The upward SOUL blast. 39 damage across 3 bursts (60 with Shaman Stone), claimed at a Snail Shaman corpse in the Overgrown Mound at the west edge of Fog Canyon.
Howling Wraiths fires three waves of SOUL up and around the Knight for 13 damage each. Per the wiki, the total 39-damage output is 6 times an Old Nail swing, twice the damage of Vengeful Spirit if all three bursts land, and the only forward-line spell that targets enemies above the Knight rather than ahead of them.
According to the wiki, the spell lives on a Snail Shaman corpse at the back of the Overgrown Mound, a small chamber on the west edge of Fog Canyon near the entrance to Queen’s Gardens. The corpse belongs to the larger cousin of the Ancestral Mound Shaman who taught Vengeful Spirit; the wiki lore note says she was not generous but had a good voice, which is what the spell is named after.
The wiki notes the spell stalls the Knight in mid-air on cast. Unlike Vengeful Spirit (which pushes the Knight backward) or Desolate Dive (which slams the Knight downward), Howling Wraiths holds the Knight in place during the cast animation. The hover is short but measurable, and the wiki credits it for some Path of Pain skip routes that need a half-tile of extra air time.
This guide covers the 39-damage 3-burst output, the +50% Shaman Stone outlier scaling, the Overgrown Mound pickup route, the mid-air stall trick, the Abyss Shriek upgrade path through the western Abyss altar, and the canonical spell-economy charm stack.
Upward SOUL spell; 39 dmg across 3 bursts, hits above and around the Knight.
Overgrown Mound; Snail Shaman corpse on the west edge of Fog Canyon.
Shaman Stone (+50%) lifts each burst from 13 to 20 (60 total).
Abyss Shriek via the western Abyss altar past King’s Brand.Hold UP and press FOCUS or CAST to release a wave of energy in an arc above and around the Knight. Per the wiki, the spell delivers 3 hits at 13 damage each for a total of 39 damage if all three bursts connect. The arc reaches the upper corners around the Knight, which lets the cast clip enemies that sit on platforms above or shelves to either side.
According to the wiki, the spell reaches 6 times the strength of an Old Nail base damage. Compared to Vengeful Spirit (1 hit, 15 damage forward) and Desolate Dive (15 dive plus 20 shockwave, downward), Howling Wraiths covers a different threat angle and almost doubles Vengeful Spirit’s damage if every burst lands.
The wiki specifies the spell does not always land all three hits. Enemy movement and hitbox size determine whether the bursts connect in sequence; fast-moving targets often eat 1-2 bursts before clearing the arc. The 13-damage-per-burst number is per-hit, not guaranteed-total.
Stack Soul Catcher + Soul Eater for 22 extra SOUL per nail hit. The combo lets the Knight refill most of the 33 SOUL cost on a single nail strike, which makes Howling Wraiths a practical spell-pressure tool against Watcher Knights and the Mantis Lords triple even before the Abyss Shriek upgrade.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| SOUL cost | 33 (24 with Spell Twister) |
| Burst damage | 13 per burst |
| Burst count | 3 (per single cast) |
| Max single-cast damage | 39 (all 3 bursts land) |
| Shaman Stone damage | 20 per burst, 60 total (+50%) |
| Direction | Up and around the Knight |
| Cast input | UP + FOCUS / CAST / QUICK CAST |
| Mid-air behavior | Stalls the Knight (no push) |
| Upgrades to | Abyss Shriek (4 bursts, 80 damage) |
| Source | Overgrown Mound (Fog Canyon) |
| Damage scaling | 6 times Old Nail base |
Per the wiki, the +50% Shaman Stone scaling on Howling Wraiths and its Abyss Shriek upgrade is the highest spell-line multiplier in the game. Vengeful Spirit and Shade Soul scale at +33%; Desolate Dive and Descending Dark scale at +51% and +47%; only the Howling line gets a clean +50% boost on every burst.
Howling Wraiths sits on a Snail Shaman corpse at the back of the Overgrown Mound, a small chamber on the west side of Fog Canyon next to the Queen’s Gardens entrance. Per the wiki, the pickup is automatic on contact with the corpse; no boss fight gates the spell.
The wiki notes Fog Canyon connects from Greenpath in the south, the Forgotten Crossroads in the north, or the City of Tears via the Cornifer chamber. Any of the three entries opens once the Knight has Mantis Claw for wall-cling traversal.
Per the wiki, the Overgrown Mound is on the far west side of the region. The route passes the Teacher’s Archives boss chamber (Uumuu) and the lift back up to Queen’s Gardens. Keep heading west until the bubbles thin and the walls turn green.
The wiki specifies the Mound sits just before the Queen’s Gardens stagway entrance. A small breakable wall or low ceiling marks the chamber entry; the room opens into a short corridor with the Shaman corpse at the back.According to the wiki, the Overgrown Mound was home to the larger cousin of the Ancestral Mound Shaman who taught the base Vengeful Spirit. The lore tablet in the Mound notes she was not known for generosity but had a good voice; the wail-spell pickup plays on the same theme.
Howling Wraiths stalls the Knight mid-air on cast. Per the wiki, the spell holds the Knight at the cast height for the cast animation duration; no force is applied in any direction during the window.
According to the wiki, the stall is the spell’s only traversal application. Vengeful Spirit applies backward push on cast (usable for tiny reverse hops); Desolate Dive drops the Knight straight down. Howling Wraiths is the one spell that adds air time without changing direction.
The wiki specifies that the mid-air stall is the canonical workaround for awkward platforming gaps in Path of Pain. Players who undershoot a Monarch Wings jump can cast Howling Wraiths at the apex to extend the air phase by ~0.4 seconds, just enough to land the wall cling on the far side. The trick costs 33 SOUL per use, which limits the rotation in longer Pain runs.
The stall also works on enemies grounded directly under the Knight if the upward arc sweeps low enough to clip them. Cast at peak jump height over a ground-line enemy and the bursts hit on the way out; the stall keeps the Knight in the safe air zone while the damage lands.
Howling Wraiths upgrades permanently into Abyss Shriek at the altar on the far west side of The Abyss. Per the wiki, the upgrade jumps damage from 39 to 80 across one more burst (3 to 4) and raises the per-burst output from 13 to 20.
According to the wiki, the upgrade requires King’s Brand from the Hornet Sentinel fight in Kingdom’s Edge plus Monarch Wings for Abyss traversal. The Knight stands on the altar pedestal surrounded by screaming Vessel faces and casts Howling Wraiths; the Void emerges, the cast input overwrites permanently, and Abyss Shriek replaces Howling Wraiths in the spell menu for the rest of the save.
The wiki notes the upgrade is strictly better than the base spell. SOUL cost stays at 33 (24 with Spell Twister); the cast input is unchanged (UP + CAST); the arc reaches the same positions. Players who preferred the slightly smaller Howling Wraiths hitbox cannot reverse the swap; the trade is one-way and usually worth taking.
The Howling Wraiths spell-build spine uses 4 charms across 11 notches. Per the wiki, the stack lifts the 39-damage cast to 60 damage at 24 SOUL each and refills most of the cost per nail hit.
Shaman Stone (+50% spell damage; 3 notches)
Spell Twister (33 SOUL to 24 SOUL per cast; 2 notches)
Soul Catcher (+3 SOUL per nail hit; 2 notches)
Soul Eater (+8 SOUL per nail hit; 4 notches)According to the wiki, this configuration takes the full 11-notch cap. Pairing it with Hiveblood adds a passive Mask regen for safety in longer fights but requires the 12th notch (overcharmed), which the wiki flags as a 2-Mask risk on next hit; spell-build players usually lean on Quick Focus for safer sustain.
The wiki specifies that pairing Joni’s Blessing with this stack costs the Focus heal entirely (Lifeblood Masks do not heal), forcing all SOUL into spell casts. The trade is a +40% Mask pool with no recovery; viable for short fights and Hall of Gods Radiant against bosses that the spell rotation out-paces.
Howling Wraiths ties to the spells directory, the Fog Canyon pickup region, the Abyss Shriek upgrade path, The Abyss altar chamber, and the King’s Brand gate. 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.