Team CherryThe long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally out, and it’s grinding players into paste. The original Hollow Knight certainly wasn’t easy, but its sequel cranks that difficulty up more than a few notches, leaving some players struggling to get a foothold in the game.While there’s nothing that will truly make Silksong easy (except maybe mods), there are a few ways to keep your frustration to a minimum early on. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you begin your journey through Pharloom.Your map is your lifeShakra is a fierce warrior and a kind shopkeeper rolled into one. | Team CherryFinding the map should be your first goal in any area, which means finding Shakra, the singing explorer who sells them. Without a map, it won’t be possible to navigate through an area or find your way back to safety, so any time you hear her singing echoing through the caverns, you should find her at once.The three items you’ll want to get right away are the map of the first area, the quill that lets you update it with your own discoveries at benches, and the compass tool that shows your own position on the map. Remember that the last one has to be equipped. If you ever find Shakra without the rosaries you need to buy the items and she leaves the spot where you found her, she’ll return to the settlement of Bone Bottom (or other towns once you discover them).Stock up on rosariesTo afford those maps, or any other tools in Silksong, you’ll need a lot of the game’s currency, rosaries. Even most benches and fast travel points require you to spend some, so it’s good to have a fair amount on hand even when you’re just exploring. Excluding simple beasts, most enemies carry rosaries, so you’ll usually want to fight everything you’re confident you can beat until you have some cash on hand.One popular place to farm rosaries in the early game is the upper connection between the Bone Bottom and The Marrow regions. Heading left from the bench here will lead you to a screen with multiple easy enemies, letting you stock up on rosaries quickly.The problem with rosaries is you lose them if you perish, but there is a way to prevent that. Some merchants (like the one in Bone Bottom) sell rosary strings, which safely store your rosaries as an item that won’t be lost when you’re defeated. You will have to pay more rosaries than you get from using them, so there’s a bit of a tax on that security, but it’s better than losing everything.Master the airAerial combat is a tough but necessary challenge to conquer in Silksong. | Team CherrySilksong is a much more vertical game than Hollow Knight, and not just because it’s about climbing to the top of the world. Hornet is more than capable of handling herself in the air, and you’re expected to manage combat while bouncing off enemies and clinging to walls pretty early on.Hornet’s diagonal downward attack has given a lot of players trouble early in the game, and it’s essential to get a handle on it to progress. The upside is that a lot of enemies become almost defenseless when you’re attacking from above, so it’s worth practicing the move before it becomes necessary for platforming.There is a way to change the attack to a simpler downward strike if you want, though. In the caverns above Greymoor’s Moorwing boss, you’ll find the entrance to the Chapel of the Reaper, a combat gauntlet that rewards you with the Reaper Crest. Equipping this changes your attacks, including a straight slash down in the air, and it lets you regain more Silk by attacking as a bonus.Finally, remember that you can heal in the air. While the game doesn’t explicitly point this ability out, it can be a lifesaver given the fast pace of combat. It’s still necessary to choose your moment to heal wisely, since most enemies are much more dangerous on the ground, healing while you’re airborne is a good habit to get into.Talk to every NPCPharloom’s residents are more than happy to hand their problems off to Hornet | Team CherryPharloom is a much more populated place than Hollow Knight’s Hallownest, with much chattier NPCs. Many of them are simply pilgrims who can fill you in on bits of the game’s story, but some also offer side quests or other assistance. Make sure to talk to every NPC you encounter until you exhaust their dialogue, because those side quests often come only after you speak to them multiple times.It’s generally worth it to do every side quest you come across. While Silksong can be stingy with rewards across the board, side quests tend to be the best place to unlock new charms and gain other items that will help you along the way. Also be sure to check the bulletin board in each settlement you find for even more side quests.If it sucks, hit the bricksNot every enemy you encounter in Silksong is one you should fight right away. The clearest early example of this is the giant bug found on the eastern side of The Marrow, which serves as the guardian of Hunter’s March. When you first encounter this bug, you likely won’t have the dash ability, making the fight next to impossible if you’re not really good and really lucky. Your best bet here is to simply avoid that fight until you have more movement abilities.The same goes for the rest of the game. If you’re struggling too much with a boss or a platforming challenge, it’s likely that there’s another way you can go and that returning with new abilities will make things much more manageable. There’s no guarantee that what you find in the other direction will be any easier, but even just taking a break from an encounter that’s giving you trouble can help you overcome it.