The Hallownest capital under perpetual rain, with Lurien the Watcher’s spire above, Soul Sanctum to the west, Tower of Love to the east, and the King’s Station stagway at the far east.
The City of Tears is the capital of Hallownest, built in the middle of the kingdom under a ceiling that rains constantly. Per the wiki, the rain is overflow from the Blue Lake above; the city’s "original name was lost to history."
According to the wiki, the city is the connective hub of Hallownest: Resting Grounds enters from the north, Royal Waterways drains underneath, Soul Sanctum branches west, the Pleasure House and Tower of Love sit east, and the King’s Station stagway closes the eastern edge. The bosses are the Soul Master in the Sanctum and the Watcher Knights at the top of Lurien’s spire.
The wiki notes the entry is gated by a one-shot key. The City Crest drops from False Knight in Forgotten Crossroads; slotting it into the giant statue at the Fungal Wastes gate opens the door once and then permanently closes. Tram Pass routes are the only alternate entry after the first run.
This guide covers the City Crest gate, the Soul Sanctum and Soul Master fight, the Shade Soul upgrade plus Spell Twister pickup, the Watcher Knights spire above Lurien’s tower, the Tower of Love and Collector, the Pleasure House Hot Spring and Mask Maker, Salubra’s charm shop, the Quirrel first-bench cinematic, and the King’s Station Stag connection.
Hallownest capital under perpetual rain; central hub region.
City Crest from False Knight; one-shot use at the Fungal Wastes statue.
Soul Master + Watcher Knights + Collector across three sub-areas.
Lurien the Watcher; sealed at the top of the spire.Per the wiki, the City of Tears is the kingdom’s former capital, built directly under the Blue Lake. The lake water seeps through the rock ceiling and falls as constant rain inside the city. The wiki flags this as the in-world explanation for the area’s name; the original name was lost when the kingdom fell to Infection.
According to the wiki, the city is the centre of Hallownest both geographically and politically. Most major NPCs in the back half of the game route through here: Quirrel rests on the first bench, Salubra runs her charm shop in the east, the Nailsmith works at the western edge, and Lemm sells Hallownest Seals in the central plaza.
The wiki notes the husks here are the most varied enemy roster of any region. Husk Sentries, Lance Sentries, Heavy Sentries, Winged Sentries, Gorgeous Husks, Cowardly Husks, Gluttonous Husks, and Great Husk Sentries all patrol the streets. The Sentry roster reads as the city’s old guard, frozen mid-shift when the Infection took them.
Per the wiki, the canonical entry is through the giant statue gate at the southern edge of the Fungal Wastes. The gate accepts one item: the City Crest, dropped by False Knight in Forgotten Crossroads. The Crest is consumed on first use and the gate cannot be reopened from this side.
According to the wiki, the first interior chamber holds the starter bench plus the Quirrel cinematic. Quirrel sits next to the Knight and reflects on the rain; the scene is one of the two longest quiet moments in the game.
Per the wiki, the Soul Sanctum is the western sub-area of the city. It houses the scholars who first researched Soul as a substance; the wiki notes their bodies were "twisted by their experiments," producing the Follies and Mistakes enemy types unique to this area.
According to the wiki, the Soul Master is the boss at the top of the Sanctum. The fight is two-phase: a teleport-and-slam opening phase followed by a second-floor crash into a longer arena. The drop is the Desolate Dive spell, which gates Crystal Peak and the Crystallised Mound.
The wiki specifies two other critical pickups inside the Sanctum. Shade Soul (the +15-damage upgrade to Vengeful Spirit) sits behind a 1,800 Geo Elegant Key door in the south wing; Spell Twister (the 2-notch spell-cost charm) sits in a hidden room near the Soul Master arena.
Run Shade Soul before the Soul Master fight. Per the wiki, the Elegant Key door opens with the key sold by Sly in Dirtmouth (1,800 Geo). The upgrade triples the spell-build damage against Soul Master himself, since the boss takes spell hits cleanly during the teleport phase.
Per the wiki, the Watcher Knights are the elite guard of Lurien the Watcher. They sit at the top of his spire (eastern City of Tears) as a six-fight gauntlet; each Watcher Knight has 320 HP and all six rotate through the same four-attack moveset.
According to the wiki, the fight stacks two Knights at a time. Killing one summons the next from the alcoves; by the final pair, the arena is lethal. The wiki specifies Quick Slash plus Sharp Shadow is the cleanest clear loadout; the dash-through hitbox cancels the Knights' wall-bouncing slam.
The wiki notes Lurien himself sits one room above the Watcher Knight arena. He is one of the three Dreamers; the Knight Dream Nails him to break his Seal on the Hollow Knight. His spire holds a telescope pointed at the Pale King’s palace, the only spot in the game where White Palace is visible from the physical map.
Per the wiki, the Tower of Love is a locked sub-area in the eastern City of Tears. The Love Key (Queen’s Gardens; behind a Husk Dandy corpse) is the only key that fits the door. Inside is the Collector boss fight and the Collector’s Map drop.
According to the wiki, the Collector is a Void creature who collects living bugs in glass jars. The fight uses the Knight’s own enemies as projectiles: Husk Hornheads, Mantis Petras, and Grubs spawn from the jars he throws. The Collector deals no direct damage; the jar-spawned enemies carry the threat.
The wiki specifies the Collector’s Map pin-marks every remaining Grub in Hallownest. The map plus the Grubfather reward chain (Pale Ore at 31 Grubs, Mask Shard at 46 Grubs) makes this fight a high-priority side-objective for completion runs.
Per the wiki, the Pleasure House sits in the middle towers of the City of Tears. The area is gated by a Simple Key (Sly’s shop, 950 Geo; or the City Storerooms drop, or the Pale Lurker in Trial of the Fool). Inside is the only Hot Spring in the city, plus a small bench and a Wanderer’s Journal.
According to the wiki, the Hot Spring functions like every other Hot Spring in the game: it fully heals the Knight and adds Lifeblood Masks based on the number of Whispering Roots cleared. It is the only sustain spot in the City of Tears outside standard benches.
The wiki notes the Mask Maker NPC sits one room east of the Pleasure House entrance. Equipping the Wraith Mask (3-notch, found in his shop) is the canonical path to the Mask Shards he tracks; he also delivers Hollow-Knight-Vessel lore monologue on Dream Nail interactions.
Per the wiki, King’s Station is the easternmost sub-area of the City of Tears. The Stag Station here connects the city to the rest of the Hallownest stag network; activating it requires 250 Geo paid to the Last Stag on first arrival.
According to the wiki, the station also hosts the City Tram stop (one of three city tram stops) and the Whispering Root for the Resting Grounds Essence chain. The Tram Pass connects this stop to Royal Waterways and Ancient Basin lines.
The wiki specifies a hidden breakable wall in the Stag Station leads to a small chamber with a single Pale Ore. The wall is two screens east of the station bench; standard nail hits open it. Skipping this Ore costs the Pure Nail Geo chain its fourth source.
Per the wiki, the City of Tears holds the densest cluster of charm pickups in the game. Spell Twister sits in the Soul Sanctum, Stalwart Shell sits in the Bretta-rescue room above the Fungal Wastes connector, and Salubra in the east sells 4 more charms plus the cap of Charm Notches.
Spell Twister (2 notches; -33% spell Soul cost) Stalwart Shell (2 notches; longer post-hit i-frames) Quick Focus + Steady Body + Lifeblood Heart + Long Nail (800-2,500 Geo each from her shop) 4 of 9 Charm Notches (120-900 Geo escalating cost; the bulk of total notches)According to the wiki, Salubra’s Blessing is the hidden reward for buying every charm she sells. The Blessing fills Soul automatically on every bench rest and is the unofficial fifth pick for Trial of the Fool and Pantheon of Hallownest spell runs.
The City of Tears ties to the Soul Master and Watcher Knights boss fights, the Collector in the Tower of Love, and Lurien the Dreamer at the top of the spire. 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.