Hollow Knight Silksong walkthrough: Part 16 (Exhaust Organ)

Conquer the Exhaust Organ and its main boss for the alternate route into Act 2

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

Found yourself inside the Exhaust Organ in Silksong? Even by Hollow Knight: Silksong’s standards, “Exhaust Organ” is rather a strange name for a region of the world. But it’s very apt, in more ways than one. This area is small, but dense with difficulty, and houses a couple of easily missed secrets to boot.

In this quick Part 16 of our Silksong walkthrough, we’ll walk you through the perfect route up the Exhaust Organ and its superheated steam-heavy tunnels. We’ll also give you our best tips and tricks on how to beat the main boss at the top of the Exhaust Organ, because they could arguably be the toughest of all the Silksong bosses you’ve faced so far.

Want the walkthrough for a different area of the game? Check out our Hollow Knight: Silksong walkthrough hub!

Exhaust Organ walkthrough steps:

1. Find the cobweb-covered Bench.
2. Pass through the steam vents.
3. Rescue the trapped Flea.
4. Defeat Phantom to unlock Cross Stitch.
5. Activate the Grand Bellway.

1. Find the cobweb-covered Bench.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

After exiting The Mist, you’ll find yourself on a wooden platform near some more worm-infested waters. Head across to the right and enter the building at the end of the path to properly start exploring the Exhaust Organ.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

Once inside, head through the short corridor, past the Drapefly enemy, until the room opens up. Climb up to the left-hand ledge, and scale the wall to the top. Here you’ll find a Bench covered in cobwebs. Attack the cobwebs to remove them, and then rest at the Bench.

2. Drop the elevator down the shaft.

Drop back down from the Bench, and jump over to the right-hand side. Bypass the first way upwards, and take the second one, just past another Drapefly. The tunnel upwards is periodically flooded with steam, so time your ascent well.

There’s a hole halfway up on the right you can duck into to avoid the second jet of steam. Mind the spikes above you as you jump from this little nook!

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

Continue up the next tunnel, and then down the third (watch the spikes at the very bottom). When you get to a crossroads, drop down a very slight distance, and take the left-hand path below. At the end of the path you’ll find an old elevator held up by planks of wood. Attack the planks to break them, bringing the elevator crashing down.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

3. Rescue the trapped Flea.

With the elevator out of the way, jump across to the other side and you’ll find a room with a mirror in it. You can play your Needolin here for a bit of interesting lore.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

After that, turn around and head all the way to the top of the elevator shaft, and head left, straight through the wall, to discover a secret passage.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

At the end of the path is a doorway. Pass through it to appear back outside, above where you were earlier. Follow the platforms over to the left, and you’ll find a Flea at the end, trapped in some vines. Break the vines to free the poor thing, and then head back the way you came.

4. Defeat Phantom to unlock Cross Stitch.

From the secret passageway entrance, head across to the right, where you’ll find more spiked steam-filled tunnels to navigate. At the top, there’s some Silk on the right for you to collect if you need it; then cross over and head left into the arena. Here you’ll meet the Exhaust Organ’s primary foe: Phantom.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

Phantom behaves much like Lace did - she’s a small, very fast swordmaster (or pinmaster) who attacks with nimble flurries, and can deflect and counterattack to whittle away your health very quickly. She’s no pushover. Thankfully, she only deals one damage at a time - unless you get hit by her counterattack.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

You can whittle Phantom’s health down with tools, of course, although I would spend some time on some “failed” attempts first just so you understand her moveset and what to expect. This is particularly true of Phantom’s second phase, in which she starts to very quickly disappear and reappear into her next attack, as well as conjuring large swathes of steam which you’ll have to pay extra care to dodge.

The best time to heal is when she flies into the air in order to throw her weapon diagonally down at you. Just dodge the pin, and then heal immediately while she recovers.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

I personally had more trouble with the Last Judge than I did with Phantom, but she’s still a tough nut to crack. Still, once you have spent time with her moveset, you’ll understand her well enough to defeat her.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

When you do, Hornet will unlock her next skill - and it’s exceptional. Cross Stitch allows you to press RB to deflect an attack just as it lands, allowing you to counterattack with a powerful flurry, just like Lace and Phantom did. Now you know why we went through the Exhaust Organ before Bilewater!

I’d recommend equipping Cross Stitch immediately, learning to incorporate it into your standard attack patterns, and only switching it out for one of the others when the need arises.

5. Activate the Grand Bellway.

With Phantom defeated, head left and enter the elevator, which will take you far upwards and outside. From there, head down the path and you’ll arrive at a long spike-filled rocky shaft to climb up.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

Eventually you’ll reach the top, and you can hit the lever on your left to open up a walkway to the next room. There, cross over the trapdoor before you hit the lever to open it. On the left-hand side you can loot a body for a Memory Locket. Then go back and activate the lever to drop down into the Grand Bellway.

There are a few things to unlock here. On your right, you can insert 70 Rosaries to unlock a massive map of the Choral Chambers, which is technically the region you’re in right now. To the left, you can activate your first Ventrica - a new system of fast travel through the regions of the Citadel. It currently only takes you to one other closed off location called the Terminus, which has nothing of value to you (yet). But as you unlock more Ventricas about the world you’ll be able to fast travel between them just like Bellways.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

And speaking of: just a little beyond the Bench to your left, you’ll be able to unlock the Bellway for a whopping 120 Rosaries, and see your old pal Bell Beast again. If you have the Rosaries you should unlock all three immediately, but if you have to prioritise, choose in this order:

1. Bellway
2. Choral Chambers Map
3. Ventrica

Prioritising the Bellway means you can easily travel back to good Rosary-farming areas like Greymoor and Mosshome, in order to gather enough Rosary Beads to unlock the others.

The last step for now is to head on to the left, past the Bellway. This is the point where the Act 2 opening cutscene would play, if you hadn’t already triggered it by beating the Last Judge in the Blasted Steps. There’s an extra step in store for you here though; if you take a few more steps forward after the cutscene ends, then a familiar face arrives: Lace.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

Lace will taunt you for a bit, and Hornet will deliver some phenomenal lines in response. But no rematch takes place; at least, not yet. Instead, Lace leaves, and a few new enemies will appear to attack you. After dispatching them, it’s probably best to head back into the Grand Bellway for now. Exploring the Choral Chambers properly can wait.

Join us in Part 17 of what is fast becoming our largest walkthrough ever, as we start to properly explore the Citadel’s Choral Chambers.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

PC , Nintendo Switch

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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