A 2-notch charm that shortens Mothwing Cloak cooldown and adds a downward dash. Hidden by a digger statue in southern Fungal Wastes.
Dashmaster is the cheapest traversal upgrade in Hollow Knight and the single best Path of Pain utility charm. Per the wiki, the 2-notch charm shortens the Mothwing Cloak cooldown by roughly 40% (from 0.6 to 0.4 seconds) and unlocks a downward dash by pressing dash plus down at the same time. Both effects together transform vertical traversal and tight-platforming sections.
According to the wiki, Dashmaster sits in southern Fungal Wastes near a digger statue south of Mantis Village. The pickup is free, the path is unguarded (only Sporg jellyfish and Volatile Mosskins en route), and the only ability gate is the Mantis Claw for the southern descent.
The wiki specifies the downward dash is the real game-changer. Without Dashmaster, the Knight can only dash horizontally; with it, the Knight can dash straight down through gaps and onto spike-narrow platforms in Path of Pain, White Palace, and Trial of the Fool. The shortened cooldown stacks with the directional unlock for a roughly 1.7x effective dash-action rate.
This guide covers the cooldown reduction math, the downward-dash mechanic, the Fungal Wastes digger-statue route, the Sharp Shadow 1.5x nail damage synergy, the Sprintmaster pairing, and the Path of Pain build that turns Dashmaster into a completionist must-have.
Faster dash + downward dash, the cheapest traversal charm at 2 notches.
Southern Fungal Wastes next to a digger statue, free pickup.
Sharp Shadow scales shadow-dash damage to 1.5x nail damage.
Path of Pain platforming and Trial of the Fool gap-clearing.Dashmaster modifies the Knight's baseline dash behaviour in two ways. Per the wiki, the cooldown between dashes drops from 0.6 seconds to approximately 0.4 seconds, a roughly 33-40% reduction that lets the Knight chain dashes faster across long gap segments. The dash distance and invincibility frames are unchanged; only the recovery window shortens.
According to the wiki, the second effect is the downward dash. Holding the down direction while pressing the dash button triggers a vertical-down dash with the same range and i-frames as the horizontal dash. The downward dash works mid-jump, mid-fall, and from standing positions; it does not work while focusing or while grounded on a platform.
The wiki specifies that Dashmaster does NOT affect the Mantis Claw wall-cling cooldown, the Super Dash speed, or the Shade Cloak invincibility window. The boost applies only to the basic Mothwing Cloak dash (and its Shade-Cloak-upgraded version), not to other movement abilities. Players sometimes assume the boost speeds Crystal Heart charges; it does not.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Notch cost | 2 |
| Dash cooldown | 0.6s to ~0.4s (-33%) |
| New ability | Downward dash |
| Dash distance | Unchanged from baseline |
| Affects Super Dash | No |
| Affects Mantis Claw | No |
| Source | Southern Fungal Wastes (digger statue) |
| Cost | Free pickup |
| Required ability | Mantis Claw (for the southern path) |
Per the wiki, the 2-notch cost matches Sharp Shadow, Soul Catcher, and Fury of the Fallen in the cheap-utility tier. The free pickup early in the Mantis-Lords-clear timeline makes Dashmaster available before most players notice they need it.
Dashmaster sits in a chamber south of Mantis Village in the Fungal Wastes. Per the wiki, the route runs from the Mantis Village bench south through the open Wastes corridor; the charm chamber holds a single digger statue with the pickup pedestal next to it.
According to the wiki, the digger statue depicts the in-fiction "Dashmaster" bug, an eccentric character mentioned in Hallownest lore as the original holder of the charm. The statue has no in-game interaction beyond the visual flavour; the charm pickup is the gameplay reward.
The wiki notes the Mantis Claw is the access gate. The corridor south of Mantis Village has wall-climb segments that only the Mantis Claw clears; without it, the Knight cannot reach the digger statue chamber. Most players grab Dashmaster on the same trip as the Mantis Lords clearance and the Mark of Pride reward.
Per the wiki, the Sporg jellyfish enemies in the corridor south of Mantis Village explode on contact for 2-mask damage. Stalwart Shell or Quick Focus protect the Knight on the first run; veteran players dash through the Sporg spawns mid-flight using the standard Mothwing Cloak invincibility.
The downward dash is the standout feature. Per the wiki, holding the down direction while pressing dash triggers a vertical-down dash that shares the same range and i-frames as the horizontal dash. The mechanic enables platforming sequences that the baseline Mothwing Cloak cannot perform.
According to the wiki, the canonical use case is Path of Pain. The Knight chains a horizontal dash into a downward dash through a narrow gap, lands on a small platform, and chains another horizontal dash off the edge. Without Dashmaster, the same sequence requires precise timing on jumps and fall-arcs; with Dashmaster, the i-frames cover the entire transition.
The wiki specifies the downward dash also enables crowd-control tricks. Dashing down through enemy projectile waves uses the dash i-frames to avoid damage while repositioning; the Knight ends up below the enemy with a clear up-slash angle. This is the canonical Pantheon Watcher Knights crowd-clear lever for builds without Quick Slash damage ceiling.
Dashmaster pairs into three other charms in meaningful ways. Per the wiki, Sharp Shadow is the canonical damage synergy; Sprintmaster amplifies speed-based traversal; Shape of Unn lets the Knight move during Focus, complementing the dash chain.
Sharp Shadow pairingAccording to the wiki, Sharp Shadow + Dashmaster raises Shadow Dash damage from 1x to 1.5x nail damage. The math: a Pure Nail at base 21 damage becomes roughly 31 damage per Shadow Dash. Notch cost: 4 (2 + 2); the cheapest damage-dash combo in the game.
Sprintmaster pairingPer the wiki, Sprintmaster (1 notch, +25% run speed) and Dashmaster combine to give the fastest horizontal traversal possible. The Knight runs faster between dashes and dashes faster between runs, which compresses Pantheon stage transitions and exploration backtracks significantly.
Shape of Unn pairingThe wiki notes Shape of Unn lets the Knight move while focusing. Combined with Dashmaster's faster dash recovery, the Knight can Focus mid-dash-chain, heal a mask, and continue the dash sequence without losing momentum. The combo costs 5 notches (2 + 3) and shines in long platforming segments where heal windows are scarce.
The Path of Pain completionist build pairs Dashmaster with traversal and sustain charms. Per the wiki, the canonical 11-notch loadout slots Dashmaster + Sprintmaster + Shape of Unn + Quick Focus + Grubsong for a sustain-heavy completion build that handles every platforming gauntlet.
Dashmaster (2 notches; faster dash + downward dash) Sprintmaster (1 notch; +25% run speed) Shape of Unn (3 notches; move while focusing)
Quick Focus (3 notches; +33% Focus speed)
Grubsong (1 notch; SOUL on damage taken)
Stalwart Shell (2 notches; longer i-frames)According to the wiki, this 12-notch loadout overcharms by 1 on the cheapest charm. In actual play, the combo dominates Path of Pain because the faster dash chain plus the move-during-Focus heal plus the longer-i-frame buffer cover the three biggest failure modes of the gauntlet. The trade is no nail-damage support, so combat segments rely on baseline nail strikes.
Dashmaster ties to the Path of Pain completion gauntlet, the Mothwing Cloak chain, and the traversal charm cluster. 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.