Hollow Knight is a metroidvania released by Team Cherry in 2017 and to great success. As it has settled into the public sphere and become more popular, most people have realized that Geo is incredibly important (especially if you want to 100% the game).
Trying to go through your game without collecting as much as you can will only make your life much harder. As such, the community has come together over time to try and figure out the best ways to farm Hallownest for everything it’s worth and fill the wallet of the little Knight to the brim.
There is no easy way to get money and no get-rich-quick scheme in Hollow Knight (without mods, that is), which means that if you want a lot of Geo, you’re going to have to put in the elbow grease needed to farm up some hard-earned cash. These methods may not be the most exciting, but they’re certainly the most effective.
A Glancing Blow
There are a few reasons you’d want to farm for Geo, whether for charms or other items (but mostly charms). The most effective way to grind for Geo in the early game is through fighting the harder enemies, like the Moss Knights or Husk Guards (especially when you have fragile or unbreakable Greed equipped).
In the middle section of the game, you should look at farming the Abandoned Tramway or running through the area above King’s Station. And in the end game, fighting through the Colosseum of Fools and feeding Millibelle’s scam will be the easiest way to get a lot of Geo very quickly.
Hollow Knight Can Get Expensive
There are a couple of reasons why you might want to farm as much Geo as you can, and it mainly lies with trying to get your hands on the Lumifly Lantern and paying Divine for the Unbreakable Charms in the Grimm Troupe DLC.
The Lumifly Lantern is found in Sly’s shop for 1,800 Geo, making navigating areas like Deepnest much easier and less dangerous. You will likely need to farm for this in the early game.
If you want to upgrade all of the Fragile Charms you paid Leg Eater 960 Geo to get your hands on, then you’ll have to pay Divine 36,000 Geo. She asks to see them and then proceeds to hold them hostage in her stomach until you pay her to give them back to you.
Sure, you get an unbreakable version in return, and the unbreakable versions are, arguably, some of the best charms in the game, but it’s just so much Geo. There’s no realistic way to gather that much without farming for a while in the mid-to-late parts of the game.
Early Game, No Dreamers
This is before you have killed any of the Dreamers when the game is still easy, and at most, you have access to the Forgotten Crossroads, Greenpath, and the Fungal Wastes. At this point, the only thing you’re likely trying to farm up some coin for is the Charms and Charm Notches at Salubra’s and Sly’s, and likely for some maps from Cornifer.
Farming at this point in the game needs to be relatively easy and accessible.
Geo Farming Charms
There are two charms you’ll probably want to get your hands on before you start trying to farm up Geo: Gathering Swarm and Fragile Greed.
The Gathering Swarm Charm
Gathering Swarm can be purchased from Sly in Dirtmouth for 300 Geo. This will essentially cause all of the Geo dropped by enemies to make its way safely to you without you having to run around and collect it.
This may seem like a hefty price in the beginning, but if you go after the Husk Guards a few times or spend a little bit in the Crossroads, you’ll gather it in no time.
The Fragile Greed Charm
On the other hand, Fragile Greed can’t be purchased until you reach the Fungal Wastes and can talk to Leg Eater. He’s close to the entrance from the Forgotten Crossroads, so finding him shouldn’t be too difficult. Fragile Greed can be purchased from him for 250 Geo (if you’re wearing the Defender’s Crest Charm, however, it’ll be 200).
Be careful when you wear this charm – if you die with it equipped, you will have to return to Leg Eater to have it repaired for 150 Geo (or 120 with the Defender’s Crest).
The Fragile Greed Charm will increase the amount of Geo dropped by enemies, so this is a must-have if you’re farming. In the later parts of the game, you can upgrade it through Divine, but you shouldn’t worry about that until you have access to the Grimm Troupe.
Forgotten Crossroads Husk Guards
Considering that you have access to the Forgotten Crossroads from the beginning, this is by far the most accessible and easy way to farm up some Geo. The Husk Guards are big and very noticeable, though only two are in the Crossroads. The easiest one to farm is right above the Crossroads Stag Station on the way to the False Knight boss battle.
These bugs will drop 45 Geo or 54 with the Fragile Greed Charm with every death. Their moves have some pretty extended telegraphs to them, so it should be fairly easy to figure out their move set and work through each fight relatively fast,
Mug The Moss Knights
Going after the Moss Knights in the area above the Greenpath Stag Station is a great way to get some Geo in Hollow Knight’s early stages. Each Moss Knight will drop about 40 Geo. If you have Fragile Greed equipped, you’ll get about 51 Geo. The Moss Knights can be a pain in the neck to fight if you’re not patient.
If you don’t take your time and watch their telegraphed moves carefully, you could end up dying and breaking the Fragile Greed charm. Take your time, attack carefully, and bench after you clear out the area, and you’ll rack up a reasonable amount of Geo in the early game, and you’ll get your hands on the Lumifly Lantern in due time.
Mid-Game, One to Two Dreamers
Once you find and kill one of the Dreamers, the Forgotten Crossroads will become infected, and trying to navigate it when you’re farming geo just becomes annoying. It’s best to move on to other areas.
You should have access to the City of Tears and the Ancient Basin (towards the end of your time in the mid-game, at least), which means that you should have access to more charms and won’t be as likely to die while you’re trying to farm Geo. Spending some time in slightly more dangerous and slightly creepier areas is worth it.
King’s Station Clean Out
In the middle section of your journey through Hallownest, before you have access to the Ancient Basin, you should be farming in King’s Station. In the maze-like halls, just above the Stagways, you can work your way through and earn hundreds of Geo before benching and making your way back through.
This method can be fairly time-consuming, but given the access you have, it’ll be the best way to grind for Geo.
The Abandoned Tramway
The Abandoned Tramway, just to the upper left side of Deepnest and next to one of the few bench-points in this area, will give you one of the most effective methods for Geo grinding (though it can grow tedious very quickly).
This method is slightly more dangerous than trying to clean out King’s Station because it requires patience and fighting some annoying enemies.
For the Abandoned Tramway method, you’ll coax the Carver Hatchers (the flying worm-like enemies) for each area together and let them spit out Dirtcarvers, which you can do a nail bounce on to kill relatively easily.
By grouping them up, you make the farming portion of this much easier, after which you can kill the Carver Hatchers and then bench again to respawn everything.
In a round of about 2 minutes, you should earn around 500 Geo. It’s not the most thrilling Geo farming method, but it’s certainly one of the most profitable.
Late Game, Two to Three Dreamers
These strategies are best reserved for the late game when you already have some Geo. This is when you’ll likely be working the hardest at getting all of the Unbreakable Charms; just make sure you don’t kill off Grim or banish the Grimm Troupe before you get all these charms.
If the Troupe is banished while Divine has one in her stomach, it’s just gone forever. You’ll likely want to combine these methods with some of the previous ones for the peak farming techniques and to keep things from becoming too tedious and boring.
The Royal Bank of Hallownest
Lovely, sweet, criminal Millibelle is here to “protect” your Geo for you while you explore. You can find Millibelle and Hallownest’s bank at the bottom left of Fog Canyon.
If you can, lend her the maximum amount of Geo, 4500 (or all of your Geo), and head off onto your travels again. At some point, when you remember that she exists again, visit the bank again to withdraw your Geo with its accumulated interest.
Except, whoops, Millibelle is out to lunch, and everything was a scam. Worry not; your hard-earned Geo is not gone, and you can find it, and the thief, elsewhere. Head to the Pleasure House in the City Tears and go past where Marissa is singing.
Head straight up to the hot spring, and you’ll find the thief responsible. Smack Millibelle around with your Nail or your Nail Art, and pick up the Geo as you go. Eventually, she won’t drop anything else (make sure you’ve picked up everything on the ground and smack her again to be safe), and you’ll have won your Geo back with interest.
You should be able to get up to 6834 Geo if you deposited the maximum amount.
Colosseum of Fools
Found in the west chasm of the Kingdom’s Edge, the Colosseum of Fools is a pretty decent (but also dangerous) way to make a lot of Geo in a somewhat reasonable amount of time. Unlike other methods of grinding for Geo, the Colosseum of Fools can offer some fairly interesting gameplay, regardless of how often you go through the Colosseum.
You can learn the pattern of each enemy the more you play and refine your combat technique, which also means that this is a great way to help prepare yourself for the final boss or for traversing the White Palace.
There are three different trials you can try out, each one harder than the last. In order to get in, though, you’ll need to pay a fee.
Trial of the Warrior
- Fee: 100 Geo
- Reward: 1000-1024 Geo
- Waves: 11-12 (12 only if Zote the Mighty was saved in Deepnest)
The Trial of the Warrior is the first one you can attempt in the Colosseum of Fools. While it seems like it’s the better option for farming due to having slightly fewer rounds, your payment is halved for almost the same time spent fighting in the Trial of the Conquerer.
This is a good way to introduce yourself to the Trials, and if you are having a hard time-fighting in the Trial of the Conquerer, this is a perfectly viable way to farm for some Geo. The only issue is that it will take you longer than you might want to put in. Nonetheless, it’s still faster than other, more tedious, and exploratoration-based methods.
Plus, you can finally fight Zote the Mighty! He’s been talking smack, so it’s time he gets smacked, but you can only go up against him once. After defeating him the first time, you won’t see him in the Colosseum of Fools anymore as he’s finally returned to Dirtmouth.
Trial of the Conquerer
- Fee: 450 Geo
- Reward: 2000-2020 Geo
- Waves: 17
This is the second Trial in the Colosseum of Fools. While it’s harder than the first, its difficulty is only marginally higher, and with enough time and patience, it becomes fairly easy and quick to farm.
The fights in the Trial of the Conquerer tend to be more interesting than those in the Trial of the Warrior (Zote the Mighty aside) while offering very predictable patterns for your enemies and more than enough time to heal if needed.
This Trial will likely last about four to six minutes, so in about 30 minutes of grinding, you could make at least 8000 Geo (assuming you win all of your attempts, that is).
Yes, it’s not enough to pay off the 36,000 Geo ransom fee from Divine, but it’s a start and a bit more interesting than farming the same area and two enemies repeatedly. Plus, you can occasionally switch to one of the other farming methods in-between Trial of the Conquerer runs.
Trial of the Fool
- Fee: 800 Geo
- Reward: 3000-3020 Geo
- Waves: 17
Although Trial of the Fool has the same number of waves as Trial of the Conquerer, you really shouldn’t be fooled (pun intended) that it’s any easier. In fact, this last Trial is much more difficult, to the point where you shouldn’t be considering farming it for Geo.
Yes, the Trial of the Fool will give you 1000 more Geo than the previous one, but unless you’re really good at this last Trial and are fairly certain that you won’t be dying by the seventh wave every time, you should stick to the Trial of the Conquerer.
FAQs
Question: Where is the Best Place to Grind in Hollow Knight?
Answer: The best place to grind for Geo is in Kingdom’s Edge. The Great Hoppers will drop a decent amount if you kill them (30 Geo normally, 56 with Fragile/Unbreakable Greed). However, the Colosseum of Fools in Kingdom’s Edge is a much better way to wrack up a lot of Geo in a reasonable amount of time.
Question: What Bosses Drop Geo in Hollow Knight?
Answer: Almost every boss in the game, if not all of them, should drop Geo when you defeat them. However, they’re not a great way to farm because they can only be defeated for Geo once.
Question: Will Millibelle Steal your Geo?
Answer: Yes and no. She steals your Geo after you give her at least 2550, but you can find her after she disappears and her scam is revealed. Millibelle will be in the hot spring in the Pleasure House, where you can hit her with your Nail and get everything back and then some.
Hollow Knight Geo Farming Guide: Now You’re The Richest Bug
Hollow Knight can be a very fun game, but when you’re hurting for Geo and you have to farm, things can get boring, repetitive, and tedious.
This is especially true if you’re going about it in one of the least effective ways possible. I hated grinding for Geo just so I could get my Fragile Charms back from Divine, and I ended up spacing it out over a few days because I wasn’t going about it right.
Hopefully, this guide can prevent you from making the same mistakes I did and keep you in the game so you can continue to experience the highs and lows of Hollow Knight without any annoying grinding getting in your way.
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