Pale Ore in Hollow Knight: All 6 Locations and the Nail Upgrade Costs

Pale Ore in Hollow Knight: All 6 Locations and the Nail Upgrade Costs

Hollow Knight contains exactly six Pale Ore, and the Nailsmith's four upgrades consume exactly six ore between them: none for the Sharpened Nail (250 Geo), one for the Channelled Nail (800 Geo), two for the Coiled Nail (2,000 Geo) and three for the Pure Nail (4,000 Geo). Every piece of Pale Ore in Hallownest is required to reach the Pure Nail, which lifts nail damage from 5 to 21. The six are: one in the Ancient Basin, one at Hallownest's Crown in Crystal Peak, one in Deepnest after defeating Nosk, one in the Grub King's room in the Forgotten Crossroads (reward for rescuing 31 Grubs), one from the Seer for collecting 300 Essence, and one from the Trial of the Conqueror in the Colosseum of Fools.

The Six-Ore Economy: What Each Upgrade Costs

Pale Ore is a rare, fine metal used for one purpose only: the Nailsmith in the City of Tears takes it alongside Geo to reforge your nail. The first upgrade needs no ore at all, so the six-ore requirement is spread across the last three upgrades only. This is why you can leave the hardest pickups for later and still finish, but you cannot finish without all six.

Budget the Geo separately from the ore hunt. The 7,050 Geo of upgrades is a substantial sum on its own, and the two Colosseum trials add 1,250 Geo in entry fees on top of that.

Find the Nailsmith in the City of Tears

1. Enter the City of Tears. The direct route is opening the main gate with the City Crest, which the False Knight drops in the Forgotten Crossroads. Alternatively, once you have the Mantis Claw from Mantis Village in the Fungal Wastes, you can wall-jump up the city's outer walls for a backdoor entry.
2. Head to the city's lowest depths on the far western side, near the border with the Fungal Wastes. The Nailsmith's small hut sits there.
3. Buy the Sharpened Nail for 250 Geo immediately. It is the only upgrade that costs no Pale Ore, and the damage jump from 5 to 9 makes everything that follows easier.

He is the only NPC in Hallownest who performs nail upgrades. His dialogue changes once you are carrying ore: he offers to reforge the nail in exchange for the ore and some Geo for his efforts, and the offer scales from one piece to three as your nail improves.

All 6 Pale Ore Locations

Each entry below is one of the six. Three appear on the Pale Ore layer of the pause map; the other three do not appear on the map at all, which is the most common reason players stall at the Coiled Nail.

1. Forgotten Crossroads, Grub King's room

A chamber holding a Grub King, a Fat Grub King and a long row of grub counters, plus this ore and a Mask Shard. Its only doorway leads to Crossroads_07 (room ID Crossroads_38). The ore here is the reward for rescuing 31 Grubs.

2. Ancient Basin, northwest of the tram station

The ore lies in the northwest portion of the area, west of the tram station and due west of the main northern entrance into the Ancient Basin. It is guarded by Lesser Mawleks, so clear them before you collect. This is the map-pinned pickup listed as Abyss_17; the closest bench is Abyss_18 in the Ancient Basin.

3. Crystal Peak, Hallownest's Crown

At the very summit of Crystal Peak sits an area called Hallownest's Crown, marked by a large statue of the Radiance. The Mantis Claw is required to get up here. Depending on your skill you will also want the Monarch Wings and the Crystal Heart; without them you can bounce on enemy projectiles to climb, but it is very difficult. This is one of the six, not a bonus pickup.

4. The Seer's reward: 300 Essence

Collect 300 Essence with the Dream Nail, then return to the Seer in the Resting Grounds, and she gives you the Pale Ore.

5. Deepnest, the Nosk room

The ore shares a room with the Nosk pin, listed as Deepnest_32. The closest bench is Deepnest_30 in Deepnest.

6. Colosseum of Fools, Trial of the Conqueror

The Trial of the Conqueror, the second of the Colosseum's three trials, costs 450 Geo to enter and rewards a piece of Pale Ore (and 1,700 to 2,024 Geo). The Trial of the Fool costs 800 Geo to enter. The Colosseum has no pins on the pause map, so treat the trip as a single visit.

Distances to benches are straight lines, not walking routes, so plan your actual path with that in mind.

Finishing the Pure Nail: Kill or Spare the Nailsmith

Handing over the third ore and 4,000 Geo completes the Pure Nail, the final upgrade and the 21-damage cap. That triggers the Nailsmith's closing choice: kill him or spare him, each tied to its own achievement (per HollowKnightPortal and Ludens guides). The decision closes the questline either way, so decide before you swing.

If you are coming to this guide from the sequel, note that Silksong uses a different system: its Needle is upgraded through a Crafting Kit rather than Pale Ore and the Nailsmith, according to the Hollow Knight Wiki's Silksong damage-values page.

Sources

• Hollow Knight Wiki: Pale Ore
• Hollow Knight Wiki: Nailsmith
• TheGamer: Where To Find Pale Ore In Hollow Knight
• PinDrop: Hollow Knight Pale Ore Locations
• Gamers.wiki: Hollow Knight Nailsmith Location and All Pale Ore Upgrades
• PinDrop: Hollow Knight Map, Charms, Bosses and Items
• Team Cherry: hollowknight.com