The progression-ordered guide to all 8 notch pickups that grow the Knight's limit from the starting 3 to the 11-notch cap.
The fastest path from 3 notches to 11 runs through Salubra first, then the Colosseum, the Hive, the Fungal Wastes acid pool, and finally the Grimm Troupe chest in Dirtmouth. Per the wiki, players who grab Salubra's first notch at 5 charms then build the rest of the collection efficiently can cap at 11 before reaching the Pantheon stage.
According to the wiki, the notch puzzle is the single biggest customisation gate in the game. Every charm equipped subtracts from the limit; every notch found expands the budget by 1. The 11-notch ceiling is the hard cap and the standard Pantheon-of-Hallownest builds assume the Knight has all 8 pickups in hand.
The wiki specifies the trickiest pickup is the Fungal Wastes acid pool notch because it needs Isma's Tear (acid swim) and most players forget to backtrack after grabbing the Tear in Royal Waterways. The next trickiest is Salubra's 25-charm notch, which checks total charm collection (not equipped count) and stays locked until the Knight owns 25 unique charms.
This guide orders the 8 pickups by progression stage, lists each location's ability gate and Geo price, calls out the missable steps, and provides the overcharm trick for builds that need more than 11 notches worth of charms.
Expands the equip budget from 3 to 11 across 8 pickups.
Salubra (120 Geo) with 5 charms equipped, in Forgotten Crossroads.
Fungal Wastes acid pool needs Isma's Tear from Royal Waterways.
Grimm Troupe chest after 6 Flames and the second Grimm fight in Dirtmouth.The Knight begins with 3 notches automatically. Per the wiki, the King's Pass tutorial gives the Knight no notch pickups; the 3 starting slots are built into the save. Players who walk into Dirtmouth see a 3-notch limit on the charm-bar UI without doing anything to earn it.
According to the wiki, the 3-notch budget covers the early game cleanly. One 3-notch charm (Quick Slash if the Knight has Kingdom's Edge access, otherwise Fury of the Fallen at 2 notches plus a 1-notch sustain) fits without overcharming. The real notch-budget pressure starts after Salubra's first notch and grows through the mid-game pickups.
Salubra in Forgotten Crossroads is the canonical first stop. Per the wiki, her shop opens after the Knight breaks through the wall left of Sly in Dirtmouth and rides the Stag south to the Forgotten Crossroads station. The first 2 notches gate at 5 and 10 charms equipped respectively.
Notch 1 (120 Geo, 5 charms)The first Salubra notch costs 120 Geo and unlocks once the Knight has collected 5 unique charms. According to the wiki, the canonical 5-charm starter set is Fury of the Fallen (King's Pass), Wayward Compass (Iselda), Gathering Swarm (Sly), Stalwart Shell (Sly), and any one of Soul Catcher, Shaman Stone, or Lifeblood Heart from the Crossroads pickup spree.
Notch 2 (500 Geo, 10 charms)The second Salubra notch costs 500 Geo and opens at 10 unique charms. Per the wiki, the 10-charm gate usually clears once the Knight has cleared Greenpath (Thorns of Agony, Shape of Unn) and Fungal Wastes Mantis Lords (Mark of Pride) on top of the early-game starter set.
The Colosseum of Fools and the Hive sub-area deliver 2 more notches in the mid-game. Per the wiki, both pickups are gated by mid-progression abilities; the Colosseum Trial of the Warrior needs standard combat capability while the Hive notch needs the Mantis Claw and a vertical-traversal tool.
Notch 3 (Trial of the Warrior, 100 Geo entry)According to the wiki, the Trial of the Warrior is the first Colosseum trial and the easiest. The 100 Geo entry opens 11 waves of mid-game Hallownest enemies, capped by a Massive Moss Charger mini-boss. The notch appears in the centre of the arena after the final wave.
Notch 4 (The Hive sub-area)Per the wiki, the Hive entrance sits just past the Hornet Sentinel encounter in Kingdom's Edge. The Knight needs Mantis Claw plus Monarch Wings or Crystal Heart for the Hive traversal. The notch room sits before the Hive Knight boss arena, so Steel Soul players can grab it without the boss fight.
Salubra's remaining 2 notches cost 900 Geo and 1,400 Geo. Per the wiki, the 3rd notch opens at 18 charms equipped, the 4th at 25 charms. The Knight needs to grow the charm collection through Resting Grounds, Royal Waterways, City of Tears, and the Grimm Troupe DLC pickups before the 25-charm gate clears.
Notch 5 (900 Geo, 18 charms)According to the wiki, the 18-charm milestone usually clears once the Knight has the Seer's 3 rewards (Dream Wielder, Soul Eater, Dreamshield), the Royal Waterways pickups (Defender's Crest, Flukenest), and the Resting Grounds Soul Eater chamber.
Notch 6 (1,400 Geo, 25 charms)Per the wiki, the 25-charm gate is the slowest. The Knight needs the Grimm Troupe charms (Grimmchild plus 4 of the Flame-quest unlocks), the Hidden Dreams Dream Wielder upgrade, the City of Tears Spell Twister, and most of the Howling Cliffs + Crystal Peak pickups. The 1,400 Geo cost is usually the limiting factor by that point.
The 7th notch sits above an acid pool below the Fog Canyon south entrance. Per the wiki, the pickup is gated by Isma's Tear from Isma's Grove in Royal Waterways. Without Isma's Tear, the Knight bounces off the acid surface and the notch stays unreachable.
According to the wiki, the path from the Queen's Station bench: head west, drop into the lower Wastes, navigate past the Ooma jellyfish maze, and the notch chamber sits south of the Fog Canyon south entrance. The Ooma explode-on-contact pattern is the main difficulty; Dashmaster helps thread the gaps without 2-mask hits.
The wiki notes this is the most-missed notch. Isma's Tear is a mid-game pickup and the Wastes notch sits far from the standard completion path. Players who go to Crystal Peak before the Waterways often forget to backtrack until the Pantheon stage.
Per the wiki, the Lifeblood Core charm sits in the Abyss east of the Shade Cloak chamber, and many players grab it on the same trip as Isma's Tear and the Fungal notch backtrack. Stacking these three errands cuts the late-game backtrack count from 3 separate trips to one efficient loop through Waterways + Abyss + Wastes.
The 8th and final notch sits inside a chest in Dirtmouth that spawns after the Grimm Troupe quest progresses. Per the wiki, the chest appears once the Knight collects 6 Grimmkin Flames (2 Novice, 2 Master, 2 Nightmare) and defeats Grimm in his tent.
The Flame collectionAccording to the wiki, the 6 Flames come from the Grimmkin enemies that spawn across Hallownest after the Knight collects the Grimmchild charm from the Troupe tent. The 2 Novice Flames spawn first; the 2 Master Flames spawn after the first Grimm fight; the 2 Nightmare Flames spawn after the third Grimmchild upgrade.
The chest spawnPer the wiki, the chest near the Grimm tent in Dirtmouth spawns only after the second Grimm fight. Players who beat Grimm without all 6 Flames see no chest; collecting the remaining Flames and returning to the tent for the second fight makes the chest visible.
The wiki states the Banishment ending (via Brumm in Distant Village) is the only path to Divine's permanent shop and the 3 Unbreakable charm upgrades. The Charm Notch chest spawns BEFORE the Banishment branch closes, so the Knight can grab the notch and still take Banishment.
Even with all 8 notches in hand, the 11-notch limit can feel tight. Per the wiki, overcharming lets the Knight equip one charm past the cap at the cost of taking double damage until the next bench rest. The yellow slot-bar tint signals the overcharm state.
How to overcharm safelyAccording to the wiki, overcharm triggers on the FINAL charm equipped that crosses the cost limit. Slotting the cheapest charm last keeps the overcharm penalty on the cheapest piece, which is wasteful conceptually but harmless mechanically. The damage penalty applies until the next bench rest, then clears.
Per the wiki, Pantheon runs that lock the loadout at start usually overcharm intentionally because the bench reset never happens mid-run. The damage-ceiling trade outpaces the double-damage downside in actual play, especially for Pantheon of Hallownest 42-fight clears.
Notch progression ties into the broader charm system, the Pantheon difficulty curve, and the Grimm Troupe quest. These spokes pick up the threads.
Game data and screenshots adapted from hollowknight.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Team Cherry.