Dung Defender Guide – Location, Strategy, Rewards
The Dung Defender is one of the most unique bosses in Hollow Knight. Found in the Royal Waterways, he is a knight who protects the kingdom of Hallownest with pride and humor. Despite his playful nature, he is a strong and fast opponent. His attacks are quick, and he can be tricky to defeat without the right strategy. Beating him unlocks valuable rewards, including a special charm and access to a new area.
In this Hollow Knight Walkthrough, we’ll cover everything you need to know to find and defeat the Dung Defender.
How to Find the Dung Defender
The Dung Defender is located in the Royal Waterways, beneath the City of Tears. To reach him, you’ll need the Simple Key to unlock the entrance. Here’s a simple guide to finding the Dung Defender’s location on the map:
Prepare for the Fight:
Once you reach the area, enter the boss room. The fight will start right away, so be ready.
Use the Simple Key to Enter the Waterways:
From the City of Tears, find the door near the fountain plaza and use your Simple Key to unlock the entrance to the Royal Waterways.
Navigate the Waterways:
After entering, descend through the tunnels filled with enemies like Flukefeys. Be prepared, as the area can be dangerous without upgraded abilities.
Locate the Dung Defender on the Map:
As you explore, head toward the lower central part of the Waterways. The Dung Defender’s arena is located here, surrounded by piles of dung. You can find his lair marked on the Royal Waterways map. Make sure you uncover the map first by visiting Cornifer at the entrance.
Dung Defender’s Attack Patterns
The Dung Defender has a set of unique and fast-paced attacks. Understanding his moves will help you avoid damage and strike back at the right moments. Here are his main attack patterns and simple strategies to counter them:
Dung Toss
- Attack: He throws dung balls that bounce around the arena.
- Counter: Dodge the balls by jumping or dash away. You can also hit them with your Nail to deflect them.
Defender’s Dive
- Attack: He dives underground and reappears to attack from below.
- Counter: Jump as he surfaces and strike back when he finishes his dive.
Curled Up Defender
- Attack: He rolls into a ball and bounces around the arena, hitting walls and floors.
- Counter: Keep moving and dodge his bounces. If you time it right, you can strike him mid-bounce.
Bursting Attack
- Attack: The Dung Defender burrows underground, then leaps high into the air, releasing dung balls around him.
- Counter: Stand close to where he burrows and move sideways as he jumps up. Be ready to dodge the falling dung balls.
Frenzy Mode
- Attack: After taking enough damage, the Dung Defender speeds up and attacks more often.
- Counter: Stay calm and use healing moments wisely. Focus on dodging his fast attacks until you find an opening to strike.
These attack patterns are easy to recognize once you see them a few times. Always look for chances to dodge and counter-attack.
Best Strategy to Defeat Dung Defender
Defeating the Dung Defender in Hollow Knight APK mobile requires good timing and patience. Here are simple strategies to help you stay in control during the fight:
- Keep Moving
- The Dung Defender is fast and covers a lot of ground. Stay mobile to avoid being hit by his bouncing attacks and dung balls.
- Use dashes to dodge when he rolls or when the dung balls are bouncing around.
- Attack After His Moves
- The best time to strike is after he finishes an attack. For example, after he throws dung balls or completes a dive.
- Get in a few quick Nail hits, but don’t stay too long in one place, as he’ll start his next attack quickly.
- Use Spells Wisely
- Save your Soul for healing if you take damage.
- Use Desolate Dive when he’s underground. This can damage him as he surfaces.
- Howling Wraiths is useful when he leaps into the air, as it can hit him before he comes back down.
- Avoiding Dung Balls
- Watch the direction of the dung balls and stay out of their bounce paths.
- If you’re close to the balls, you can strike them with the Nail to send them in another direction.
- Manage Frenzy Mode
- When he enters Frenzy Mode, focus on dodging his faster attacks.
- Don’t rush to attack during this phase; look for safe openings.
- If you need to heal, find a safe moment between his attacks or use Quick Focus for faster healing.
- Positioning
- Stay at mid-range to avoid being cornered. This gives you enough space to dodge his fast moves while still allowing you to get in close for attacks.
With these strategies, you can handle the Dung Defender’s erratic attacks and take him down more easily.
Recommended Charms and Abilities
Equipping the right charms and abilities can make the Dung Defender fight easier. Here are the best charms to use, along with helpful abilities:
Quick Focus
- Effect: Increases healing speed.
- Why It Helps: The Dung Defender attacks quickly, and this charm lets you heal faster during brief moments of safety.
Thorns of Agony
- Effect: Releases thorns when you take damage, hitting nearby enemies.
- Why It Helps: If you get hit by the Dung Defender’s attacks, the thorns will deal extra damage to him, especially when he’s nearby.
Mark of Pride or Longnail
- Effect: Increases your Nail’s attack range.
- Why It Helps: Gives you more distance to safely attack the Dung Defender without getting too close to his fast moves.
Fragile Strength (or Unbreakable Strength if upgraded)
- Effect: Boosts your Nail damage.
- Why It Helps: Increases the damage of each strike, helping you take down the Dung Defender faster.
Dashmaster
- Effect: Reduces cooldown on dashes, allowing for quicker movement.
- Why It Helps: Helps you dodge the Dung Defender’s attacks more efficiently, especially his rolling and diving moves.
Descending Dark
- Ability: A spell that deals heavy damage when casting Desolate Dive.
- Why It Helps: This spell is perfect when the Dung Defender burrows underground, as it hits him when he surfaces.
These charms and abilities work together to help you heal quickly, deal extra damage, and dodge attacks effectively.
Rewards for Defeating Dung Defender
Beating the Dung Defender not only grants satisfaction but also valuable rewards. Here’s what you’ll receive:
Defender’s Crest
- Description: This charm creates a cloud of odor around the Knight that damages enemies over time.
- Usage: It’s useful for passive damage, especially against smaller enemies. The odor cloud lingers and can damage foes that come into contact with it.
- Bonus Interaction: Combining this charm with Flukenest creates a unique effect, turning the flukes into more powerful creatures.
Access to Isma’s Grove
- What It Unlocks: Defeating the Dung Defender opens the path to Isma’s Grove, where you can obtain Isma’s Tear.
- Isma’s Tear: This ability allows the Knight to swim through acid, granting access to new areas in the game.
- How to Reach: After defeating the Dung Defender, head to the lower part of the Waterways to find the entrance to Isma’s Grove.
Achievement – Honour
- Description: Unlocks the Honour achievement after defeating the Dung Defender.
These rewards make the fight worthwhile, helping you explore more of Hallownest and adding to your charm collection.
Dung Defender’s Lore
The Dung Defender, known as Ogrim, has a rich backstory tied to the history of Hallownest. He is one of the Five Great Knights, a group of powerful warriors who once served the Pale King. Though his role seems humorous, Ogrim’s loyalty and bravery made him a key defender of the kingdom.
- Loyalty to the Pale King: Ogrim was deeply committed to protecting Hallownest. His cheerful and jolly personality contrasts with his fierce dedication to the kingdom’s safety.
- The Five Great Knights: Ogrim is one of the last known survivors of this legendary group. Alongside knights like Isma and Hegemol, he fought to defend the kingdom during its greatest struggles.
- Why He Fights the Knight: Despite his friendly demeanor, Ogrim mistakes the Knight for an intruder and fights to protect his home in the Royal Waterways. After you defeat him, he acknowledges your strength and shows respect.
- Connection to the White Defender: Ogrim’s past glory can be experienced again through his dream form, the White Defender. This version of him represents the peak of his strength during the height of Hallownest’s power.
Despite his dung-themed attacks, Ogrim is one of the game’s most honorable characters, always fighting for the kingdom’s pride.
Unlocking the White Defender
After defeating the Dung Defender, you can later challenge his stronger form, the White Defender. This dream version of Ogrim reflects his glory days as one of the Five Great Knights. Here’s how to unlock and fight the White Defender:
After each battle, he gains an additional mask of health, making the fight harder as you progress.
Unlocking the Fight:
You can access the White Defender after defeating all three Dreamers. Return to the Dung Defender’s lair in the Royal Waterways. You will find him sleeping in his cave. Use the Dream Nail on him to enter his dream, which will start the White Defender battle.
Location of White Defender:
He is located in the same room where you fought the Dung Defender, but this time in the dream realm.
Repeat Battles:
You can fight the White Defender up to five times. Each time you defeat him, he becomes stronger and deals more damage.
White Defender Fight Strategy
The White Defender is a tougher version of the Dung Defender, with faster attacks and increased damage. His moves are similar to the Dung Defender, but with added complexity. Here’s how to handle the fight:
Dung Toss
- Attack: He throws two dung balls in quick succession. These bounce high and persist for longer than in the original fight.
- Counter: Stay mobile and dash under the balls or jump over them. You can also strike them to deflect them away.
Dive Attack
- Attack: The White Defender dives underground, covering more distance than before, and emerges to strike.
- Counter: Jump when he surfaces and follow up with quick attacks. Keep an eye on where he dives to anticipate his next move.
Bursting Attack
- Attack: White Defender stays underground longer, then bursts out, releasing multiple dung balls. These balls do not bounce but fall in a wide area around him.
- Counter: Stand close to where he burrows, move sideways to avoid the falling dung, and then quickly counterattack.
Spike Slam
- Attack: He slams his hand into the ground, causing tall dung spikes to rise from the floor in quick succession.
- Counter: Jump or dash to avoid the spikes. Stay close to him to avoid getting trapped by the spikes.
Defender Jubilee
- Attack: This is a new attack. White Defender throws three dung balls and then curls into a ball himself, bouncing around the arena alongside the balls. He finishes by slamming into the ground, causing spikes to appear.
- Counter: Stay at a safe distance during this attack. Time your jumps carefully to avoid the balls and spikes.
Zeal Phase
- Attack: After taking enough damage, White Defender roars, signaling the start of his Zeal Phase. During this time, he chains together six Ground Burst attacks, each happening quickly.
- Counter: Keep dodging and avoid getting hit by the rapid attacks. Focus on surviving until the phase ends, then resume your attacks.
Key Tips:
- Use Dashmaster to increase mobility, allowing you to avoid his fast attacks.
- Quick Focus is useful for healing during brief openings.
- Mark of Pride or Longnail gives you extra range to land hits safely.
By staying patient and watching for attack patterns, you can take down the White Defender. His speed and power make him challenging, but with the right strategy, you can win.
Conclusion
The Dung Defender is a unique and entertaining boss in Hollow Knight, offering a mix of humor and challenge. His quick movements and playful attacks make the fight engaging, but with careful planning, you can defeat him and claim useful rewards. After beating him, you’ll receive the Defender’s Crest and unlock access to Isma’s Grove, a key area in the game.
For those seeking an even greater challenge, the White Defender provides a tougher, more intense version of the fight. His attacks are faster and more powerful, but with the right strategies and charms, you can overcome this dream version of Ogrim.Defeating both versions of the Dung Defender not only strengthens your skills but also deepens your understanding of Hallownest’s lore. Whether you’re in it for the rewards or the story, the Dung Defender is a memorable encounter that adds charm and depth to your adventure.
