The Silksong pogo jump is an essential mechanic that you should try to master as early as possible, being both useful for combat and required for some platforming puzzles. It's a returning mechanic from the first game, but it works a little differently in Hollow Knight Silksong, and the game doesn't mention or explain how it works at all. So, if you're struggling to figure out how this air dive and bounce works, I've explained the fundamentals of pogo jumping in Silksong below.
Silksong pogo jumping explained
A pogo jump in Silksong happens when you hit an enemy or a platforming object after performing an air dive attack. Doing so propels Hornet directly upwards, gaining extra height, which is essential for reaching certain areas and is useful in combat.
If this is completely new to you, you first need to learn about Hornet's air dive, which can be a little finnicky as you need to press several buttons quickly. To perform one of these attacks, you need to jump then, while in the air, aim down (using the left stick, D-pad or WASD depending on your input device) and attack. This will cause Hornet to dive diagonally downward (whether she goes left or right depends on the direction you're facing) with her needle outstretched, stabbing whatever's ahead. Obviously if she hits an enemy or a platforming object, she'll leap up with a pogo jump too.
As I've mentioned, pogo jumping comes up in Silksong a lot, so it's worth practising early, both for combat and platforming purposes. As an example, you'll need to pogo jump repeatedly to climb the red flowers found in The Marrow in the first couple of hours of the game. You can even use it to bounce off silver spikes to protect Hornet from harm and you can collect one of the three Silksong Mossberries very early on using this technique.
In combat, it's also useful for both dealing damage to enemies and avoiding damage from enemy attacks, as in the first game. Obviously, the major difference between pogo-ing in that game versus Silksong is that Hornet must move diagonally downward rather than vertically downward, so positioning is a lot more important and follow-up pogo-jumps can be trickier to execute. And there are even attack-altering Crests that you can equip that will affect your air dive, and therefore how you pogo-jump in Silksong.
So, now that you're armed with knowledge of how to air dive and pogo jump, you can use it to overcome the many Silksong bosses and reach new areas you might have spotted on your Silksong map.
There are lots of other movement abilities you'll unlock as you play, including the Silksong wall jump after beating the Silksong Sister Splinter boss several hours into the game.
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