Thunderblight Ganon is one of the more interesting boss fights in The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. This portion of Ganon’s soul is crackling with potential and he has a few tricks up his sleeve, depending on what phase of the fight you’re in.
Fortunately there are a number of strategies and tips you can use to help prepare and take down this electrifying foe. Here’s everything you need to know going into this fight to take on Thunderblight Ganon.
10 Gear Up
Before even facing the boss you’ll want to take the right gear with you to ensure you’re able to defend from his attacks and to exploit his weaknesses. First off you want to get your hands on the Rubber Armor set, it’s highly resistant to electrical damage and makes this fight a lot easier.
You’ll also want a shield, but make sure it isn’t a metal shield. Metal shields will conduct his electrical attacks and be utterly useless. When it comes time to attacking a strong one-handed sword like the Master Sword is great. Bring along a strong bow and some Elemental or Bomb arrows, they aren’t needed, but they can help take him down faster.
9 Be Patient
Ganon has quite a bit of health and not a whole lot of opportunities to attack and do serious damage to. Much of this fight is simply being patient as you whittle down his health with each strike.
Having a strong weapon and using arrows can help lessen how long it takes and the better you are at seizing opportunities and capitalizing on the them helps. But in the end it’s about waiting for your moments and taking him down one sword swing at a time.
8 When He Goes High, Back Off
During the first phase of the fight, Ganon will occasionally pause a moment and then rise up off the ground and start glowing. This signifies he’s preparing to launch one of his green projectiles at you.
The best thing you can do is back up a few feet. The projectiles aren’t very fast and are easy to dodge, but having that extra bit of distance can help if you find yourself struggling nonetheless. You can also use this opportunity to lob a few arrows if you feel comfortable doing so.
7 Pick That Back Up
In spite of your best efforts there will be times where Ganon gets the drop on your and you get electrified. When this happens there’s a high likelihood that you’ll drop your weapon, your shield, or both.
Once your character shakes it off you need to quickly grab your shield and your weapon back as Ganon will keep pressing the attack. A pro tip if you’ve lost your shield and he’s attacking is to dodge and time a Flurry Attack to help you survive the offensive.
6 Be Aggressive When He’s Offguard
During the fight there will be moments when he’s taken enough damage that he becomes stunned or he’s busy regenerating his shield. Capitalize on these moments to get in some good hits without worrying about retaliation.
Don’t get too greedy, as he’ll be back up and ready for a fight in no time. But it’s a safe window for you to do some serious damage without having to be on your toes as much.
5 When He Starts Darting, Start Blocking
His primary attack in the first and third phase is a quick teleporting strike where he blinks around the room a bit before zeroing in on you and striking. This can do a lot of damage if you’re caught unprepared and it’s hard to keep tabs on where he is while he’s zipping around the room.
Ideally you should raise you shield and patiently wait for him to make his move. Very rarely does his attack get through when you have your guard up so make this your go-to response. If you’re feeling confident you can try dodging the attack to time a Flurry strike.
4 Dodge The Falling Pillars
When you whittle his health down enough he’ll switch tactics and hover at the top of the arena. In this moment he becomes completely impervious to all traditional means of damage.
Before you get to how you damage him your main priority is to avoid the hail of metal pillars that will start raining down on the arena. It only lasts for a second or two, but getting nailed by one of those pillars can be an annoying chunk of damage.
3 Don’t Get Electrocuted
Once these pillars are embedded in the ground there will be a moment or two before arcs of electricity start striking these pillars. If you’re anywhere near them when this happens you’ll take a few volts and likely drop whatever you’re carrying.
Give yourself a bit of distance to avoid taking damage, but don’t get too far away as you’ll need these pillars to attack Ganon.
2 Use Magnesis On The Pillars
When a pillar isn’t channeling electricity you’ll want to use your Magnesis rune power to grab one and drag it away from the others. When the sparks stop flying the pillars will disappear except for the one you’re holding.
What you want to do is quickly raise it up to where Ganon is hovering and hold it there. The next batch of pillars will rain down and when electricity starts flowing this time your pillar will shock Ganon and drop him to the ground. Quickly move in and get some hits before phase three of the fight starts.
1 Use Supports To Avoid The Laser
Now Ganon will be upset and his attacks will be more damaging, and more electricity will be coursing through him. Like a wounded tiger, the closer he is to death the more dangerous he gets, so stay on your toes.
Another thing to watch out for is an additional attack he has that functions a lot like the laser the Guardians use. Use the surrounding infrastructure to avoid a direct hit from the laser beam. Use the tactics you employed in phase one of the fight and he’ll be a crumpled heap on the ground in no time.