Your Guide to Rosary Cannon in Silksong: Location & Map, How to Unlock and Use, Tips and More

What to know

• Unlocks in High Halls (Act 2) with a Simple Key after platforming challenges using Clawline.
• Fires rosaries as ammo for crowd-clearing damage but drains your currency fast.
• Ties to Pharloom’s lore as a corrupted pilgrim relic, enhancing story quests.
• Keyboard reloads may glitch; use a controller for smoother play.

If you’re new to Hollow Knight: Silksong, the Rosary Cannon is a game-changer. It lets you blast enemies with rosaries—your in-game currency—while weaving into the haunting story of Pharloom. Here’s everything you need to know to grab it, use it, and understand its role, written with beginners in mind.

Understanding Rosaries in Silksong

Rosaries are Silksong’s currency, dropped by humanoid enemies like pilgrims or found in caches. They’re not just for buying maps or upgrades—you’ll shoot them with the Rosary Cannon, making every shot a choice between power and resources.

• How to get rosaries: Kill pilgrims (5-10 each) or farm spots like Marrow’s moss room (30 per minute).
• Protecting your stash: Visit vendors like Bellhart to string rosaries (50-100 for 500 beads) to save them if you die.
• Death risks: Unstrung rosaries drop at your silk cocoon—retrieve them fast or lose them.

This system makes you think carefully about spending versus saving, especially with the cannon.

Rosary Cannon location on map

The Rosary Cannon is in the High Halls, a mid-game area in Act 2, after you’ve explored Moss Grotto and The Marrow. You’ll need a Simple Key (check caches in Marrow or enemy drops). On the High Halls map, it’s marked by a glowing door icon west of the central bench, labeled “Ornate Lock.”

Here’s a step-by-step guide to grab it:

1. Start at the central bench: Fast-travel to High Halls’ main bench, a safe spot surrounded by tall spires.
2. Find the locked door: Head left from the bench. Spot the glowing door with bell carvings—it needs your Simple Key (Ornate key).
3. Use the key: Interact to unlock the door, revealing a dark chamber with extra rosary-dropping foes.
4. Master the platforming: Enter a vertical shaft. Use your Clawline to grapple glowing hooks across gaps.
   • Swing right past spikes, dodging wall sentry beams.
   • Climb crumbling ledges halfway up—watch your timing to avoid patrolling enemies.
   • Ride a moving platform at the top, shooting flyers with your needle.
5. Claim the cannon: Reach the end to find a stringing machine turned weapon. Interact to add the Rosary Cannon to your inventory.

If you fall to spikes, you’ll respawn at the bench—keep practicing your Clawline swings!

Using the Rosary Cannon

This red tool slots into your crest menu and fires a stream of rosaries like a Gatling gun, great for hitting far-off enemies or clearing groups in places like Bone Bottom.

• Firing basics: Aim with Hornet’s direction and hold the attack button for rapid shots. Each bead deals solid damage.
• Ammo cost: Every shot uses one rosary, so long bursts can empty your wallet fast.
• Reloading: At a bench, open your inventory, select the cannon, and hold sprint (Shift on keyboard, or controller equivalent). Strung rosaries must be broken first by the vendors.
• Glitch alert: Keyboard users might hit reload bugs—try a controller or remap keys. Patches are fixing this.

For beginners, use short bursts (5-10 shots) to save rosaries while learning its power.

Rosary Cannon’s role in Pharloom’s story

Pharloom’s world is steeped in bell worship and pilgrim struggles, and the Rosary Cannon reflects this. Lore notes in High Halls call it a “Beadstorm Heresy,” a holy stringing tool warped into a weapon during pilgrim conflicts. It symbolizes faith twisted into violence, tying into Hornet’s journey as a protector caught in chaos.

The cannon helps with quests, too:

• “Frayed Devotion” quest: Give it to Shakra for a homing-shot upgrade, unlocking dialogue about pilgrim betrayals.
• Bell Beast prep: Use it to break rosary barriers in late-game areas, revealing codexes about Hornet’s silk origins.
• Crowd-clearing aid: In “Pilgrim’s Reckoning,” it wipes out zealot waves, earning lore tomes on Pharloom’s infection.

Firing it feels epic, with chants echoing, hinting at Hornet’s inner conflict—perfect for new players drawn to the story.

Pairing with other tools

Silksong has 65 tools in four types: white (silk attacks), red (consumables like the cannon), blue (defensive), and yellow (utility). Mix and match at the benches for fun combos.

Try the cannon for open areas, then swap to Needle Lash for tight spots—keeps things versatile.

Farming rosaries for ammo

To keep the cannon loaded without going broke, farm smart:

• Early game (Act 1): In The Marrow, hit the moss room left of the first bench—six enemies drop 30 rosaries in 45 seconds, then reset at the bench.
• Mid-game (Act 2): Near Grand Bellway, kill two pilgrims for 29 rosaries; the bench is close for quick loops.
• Late game: Citadel spawns give 48 rosaries per minute—great for endgame prep.
• Save your stash: String rosaries early (500 per string) to avoid losing them on death.
• Bug workaround: If keyboard reloading fails, unequip and reequip the tool or use a controller.

Aim for 3,500 rosaries per hour to fund cannon shots and upgrades like maps (100 rosaries) or benches (30).

Strengths of Rosary Cannon

• Very high capacity / large ammo reserve: good for prolonged fights.
• Great damage output, especially for covering range, crowd control, or against enemies that are hard to approach.
• Because it uses Rosaries for ammo, it gives you an option to convert some of your currency into firepower, which is interesting strategically.

Weaknesses/caveats of Rosary Cannon

• Using it costs Rosaries. You’ll lose some purchasing power and/or ability to get maps, upgrades, etc., if you overuse it.
• Reloading is limited: only from benches. So you can’t just reload anywhere.
• Keyboard players have reported that reloading is broken/doesn’t function. Controller works. Might get patched.
• Because the path to getting it is somewhat demanding (platforming, movement abilities), you’ll need to invest time and/or ability upgrades first.

Should you get the Rosary Cannon?

If you’re progressing through Silksong, the Rosary Cannon is one of the more interesting “late tools” you can obtain. It’s strong and flashy, but comes with meaningful trade-offs. Once you have the required key and traversal upgrades, getting it is quite doable. Learning to use it efficiently (preserving Rosaries, reloading appropriately, knowing when to swap weapons/tools) is what distinguishes good from great use.