Broken Vessel's FATAL FLAW | Hollow Knight

[@the_holland]

Thanks for watching! And stay tuned for the part 2 in the Reworking Every Charm-series, it's in the making!

[@mariodrawer1238]

I just like to pogo him when they use cascade (learned from a video)

[@ABS0LUTERAD1ANCE]

What if Heavy Blow let your nail do a critical strike that did double damage... in its current state it's more detrimental to the player than it is helpful... However, my concern with a critical hit is that a luck-based charm isn't really that fun to use... maybe it could do a critical hit after a series of frequent nail blows?

[@the_holland]

@ABS0LUTERAD1ANCE Cool idea! But doesn't that just kind of end up being a flat damage bonus?

[@ABS0LUTERAD1ANCE]

@ Only if you can combo

[@the_holland]

Could you perhaps elaborate on that?

[@devilbob]

Broken Vessel for me has one of the most immersive OST in the game. After silent walk through Ancient Basin with no music, those somber and melancholic strings works like a charm

[@the_holland]

Good point!

[@incineakechi5197]

Im so glad to see someone mentioning the jump as an issue. The many radiant fights i lost to these 2 and other bosses randomly jumping with no way to know where they're going was infuriating to no end

[@the_holland]

I'm so glad you agree! Repositioning Issue, man, I'm telling you - it's real xD

[@SomeCowguy]

This was especially my problem on lost kin (only slightly more than hornet sentinel) since it could happen at any time, anywhere, and covered a large area. Died to it more than anything else in the fight

[@the_holland]

Very much agree, Cowguy

[@devilsblade2543]

I think the cascading attack was confirmed to have been removed for lost kin because it ruined the pacing of the fight (but it could have just been someone stating confidently that that was the reason), since lost kin would stay completely still for an extended period of time, and basically gave you a lot of free hits (it is quite easy imo to do like 35% or more of broken vessel's health just from one cascade), so it is definitely good that it is gone from the lost kin fight imo. (Also all the vessels are genderless)

[@the_holland]

Oh that's a good point, thank you Devilsblad. I guess that makes a lot of sense.

[@smedgert1812]

his fight feels (in a game that is pretty difficult) fair, no oversized hit box, no attack that feels weird, decent size, telegraphing, it puts on your toes and even if you lose it's a fun match (unless you're me cuz i beat him with summons)

[@the_holland]

Agreed! An nice! Summons for the win!

[@InkLore-p3h]

His slam attack is also more fair because it takes an arc up and then straight down, as opposed to his jump which is a plain parabola-the first one has him above you most of the time, but his jump causes him to be at every level of height in quick succession.

[@the_holland]

Agreed! Although I still find them both problematic, I do agree with that

[@LeJuice]

The real flaw is its location. It always seems too easy because of all the upgrades available before that fight, if you explore everything properly. The dream fight makes up for that though

[@the_holland]

Yeah that's a good point. Although to get the footage in this video, I set my sights on Ancient Basin and didn't even stop to upgrade my nail once. Made the base fight a lot more challenging and fun!

[@Meowzio]

Eh the dream fight is trivialised by Sharp Shadow, doubly if you use Defender's Crest. Lost Kin is probably the easiest to cheese fight in the game.

[@SomeCowguy]

But thats no fun​@Meowzio

[@turtleknight7015]

Keep up the good work Holland! I love seeing newer channels hit their stride.

[@the_holland]

Hey, I really appreciate that! Seriously, it means a lot - thanks for taking the time to share that thought :)

[@Plaguedwithdeath]

When seeing the gameplay of broken vessel I always thought he used his head as the slash attacks, not the nail

[@the_holland]

Haha perhaps he does XD

[@fhlalio5991]

The hardest part about broken vessel is getting to him the first time. Basically, the big blob dudes are harder. Broken vessel himself will take you a few attempts to learn, especially with the two similar attacks of the sweep, and also the cascade, but over-all, pretty fair and fun fight.

[@the_holland]

Agreed!

[@Scragui]

I love how this fight kinda has a flow chart(at least I noticed it) broken vessel does a move every 3-4 seconds, if he dashes you dodge, if he jump you move, if he will do the swings you push him with fireball it adds a certain rythm to the fight as you can use the time between moves to atack the boss or the baloons. And then at lost kin he has a shorter gap between atacks of around 2 seconds making one of my favorite fights in the game.

[@the_holland]

That's a good way of putting it, Scragui! I like that

[@HuiJi-r2w]

For Lost Kin, there’s an easy way to deal with the repositioning attack. Stay close to the boss as often as you can and play aggressively. All of the other attacks have enough of an indicator to avoid them, and the repositioning attack is relatively easy to dodge up close. If you are running away from Lost Kin, whenever it jumps for any attack run the opposite direction. If it’s a slam, it doesn’t matter, and if it’s the long range repositioning jump, you will not get caught by it jumping on top and infront if you.

[@the_holland]

I can kinda see your point, but I'm not sure that's easy to do in all situations - like when the boss is caught up against a wall, for example. Thanks for the comment, though :)

[@jon.arbuckle.]

​@the_holland same applies when the boss is close to a wall, you also dash towards it when it jumps, unless it's a very short jump. The move is manageable

[@the_holland]

Maybe... maybe

[@neuralstrings8015]

I think the reason that cascade was removed in lost kin is because that attack is practically free for dd damage, in the original you can just spam dd in the attack and skip the rest of the fight, which would make the lost kin fight way too easy. About the jump, I think it really just changes the dynamic of the fight, making you stay at a distance for lost kin's next attack, dodging it, getting a few hits in, and moving away. If you stay mostly still, the jump becomes easier to dodge. I also want to say that for the lost kin fight, the ground slash becomes really hard to dodge since the windup becomes much faster too, and sometimes he can just immediately use it after coming off an attack, making it one of the harder moves to dodge in that fight. I still think that most enemies just shouldn't have contact damage though.

[@the_holland]

That is pretty good reasoning, well done :)

[@Shadow-Necrozma]

I think Broken Vessel and Lost Kin sometimes jump directly on your head is when you try to run away or dash away from them, they somehow try to predict where you will run away to and jump at that direction, but they only do that sometimes so it's inconsistent. So most of the time I try to stand a bit closer Broken Vessel and Lost Kin so I can react to their jump faster and make their jump a bit more consistent.

[@the_holland]

I think that's an optical illusion because the attack is so god damn annoying xD

[@Shadow-Necrozma]

@the_holland It's could be an optical illusion cause sometimes bosses will jump back in the center when they in the corner, but Lost Kin is the only boss I see jump in the corner to the opposite corner and land on you, the other bosses only do this when they use an attack that directly aim at you. If you attack Lost Kin rapidly actively standing next to them, I see them rarely use the weird long jump on your head. But maybe I wrong but that just what I notice cause Lost Kin is my favorite boss and fight them again so much.

[@the_holland]

@@Shadow-Necrozma Hey, you could also be right - I have no idea!

[@SplatKnight]

Broken Vessel's boss fight was pretty fun, it is pretty sad though that he is pretty hard to find for players who don't try to find everything in the game :(

[@the_holland]

That is pretty true! Did you have trouble finding him?

[@SplatKnight]

@the_holland When I was first going into that area I had no idea, but then I went back to try to find the spell upgrades I found him :)

[@the_holland]

Nice!

[@Phoenix20X]

Yea, I dont get that. Do you wanna know why ? Don't get my wrong. The map for hollow knight is pretty big, but why aren't you going out of your way to find everything and come back to anything you might have missed ?

[@SplatKnight]

@Phoenix20X I get what your saying so let me clarify. i 100% HK, so like I did go out of my way, but I'm saying for other people like some people on YT say they start the game and don't appreciate it that much and just beat it and never come back

[@wat-o-melon]

I found you like a good week or 2 ago on your soul master video, and heck yea im glad you did one of these on my favorite boss

[@the_holland]

Hey man, I really appreciate that! So glad you enjoyed it :D

[@cejkisondrej1113]

I have always been quite frustrated by the jumps and infected baloons in Lost Kin fight. Both of these attacks seem quite unfair to me, given the speed of the boss.

[@the_holland]

Agreed :)

[@GreatBeanicus]

Hey sorry for the comment spam haha! Enjoying your videos back to back! I've got to point out why his repositioning feels so frustrating. It's again because of similar telegraphs. It's incredibly difficult, especially in the faster Lost Kin fight to tell which of the jump attacks he's going to do. They all have little to no windup, and can be on top of you instantly. However, because Cascade always goes near the middle of the screen, and Slam always goes directly above you, both can be avoided by dashing at last second. However if you do this when he instead jumps, you'll likely find yourself in his trajectory during or after your dash. Because there's no indication which of the 3 moves he's using, you almost have to guess which doesn't feel great. It doesn't ruin this boss, as i do think it does become a very quick dance as you get better at fighting him, however it could be done better. My suggestion would be to add external sources to the attacks to better differentiate them. His Slam could show his nail held in hand, ready to slam down, and his Cascade could have his infection pulse as examples.

[@the_holland]

No worries! I love to read them, and I'm glad you're watching! Wow, you're so on-point. I what you're pointing to is the exact problem! The three jumps all look alike. Also, your solution is great!

[@ADNCoach]

Another difference is that Broken Vessel's balloons disappear on their own after some time, but Lost Kin's ones are perpetual, so if you don't kill them, they will pile up

[@the_holland]

Do the balloons from Broken Vessel's fight randomly disappear or is it only when he performs "Cascade"?

[@ADNCoach]

They seem to disappear after some time after spawning, but that needs rechecking

[@the_holland]

@ Roger that.

[@ThePokegeek5000]

lost kin's jump (when directed at the player's location) is the one thing that makes itemless lost kin an absolute pain. that and balloons scamming you out of heals that could be used to compensate for those hits, particularly during the stagger. (i think the staggers, like cascade, should stop spawning balloons)

[@the_holland]

Yeah, I can definitely agree with that! And I think that's a really interesting suggestion for how to improve the fight! Thanks for the comment :D

[@DesolateVoid999]

First time I beat him, it was within 3 attempts. He should be buffed. Not Lost Kin, that's pretty balanced.

[@the_holland]

How geared-up were you when meeting him? I think that tends to vary quite a lot from playthrough to playthrough :)

[@DesolateVoid999]

@ hmmmm.... I had like Nail 2-3 or something, I didn't have a shade Dash I don't think... And I had Defender's Crest.

[@deepakplays77]

Love the series ❤

[@the_holland]

Wow, I really appreciate that, man! ❤ Thank you so much

[@SmallOneEyedKing]

Broken Vessel is one of my favorite boss

[@the_holland]

One of my favourite boss, too!

[@deusphage9149]

Broken Vessel, like all of the vessels in the game, are genderless. Hornet is called "the gendered child" explicitly because she is the only spawn of the Pale King that is gendered, with Hornet being a she. Feels a bit to address the Broken Vessel by he given it conflicts with the lore

[@gerwaltspodnovigradu5508]

This isn't a mossbag video, this is a boss breakdown video, for people who don't look that much into lore it doesn't matter, you're just picking things off

[@the_holland]

I appreciate the kind words, Gerwaltspod :) I actually am aware that Broken Vessel is genderless. That's why I'm using the non-gendered version of "he" :D

[@sauceman-dv3lf]

I think jump is very avoidable, you can predict it's usual trajectories

[@the_holland]

Yeah see, I really don't agree with that. Not until the boss has gone at least half way, in which case you've got such short time to react

[@oshirothebubble]

Deepnest is meant to make you paranoid in my opinion. It isn't that scary. Broken Vessel and Lost Kin are very easy and their ost is sooooo underrated! Fun fact:Broken Vessel has one little detail that makes him a very fair bossfight. The balloons don't spawn on his "focus" (or cascade as you named it) attack. If they did, then you could get hit just because an rng summon attack threw you off guard while you were dodging(or destroying the boss completely). I noticed that every dream rematch focuses on buffing one thing from their original fight. And Lost Kin's focus was... Balloons. Now, there is no "focus" attack and balloons spawn EVERY SECOND!!!!! This makes the fight less fun for me. Watcher Knights when, I suggested them since the first "behind the boss" video. Or you can review Markoth aka the biggest difference between Godhome difficulty modes.

[@the_holland]

Yeah, it's a great thing that balloons despawn during Cascade! I think that's very healthy for the player experience. The wiki says 2-3 seconds on Lost Kin balloon spawns :) I'll get around to Watcher Knights, but I can't say when

[@oshirothebubble]

@the_holland also, lost kin doesn't use cascade because of a big focus on balloons.

[@the_holland]

@oshirothebubble You think so? Wouldn't they just disappear like with Broken Vessel?

[@oshirothebubble]

@the_holland there is no cascade in Lost Kin. The main focus of the fight is a lot of balloons spawning. Broken Vessel's cascade makes the balloons stop spawning. That's why Lost Kin doesn't use it. Just for newer players to suffer...

[@Grimhydra-tl1iq]

imo his best move is slam because it makes him different from other bosses that can slash and jump. anyways i think he is a pretty simple boss but hornet is js easier, expecially greenpath hornet, an easy boss for the 2nd area you get suits it imo

[@the_holland]

Agreed!

[@Cayden.1]

Do either a top 5 most loved or hated boss vid next or do it with generic enemies instead

[@the_holland]

You'd like to see that?

[@Cayden.1]

@the_holland yep, you could do 4 videos through each topic if you want

[@the_holland]

@@Cayden.1 I'll keep that idea in mind! Thanks, man :)

[@Ahbutcocnut]

I wonder about the lore of broken vessel. Like how if they died in the ancient basin, then where is their shade. Also why is broken vessel more important than the other vessels as none of the others are able to be seen ad a ghost

[@the_holland]

Shade probably crept back into the nearby Abyss, don't you think? That's my theory. Hey, I like that point, actually. Why *does* Lost Kin appear post-mortem? Good question. Thanks for the comment!

[@dareelmemeboi]

Broken Vessel, and Lost Kin, only have this issue be.. well.. significant on Radiant. You cannot convince me otherwise. They are both very fun fights, that are ruined by a no-hit difficulty. Same with movement. Traitor Lord is just extremely unfair on Radiant. Thats the byproduct of a difficulty not clearly not balanced for every boss, and said bosses having small issues that arent prevalent in their original fights. Also Lost Kin lacks his signature move.... why?

[@the_holland]

I'd agree with you that the issue is definitely *exaggerated* on Radiant. You don't notice getting screwed over as easily when playing normally because it doesn't matter that you take one or two unfair hits :) Doesn't mean you're not getting screwed over, though. I don't know why he's missing that move! I'm just as confused as you are ':D Thanks for the comment!

[@engineergaming3830]

Did i just found someone that finds the traktor lord hard of all things? He's so damn predictable if you don't have a dash just slam

[@the_holland]

@ The f*cking Tractor Lord, I love it XD

[@incineakechi5197]

​@@engineergaming3830when I first played, he was one of the hardest bosses for me. When godmaster happened he was one of the easiest radiants. Stuff is just weird like that sometimes ig

[@the_holland]

true

[@unholydoggo]

Holland knight

[@the_holland]

That's right!

[@zigsynx5364]

I’ve always wondered why the lost kin, the upgraded version, is lacking the ultimate attack that broken vessel has.

[@the_holland]

Yeah, I don't know either!

[@treelost-e9m]

Imo the jump isn't too bad but I despise cascade

[@the_holland]

Haha damn

[@ABS0LUTERAD1ANCE]

I’d like to see a video on pure vessel and how it’s one of the best bosses ever. The Pure Vessel is the perfect execution of a hard boss fight. It’s also got zero rng, so whenever you lost you needed to git gud, not lucky. I can fight Pure Vessel 50 times and I would enjoy every minute.

[@the_holland]

I love Pure Vessel too, and I'll definitely do a video on him at some point! Thanks for the suggestion :)

[@gerwaltspodnovigradu5508]

Well, it has some RNG (what attacks you get) like all bosses have but the fight is so fast paced you don't really have them overlapping at all, its *pure* skill

[@the_holland]

Agreed! Pure skill, or *almost* pure skill I'd say :)