Lace

"A lithe fencer wielding a gilded pin, the traditional weapon of Pharloom. Lace is a dangerous foe, cloaked in mystery, who’ll delight at causing Hornet’s swift, skewered demise."

- Official description

Lace is a recurring boss in Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Lace makes two appearances in two different arenas in the reveal trailer as an antagonist.

In the first trailer appearance Lace and Hornet battle in a dark arena on a bed of white roses with massive pipes trailing in the background. A big golden cage is also present in the centre of the arena. Lace does a swipe up with her "Gilded Pin" over Hornet's head before propelling herself down at an angle with a midair jab.

The second trailer appearance is very brief as for a second Lace is shown to be wildly swiping and dashing around mid-air as if in some sort of frenzy. The new setting is also on a metal platform over a pool of lava.

The second appearance over the lava lake was revealed to be Hornet's first encounter with Lace during the game.

Behaviour and Tactics In her first encounter and fight in the Deep Docks Lace uses the following attacks and manoeuvres:


 * Lunge: Lace dashes forwards with her pin extended across the platform, covering roughly 60% of it.
 * Double Cut: Lace slashes twice, making large arcs over her head with her pin. Each slash moves her forwards a slight distance.
 * Balestra: Lace launches herself at an angle into the air and slashes a full circle around her body with her pin once she reaches the peak of the jump. She then dashes at an angle towards the ground with a jab, skidding a short bit after landing. While at the peak of her jump, Lace can change the direction of her jab depending on Hornet's position.
 * Parry & Riposte: Lace holds her pin up, striking a defensive position and blocking any damage. She holds this position for about half a second, and if she is struck in that time, she retaliates with a small dash forwards chained into a quick flurry of strikes with her pin. If Hornet is caught in her flurry, she initially takes one Mask of damage and then is held in place by the blows until Lace slashes again with her pin; dealing an additional Mask of damage. If Hornet is not caught in this attack, Lace's flurry of strikes does not last as long.
 * Flourish: During the end of an attack, Lace adds a small flair. Sometimes she fixes and straightens her stance with a small slash from her pin. Doing this deals damage to Hornet if she is caught in it, and deflects projectiles that are thrown at her. Other times Lace simply strikes a quick harmless bow or pose before continuing the fight.
 * Retreat: Lace quickly glides back a short distance to reposition for another attack.
 * Advance: Lace takes a short half-step forwards, accompanied by a very small flick of her Pin. She sometimes chains this move to traverse the arena and reposition.
 * Whirlwind: Lace stands in place for a brief moment charging up, in this time a white circle is highlighted mid-air somewhere in the arena. After charging, Lace unleashes a flurry of 4 slashes within the highlighted region. At the end of her last slash, Lace slams down from that position, shaking the platform. This attack is only used when Lace drops to a certain HP threshold. If Hornet is caught in this attack Lace deals one Mask of damage, traps Hornet within the Whirlwind and then slams Hornet down onto the platform, dealing an additional Mask of damage.

Location Lace's first encounter is within the Deep Docks.

Trivia
 * Lace's stance and her movements in her fight resemble that of a fencer's, reflecting her official description.
 * Lace calls Hornet "little spider". This could be in reference to Hornet’s tendency to call the Knight "little ghost" in Hollow Knight.

References

Lace