Complete guide to the Sea of Sorrow DLC for Hollow Knight: Silksong, the free expansion releasing in 2026. Learn about new areas like Pharloom Bay and Snail Village, Plasmium mechanics, bosses, NPCs, Crests, abilities, release date, and difficulty.

Continue past the teaser from Team Cherry to read what to expect in the Sea of Sorrow expansion.

Updates to Hollow Knight

What to Expect in the Sea of Sorrow DLC for Silksong

New Areas in Sea of Sorrow DLC

Pharloom Bay

Almost guaranteed is the Pharloom Bay Area. An unused piece of content, part of the map when zoomed out, confirms its location southeast of Bilewater, above Verdania.

Pharloom Bay has a bright blue color background used on the Map, is fairly small and includes a waved-line on the bottom-right part, likely indicating water - sea, hinted with the Expansion's title - or some form of saltwater.

During the ACMI Exhibition in Australia, a Reddit user managed to get photographs of the in-development map sketches, about two months before the game was released.

This version included Pharloom Bay with development still in progress, seen in the image below.

The area on the top part of the photo seems to be a platforming challenge for an unknown item, or possibly a new Ability. You can also match the inclined roof to the zoomed-out Map screenshot above.

This hints at Pharloom Bay being fairly small, consisting of two or three larger rooms. It is unknown if it got larger during development or if Pharloom Bay will only serve as a side area or DLC entryway.

Pharloom Bay was earlier cut from development in 2022 and was originally placed at Verdania's spot.

Saltwater and Sea

Pharloom Bay was first announced in the Hollow Knight: Silksong reveal trailer, but it didn't make it into the final game.

The area was introduced as saltwater sea-side springs and caves, with snails and shells as common themes.

The connection between Pharloom Bay and saltwater sea is also confirmed by Alchemist Zylotol's dialogue. Zylotol claims that Plasmium was first discovered at Pharloom's far edge, "hidden deep in salt-stricken waters".

This can be connected with his cut dialogue, where he names Bilewater as "swamps beside the sea" - indicating that saltwater sea is part of the Pharloom Bay area.

Zylotol also hints that Pharloom is actually located on an island - mentioning a "mainland" away from Pharloom. Pharloom Bay could ultimately lead to Pharloom island's shores.

Snail Village

The Silksong reveal trailer also shows a small village with a Bench and a small, masked NPC, wearing a large snail shell, possibly serving as the Sea of Sorrow introduction, merchant, or Wish-giver. This is the Snail Village.

The village seems to be a lived-in small laketown residing on a platform above the water surface.

Next Likely Locations

Because Team Cherry confirmed that the Sea of Sorrow Expansion will include multiple new Weapons, Tools, NPCs, and Bosses, it is safe to bet on at least 2 large locations, plus some more.

Silksong is a game that rewards the player sparingly. Most of the equippable items in late-game are hidden behind large rooms with platforming challenges, side-quest areas, or longer hidden paths.

Sea of Sorrow is to include a variety of items - only one location would mean it would be very dense or surprisingly large.

To add to this, the Pharloom Bay Area in the map above is quite small - although it is unclear if it has been changed in development after Hollow Knight: Silksong was originally released.

Plasmium Area

It is reasonable to expect a lot of Plasmium content in Sea of Sorrow, likely with its own location.

Plasmium plays a prominent role in the Sea of Sorrow Expansion reveal trailer, showing the butterfly wings around Plasmium cells that can also be seen in Plasmified Wormways.

According to the lore, Plasmium was first discovered at Pharloom's far edge, "hidden deep in salt-stricken waters", indicating likely below Pharloom Bay.

Plasmium Lab

The Sea of Sorrow Expansion reveal trailer shows a large structure filled with Plasmium. The Expansion promotional picture shows the Plasmium Lab's peak with electrical current around it.

The Lab is believed to be part of the larger Pharloom Bay area, with its name coming from a Reddit user's photograph of the designer Ari Gibson's notebook with sketches.

In earlier parts of development, the Lab can be seen as a circular structure on a small hill, likely interacting with lightning on the surface. This building is also seen in the reveal trailer.

On the in-development Map sketch, the Lab is shown with large Plasmium elements, including large versions of Lifeblood Butterflies from Hollow Knight.

Where Will the Entrance to Sea of Sorrow Be?

Weavenest Murglin

A Lore Tablet at the very end of Weavenest Murglin contains this text: "Sister, spider, sat between salt and stone...".

Not only does the Lore Tablet mention saltwater, the very end of the room itself contains clear water, instead of Bilewater's usual muckwater - indicating that Pharloom Bay is near.

Pale Lake

Pale Lake is the largest body of water currently in Hollow Knight: Silksong and offers very similar themes to what we expect to see in Pharloom Bay.

Salt, clear water, and cubical rocks are common around the Pale Lake.

Consider Pale Lake as an area where you'd end up after destroying a secret breakable wall from the right. It would bring more connectivity to the Sea of Sorrow regions and possibly offer easy access to Fleatopia, expanding the Flea content as well.

Trail's End

The area where you find Shakra's Master is the largest hint we currently have for the Pharloom Bay visuals, if we don't include the Pale Lake.

This Area is also only accessible late-game, after collecting every Map and tracking Shakra during her Wish: Trail's End.

DLC is likely to spike the difficulty, placing the entrance here would make it a natural filter for players who are ready.

What to Expect from Sea of Sorrow DLC?

Sea of Sorrow Difficulty

Judging by Hollow Knight's two free story DLCs, Hidden Dreams and The Grimm Troupe Expansions, the Sea of Sorrow Expansion is likely to be more difficult than the base game of Silksong.

It is reasonable to expect some form of optional late-game combat challenge, but Godhome won't be included.

The DLC will include a lot of new items and Tools, providing you with plenty of new options and synergies to overcome new challenges and the difficulty spike Sea of Sorrow will likely bring.

Sea of Sorrow will not include Godhome or any similar alternative - Team Cherry is likely reserving it for later.

NPCs in Sea of Sorrow

The only revealed NPC is in Pharloom Bay - a small, masked NPC, wearing a large snail shell. However, this is now an old reveal trailer and there has been no information about Sea of Sorrow NPCs since.

New Crests in Sea of Sorrow

The reveal trailer at around 0:10 shows a bug corpse, similar to those in the base-game that already reward Crests when bound.

The corpse is theorized to be a deceased master of Zango and Zylotol, who was the first to ever discover Plasmium in Pharloom Bay.

If we get a new Crest in Sea of Sorrow, we may also get a new Ability or a new Silk Skill - or, possibly, a Plasmium Skill.

Do I Need a New Save for Sea of Sorrow?

No, you don't need a new save for Sea of Sorrow. You can continue your journey from the end of Hollow Knight: Silksong and pick up where you left off.

It is unknown if any particular Abilities will be required to access, but we strongly recommend getting everything possible. Use our 100% Completion Checklist to ensure you're ready.

How Many Items Will Be Included in Sea of Sorrow?

Currently unknown. Team Cherry's announcement post spoke of multiples of each item category, hinting at more than 10, but it could possibly be a lot higher.

New Bosses in Sea of Sorrow

As the residents of Pharloom Bay and surrounding areas are nautically-themed, expect bosses themed after sea-shore creatures.

Some of these creatures are already in the base game as regular enemies. It is reasonable to expect a major story Boss in connection to the Lab - either an Alchemist like Zylotol, possibly the first discoverer of Plasmium - or a horrific creature, the result of Plasmium's life-draining influence.

Sea of Sorrow Length and Time to Beat

You can make reasonable assumptions from already released Hollow Knight's DLCs - Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, and Godhome took at least a few hours to beat.

The release date of Sea of Sorrow is unknown, but Team Cherry confirmed the year 2026. The base game was released on September 4th, 2025.

Team Cherry didn't release any larger content since, except for minor patches mostly focusing on rebalancing and bug fixes - this would theoretically give them 3 months of development already in year 2025.

Sea of Sorrow Release Date