To obtain this spear, you’ll first need to begin the Amber Sun quest, which is associated with defeating all 10 Children of Danu order members.
Amber Sun: Balor Boss Fight, Wrath of the Druids.
How to Begin the Amber Sun Quest¶
To begin the Amber Sun quest, you first need to eliminate all 10 Children of Danu order members to loot their blood-soaked amber shards. You can then bring these to Deirdre at her hut in Asfinn, just east of Rathcroghan in Connacht. When you enter Deirdre’s hut a cutscene will initiate, during which Eivor hands over the amber shards and Deirdre explains what happens next. To Eivor’s surprise, a fight will follow with a mythical being known as Balor.
Boss Fight: Balor¶
Balor’s Basic Attacks¶
The fight with Balor may prove to be one of the most difficult boss fights in the game if you’re not prepared. Balor is relentless in his attacks, and will spam a dive attack which begins with him leaping into the air and pointing his weapon toward you. At this point you should begin to run and get ready to dodge or roll just before Balor hits you. The attack may take you by surprise a few times at first, but once you become familiar with Balor’s movements before and during the attack, you should be able to avoid it fairly reliably.
After Balor performs his leaping dive attack, he will often follow it up with a series of swinging attacks on the ground. You’ll need to ensure that you have enough stamina to avoid these with a dodge or roll as well, so try not to use any more stamina than is required to avoid an attack.
Another basic attack that you’ll need to look out for is a sudden spinning attack on the ground. Balor will perform this whenever you’re within melee range for too long, so try not to get too greedy with light and heavy attacks. You can try running at him with a sprint to inflict a significant amount of damage with whatever sprint attack you have according to the weapon you’re using (note that this requires Sprint Attack, a Way of the Wolf skill) and then follow this up with a series of swift light attacks or a couple of heavy attacks. You should then sprint away again before the spinning attack occurs, since you won’t be able to avoid it.
(1 of 2) Balor will often leap into the air and dive at your from a distance, so be ready to dodge or roll.
Balor will often leap into the air and dive at your from a distance, so be ready to dodge or roll. (left), Balor will sometimes spin in a frenzy if you get too close, so you’ll need to get out of his range as soon as possible when this happens. (right)
Balor’s Weak Points¶
In the first phase of the fight Balor doesn’t have any weak points. However, once you take about a quarter of his health down, a brief cutscene will begin and Balor will reveal his scorching eye. From this point on you’ll have to deal with special attacks from the eye, as described below, but you’ll also be able to hit three weak points which are located on Balor’s left knee, right upper arm, and lower back. To hit them without exposing yourself too much, try to create some distance between Eivor and Balor, then take your bow out and aim for the weak points as quickly as possible. Hitting each will inflict a significant amount of damage, and all three will allow you to execute a stun attack which will inflict massive damage. Ultimately, this reduces the amount of time you’ll need to spend avoiding his special attacks, which can kill you rather quickly if you fail to avoid them.
(1 of 2) You’ll find weak points on Balor’s left knee and right upper arm.
You’ll find weak points on Balor’s left knee and right upper arm. (left), Another weak point can be found on Balor’s lower back. (right)
Balor’s Eye: Special Attacks¶
When Balor has revealed his eye, he’ll begin to spam three main special attacks. One of these comes in the form of a circular explosion which Balor forms by slamming his weapon on the ground. This can be easily avoided once you know to look out for the animation where he leaps in the air and then slams the weapon on the ground. He will remain at the centre of the circle, so if you stay away from him during this attack, you’ll be safe.
Things get a little more complicated once you realize that all of Balor’s special attacks are preceded by a similar animation. The second attack occurs when he slams his weapon on the ground but without jumping first. This doesn’t give you much time to respond, so you’ll have to pay close attention to Balor’s movements and be ready to run from a scorching beam which will follow you for about 5 seconds. The best way to avoid this is by running in one direction and using the dodge or roll mechanic every so often, but not so often that you lose all your stamina. It’s a delicate balance to reach, but there’s enough health-replenishing mushrooms to be found on the battlefield to allow for a few mistakes while you get to grips with the pattern.
(1 of 3) Balor will leap into the air and slam his weapon on the ground before performing the circular attack.
The third special attack involves Balor lifting his weapon from behind him, then slamming it on the ground in front of him. This will cause a shockwave of scorching energy directly at you, which will inflict a great deal of damage if it hits. It’s important to remember that hiding behind one of the rock pillars won’t help you here: the beam will smash through it and destroy it in the process. The good thing about this attack is that you can easily avoid it with a swift dodge or roll once you become familiar with the animation which precedes it. You’d be better saving the rock pillars to hide behind whenever Balor is about to perform one of his regular leaping attacks.
So long as you keep the three main special attacks in mind and look out for the animations before they’re executed, you have a good chance of defeating Balor without too much trouble. You may find that you need a bit of time to get used to the animations, so be sure to make use of your rations, and replenish them with the mushrooms on the battlefield. There’s plenty of space to run around Balor on the field, so be sure to use it to your advantage if you find yourself in a tricky spot.
How to Obtain the Gae Bolg Spear¶
Once you’ve defeated Balor, you’ll be returned to the realm of the mortals and a cutscene with Deirdre will follow when you speak with her in the garden. You’ll find the Gae Bolg Spear in your inventory after this.
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