If you want to know how to beat the Tears of the Kingdom Demon King Ganondorf boss fight, you’ll get no judgement from me. I spent about hours getting whomped by the guy until I worked out the best methods to kill him.
There’s no getting around this one: the Demon King Ganondorf is a real punch to the crotch of a boss fight. In fact, I’d argue he’s in the wrong game, compared to all the other boss fights and how you tend to spend your time in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
After you’ve worked your way through the gauntlet of goons and gloom deep under Hyrule castle, you’ll face a real tough cookie of a boss fight. Tougher even than all The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom bosses you've fought up to this point. Here's how to beat Demon King Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom.
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Demon King Ganondorf boss strategy
Preparation for taking on Demon King Ganondorf
You fight Demon King Ganondorf over three phases and should come prepared if you want an easier time in battle.
Demon King Ganondorf’s attacks don’t just hurt you; they corrupt your heart containers with gloom, so you can’t heal the damage. Every hit takes you closer to an unhealable death. However, you can eliminate the gloom if you come with suitable kit.
If you cook Sundelions into a meal, the food won’t just heal you; it will also clear corruption away from your heart containers. You can also load up on foods that resist gloom, though it won’t work against Ganondorf’s attacks, only the effect of standing in the gloom on the arena floor. For those, you’ll need Dark Clump, which you can get by trading poes with the statue in Joshua’s lab in Lookout Point.
As well as anti-gloom measures, you should raise your damage. If you can lay your hands on some Mighty Thistle in the Faron region, you can make meals that boost your attack. If you’re reading this and have reached Ganondorf without these meals prepped, get cooking. I’d recommend popping back to the surface, getting what you need, and rerunning the gauntlet.
You can also fuse the Master Sword with items that increase its damage. I’d recommend anything that will make the Demon King go down in fewer hits. Also, if you have them, fuse your shields with Hinox toenails to make them more durable.
Tears of the Kingdom Demon King Ganondorf first phase strategy
In the first phase, Demon King Ganondorf comes at you with a sword, club, and spear. If you can get the dodge right, you can hit back with a flurry of attacks. If your timing isn’t great, block his attacks with the shield and strike back after he’s hit you. His charged attacks with the sword and spear only make small pools of gloom that aren’t too hard to avoid, but if he charges up his club, then you should either sprint out of range or jump and open your paraglider to float above the attack (getting in some shots with your bow while you’re at it).
Tears of the Kingdom Demon King Ganondorf second phase
In the second phase, Ganondorf spawns four phantoms. Don’t worry; it looks worse than it is. Hang on long enough, and your sage companions will engage with the phantoms. Your allies don’t appear immediately, so I recommend backing away from the fight until they all appear.
Tears of the Kingdom Demon King Ganondorf final phase
In the final phase, it’s just you and Ganondorf again. The Demon King has new tricks up his sleeve, however. For a start, he has new combos to wrongfoot you and hit you with gloom. He also has a set of attacks that straight-up destroy your heart containers. Lastly, you can no longer hit him with flurries. If you try, he will simply dodge the swipe and beat you with a counterattack.
The pressure is really on in this last section but try to keep cool. The new combos are difficult to dodge, but you can weave between the patterns with practice. Losing heart containers is a worry, but Ganondorf has to hit you with his special attacks a lot for it to make a big difference. The real challenge is getting your strikes in. Especially as he now dodges flurries.
You’ll need to keep close to the Demon King and watch for the attacks that leave his weapon embedded in the floor and wall. These rare moments give you a small window for a few good whacks. Keep at it, and you will whittle him away to nothing.
It’s a tough fight, but when you’re done, you’re so very close to seeing the credits roll.
