Once you have Isma’s tear, you should head southeast in the Queen’s Gardens, where you’ll dive into a pool of acid, face two enemies and find a “Love Key.” You can use this key to fight an optional miniboss in the City of Tears. Therefore, I’ll write this guide assuming you already have every upgrade listed above but specify when a specific one is required for the grub. While many grubs can be reached with little to no upgrades, there will be plenty of times that you’ll have to come back later to get one since it demands a specific upgrade. Namely, the Mothwing Cloak, Mantis Claw, Desolate Dive, Crystal Heart, Monarch wings, Isma’s Tear, and Shade Cloak are all required if you want to traverse every part that contains a grub. Grub hunting should be done whenever you’ve gotten all the accessories and items you need to traverse every part of Hollow Knights’ map. Grubs are best to go after later in Hollow Knight, as some require upgrades you can only get later in the game, and you can get a grub pin to show every grub on the map from fighting the Collector. This Hollow Knight Grub guide will show you the location of every grub, tell you how to reach them, and warn you of any challenges involved, so let’s dive in.

Other times, you’ll hear the worm crying but can’t find the jar anywhere. The pots are sometimes in plain sight but with a difficult challenge. These worms are stuck in jars, hidden behind walls, past platforming challenges, and locked behind enemy encounters. One of those collectibles is the Grubs, little worms you find the father of around the start of the game all stuck hidden around the massive cave system.

The game is a massively popular Metroidvania, featuring many bosses, platforming, and collectibles. If you’ve been around the indie gaming scene, you’ve heard of Hollow Knight before.

Hollow knight map pins