In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as with most Zelda games, the final boss is incredibly difficult. In this case, the final bosses are Calamity Ganon and Dark Beast Ganon. Through popular opinion and an infinite quantity of memes, it has been publicly declared that Dark Beast Ganon is one of the most underwhelmingly easy bosses in the Zelda franchise.
Contrastingly, Calamity Ganon is the strongest boss in the game, second only to the Golden Lynel when CG is at half-health! However, here, you will find a quick and – dare I say – simple method of ‘calamitising’ the calamity!
Preparation for the Battle
There are three things you will need to collect for this method, as well as another two that would make it easier.
- The first is Stasis+ which is easily acquirable from the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab in exchange for 3 ancient cores.
- A Savage Lynel Bow. This is necessary as the strength of the bow will reduce the time and the multishot will increase the Strength. Preferably 5, but that’s not necessary.
- The third thing you will need to collect is 10-15 ancient arrows. These are extremely important as they deal a lot more damage compared to regular or even bomb arrows. They can be purchased from the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab in exchange for some ancient parts, an arrow and few rupees!
- The fourth thing I recommend acquiring is the Barbarian Armour which is found in the three labyrinths in the corners of Breath of the Wild’s map as they increase your damage output, but this isn’t necessary.
- The fifth and final thing is again optional but can help loads. It is stamina food, this is needed as you will be using bullet-time in the fight which uses stamina – and quickly. If you use endura shrooms/carrots in a dish, the result will be a platter with food that fully restores your stamina and gives you a little extra. You should only need one – if any – but I’d prepare a couple if this is your first time!
Traveling across Hyrule and Traversing the Castle
If you’ve never been to Hyrule Castle before in the save file you’d like to defeat Ganon, there are multiple easy ways to get there quickly. I find the easiest way to be Windbombing from a nearby shrine or from Central Tower. If you don’t know how to Windbomb, you can check out our Guide to Wind Bombs (BotW) here!
The next easiest way is using a horse or the master cycle from a nearby shrine. If your horse is inside the stable system, the nearest two stables to Hyrule Castle are Wetland and Riverside.
Once you are in Hyrule Castle, as you enter, following the main path found on the map will take you straight to the Sanctum where Ganon is found. However, this path takes you through two Gatehouses with Lynels inside; unfortunately, these Lynels do not drop any gear when defeated so there are limited points to battling them. You can just use ancient arrows to make them disappear or you can walk around the Gatehouses without going in.
Hyrule Castle significantly reduces the time it takes for the Champions’ abilities to restore, so if you have Revali’s Gale+, it’ll only take 40 seconds to restore! Don’t be afraid to use it over and over to reach the sanctum if you can’t be bothered to deal with 20 Guardians!
The 30 Second Battle
Ok, you’ve reached the Sanctum. Before entering, equip the Lynel Bow, Ancient Arrows, Barbarian Armour and Stasis+ ready for the battle. Enter the Sanctum and watch/skip the cutscene.
The first thing you’re gonna do is make an updraft. One of Ganon’s first attacks is swiping his flaming blade which ignites the floor temporarily and creating an updraft for you. Therefore, you can either wait for this attack or you can use Revali’s Gale. Once the updraft is formed, you’ll need to do the next 4/5 steps in quick succession.
- Stasis Ganon to freeze him, this won’t last long so hurry!
- Open your paraglider into the updraft.
- Gain a little height so you can enter bullet-time.
- Enter bullet-time and release 8-15 Ancient Arrows directly at Ganon’s head. The Stasis+ plus the headshot critical hit will increase the power of the ancient arrows by masses!
- Eat stamina food if necessary to have more time and release more arrows!
And that’s it! You have officially defeated Calamity Ganon! All you need to do now is defeat Dark Beast Ganon, easy!
Extra Notes
There are a couple of other things you should be wary of, so continue reading to be fully prepared:
The Right Food
When preparing your food if you think you will need it, make sure to read the descriptions of the ingredients. You want extra stamina as that will fully restore your green wheels, you don’t want to restore some of it as this will not be enough.
Enough Stamina
It’s worth having at least two wheels of stamina so you have plenty of time without having to eat the food every five seconds. Remember: you can trade hearts for stamina and vice versa using the horned statue in Hateno Village!
Dodging/Parrying
In the Ganon fight, if you are waiting for an updraft to be made by Ganon, the other attacks he uses can be difficult to evade. When I went to attack him in the video above, one of the first attacks he used was a Guardian Laser. It can be worth practicing parrying for attacks like these. Alternatively: run!
Full Battle
I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope it helped! If you’d like some tips and tricks or combat skills, feel free to check out our other articles 24/7!
You may also be interested in:
How to Beat Thunderblight Ganon (BotW)
Defeating Dark Beast Ganon in Unique Ways – BotW
Ta’loh Naeg Shrine / Ta’loh Naeg’s Teaching – BotW
Flying Guardian Glitch – BotW
Chaas Qeta Shrine / A Major Test of Strength – BotW
DB Vah Ruta – Completing Divine Beast Vah Ruta
Toto Sah Shrine / Toto Sah Apparatus – BotW
Jitan Sa’mi Shrine / Jitan Sa’mi’s Blessing / The Spring of Wisdom – BotW