The system
Red
Ammunition: pins, tacks, drills, rings. Each has a stock that a bench refills for shell shards. The crest decides how many red slots you have; the Architect has the most.
Blue
Passives for survival: bells that block, masks that absorb, bands that heal. No cost, no stock.
Yellow
Passives for the world: the Compass, the Shard Pendant that drops more shards, the Magnetite Brooch that pulls rosaries, the Weighted Belt.
Crafting kits and tool pouches
Four kits raise the red tools’ stock; four pouches add slots. Eight upgrades, 8% of completion, scattered across shops and wishes (Crawbug Clearing is a kit; Bugs of Pharloom is a pouch).
Eight to keep
- Compass: until you know the map by heart, which is never.
- Shard Pendant: more shell shards, which is more red ammunition.
- Magnetite Brooch: rosaries come to you. The 120 it costs at Pebb (220 from Grindle in act 3) pays back in an hour.
- Straight Pin: the first red tool and still a good boss opener.
- Druid’s Eye: the Berry Picking reward that gives silk when hit; it turns mistakes into a spool.
- Warding Bell / Magma Bell: a block on a cooldown for the fights you are learning.
- Multibinder: a slower Bind that heals more, from Bellhart’s upgraded store. Expensive and worth it.
- Silkspeed Anklets: the sprint gets faster; act 3 backtracking gets shorter.
Still to verify
Cross-checked on 17 September 2026 and re-checked on 26 September 2026 against Nintendo Life’s tools list, the Hollow Knight Wiki and the tool lists of Eurogamer and Vandal. Cross-checked against official Team Cherry announcements and verified community databases. Still to confirm in-game.