Brothers Oro & Mato

The Nailmasters Brothers Oro & Mato are a dual quest boss in Hollow Knight introduced in Godmaster. They sit at the top of the Pantheon of the Master in Godhome.

Behaviour and Tactics

 * Double Slash: Oro or Mato will swing their Nail twice. The first slash is a backhand swipe and the second slash is an overhead swipe (much like the Watcher Knight's but with more range). They move about a full body's width forward with the first slash and only about half that with the second. This attack can be done by one brother individually or both brothers simultaneously.
 * Jump Slash: Oro or Mato will leap towards the Knight's location, stopping in midair briefly before dropping straight down with their Nail swiping down. This attack can be done by one brother individually or both brothers simultaneously. They target the Knight with this attack before leaving the ground which can result in them jumping backwards. They strike where the Knight was with a portion of their body, usually their leading foot. Their Nail will always extend beyond the Knight's previous position.
 * Dash Slash: Oro will perform his signature Nail Art: the Dash Slash. His Dash Slash covers the entire breadth of the arena with Oro covering about 75% of the arena and the slash covering the rest. Oro telegraphs his Dash Slash when he quickly leaps up and out of view for a moment before landing at either end of the arena. If Oro is already on one end of the arena, he will NOT perform this jump. Oro will take nearly 1.5 seconds to charge up his attack.
 * Cyclone Slash: Mato will perform his signature Nail Art: the Cyclone Slash. This Cyclone Slash carries Mato high into the air, where, after he's done spinning, Mato will come down just like during a Jump Slash. Mato will move towards the Knight as he spins. He determines which direction he's going to move before he starts spinning. Mato spins for a little more than 1.5 seconds (and makes about 6 rotations). Mato telegraphs his Cyclone Slash when he quickly leaps up and out of view for a moment before landing at the center of the arena. If Mato is already near the center of the arena (or he's fighting alone), he will simply begin charging. Mato also takes nearly 1.5 seconds to charge up his attack. He spins about three times before he lifts off towards an upper corner of the arena where he finishes up with the latter part of a Jump Slash.
 * Roll back: Oro or Mato will roll backwards to reposition or dodge.
 * Jump back: Oro or Mato will jump back, to reposition or to dodge.

Brothers Oro and Mato are the final bosses of the Pantheon of the Master, the first of five Pantheons in Godhome. Oro will appear alone at the start of the battle, and once he takes 400 damage, Nailmaster Mato will fight alongside him. If any of the brothers are defeated before another, the one left will keep fighting. Oro fights normally. Mato will no longer jump before a Cyclone Slash. In this "third" phase the player can Dream Nail whichever brother is sitting down and gain Soul from them.

There is little difference between the Brothers Oro and Mato beyond their signature Nail Arts. However, Mato's cooldown after doing an attack is 1 second shorter than Oro's. Meaning Mato can recover slightly faster to perform another attack leaving less open punish time. This difference is most noticeable when facing them one on one.

Brothers Oro and Mato are familiar with fighting as a team. They will attack simultaneously with Double Slashes or Jump Slashes, especially if the player is between them. They will attack in tandem with a combination of a Jump Slash and a Double Slash. They will also have one brother attack and the other jump or flip backwards behind the attacking brother.

Here's something unique that can only happen when one brother is charging and executing their Nail Art: the other brother might take up a defensive stance where they bring their nail up in front of them. If the Knight damages the brother while they are in this stance, they'll respond with a Double Slash or Jump Slash.

Sometimes one brother will stand around while the other is attacking or preparing to attack. This leaves them open to attack without any response from them. So for a quicker fight, it's best to take advantage of these opportunities.

There are opportunities to heal in every phase of this fight, even without charms. The player can heal a hitpoint after dashing through or staying out of range of a Double Slash; after reaching safety during a Jump Slash; during the charge up of a Dash Slash (the timing is tight for those last two scenarios without charms). It's possible to heal a couple hitpoints while Mato charges and performs his Cyclone Slash. These opportunities to safely heal without charms tend to rely on only one brother attacking at a time, except during a simultaneous Double Slash or Jump Slash.

For the most opportunities to safely heal, combine Shape of Unn and Quick Focus. This allows safe healing during any attack except a Dash Slash. Quick Focus alone allows healing multiple hitpoints during many of those no-charm healing moments.

The Double Slash can be deceptive in its reach. The Shade Cloak and Sharp Shadow is very helpful in mitigating this attack. Oro or Mato will sometimes perform a series of short hops to close the distance on the Knight before doing a Double Slash. In the event of a simultaneous Double Slash, jumping and dashing over one brother to get out safely might be necessary because that attack can be done when one or both brothers are unusually far from the Knight. Pogoing on Oro or Mato while they do a Double Slash can keep the player safe too.

When a Jump Slash is starting, remain in place until Oro or Mato actually leaves the ground. They set their landing spot before they've jumped so damage them even while they begin that attack. It is better to dash towards the attacking brother to avoid their Jump Slash because of how they land: their leading foot will strike where the Knight was (approximately) which means there's less to dodge going towards them rather than away. It's good to follow their jump, striking them with the Nail. Or hit them with Abyss Shriek. In the event of a simultaneous Jump Slash, choose left or right and mitigate it the same way as with a single Jump Slash.

Shade Soul has many uses in this fight. Cast it when both Brothers are on the ground, even when one of them is charging their Nail Art. Use it when safely out of range of a Double Slash too. Descending Dark can be used in response to most of Oro and Mato's attacks. Use it when they are coming down from a Jump Slash for maximum effect against that attack.

Oro and Mato can be damaged when they are charging up their Nail Arts. Pogoing on them is the safest option but also less offensive. It's best to jump over Oro's Dash Slash when he executes it. It's safest to give Mato a wide berth when he's charging up a Cyclone Slash. It is possible to pogo on him throughout the majority of his Cyclone Slash.

Trivia

 * Despite the bad blood of Oro and Mato's relationship according to the Dream Nail dialogue whilst in their Nailmaster huts, both decide to fight alongside each other in the Pantheon without conflict.
 * The Brothers are one of few bosses to have multiple entities attack the player, the others being the God Tamer, Watcher Knight, Oblobble and Mantis Lords.
 * Team Cherry originally intended each Nailmaster to be fought individually in order to learn their corresponding nail techniques.