Put on your N95 mask, because there’s a plague goin’ ‘round!
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows
What is the plot? Plague Knight officially works for the Enchantress, but he is collecting the “essence” of his fellow knights to brew The Ultimate Potion on the sly. Why? Well, when you are an alchemist, that’s what you do. And we shall deny any reports he is doing all of this to impress a pretty girl…
How does it play? Arguably, the whole point of Plague of Shadows is that Plague Knight must survive in a world that was built for Shovel Knight. Plague Knight’s main deal is that he has a piddling double jump, but the capability of using a “bomb burst”. This is an extra jump on top of that sad regular jump that has significant range… but moves at a practically uncontrollable speed. Work out exactly how that works, and Plague Knight will conquer the world! Never master it, and… Well… Switching between so many different explosive weapons is at least fun.
How does he get around the world? This is the exact same map setup as Shovel Knight. The optional areas have been modified to showcase Plaguey’s arcana, and the towns work slightly differently, but it is otherwise the same.
What is money good for? Plague Knight traditionally earns his arcana special abilities through Plague Knight-unique areas found in each stage. Well, technically, he finds relics, and then trades them to Chester for arcana. But that means Plague Knight does not need to spend a dime in the levels! So your money will go to weapon variations and a handful of upgrades back at home. Weapon variations are the best part of Plague Knight, but you only ever buy them from one (safe) place.
What do you collect? Music sheets are around again, but Cipher Coins are found in greater quantities all over the place. Seriously, they appear like every seven seconds. This kicks off the first true “collectathon” in Shovel Knight Treasure Trove, and you will want to find every one to unlock more weapon options. Or just to make Mona happy. Whatever works for you. Just do not expect anything that will make your life easier as your ultimate reward for catchin’ ‘em all.
Care to dance? The Troupple King has an all-new dance! And once Plague Knight sees it, he can practice dancing in any level (assuming that level does not feature his lady love, else he gets cold feet).
Best Arcana? Plague Knight’s Arcana gauge automatically refills, so this scientist has a lot more opportunities for experimentation. Unfortunately, I am still a basic bitch, so I am going to once again choose the first offensive option available: Big Boom. Assuming you are not playing on one of the good systems (3DS, WiiU), you must access the pause menu every time you want to switch weapon trajectories. But! If you hate pausing, you can make your traditional explosions aim down, and always have the Big Boom on hand to aim up. Then your Y-axis is covered!
Best Movement Arcana? The Vat is our first “parachute” optional ability. If you ever think you are about to drop into a bottomless pit, pull out that vat, and you will survive an extra second or two. Maybe you can also jump to safety? That is a viable alternative.
Anything else? Most of the boss fights are the same between Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. This is a shame, as Plague Knight has so many offensive options, and 90% of these bosses are built for “just bounce on ‘em”. Give me a good reason to build a better bomb!
Let’s Play Shovel Knight Treasure Trove
Night 3
January 20, 2026
Random Notes:
- Welcome to the slow death of Even Worse Streams, brought to you by arsenic. Noted poisoners include BEAT, Chromes, Caithness, Morning Song, Trynant, fanboymaster, and Ample Vigour. Tonight we are on the Xbox X|S so we can…
Fight the Battletoads! And talk about Achewood!- And with the Toads defeated, we take one stage to show off Shovel Knight’s Toad Armor (and talk about JoJo).
- Then we scoot back over to Plague of Shadows while examining videogame adaptations like Ace Attorney (2012) and Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2007).
- How many genres did Queen accidentally invent?
- “That is brutal, just assuming someone walking around in 2026 is going to have opinions about Steven Universe.”
- “Hilary Clinton, I’m with her.” “We’re all with her.” “Pokémon go to the polls.”
- Caliscrub is summoned by Boogie in Your Butt.
- The WiiU had its purposes! Beyond Shovel Knight, we had Mario Maker and Splatoon and… uh… Probably other games.
- Never mistake a pol for a slav.
- Even Worse Streams seems to agree that the public’s chosen Game of the Year 2025 is “underwhelming”.
- This is my site, so I can highlight how I am making hilarious jokes about Space Station Silicon Valley in 2026.
“Sigma Grindset: Drive a bulldozer through a data center.” “I’m on board with that. You can attribute that to me if you want.”- “Bring back the anime turnpike!” “Bring back Jeeves!”
- Site news: it is hard to top Hentai Golf.
- We begin wrapping up with some opinions on Canadian alt rock.
- And we close for the night after Propeller Knight’s defeat and an affirmation that we hate Devil from Bible
Next trowel on Shovel Knight: The creeping specter of the next campaign.
