I'm making my way slowly to the end of Act One in Silksong, and one of my mainstays has been Thread Storm, a powerful AOE multihit ability that can be acquired fairly early on. But I've been a fool: despite using the attack in multiple boss fights, I actually haven't been getting as much damage out of it as I could've. Thanks to a PSA video from on YouTube, I only just learned how to use Thread Storm to its full potential.
Instead of pressing or holding right bumper on a controller once to activate the ability, [[link]] you can rapidly mash the button to extend its duration without using more silk, giving [[link]] you more damage per cast. The only downside is that this leaves you vulnerable to a counterattack for longer, but that's kind of the basic tradeoff of Thread Storm already.
My preferred deployment is at a diagonal, up and slightly to the side of a boss to get them in the AOE while having a good chance of avoiding any attacks. Against enemies who can be staggered by Thread Storm, though, there's practically no disadvantage to using its max duration—this ability can be a huge help during any of those tricky wave fights.
Where to find Thread Storm in Hollow Knight: Silksong
You can grab Thread Storm in the second half of Act One, in the Greymoor area. Instead of traveling west on the critical [[link]] path to Bellhart, go east, past where Shakra is selling the map for the area, until the path dead ends at a
building you can enter.
Inside, you'll find a tough wave fight that, frustratingly, Thread Storm would be a great help for. Beating this encounter causes ladders of balloons to spawn outside: You can perform a downward attack in the air to pogo off of them, climbing to the top of the room and the entrance to a new area. The shrine with Thread Storm is at the end of a platforming section in this final room.
