In 2026, I am still trapped in a love/hate relationship with Hollow Knight: Silksong. I waited seven years for this sequel. I sharpened my needle, practiced my pogo, and convinced myself I would be ready. Then Pharloom looked at me, laughed, and threw a flying bug at my face. I adore Hollow Knight, but I know my skill gap. I never mastered those nightmarish pogo platforming sequences. I was relieved the hardest content was optional. Silksong, however, has me neck-deep in a first playthrough that feels like a gorgeous, punishing dance. The recent patch has nerfed two bosses, Moorwing and Sister Splinter, and I have opinions. I think those nerfs are largely inessential.

The Patch Notes Heard Round Pharloom

Team Cherry released a lengthy set of patch notes. Most changes are beneficial. They tune the game closer to what Team Cherry initially envisioned. Among them, two bosses received slight nerfs. Cue the community splitting like a Splinterbark under a charged slash. In any difficult game, especially one with Soulslike DNA, everyone has a take. The 112% Hollow Knight veterans say skill issue. The rest of us say please stop throwing three flying enemies into a tiny room. I am somewhere in the middle. I respect the challenge. I also respect my blood pressure.

Why Moorwing Did Not Need a Nerf

Moorwing is a wholly optional boss. You are not locked into an arena with it. If you do not want to fight it, you can simply walk away. That alone makes a nerf feel strange. Optional bosses are where developers can put the spicy stuff. They are the ghost peppers of game design. You do not have to eat them. If you do, you accept the burn.

Here is my evidence, presented with the confidence of someone who has been dive-bombed by a giant moth:

• You can skip Moorwing. Progressing the Flea Caravan wish or quest can skip the fight. Moorwing does return later near the Greymoor Bellway, but that is a choice, not a cage.

• You can cheese Moorwing. Ascend to the top of the area and downward-attack from a ledge. The beast cannot circumvent it. It is not elegant. It is effective. In Silksong, effective is a love language.

• You can summon Garmond and Zaza. You can request aid against Moorwing. In my experience, they did not appear after I requested them when I had transitioned Moorwing to the Bellway-adjacent area and pursued the Flea quest. That was annoying, but it does not change the intent. Help exists.

So why nerf an optional boss that can be skipped, cheesed, or tag-teamed? I do not see it. If Moorwing was a mandatory gate, sure, tune it. But it is not. It is a test you can ignore. Nerfing it feels like removing a pepper from a dish nobody was forced to order.

Sister Splinter and the Splinterbark Problem

Sister Splinter is a different story. I found the only real obstacle in that fight to be the Splinterbarks. That is a pattern for me. I dislike many bosses that revolve around ads. Flying enemies are egregiously grating pests. They hover just outside your reach, they punish your jumps, and they make you feel like you are swatting at a wasp while a larger wasp throws furniture at you.

I am dying on the hill that flying enemies are pests. I am also dying on the hill that gank gauntlets lean too heavily on the first game’s Colosseums. They are overtuned and excessive. Silksong’s rosary economy is brutally impoverishing, though this patch mitigates that somewhat. Thank goodness. I was starting to think I needed a second job in Pharloom.

If anything had to be nerfed, I would prefer gauntlets had fewer waves. I would prefer fodder enemies did not take several hits to kill. They take two to three hits to kill me, including insidious contact damage. I despise contact damage in any 2D game. It is the cheapest form of disrespect. You do not even need to be attacked. You just need to exist near a bug. Congratulations, you have lost a mask.

What I Would Nerf Instead