Broken Vessel

"Shattered corpse, reanimated by infected parasites. The shape of this creature... I have seen something like it before. More than once, perhaps. It looks a little like the bugs of Hallownest, but not quite the same. Where did these empty little wanderers come from?" The Broken Vessel is one of the main bosses in Hollow Knight. It blocks the way to the Monarch Wings. The Lost Kin is its dream variant.

The Broken Vessel is one of the many Vessels who escaped the Abyss like the Knight but, unlike the Knight, was met with a tragic death while still in Hallownest. Their corpse was forgotten in a windy cave deep within the Ancient Basin before the Monarch Wings where the Infection has spread.

The Broken Vessel is found in a room of the Ancient Basin overgrown with Infection bulbs. When approached, Lightseeds rush to fill its broken shell, forming a large bulb protruding out. The Infection reanimates the husk and causes it to attack the Knight. Like other Vessels, it has no voice, but the Infection within screams like the Radiance. Upon defeat, the Broken Vessel's husk is cleared from the Infection, and it reaches out to the Knight before finally collapsing.

Using the Dream Nail on the husk afterwards will bring the Knight to a dream. There, the Lost Kin, a stronger form of the Broken Vessel still taken over by Lightseeds, can be fought. After its defeat, the ghost of the Broken Vessel floats above its husk. Appearing unmarred and uninfected, it offers the Knight a silent bow before shattering in Essence absorbed by the Dream Nail.

Behaviour and Tactics
The Broken Vessel has a large variety of attacks to deal with. Quick Focus is highly recommended for this battle. Charms like Mark of Pride or Longnail can help extend the Knight's Nail to better match Broken Vessel's. Spore Shroom is useful to get rid of the Infected Balloons while healing as well as dealing extra damage to Broken Vessel. Defender's Crest gets rid of the Infected Balloons without the need to heal.

Broken Vessel is one of the few bosses that takes knock-back, because of this, Vengeful Spirit/Shade Soul can be useful, as they have a decent chance of hitting twice. Increasing the fireball's size with Shaman Stone makes increases the chance of a double hit.

Using the Desolate Dive/Descending Dark Spell during the Cascade Attack will deal a lot of damage to Broken Vessel and prevent the player from taking damage at the same time.

Location
The Broken Vessel can be found near the far left corner of the Ancient Basin, guarding the Monarch Wings upgrade.

Trivia

 * The Broken Vessel was the seventh and the last boss to be revealed through the Kickstarter campaign under the name "Infected Knight."
 * The Broken Vessel appears to be taller than the Knight and other regular Vessels, but not as grown as the Hollow Knight.
 * Upon defeat, the Broken Vessel will reach out to the Knight.
 * Due to a possible bug Broken Vessel and Lost Kin might move towards the Knight when they are staggered.
 * Due to another bug, they are also not able to be struck by the Dream Nail when staggered.

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