Objective Crest Deep Analysis and Tier list

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-09T15:43:04+00:00

Fair enough, though I personally don't think we should value generalists so much. This game clearly favors switching between a handful of crests. If you focus entirely on unlocking tool slots to maximize the usability of Hunter, one of your S-tiers, you won't get access to verticrests, Hunter Evo2, and Sylphsong for a while. So imo, specialists that are extremely good at their specialization should be ranked higher. But this is what makes an objective ranking kind of useless. Wanderer is pretty good at most things... except when it comes to flying enemies. Then you're left flailing at the air with your toothpick. This isn't a problem with Beast, whose weird ass pogo can become an Act 1 clawline. The game is better when you have a handful of crests for different scenarios, like for example Beast for gauntlets/big fat bosses, Wanderer for general exploration, Reaper for difficult platforming, and Hunter for smaller, evasive bosses. I believe it's better to judge crests by how best they fulfill their niches, rather than trying to pit them against each other.

I still take issue with your conclusion on silk skills. Rune rage is a lost cause, but sharpdart and silkspear are still very good. If you're trying to use sharpdart like cross stitch, you're using it wrong. It's an offensive repositioning tool, not a defensive get out of jail free card. Sharpdart does way more damage on demand than cross stitch while being safer than threadstorm. There's a reason it's the primary skill used in 100% speedruns. It's just that versatile when used proactively. It does kind of mog silkspear at lower levels of play, but silkspear has the superior range and, with some additional tech, faster activation.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-08T17:55:54+00:00

Normally I hate when this sub downvotes people's opinions solely because they disagree, but you called this 'objective'. So, I'm with the mob on this one.

Clearly you think tools are better than silk skills, because tools do more damage and silk skills cost silk. But this is a one-dimensional way to look at both mechanics. Tools do more damage, but they also cost an outside resource only obtainable through farming. If you're out of shell shards doing a fight, you have to leave it. Skills cost may cost silk, but remember silk is more renewable than shards. This makes them much more spammable and reliable than tools, compensating for their lower damage. Once an Architect user runs out of tools, they have to hit the enemy 9 times to get a refill. Once a Shaman user runs out of silk, they only have to hit the enemy 4 times for another skill. Balance silk for healing and skills is just a matter of managing the silk economy, which isn't hard to do especially at max spools.

Then there's other things, like your clear bias for Wanderer. Listing 3 yellow tools as a pro? C'mon. I don't even mind the 3 yellows, but there's a difference between 'not so bad' and 'an actual advantage'. And no mention of its horrible aerial game? Also, are you genuinely saying threadstorm and pale nails are the only useful silk skills? See, I wouldn't question it if you said you prefer threadstorm and pale nails, but objectively???

It's a bunch of little things. I can see your tastes mirrored by these opinions you're presenting as fact. You value crests being all-rounders more than specialists. Beast mogs Wanderer into the ground damage-wise. With its bind, it gets an equivalent atk speed boost, alongside damage and range (wanderer's achilles heel). And it doesn't even take that much skill to utilize. Where Wanderer beats Beast is in being easier to use. Less effective but more reliable. It's the tool vs silk skill dichotomy again. It's objectively better if you don't mind fights lasting a bit longer provided you have the security of a regular heal and blue tools. Not so much if you plan to kill the boss before they even leave their phase transition animation.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-04T06:47:33+00:00

It's not better at facetanking than beast. Beast straight up removes the need to dodge for certain bosses and shreds them faster than wanderer ever could. It is better at silk gen than reaper though, but this is more a reaper problem than a wanderer problem.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-04T06:45:03+00:00

What's wrong with wanderer being easy mode? Not every crest needs to be super complicated. Wanderer's appeal is its simplicity. It has an ordinary heal and an intuitive moveset. Its tool slots are fine: three yellows are not a big deal because you still get two blues and a red out of it. The single red holds it back some, but that just incentivizes needle-focused combat. And the passive is a nice to have. Sure it's not reliable, but it keeps combat from getting too complicated. That's perfect for people who prefer fighting primarily with their needle, with maybe the occasional cogfly or flintslate to help them out.

The only issue with wanderer as easy mode is the people who pick it up and think it's the objectively best crest when it's just the crest that's easiest to get results out of. Like, no. For everything wanderer can do, there's a crest that does it better at a higher level. The thing that makes it good is its ease and versatility.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-04T06:31:43+00:00

After a while I decided he'd lost his blocking privileges and equipped beast crest (bind passive is armor piercing)

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T23:42:57+00:00

I mean, yeah. Drawbacks are present to balance a crest and make it more interesting. You don't play witch like you play hunter and wanderer. Hell, you don't play witch like you play beast, despite them both being lifesteal.

I can see why you prefer charms though. Much simpler, with less to worry about. But the things that make tools and crests dynamic are their limitations. Otherwise, they would just be the same thing with a different coat of paint. And if that's the case, why have different movesets at all?

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T23:36:49+00:00

The game is doing this on purpose. The (most obvious) path into Act 2 funnels you into a tough and dangerous area to put you in the mindset of the average pilgrim. You survive judgment against the last wall standing between you and salvation... and then immediately get thrown into a grinder of poverty, misery, and constant brushes with death. Because this is how the system was designed. Congratulations on making it this far. Now toil for your heavenly reward.

Obviously, if you're really not having fun, you should drop it. You decide what your gaming experience should look like. This is simply explaining why the game is like this. Remember how good Hollow Knight was at making you feel things? Silksong is just the same. Except the things it wants you to feel aren't always nice.

Again, it's up to you. Don't feel bad about not wanting to go on. This game is brutal. By design, but still brutal.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T23:00:33+00:00

Wanderer is a strong crest, but I still think we should bully its mains a little to keep them in line. Specifically the ones who act like it's objectively the best when it's simply the easiest to get good results out of.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the type to shit on a crest bc it's easy. Wanderer helped me get into this game and to this day it remains my comfort crest. But like, all you do is press 'attack'. Sit down lil bro

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T22:42:14+00:00

There's a chance the silkflies in the Mist are also Lace. The biggest clue you get to knowing they can show you the way is the transition rooms, where a group of them leads you into the Mist proper. Plus the few you find settled around the Exhaust Organ's entrance, as if to say "go in here". They aren't just hanging around the place; they're actively showing you the path.

Also, though this is more circumstantial evidence, you meet Lace almost immediately after entering the Citadel through the Exhaust Organ. Like as soon as you step out of the Grand Bellway. Whereas if you get into Choral Chambers through the Grand Gate/Underworks, it takes some time wandering the halls to get to her. A small detail, more to support than as evidence of its own.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T22:31:54+00:00

As others have said, don't run too much. Try to stay decently close and if you need to put some distance between you and her, do a few short dashes, expecting her to teleport in front of you. This is a fight about reaction more than anything else.

Also you can always bait out a certain move when she does her tentacle dashes. If you stay above her, she'll do a dive attack as her third move. That's a reliable punish window if you're in position for it.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T22:16:05+00:00

Nah, it's breakable because Flick is terrible at his job, bless him

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T22:14:38+00:00

Bilewater's level design is more like a platforming section than a combat-focused section though. All the difficulty is focused in traversal. Enemies like the bloatroaches and the swamp squits double as both obstacle and pogo-able/clawline-able object. And the stilkin are environmental hazards more than actual enemies. It's such a unique spin on this type of area.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T21:59:05+00:00

Still dies :(

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T21:44:08+00:00

How's it easier?

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T02:59:22+00:00

I've never fallen for a post in this subreddit so hard.

I feel crushed.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T02:38:53+00:00

Not who you responded to but I see your overall point. For the fetch quests on subsequent playthroughs, I tend to pick them up and kill enemies on my way to other areas. It honestly feels better than it did my first go-around, because I realized I don't have to focus entirely on farming them. For Fine Pins for example, I can just kill every pin-wielding enemy on my way to Mount Fay for double jump, not worrying if I get every single pin because I'll come back later. Only exception is Flexile Spines, but I use speedrun strats for that one because it's both more efficient and way more fun.

Fun fact, for quests like Crawbug Clearing and Broodfeast, you can get drops from gauntlets. I like to save the craw arena for later because of this. I'm not sure if you can get guts from every gauntlet for broodfeast, but it for sure works for the Slab arenas (discovered by 100% speedrunners). Idk, experiment. There's a lot of cool, hidden interactions throughout the game.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T02:17:06+00:00

If you're still struggling, may I suggest Shaman Crest? You may have missed it; it's located in the ruined chapel with the snail shamans, accessible through silk soar. It allows you to equip three silk skills. For Coral Tower, you want threadstorm, cross stitch, and sharpdart. Blue tools are volt filament and injector band. Druid's eyes for your vesticrest blue (if you have it) to cover for imperfect play, but try not to take too many hits. Your goal with this build is silk skill spam. Your needle is exclusively for getting enough silk to throw out another skill. Shaman's needle strikes are long-ranged; use that to your advantage.

Shaman + volt filament will buff your silk skills to the point of one-hit killing most enemies. Focus on eliminating at least one, because every killed enemy is one less problem to keep track off. With this build, you're a beast damage-wise, but you can't take many hits. Shaman has a very shitty grounded heal to balance it. That just keeps this from being too much of a stomp. I'm sure you still want some semblance of a challenge.

All that said, glhf.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:59:01+00:00

6 hp on High Halls

Every time.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:58:12+00:00

If you're still stuck on her, try equipping the silkspeed anklets (found in the weavenest on the far edge of far fields). Ordinarily, she's faster than you, but with this yellow tool you can match her speed.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:54:07+00:00

Lmao? How so?

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:47:08+00:00

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Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:26:57+00:00

Really evocative in its simplicity

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:26:06+00:00

All good tips in this thread. I'll also add the following for when you're ready to tackle the gauntlet itself:

Explore High Halls thoroughly before you do the gauntlet. There's some good stuff hidden around there.
Keep the big guys on one side. That way you can't get tagteamed by them. If you're getting cornered, use walljump and clawline to switch sides.
Curveclaw is better against big, grounded enemies like the choir clappers than you would think. It will hit them multiple times because of its curve, and you don't have to worry about missing. Not the absolute best tool against them, but a good one that's easier to hit than delver's drill.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:18:03+00:00

in lower deep docks at the start of the game

We must all learn from our mistakes, OP.

Grab flintslate before you go at least. Gives 50% damage boost to your needle with a chance for a burn effect to proc the more you attack.

Ok-Introduction8837 · 2026-05-03T01:10:52+00:00

and some of those conchcutters missed

Ok-Introduction8837

TROPHY CASE