Abilities

Unlike charms, these never come off once found

Data from build 22529139, updated 2 Sep 2026

19 abilities make up the Knight's skill tree, split the same way the pause menu splits them: 6 Movement abilities that open up the map (Mothwing Cloak, Mantis Claw, Crystal Heart, Monarch Wings, Isma's Tear, Shade Cloak), 7 Spells across three upgrade pairs plus the standalone Focus, 3 Nail Arts, and 3 Dream Nail abilities. Movement abilities and Spells are just sitting in the world, usually behind a boss or a platforming gauntlet, but Nail Arts and the Dream Nail's later upgrades come from named NPCs instead, so you have to know who to go see for each. Team Cherry never put precise SOUL costs or per-tier damage numbers into the ability text itself, so what's written under each entry here is the same thing you'd read on the acquisition screen, nothing more.

How Abilities Work

Spell Upgrade Pairs

Find the upgraded version of a spell and the base version simply stops existing: Vengeful Spirit becomes Shade Soul, Desolate Dive becomes Descending Dark, Howling Wraiths becomes Abyss Shriek, no going back and no reason to want to. The catch is that all three upgrades sit behind separate fights or rooms scattered around Hallownest, not one convenient checkpoint, so completing the set takes three separate side trips.

Nail Arts & Nailmasters

Cyclone Slash, Great Slash, and Dash Slash come from Mato, Sheo, and Oro, the three Nailmasters spread out across Hallownest, and none of them just walk up and offer to teach you. Mato and Sheo teach for free once you've tracked them down, but Oro charges 800 Geo for Dash Slash. All three arts share one input: hold the attack button to charge a swing rather than tapping it out.

All Abilities

Showing 3 of 3

Group

Nail Arts1 ability

Charged swings, one from each of the three Nailmasters.

Great Slash
The signature Nail Art of Nailmaster Sheo. Unleashes a huge slash directly in front of you which deals extra damage to foes.

Dream Nail2 abilities

The Dream Nail, its awoken form, and the gate that runs on Essence.

Abilities

Unlike charms, these never come off once found

Data from build 22529139, updated 2 Sep 2026

How Abilities Work

Spell Upgrade Pairs

Nail Arts & Nailmasters

All Abilities

Showing 3 of 3

Group

Nail Arts1 ability

Charged swings, one from each of the three Nailmasters.

Great Slash
The signature Nail Art of Nailmaster Sheo. Unleashes a huge slash directly in front of you which deals extra damage to foes.

Dream Nail2 abilities

The Dream Nail, its awoken form, and the gate that runs on Essence.

Dream Nail

What the game tells you

Upgrades to

In the game files

Abilities

How Abilities Work

Spell Upgrade Pairs

Nail Arts & Nailmasters

All Abilities

Nail Arts1 ability

Dream Nail2 abilities

Dream Nail

What the game tells you

Upgrades to

In the game files

Abilities

How Abilities Work

Spell Upgrade Pairs

Nail Arts & Nailmasters

All Abilities

Nail Arts1 ability

Dream Nail2 abilities

Abilities

Overview

How Abilities Work

Spell Upgrade Pairs

Nail Arts & Nailmasters

All Abilities

Nail Arts1 ability

Dream Nail2 abilities

Abilities

Overview

How Abilities Work

Spell Upgrade Pairs

Nail Arts & Nailmasters

All Abilities

Nail Arts1 ability

Dream Nail2 abilities