All 6 Pale Ore Locations

The six are spread across the hardest optional content in Hollow Knight rather than hidden in corridors. One is behind Herrah in the Beast's Den in Deepnest. One is in Crystal Peak, dropped by the Enraged Guardian. One is in the Ancient Basin near the tram. One is the reward for the Trial of the Conqueror in the Colosseum of Fools. One comes from the Grubfather at 31 grubs freed. One comes from the Seer once you have handed her 1200 Essence.

That spread means the Pure Nail is effectively a mid-to-late game project. You will have the first two upgrades long before you have the ore for the last two.

How to collect them

The Nailsmith lives in a hut in the City of Tears, below the Pleasure House. His upgrades cost Geo as well as ore: the Sharpened Nail is 250 Geo and no ore, the Channelled Nail is 800 Geo and 1 ore, the Coiled Nail is 2000 Geo and 2 ore, and the Pure Nail is 4000 Geo and 3 ore. That is 7050 Geo and all six ore for the full set.

Do the cheap upgrades immediately. Nail damage goes from 5 to 21 across the four upgrades, which is a bigger swing than any charm gives you. Filter the map to the Pale Ore category to see which of the six you still owe.

What you get

All four nail upgrades are worth 4 percent of the 112, one per upgrade. Pale Ore itself contributes nothing directly, it is just the currency. The Pure Nail at 21 damage roughly quadruples your starting output and makes the Colosseum, the pantheons and every dream boss dramatically more manageable.

All 6 locations by area