A 3-notch charm that raises spell damage by roughly 33% across all six spells and enlarges Vengeful Spirit projectiles. Hidden in the Ancestral Mound above Forgotten Crossroads.
Shaman Stone is the S-tier spell charm every Hollow Knight spell build runs. Per the wiki, the 3-notch charm raises spell damage by 33-51% depending on the spell, enlarges Vengeful Spirit and Shade Soul projectile hitboxes, and turns the spell economy from a niche utility into the primary damage path for caster loadouts.
According to the wiki, the speedrun community treats Shaman Stone as a non-negotiable pickup because the Ancestral Mound is one of the fastest charm-to-bench routes in the game. The Knight needs only the Vengeful Spirit spell from the Snail Shaman in the Mound; the Shaman Stone pickup sits one breakable wall away from the same chamber.
The wiki specifies the damage scaling. Vengeful Spirit gains +33% damage (15 to 20); Shade Soul gains +33% damage (30 to 40); Howling Wraiths and Abyss Shriek gain +33% per tick; Desolate Dive and Descending Dark gain +33% impact damage. Flukenest gets a slightly different bump: per-fluke damage rises from 4 to 5, totalling 45 damage with Vengeful Spirit and 80 damage with Shade Soul.
This guide covers the +33% mechanic per spell, the Ancestral Mound pickup route, the Spell Twister pairing for the canonical spell core, the Flukenest stack, and the spell-build picks that turn Shaman Stone into 80% damage uplift per SOUL meter.
+33% spell damage across all six spells, plus enlarged projectiles.
Ancestral Mound in Forgotten Crossroads, behind a breakable wall.
Spell Twister for the S-tier 5-notch spell core (more damage + cheaper casts).
Pure nail builds; the spell-only boost is wasted without SOUL spending.Shaman Stone applies a flat +33% multiplier to spell damage. Per the wiki, the boost fires on every spell cast (Vengeful Spirit, Shade Soul, Howling Wraiths, Abyss Shriek, Desolate Dive, Descending Dark) and stacks multiplicatively with Spell Twister (which reduces SOUL cost, not damage). The +33% figure varies slightly per spell because some spells round differently.
According to the wiki, the projectile-size effect matters as much as the damage. Vengeful Spirit and Shade Soul hitboxes grow by roughly 25%, which lets the projectiles clip enemies the unmodified spell would miss. The size bump is invisible on the casting animation but visible on the in-flight projectile.
The wiki specifies the Flukenest interaction is different. Each individual fluke deals 5 damage instead of 4 (a 25% per-fluke boost), totalling 45 damage from a Vengeful Spirit Flukenest cast and 80 damage from a Shade Soul Flukenest cast. The Defender's Crest + Flukenest dung-cloud variant also benefits, with the cloud frequency ticking higher when Shaman Stone is equipped.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Notch cost | 3 |
| Damage boost | +33% across all 6 spells |
| Projectile size | +25% for VS/Shade Soul |
| Affects nail | No |
| Source | Ancestral Mound (Forgotten Crossroads) |
| Cost | Free pickup |
| Required ability | Vengeful Spirit (for chamber access) |
| Speedrun tier | S (one of the earliest +damage charms) |
| DLC | Base game |
Per the wiki, the 3-notch cost matches Quick Slash, Mark of Pride, and Unbreakable Strength in the canonical S-tier. The free pickup early in the game (Ancestral Mound is reachable in the first hour) makes Shaman Stone the cheapest S-tier charm by acquisition cost.
Shaman Stone sits in the Ancestral Mound above Forgotten Crossroads. Per the wiki, the Mound is the small chamber where the Snail Shaman teaches the Vengeful Spirit spell; Shaman Stone hides in a side room reached through a breakable wall.
According to the wiki, the route runs from the Crossroads Stag stop east to the Vengeful Spirit pickup chamber. After learning Vengeful Spirit, the Knight returns to the main Mound chamber and breaks the wall on the upper-left side via a standard nail strike. The Shaman Stone chamber sits one room past the wall break, with the charm pedestal in plain sight.
The wiki notes there are no enemies guarding the chamber. The pickup is free, the location is central, and the only requirement is that the Knight has reached the Vengeful Spirit spell pickup. Speedruns grab Shaman Stone within the first 30 minutes of any standard route.
Per the wiki, the breakable wall in Ancestral Mound is one of the most-missed pickups in early-game Forgotten Crossroads. The wall texture matches the surrounding rock; players who skip the strike-test on every wall walk past Shaman Stone for the rest of the game. Break every suspicious wall in the Mound chamber.
| Spell | Base Damage | With Shaman Stone |
|---|---|---|
| Vengeful Spirit | 15 | 20 |
| Shade Soul | 30 | 40 |
| Howling Wraiths | 3 per tick (5 ticks = 15) | ~20 total |
| Abyss Shriek | 4 per tick (10 ticks = 40) | ~55 total |
| Desolate Dive | 15 impact + 20 splash | 20 impact + 27 splash |
| Descending Dark | 15 impact + 35 splash | 20 impact + 47 splash |
| Flukenest VS | 36 (9 flukes x 4) | 45 (9 flukes x 5) |
| Flukenest Shade Soul | 64 (16 flukes x 4) | 80 (16 flukes x 5) |
Per the wiki, the spell damage gates several key kills. Shaman Stone Shade Soul one-shots most Forgotten Crossroads enemies (Husks, Wandering Husks, Volatile Mosskins) and two-shots mid-tier enemies like Soul Sanctum acolytes. The Flukenest variants one-shot trash mobs and dent boss HP bars significantly faster than baseline spell casts.
Shaman Stone pairs with three spell charms in meaningful ways. Per the wiki, Spell Twister is the consensus S-tier pairing; Flukenest is the dedicated spell-build choice; Soul Catcher and Soul Eater support the SOUL economy that fuels the casts.
Spell Twister pairingAccording to the wiki, Spell Twister cuts SOUL cost from 33 to 24 per spell. Combined with Shaman Stone's +33% damage, a full SOUL meter delivers 4 Shade Soul casts at 40 damage each (160 total) instead of 3 casts at 30 damage each (90 total). That is roughly 78% damage uplift per meter. Notch cost: 5 (3 + 2).
Flukenest pairingPer the wiki, Flukenest replaces Vengeful Spirit and Shade Soul with a horde of flukes. Shaman Stone raises per-fluke damage from 4 to 5, totalling 45 damage on a Vengeful Spirit cast and 80 damage on a Shade Soul cast. Notch cost: 6 (3 + 3); adding Defender's Crest to the build raises damage further via the dung-cloud tick.
Soul Eater pairingThe wiki specifies Soul Eater (4 notches, +200% SOUL per hit) fuels the spell economy. Combined with Shaman Stone, the Knight generates enough SOUL from a single boss-fight clear to cast Shade Soul 5-6 times for roughly 220 total damage. The combo costs 7 notches but turns spell-heavy boss fights into one-meter-wins.
The canonical spell build leans into Shaman Stone + Spell Twister + Flukenest + Defender's Crest. Per the wiki, this 9-notch loadout multiplies damage AND cast count AND adds a dung-cloud tick layer; the remaining 2 notches go to Grubsong for SOUL-on-damage-taken or Quick Focus for safe heals.
Shaman Stone (3 notches; +33% damage) Spell Twister (2 notches; -9 SOUL per cast) Flukenest (3 notches; replaces VS/Shade Soul with fluke horde)
Defender's Crest (1 notch; dung cloud tick on Flukenest)
Grubsong (1 notch; SOUL on damage taken)According to the wiki, this 10-notch loadout fits cleanly without overcharming. In actual play, the build clears boss fights with one full SOUL meter and refills via nail strikes and Grubsong's damage-taken trigger. The trade is no nail-damage support, so the Knight needs to play patient between SOUL casts. Hybrid builds drop Flukenest and swap in Quick Slash for nail-and-spell mixing.
Shaman Stone anchors every spell build and pairs into the broader caster 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.