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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

How to Beat Calamity Ganon

By
Seren Morgan-Roberts

This page offers a guide on how to defeat Calamity Ganon in Hyrule Castle. For information on Hyrule Castle and how to reach Calamity Ganon, head over to our page How to Get Through Hyrule Castle.

Calamity Ganon: Phase One

Walk forward and trigger the cutscene. Conveniently enough, Zelda’s power will run out at this moment, releasing Ganon from its cocoon-like seal. At this point the four Divine Beasts, if they are freed, will also ready their attack. This will cause the boss fight to start with Calamity Ganon at half health.

(1 of 2) As intimidating as it seems, you can activate Flurry Rush!

As intimidating as it seems, you can activate Flurry Rush! (left), Calamity Ganon’s fiery sword sweep will leave behind updrafts (right)

Calamity Ganon’s attacks are all inspired by the Divine Beasts and their respective Blight Ganons. So if you have fought them before, they will feel rather familiar to you. First off, Calamity Ganon’s main broadsword is lit on fire and it will swing it at you similar to how Fireblight Ganon will. Calamity Ganon can either swing it across or swing it up and then crash it down. The fire will create updrafts you can ride up if you wish to shoot arrows from the sky.

(1 of 2) Don’t be deceived by how slow and small the fireball is

Don’t be deceived by how slow and small the fireball is (left), Its range of explosion is not a joke (right)

Also similar to Fireblight Ganon, Calamity Ganon will send a slow-moving fireball after you. The fireball will track you for a short while and then explode in a huge radius, inflicting damage on you if you are caught in the blast. Dodge it by continually running away from it.

Calamity Ganon can also climb onto the wall and create a series of ice blocks that it will send your way. They move fairly slowly and so are easy to dodge or destroy with Cryonis, just like when you fought Waterblight Ganon.

Inspired by Thunderblight Ganon, Calamity Ganon will send metal rods into the ground and then charge them with lightning to try and hit you. Unlike Thunderblight Ganon, however, you have no obligation to use Magnesis on the metal rods. Simply dodge them and Calamity Ganon will move on to its next attack.

Finally, Calamity Ganon will shoot a laser at you just like a Guardian does. It does not need to be at any health threshold to do so. Dodge, block, or parry the laser. If you successfully parry the laser, you can stun Calamity Ganon for a bit.

During the first phase of this fight, the best way to fight Calamity Ganon and rapidly bring down its health is to use Urbosa’s Fury if you have it. Urbosa’s Fury will stun Calamity Ganon for a prolonged amount of time, letting you heap on the damage to its head.

You can also shoot it with arrows if you stocked up on arrows. Finally, any part of Calamity Ganon can take damage, not just the head. If you cannot reach the head, feel free to instead hit the little Guardian-esque leggies on the sides of Calamity Ganon’s body.

Calamity Ganon: Phase Two

Once Calamity Ganon has lost half of its health, it will move into the second phase. If Calamity Ganon started at full health, then phase two starts at half health. And if the fight started with Calamity Ganon at half health, then phase two starts at a quarter health.

(1 of 2) The laser will now come from Calamity Ganon’s gun

The laser will now come from Calamity Ganon’s gun (left), Shoot it back with your shield (right)

Ganon will temporarily become invincible and wind up to fire a laser at you. You can parry it with your shield just like when fighting a Guardian. This will reflect the laser, deal damage, and stun it temporarily. If you still have it available or enabled, Daruk’s Protection will autoreflect it if you miss. You can also perfect dodge any of its melee attacks and you’ll be able to hit through its shield upon performing a Flurry Rush.

Then Calamity Ganon will put up the shield again and you will rinse and repeat. Calamity Ganon has a few new attacks it will pull out for you during the second phase.

It will point its gun at you on the wall as it positions itself to shoot

Inspired by Windblight Ganon, Calamity Ganon will use its gun to fire several successive shots of bullets at you. Keep your shield up and don’t stop moving to the side and you should avoid getting hit.

(1 of 2) Calamity Ganon will wind up to throw a trident at you

Calamity Ganon will wind up to throw a trident at you (left), A few seconds after it hits the floor it will shatter and disappear (right)

Similar to Waterblight Ganon, Calamity Ganon will create a blue trident and throw it at you into the ground. Finally, Calamity Ganon will continue to use its fiery broadsword to whack you. Again, once the shield is down you can attack Calamity Ganon in all kinds of different ways, or you can stick to hitting its head with the Master Sword.

Once Calamity Ganon is defeated enjoy the (rather nasty) cutscene. It’s not over yet, though…

How to Beat Dark Beast Ganon

This is Ganon’s final form. No reincarnations, no second chances. Not for it, and not for you. Zelda will explicitly be able to aid you during this fight, and she will constantly talk to you to help you do the right thing. As a result, this final fight is surprisingly straightforward.

(1 of 2) Zelda will gift this to you

Zelda will gift this to you (left), Make sure you actually pick it up (right)

Zelda will gift you the Bow of Light so be sure to grab it where it is floating in the air. Or take a picture of it first for your Compedium if you’re feeling brave. Equip it. The Bow of Light has infinite arrows since it uses, well, light. Additionally it will shoot three arrows of light at once. You really have nothing to lose.

Zelda will try her best to restrain Ganon and open up weaknesses all over its body. These weak points will be marked by a glowing yellow mark. You can’t miss it. As you ride upon your horse, aim for those spots. You will frequently have to push your horse to its limit to keep up, so manage your dashes carefully.

Shoot each and every glowing mark you see. Each time you make a hit, Ganon’s health bar will drop considerably. The second to last mark will appear on Ganon’s chest underneath its body, so weave carefully between its legs to avoid getting stomped.

(1 of 2) This is a sign that Dark Beast Ganon is readying to attack

This is a sign that Dark Beast Ganon is readying to attack (left), But as you can see it can only go in one direction (right)

Dark Beast Ganon only has one attack: a supercharged laser that it will fire out in front of it and then sweep up. As long as you are not facing Ganon head-on, you are almost guaranteed to be safe. Since the weak points will be all along Ganon’s sides, there is no reason right now for you to ever face Ganon head-on. Do not worry about its laser attack and focus on hitting those weak spots.

Finally, the last weak point will open up on Dark Beast Ganon’s forehead. You will see it as a glowing crack in its forehead that exposes a third eye. You must shoot this eye to finish the fight once and for all, but you cannot reach it from the ground.

(1 of 2) Ride the updraft as soon as you are able to

Ride the updraft as soon as you are able to (left), Make this last shot count! (right)

When Dark Beast Ganon fires its laser, it will create an updraft all around the front of it. Jump off your horse and right this updraft up using your Paraglider. Now you can clearly see the third eye of Ganon. Aim carefully with the Bow of Light and Dark Beast Ganon will be defeated. Enjoy the cutscene and the credits roll.

Unfortunately when you boot your save file back up, you will be back where you last saved. But if you look at your save file in your System menu, you will see a star next to your file to commemorate that you have beaten the game at least once.

Congratulations on completing the main story! But of course, there is so much more to do. There are sidequests, Shrines, Korok Seeds, and all sorts of minigames to enjoy. So why not stick around for a while and see what else there is?

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Nintendo
  • Platforms,
    Switch, Wii U
  • Genre
    Action Adventure
  • Guide Release
    6 April 2018
  • Last Updated
    27 June 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Cassie Sun

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You wake up in the mysterious Shrine of Resurrection and see a Hyrule you no longer recognize. All you have by your side is the equally mysterious Sheikah Slate and the voice of a stranger to guide you. Take up the mantle of the chosen hero Link and journey throughout the most expansive, open iteration of Hyrule yet in your quest to destroy the monstrous Calamity Ganon and recover your memories of what happened 100 years ago.

This guide will serve as your companion as you traverse the beautiful world of Hyrule. It currently covers the following content:

Version 1.1 (Updated October 2021)

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