Technologies

How to Get the Map in Silksong and Unlock Shakra’s Full Shop

Your first stop in the game should be finding this map and getting access to Shakra’s shop.

When it comes to Metroidvania games like Hollow Knight: Silksong, the map is arguably the most important item to have, as it shows where you’ve explored and where you need to go next. And, like a lot of aspects of this game, it’s not meant to be easy.

Silksong, like its predecessor Hollow Knight, has a map feature you can expand as you play, but you have to find one particular NPC to unlock it. Once you find that character, the game will feel slightly easier in getting around its nooks and crannies — until it crushes you with difficult sequences and boss fights.

Read more: Hollow Knight Silksong Guide: Read These 11 Tips Before Starting

How to find the map in Silksong?

To get a map, you’ll need to go from the hub center of Bone Bottom to The Marrow, which is directly to the east. While exploring the area, the sound of someone singing will quietly echo. Following the singing will take you to Shakra, the bug warrior who also does cartography.

Shakra will introduce herself, and if you continue to talk to her, she will tell you about her map-making skills. This is when she’ll officially become a merchant and sell all the map items you could want.

What does Shakra sell?

At the start, Shakra has several items for sale, but the most important ones are maps, a Compass and the Quill.

There will be two maps for sale when you first meet Shakra: The Mosslands map and The Marrow map. The first will cost you 40 rosaries — the in-game currency — and the other will cost 50 rosaries. As you progress into a new area of the game, return to Shakra, and she will have the map for that area available for purchase.

The next item to buy from Shakra is the Quill. It costs 50 rosaries, and whenever you rest at a bench, Hornet will quickly mark on the map where she’s been.

The last item you’ll want to buy is the Compass. It’s an equipable tool that will show an icon of Hornet’s current location on the map, giving you a clear idea of where you are. This will cost 70 rosaries.

Shakra also has other items available to buy, such as Bench Pins that show where you can rest at a bench and Shell Markers to indicate where something important is on the map.

This will cost a lot of rosaries to get them all, but luckily, if you continue exploring The Marrow, you will find a bench as well as a passage to loop back to the Mosslands, where a shortcut to Bone Bottom will be waiting. This creates an easy setup to kill enemies for rosaries, rest and repeat. This is a good opportunity to get these important items without risking much and also developing your combat skills.

How does the map work?

Depending on the platform, there is a map button (it’s left bumper on the Xbox). Hold the button and the map overlay will appear. You can even move Hornet around while you’re viewing the map.

One thing to note is that the map doesn’t auto-populate as you explore. Maps come with an outline of the area, and you still need to go through the area to fill it in. Once Hornet rests at a bench, she will mark up the map to indicate where she’s been, what markers she’s come across and so on.

How do I find more maps and pins?

When you take out the next boss, the Bell Beast, Shakra will move her store to Bone Bottom. She’ll be located in a section above the other denizens that you can reach by following the hanging metal rings. She will hang out here until you find her again throughout the game. Even when you meet her somewhere else, once you finish interacting with her and rest at a bench or die, she will head back to the Bone Bottom.

As you explore more areas, Shakra will also have more maps and more items, so always make sure to head back to Bone Bottom.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is out now on PC, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PS4 and PS5. It’s also available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Technologies

Apple Gave Us the Neo, Now It Might Be Planning a High-End MacBook Ultra

The company might launch its most sophisticated MacBook ever, with its first OLED screen.

Apple went budget with the MacBook Neo. Now reportedly the company is preparing to go high end, and high price.

Apple is gearing up to launch a MacBook «Ultra» in the fall, outfitted with the first OLED display in MacBook history, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Gurman says the new laptop will have a touchscreen and new M6 chips. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple could be launching its first touchscreen MacBook — with a Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island is a feature on more recent iPhone models — iPhone 14 and later — that’s shaped like a long horizontal pill atop the screen and shows alerts, notifications, timers and music.

It if happens, the Ultra would be at the opposite end of the cost spectrum from the Neo, which Apple launched earlier this month for $599 as a rival to Chromebooks and Windows laptops in the same price range. Gurman says the MacBook Ultra could cost 20 percent more than the new MacBook Pro (M5 series), which Apple lists at $1,699.

If you want to read more about the new Neo, CNET has been all over it: Here’s why students might love it, the colors we liked and didn’t like and why the Neo is a really is a game-changer.

Gurman suggested that Apple might keep selling the M5 series MacBook Pro even after the Ultra launches. That would give the company a wider range of MacBooks at various costs — the Neo ($599), the Air (starting at $1,099), the Pro ($1,699) and the Ultra.

Tech analyst Paolo Pescatore said adding the premium MacBook Ultra would «signal a clear shift in strategy» for Apple.

«If this turns out to be the case, then Apple appears to be stretching the Mac further upmarket,» Pescatore told CNET. «The opportunity is to drive higher spending and keep premium users firmly within Apple’s ecosystem. The challenge will be avoiding confusion, especially if the lines between MacBook Pro and iPad Pro become even more blurred.»

Gurman also said that Apple’s first foldable iPhone, rumored to be launched later this year, might be called the «iPhone Ultra.»

Technologies

AI Is One of the Least-Liked Things in America, According to New NBC Poll

The poll finds that AI is viewed less positively than ICE and President Donald Trump, and only more positively than Iran and the Democratic Party.

Artificial intelligence has rapidly become embedded in everything from phones to schoolwork to war plans. And that means everyone is likely to have an opinion about the technology.

A new national survey conducted for NBC News highlights a striking disconnect between the spread of AI tools and Americans’ views on them. The poll, which ran from Feb. 27 to March 3, asked 1,000 registered voters about their views on topics ranging from border security to the new pope.

Only 26% of voters said they view AI positively, 46% view it negatively, and 28% said they feel unsure or have no opinion, leaving AI with a net favorability of -20. In the study, AI ranked less favorably than US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Republican Party and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. (Pope Leo XIV was by far the most popular person respondents were asked about.)

Among the rankings, AI is one of the least popular topics in the survey — ranking only slightly more positively than Iran and the Democratic Party.

A growing disconnect between AI and public opinion

There is a notable disconnect between the industry’s ongoing push for AI adoption and how Americans feel about it.

Tech companies are currently investing millions of dollars into developing generative AI tools and physical AI. In the last week alone, OpenAI released its latest GPT 5.4 model and AI companies made moves to work with the US Department of Defense. At the same time, Americans are growing increasingly wary of the technology.

The mismatch between adoption and public sentiment seems to be driven by concerns about AI’s broader impact, such as job displacement, privacy issues, the spread of misinformation and the undermining of human-made work.

For companies and policymakers going all in on AI, the biggest challenge will be less about developing the next slew of innovative chatbot models or AI devices and more about persuading the public that the technology can be trusted.

Technologies

Just $30 Will Get You 3 Months of the 5GB Mint Mobile Phone Plan

Finding a phone plan for $10 a month was impossible until this Mint Mobile deal came along.

If you told me I could get a three-month cell plan for just $30, I probably wouldn’t believe you. But that’s exactly what Mint Mobile is offering right now. If you pay for three months of 5GB cell service upfront, you can score it for just $30.

New customers to Mint Mobile can score a 5GB wireless plan for just $10 per month for the first three months. The only catch is you have to use the code 5GB10 and pay $30 upfront for the full term. The usual price is $45 for three months, meaning this is a 33% discount.

After the three-month period, the plan renews at $25 per month for three months. If you really like the plan, you can opt for the six-month version, which can lower the monthly cost to $20. You can also track your data usage in the Mint Mobile app and switch to a better-suited data plan when it’s time to renew.

Don’t forget a new phone to go with your new phone plan. Take a look at the best phone deals you can score right now.

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Get an iPhone 17 Pro Free With Trade-in and Qualifying Plan at T-Mobile
Google Pixel 10 Pro 128GB Unlocked Phone (Obsidian):

$749 (save $250)
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G 128GB Unlocked Phone (Awesome Black):

$298 (save $102)
Motorola Edge 256GB Unlocked Phone (2024 Model, Midnight Blue):

$241 (save $310)
Google Pixel 9 128GB Unlocked Phone (Obsidian):

$499 (save $300)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

It seems like everything is becoming more and more expensive these days. That’s why saving wherever you can makes a huge difference. The phone bill is one thing that is here to stay, and that’s why this deal of $10 per month is really unbeatable. Just keep in mind you’ll have to pay the full three months upfront. But even that is just $30 total. Be sure to use code 5GB10 for the discount.