How to Beat Thunderblight Ganon (BotW)

Of all the Blight Ganons in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – by popular opinion – Thunderblight Ganon is by far the hardest. Updrafts allow you to bullet-time-attack Windblight; distance allows you to easily strike Waterblight; two bombs allow you to quickly knock out Fireblight. But Thunderblight’s speed and small… living arrangements make it hard to land a hit. Read on to find Thunderblight’s key weak-spots and how-to-defeats!

Preparation for the Thunderblight Fight

In my opinion, it’s best to fight Thunderblight once you have some equipment. The first thing I recommend is collecting a multi-shot bow such as a Lynel Bow. This is because we’ll be using bullet-time in the Thunderblight fight and it will speed up the battle. If you completed Divine Beast Vah Ruta before attempting Vah Naboris and you defeated the Lynel on Ploymus Mountain: then you can use the bow from there. If not, then there are two Lynels in the Taobab Grassland and Oseira Plains which are south of the Great Plateau. Furthermore, if these two options seem too daunting this early on in the game, then you can use a Duplex Bow from the Yiga Clan Hideout.

Lastly, I recommend having a few bomb arrows at the ready. If you can conserve at least 10 of them from the 20 you receive from Riju, then you can use those. If you think this isn’t very plausible, then they are sold in bundles of 20 at the cost of 600 rupees by one of the market stall shopkeepers in Gerudo town, the back-right side of the market.

The Battle with Thunderblight

The Battle with Thunderblight consists of three phases. The first phase is simple, attacks back and forth. The second phase is a little trickier, you need to use magnesis to control the poles that Thunderblight throws at you. The third phase is the most difficult… usually. I will show you how to turn it into a breeze. Finally, the fourth phase is the most annoying, but using my method, you can skip it entirely!

Thunderblight Fight Phase 1

Thunderblight Fight Phase 2

When you know where Thunderblight is, wait for the poles to fall and focus on one of the later poles to hit the ground – the fourth of fifth maybe. The aim is to magnesis one of the poles and move it to Thunderblight so when the lighting fires, it will hit him – not you. This is why you need one of the middle fallen poles as you have enough time to acquire the pole, but you also collect it quick enough so Thunderblight doesn’t move.

Thunderblight Fight Phase 3

Phase three can be two things: The hardest and the easiest. To make it the easiest, whilst Thunderblight is falling from Phase 2, enter bullet-time and release a flurry of bomb arrows at him. His guard will be down and completely open to attack. Killing him here will be the end of the Thunderblight fight!

However, if you can’t enter bullet-time in time or miss the attack, then Thunderblight will gain his shield back and will be immune to bomb arrows. This is what makes the phase difficult. For the most part, you can follow the steps for Phase 1 to complete Phase 3, but this time Thunderblight’s sword is powered with lighting, so a shield won’t do anything. The best things you can do are flurry rushing and running until Thunderblight’s lightning runs out. Once you’ve dealt enough damage, the battle will enter Phase 4.

Thunderblight Fight Phase 4

Phase 4 is Thunderblight preparing to attack you with guardian lasers. If you have Stasis+ you can use that to slow him down, but regardless you need to attack him whilst he’s charging. If you can get to the upper floor then you can enter bullet-time to release a flurry of bomb arrows, or you can attempt to hit him with the Master Sword or any weapon really. In any case, a few hits should finish him off!

End of the Thunderblight Fight

Now you can reap the rewards of all this preparation and this swift fight. Done well, you can actually clear the battle in less than a minute! The rewards are excellent:

Full Thunderblight Fight!

Here is the 5 step process of how I defeated Thunderblight Ganon in just one minute:

1. Raise your shield and block Thunderblight’s attacks.
2. Hit him Seven times with the Master Sword.
3. Run up to the second level.
4. Magnesis the pole and hit Thunderblight with it.
5. Release a flurry of bomb arrows!

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I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope it helped! Divine Beast Vah Naboris is by far the hardest of the four – or five if you have the DLC. If you’d like to acquire some more equipment to help you in attacking other foes like Thunderblight – you can check out our articles related to combat and gathering equipment!