Acquiring Rosaries in Hollow Knight: Silksong is likely one of the first things you'll want to do while exploring. Unlike Geo in the original game, Silksong's primary currency for trading with merchants and NPCs doesn't come from defeating all bugs, meaning you can't farm it just by exploring areas and dispatching bugs.
Instead, there are a few ways to get Rosaries, which you'll use to purchase items from merchants like Pebb in Bone Bottom or maps from Shakra once you encounter her.
Here I'll explain the main ways to get Rosaries, though I'll update this if I come across any better methods later on.
How to get Rosaries in Hollow Knight: Silksong
There are five main ways to get Rosaries in Silksong:
- Hitting Rosary strings you see hanging while exploring: These are essentially ropes with red or black beads hanging off them. When you hit them, the Rosaries will roll quite a long way, so be careful to gather them all slowly.
- Consuming Rosary Strings or Frayed Rosary Strings: These are items you can either find or purchase from merchants, such as the Rosary String you can buy from Pebb in Bone Bottom, or the Frayed Rosary String in the passage just above where you find Fleamaster Mooshka in The Marrow. Think of these a little like the soul items you consume in Dark Souls—they keep your Rosaries safe and you can consume them when you need them. The Rosary String is worth 120 Rosaries while the Frayed Rosary is only worth 30.
- Find them inside chests: Some chests contain Rosaries. If you drop back down the hole from Bone Bottom and hug the left side as you're falling, you'll land on a platform with some vine barriers you can smash through. Inside is a chest with some Rosaries.
- Smash Rosary statues: These are similar to the Geo nodes from the original game. Simply hit these Rosary-wearing statues and the currency will come flying out till it breaks after a few whacks.
- Slaying certain enemies: Since the Rosaries are supposed to be carried by pilgrims, slaying some of the humanoid bugs will get you the currency, though these enemies won't respawn immediately if you just leave and return to the area.
You can often just find Rosaries lying on the ground as well. If you're struggling with Rosaries rolling away, be sure to buy the Magnetite Brooch from Pebb in Bone Bottom. It costs 120, so you might want to save your Rosaries to purchase maps first, but this would be a pretty good investment if you can't be arsed chasing balls rolling into awkward places for the rest of your playthrough.
