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
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 500 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.

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 Mask 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 of Masks 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 are 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, Oblobbles and Mantis Lords.
 * Team Cherry originally intended each Nailmaster to be fought individually in order to learn their corresponding nail techniques.