City Crest Hollow Knight Item Guide

Key Item / Hollow Knight (2017)

A stone crest dropped by the False Knight. It opens the great gate between the Fungal Wastes and the City of Tears.

From: False KnightNeeds: Mantis ClawOpens: City of Tears

The City Crest is the key item that unlocks the City of Tears in Hollow Knight. Per the wiki, it "opens the gate between the Fungal Wastes and the City of Tears," which makes it one of the few mandatory progression items rather than an optional collectible.

Unlike the ornate keys bought from Sly, the City Crest is earned in combat. According to the wiki, it is dropped by the False Knight, the first major boss, who is fought in the Forgotten Crossroads. Defeating it hands over the crest automatically.

The crest is not used where it is found. Per the wiki, the Knight carries it to a statue in the Fungal Wastes, slots it into the lock, and the towering gate to the City of Tears grinds open. Reaching that gate requires the Mantis Claw to climb through the Fungal Wastes.

This guide covers how to get the City Crest from the False Knight, the Mantis Claw prerequisite for reaching the gate, the Fungal Wastes statue where the crest is used, the route to it, and when in a run it fits. As a progression item, getting it is less about choice and more about the right order.

• What it is A progression key item that opens the City of Tears gate.
• From Dropped by the False Knight in the Forgotten Crossroads.
• Requires The Mantis Claw to climb through the Fungal Wastes to the gate.
• Used at A statue in the Fungal Wastes that unlocks the City of Tears.

How to Get the City Crest

The City Crest is a guaranteed boss drop. Per the wiki, it is awarded for defeating the False Knight, the armored boss who swings a giant mace in the Forgotten Crossroads. The fight is one of the first real tests in the game, and the crest appears the moment the boss falls.

According to the wiki, the False Knight arena sits in the eastern Forgotten Crossroads, reached early in most runs. The boss has three damage phases, each ending with it stunned and its exposed body open to hits. No special ability is needed to win, so the crest can be claimed before most movement upgrades.

The crest is collected automatically, so there is nothing to pick up off the ground or buy. In practice, the harder part of the City Crest is not earning it but carrying it to the right place, since the Fungal Wastes gate sits a fair distance from the False Knight arena.

The Mantis Claw Prerequisite

The City Crest cannot be used until the Knight can reach the gate, and that needs the Mantis Claw. Per the wiki, "the Mantis Claw is required to gain access" to the City of Tears gate, because the route up through the Fungal Wastes is full of walls that only the Claw can climb.

According to the wiki, the Mantis Claw is found at the top of the Mantis Village, deep in the Fungal Wastes, after fighting through the mantis warriors. Some players also defeat the Mantis Lords there for the Mark of Pride charm, but only the Claw is required for the City Crest gate.

This ordering is why the City Crest feels like a two-step item. In practice, the Knight beats the False Knight for the crest, then explores the Fungal Wastes for the Mantis Claw, and only then can backtrack to the gate to actually use what was earned an hour earlier.

Where to Use the City Crest

The City Crest has one use. Per the wiki, it is placed into a statue lock in the Fungal Wastes, and slotting it opens the great gate to the City of Tears. The lock sits at the end of an ornate, lamp-lit corridor that stands out from the surrounding fungus.

According to the wiki, the corridor before the statue includes a couple of bridge levers the Knight must hit to raise the walkway across a thorny gap. Once the bridge is up and the crest is slotted, the gate opens permanently and the City of Tears is reachable from then on.

Route to the Statue

Getting from the False Knight to the City Crest gate runs straight through the Fungal Wastes. This is the typical path most runs follow.

1. Clear the False Knight. Beat the boss in the Forgotten Crossroads to claim the crest, then head south and west toward the Fungal Wastes.
2. Push through the Mantis Village. Fight up through the Mantis Village to the Mantis Claw at the top, which unlocks wall-climbing.
3. Climb to the ornate corridor. With the Claw, ascend toward the center of the Fungal Wastes until the lamp-lit, metal-gated corridor appears, a clear visual break from the fungus.
4. Raise the bridge and slot the crest. Hit the bridge levers to cross the thorny gap, then place the City Crest in the statue to open the gate.

Beyond the gate lies the rain-soaked City of Tears and, before long, the Soul Sanctum and its boss. In practice, opening the City Crest gate is the moment a run shifts from the early-game regions into the mid-game proper.

When to Get the City Crest

As a progression item, the City Crest fits a specific window: after the first boss and the Fungal Wastes, but before the wider mid-game opens up.

1. Earn the crest early. The False Knight is beatable with the starting kit, so the crest can sit in the inventory long before it is usable.
2. Get the Mantis Claw next. The Claw is the gatekeeper for the City of Tears gate and also opens up huge stretches of backtracking across Hallownest.
3. Open the gate when ready for the City. Once the Claw is in hand, slot the crest and step into the City of Tears to continue the critical path.

In practice, most players grab the City Crest and the Mantis Claw in the same Fungal Wastes trip, then open the gate immediately, since there is little reason to hold the crest once the Claw is unlocked.

Common Mistakes

1. Looking for the crest as a pickup. The City Crest is a False Knight drop, not an item hidden in the world. Players who search the Crossroads for it are looking for something that only appears after the boss falls.
2. Trying the gate without the Mantis Claw. Per the wiki, the Claw is required to reach the gate. Heading to the Fungal Wastes statue too early leaves the climb impossible.
3. Missing the bridge levers. The corridor before the statue needs its bridge raised. Walking up to a gap with no walkway usually means a lever was skipped.
4. Confusing the gate with a one-way door. Some players open the City of Tears from the City side first and assume the crest is wasted. The crest still opens the Fungal Wastes lock for the main two-way route.
5. Holding the crest unnecessarily. There is only one use for it, so there is no reason to wait once the Mantis Claw is unlocked and the gate is reachable.

City Crest FAQ

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