the main Deep Docks entrance where you'll immediately spot a crucial elevator. Your first priority should be activating the shrine at the top, which transforms into a bench for saving and resting. This checkpoint proves invaluable given the challenging path ahead.

Essential Merchant Stop

Before diving deeper, locate Shakra, the singing map merchant positioned near the elevator base. Her melodic voice guides you to her location, where you can purchase the Deep Docks map for 50 Rosaries.

If you're short on currency, explore the small horde near Shakra's position. This cache provides enough Rosaries to cover essential purchases without extensive grinding.

Deep Docks Route to Swift Step

From the elevator, head right and begin your ascent. You will find hanging blocks that lower when you hit nearby switches. Each switch can open a route while closing another, so plan your order carefully. Flying enemies fire projectiles during these climbs, and the lowered blocks work well as shields while you move up.

Continue to the right into the lava fields patrolled by skeletal horse enemies. Their movement is erratic, so advance with patient timing. From the low platform that overlooks a wide lava span, you can hop across with precise jumps. A hit or two is usually survivable if you start with full health. Keep an eye on falling rocks, since they can knock you into the lava without warning.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

Your path leads to a chamber marked by a strange lamp and two main enemies. This fight is mandatory and serves as a checkpoint for your readiness. The pair will summon additional creatures, but their patterns are readable. Clear the summons first to keep the field manageable, then punish the main enemies after their attacks. The lamp provides useful cover when threats cluster.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

After the battle, move left through descending rooms. Thread your way around spike traps and favor leftward paths when the layout splits.

You will eventually reach the Swift Step shrine in its own chamber. Interact with it to gain the dash ability, which is bound to the right trigger by default.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

How Swift Step Works

Swift Step is a versatile movement ability that works both on the ground and in the air. It does not consume silk resources, which makes it reliable for frequent use in exploration and combat alike. Because it costs nothing, you can use it repeatedly while navigating tricky areas or dodging enemies.

One of its greatest strengths is instant distance coverage, allowing you to bridge short gaps that other moves cannot handle. It also functions as a powerful combat tool since it enables quick dodges and rapid repositioning. Whether you are avoiding attacks, closing the distance on an enemy, or weaving through obstacles, Swift Step provides both speed and flexibility.

Rather than replacing your existing movement skills, Swift Step enhances them. It opens new options for chaining abilities together and creates smoother navigation routes across the world.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Guide: How to Unlock Swift Step (Dash)

The Swift Step dash ability fundamentally changes how you approach Hollow Knight: Silksong's platforming challenges. With this essential tool in your arsenal, previously impossible sections become manageable, and your overall mobility receives a massive upgrade that carries through the entire adventure.

You may also want to check our How to Get Crest of the Wanderer guide, which unlocks the pogo slash ability essential for advanced combat and traversal.  You might also check our list of games since there could be something there that sparks your interest.