Nosk

"Mimics the shape of other creatures to lure prey to its lair. In the deepest darkness, there are beasts who wear faces stolen from your memories and pluck at the strings in your heart. Know yourself, and stay strong."

Nosk is a hidden boss in Hollow Knight. Its defeat is rewarded by one of the rare Pale Ores. Winged Nosk is its flying form.

Lore Nosk is a mysterious shape-shifting infected beast hunting throughout Deepnest. It can mimic the shape of faces it finds in the memories of bugs, usually loved or departed ones, and contort its body to assume the smaller frame of its lures. It hangs its preys from the ceiling within its lair at the bottom of Deepnest including Dirtcarvers, a Stalking Devout and various Vessels.

Nosk is one of only three known infected creatures with no thoughts from the Dream Nail, the others being the Broken Vessel and the Shadow Creeper.

In-game events When first encountered in Deepnest, Nosk looks exactly like the Knight. It can first be seen in an unreachable place before the long drop to the area's Hot Spring. After this, it can only be encountered in the hidden maze of tunnels leading to its lair. There it appears in several places and disappears before the Knight reaches them.

The way to Nosk's lair is littered with various dead bugs, their thoughts hinting at the creature's treachery. In the last tunnel, barriers of organic matter close one after another behind the Knight. Once reaching its lair, Nosk reveals its true form through a grotesque transformation, before roaring and beginning the fight.

When defeated, the Infection bursts out of Nosk making it explode. It leaves only behind its counterfeit shell amidst puddles of Infection. The Knight can then collect a Pale Ore from a fossil in a cave further along.

Nosk, like all other strong creatures of Hallownest, is summoned to Godhome by the ritual of  the Godseeker. It appears in the Pantheon of the Artist, but take a  winged form during the  Pantheon of Hallownest. It first assumes the shape of Hornet and retains her shell as a face throughout the fight.

Behaviour and Tactics
Nosk has four attacks:


 * Charge: Nosk rapidly scurries towards The Knight. It will traverse its entire lair with this attack and it will not stop if it hits The Knight.
 * Leap: Nosk will leap 1-3 times around their lair. It will use this manoeuvre to traverse its lair but will also use it to target the Knight at times.


 * Eruption: Nosk will spew two blobs of infection at its feet and sixteen more blobs in equal amounts to both its right and left. They will fly in parabolic arcs leaving small gaps in between each blob after landing. Each blob will linger for half a second. Nosk will always run up to the centre of the arena to use this attack. This attack will also always be followed up by a Charge attack.


 * Rain: Nosk will leap into the ceiling of its lair, disappearing from sight, and rain blobs of infection down on The Knight. Nosk will stay out of sight for about six and a half seconds, dropping a blob or two every half second after the first blob. These blobs will linger for half a second. Nosk can take about one and a half seconds off-screen before dropping the first blob. After this attack is over Nosk will drop down where the last blob landed. Nosk will only use this attack at 580 health.

Nosk moves quite fast and takes up a lot of space which can make it challenging to avoid Nosk.

There are two spaces in the arena that can keep The Knight safe for much of what Nosk does: The SpotsTM. The SpotsTM are against the left and right walls of the middle platform. Standing here, Nosk will Charge safely over the Knight. The left SpotTM protects the Knight when Nosk Charges to the left, during almost every Explosion, and during most Leaps. The left SpotTM is a safe place to heal, even without Charms. The right SpotTM protects the Knight when Nosk Charges to the right.

The Shade Cloak is a very strong upgrade against Nosk, allowing the player to nullify all Charge attacks. Adding the Sharp Shadow Charm is a great way to add damage to those dodges.

Even though Nosk is out of sight during the Rain attack, their hitbox is still present in the ceiling and charms such as Grimmchild or Glowing Womb can track and hit them. Furthermore, hitting them with the Nail in this state is also possible, and using charms like Longnail or Mark of Pride can make it easier when trying to do so.

If the player is caught by the Eruption Attack, a quick dash away is a good tactic for surviving. There's a sizeable gap between the blobs at Nosk's feet and the blobs that fly in the arc.

It's important to keep moving to dodge the Rain attack. Nosk tries to track the Knight with those blobs so standing in one place is dangerous. This is the only attack that isn't nullified by either SpotTM.

Nosk primes their dash always with a quick small screech, using this sound to cue to predict when they are about to dash from off-screen can be very significant. Be wary that Nosk most often prefaces an Explosion attack by charging to the center of the arena.

Spells can be very effective against Nosk. Desolate Dive/Descending Dark is a good response to all of Nosk's attacks, except the Rain attack. The spell Howling Wraiths/Abyss Shriek is effective when hiding in one of the SpotsTM. It's also a great way to damage Nosk when they are in the ceiling for a Rain attack.

Location
A breakable wall in the room directly left of the Deepnest Hot Spring reveals a secret section containing a Grub. Breaking another wall behind the Grub leads to the tunnels and into its lair. The Monarch Wings or Crystal Heart are either required to access the hidden room. It is also possible to use the Nail to pogo on the Shade if it is lured near the first breakable wall.

Trivia

 * When it dies, Nosk drops the same shell that the Knight drops upon death.
 * Winged Nosk references Nosk's original concept design where it had wings and a longer tail.
 * Nosk is shown in the Wanderer's Journal Book disguising itself with the body of a normal Husk bug as its head.

References

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