The 8 Charm Notch pickups that expand the Knight's starting 3-notch limit to the 11-notch cap, with Salubra's gated shop and the Grimm Troupe chest.
Charm Notches are the slot budget Hollow Knight uses to balance charm effects, and the cap of 11 is reached through exactly 8 pickups scattered across Hallownest. Per the wiki, the Knight starts with 3 notches free; the remaining 8 break down as 4 Salubra purchases, 1 Fungal Wastes pickup, 1 Hive pickup in Kingdom's Edge, 1 Trial of the Warrior reward in the Colosseum, and 1 Grimm Troupe DLC chest in Dirtmouth.
According to the wiki, Salubra's 4 notches are not all available on the first visit. The shop gates each one behind a charm-collection requirement (5 charms, 10 charms, 18 charms, 25 charms) and a Geo price (120, 500, 900, 1,400). Players who walk in early with only 4 equipped charms see the 120-Geo notch only; the rest show a charm-requirement lock until they qualify.
The wiki specifies the cap is hard at 11. The overcharming mechanic lets the Knight push one charm past the limit by tinting the slot bar yellow and taking double damage until the next bench, which effectively raises the practical cap but never the displayed notch count.
This guide covers the 8-notch pickup checklist, Salubra's gated shop economics, the Fungal Wastes acid pool, the Hive notch in Kingdom's Edge, the Colosseum reward path, the Grimm Troupe chest, the overcharming rule, and the common mistakes most first-clear runs make.
Expand the equip budget from 3 to 11 across 8 pickups.
Salubra in Forgotten Crossroads sells the first 4 notches gated by charm count.
Sit at a Bench before swapping notches; mid-fight swaps are impossible.
Buying Salubra's 25-charm notch early when only 18 charms are equipped; the gate stays locked.Charm Notches are the spend currency for equipping charms. Per the wiki, every charm has a notch cost from 1 to 5; equipped charms accumulate cost against the Knight's current notch limit. The starting limit is 3, so the Knight at the King's Pass tutorial can equip one 3-notch charm or three 1-notch charms, but cannot equip the 5-notch Soul Eater until the limit has grown past 5 across multiple pickups.
According to the wiki, the limit only grows when the Knight collects a Charm Notch item. Each item adds exactly 1 to the limit, capping at 11. The 8 pickups are not auto-granted: the Knight must physically pick them up by buying them from Salubra, taking them from the Fungal Wastes acid pool, breaking the wall in the Hive, completing the Trial of the Warrior, or opening the Grimm Troupe chest in Dirtmouth.
The wiki specifies that swapping charms requires a Bench. Mid-fight swaps are impossible, so loadout decisions happen at rest stops. The 11-notch ceiling reached after all 8 pickups is the hard cap; no DLC or post-launch patch has raised it.
| # | Location | Source | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forgotten Crossroads | Salubra (120 Geo) | 5 charms equipped |
| 2 | Forgotten Crossroads | Salubra (500 Geo) | 10 charms equipped |
| 3 | Forgotten Crossroads | Salubra (900 Geo) | 18 charms equipped |
| 4 | Forgotten Crossroads | Salubra (1,400 Geo) | 25 charms equipped |
| 5 | Fungal Wastes | Acid pool pickup | Isma's Tear (acid swim) |
| 6 | Hive (Kingdom's Edge) | Hidden room pickup | Tram Pass + Mantis Claw |
| 7 | Colosseum of Fools | Trial of the Warrior | 100 Geo entry, Colosseum unlocked |
| 8 | Dirtmouth | Grimm Troupe chest | 6 Grimmkin Flames + Grimm fight |
Per the wiki, the 8 pickups together with the 3 starting notches build the 11-notch cap. Players speedrunning to the cap typically prioritise Salubra (4 fast notches), the Colosseum (skipped by many completionists), and the Trail of Grimmkin Flames for the Dirtmouth chest. The acid pool notch in the Wastes is gated by Isma's Tear, so it usually drops in mid-progression after the Mantis Lords clear.
Salubra runs the canonical charm shop in Forgotten Crossroads and sells 4 of the 8 notches. Per the wiki, her shop opens once the Knight clears the breakable wall in the upper Crossroads (left of Sly's shop in Dirtmouth, take the Stag back south). Each notch is gated by a charm-collection requirement that checks how many of the 45 unique charms the Knight has collected, not how many are currently equipped.
According to the wiki, the pricing and gates are 120 Geo at 5 charms, 500 Geo at 10 charms, 900 Geo at 18 charms, and 1,400 Geo at 25 charms. Each notch only unlocks after the Knight steps into the shop with the required charm count met; pre-meeting the threshold shows a charm-requirement lock with a clear count display.
The wiki specifies that Salubra also sells Salubra's Blessing at 800 Geo after the Knight collects all 40 inventory-slot charms. The Blessing fills the SOUL meter while resting at a bench, which shortcuts the standard Soul Catcher and Hiveblood sustain pivots for completionists.
Per the wiki, Salubra's notches check TOTAL charm count, not equipped count. A Knight with 25 charms in inventory but only 4 equipped still qualifies for the 1,400 Geo notch. The common confusion is thinking the gate refreshes on equipped count, leading to wasted bench swaps. Walk in with 25 owned and the gate opens regardless of what is on the slot bar.
The Fungal Wastes notch sits above an acid pool underneath the Fog Canyon entrance. Per the wiki, the pickup is gated by Isma's Tear, the acid-swim ability collected from the abandoned chamber in Royal Waterways. Without the Tear, the Knight bounces off the acid surface and the notch stays unreachable.
According to the wiki, the path runs from the Queen's Station bench: head west to the Mantis Village split, drop into the lower Wastes, navigate past the Ooma jellyfish maze, and the notch chamber sits to the south of the Fog Canyon south entrance. The Ooma explode-on-contact pattern is the main difficulty; Dashmaster helps thread the gaps without taking 2-mask hits.
The wiki notes that this notch is the most-missed of the 8 because 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.
The Hive notch sits inside the Hive sub-area off Kingdom's Edge. Per the wiki, the pickup is gated by two abilities: the Mantis Claw to climb the Edge cliffside, and either Monarch Wings or Crystal Heart to traverse the Hive chamber gaps. The notch room is guarded by Hivelings that swarm on entry but offer no real threat once the Knight reaches the bench.
According to the wiki, the entrance to the Hive sits just past the Hornet Sentinel encounter in Kingdom's Edge. The Hive itself is a vertical-climb cluster with the notch in a pocket near the Hiveblood charm chamber. Most players grab Hiveblood and the Hive notch in the same trip to avoid backtracking through the swarm rooms twice.
The wiki effects block notes the Hive Knight boss guards the deeper Hive area but is not a gate for the notch itself. The notch pickup sits before the boss arena, so Steel Soul players can grab it without risking the Hive Knight fight.
The Colosseum of Fools awards a Charm Notch for clearing the Trial of the Warrior, the first of the three trials. Per the wiki, the Trial costs 100 Geo to enter, runs through 11 waves of standard Hallownest enemies, and ends with a Massive Moss Charger encounter as the wave-11 capstone.
According to the wiki, the Trial of the Warrior is the easiest of the three Colosseum trials. The waves use mid-game enemies (Husks, Mosskin, Aspids) that most Knights have already beaten in regular exploration. The notch drops in the centre of the arena after the final wave; the reward chest opens automatically once the Massive Moss Charger is cleared.
The wiki specifies that the Trial of the Conqueror rewards Pale Ore (not a notch) and the Trial of the Fool rewards Vessel Fragments (also not a notch). Players going for completion grab all three but only the Warrior trial moves the notch counter.
The 8th notch sits inside a chest in Dirtmouth that appears after the Grimm Troupe quest progresses. Per the wiki, the trigger is collecting 6 Grimmkin Flames (2 Novice, 2 Master, 2 Nightmare) and defeating Grimm in his tent. After the fight, the chest spawns near the Grimm tent with the Charm Notch inside.
According to the wiki, this notch is part of the Free Content updates, specifically the Grimm Troupe DLC. Pre-DLC saves never get this notch, capping the limit at 10 instead of 11. Post-DLC saves get the chest automatically once the quest fires; players who choose the Banishment ending (via Brumm in Distant Village) still get the notch because the chest spawns before the Banishment branch closes.
The wiki notes the Grimmkin Flames are the gate, not the Grimm fight itself. A Knight who beats Grimm without collecting all 6 prior flames sees the chest only after grabbing the remaining flames and the second Grimm fight in the Grimmkin Nightmare phase.
Per the wiki, the Banishment branch is the only way to unlock Divine's permanent shop and the three Unbreakable upgrades for the Fragile charms. Players who finish the Ritual branch (full Grimmchild transformation) skip Divine's post-quest shop. For most builds, taking the Banishment branch after grabbing the Charm Notch chest is the optimal sequence.
The 11-notch cap is not the practical ceiling. Per the wiki, overcharming lets the Knight equip one charm past the limit at the cost of taking double damage until the next bench rest. The yellow slot-bar tint signals the overcharm state.
According to the wiki, the trick is the equip order. The Knight equips charms one at a time, and overcharm only triggers when the FINAL charm pushes the total cost past 11. Slotting the lightest charm last keeps the overcharm penalty applied to the cheapest piece. Slotting a heavy charm last triggers the penalty on the entire build, which is wasteful.
The wiki specifies overcharm is reversible. Resting at any bench clears the state; the Knight can choose to overcharm only for specific fights and remove the offending charm before the next traversal segment. Pantheon runs that lock the loadout at start usually overcharm intentionally because the bench reset never happens mid-run.
Charm Notches connect into the broader charm system, the Pantheon difficulty curve, and the Grimm Troupe DLC 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.