The Most Powerful Enemies, Ranked

Highlights

• Key takeaways:
• Hinox, Stone Talus, and Guardian Turrets are some of the toughest enemies in Breath of the Wild.
• Guardian Scout IV is the highest level enemy found in shrines and requires skill and strategy to defeat.
• Windblight Ganon and Waterblight Ganon are bosses that require ranged combat and well-placed shots to defeat.

While exploring the world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there are a lot of enemies that Link has to face. Saving Hyrule doesn’t come without some dangers. While Link makes his way across Hyrule, defeats each of the Divine Beasts, and finds all 800 Korok Seeds, there are enemies everywhere. Some of them are a lot tougher to deal with than others. Whether it’s sheer power or the fact that they’re just annoying, some enemies are hard.

Early in the game, players face off against Bokoblins. They may be the first enemies, but anyone who has played Breath of the Wild will know they’re far from the most powerful. The enemies only get more challenging from there. To see the most powerful enemies in Breath of the Wild, ranked from least to most powerful, keep reading!

Updated on February 2, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest video games ever made, innovating on the open-world genre in a way no one could’ve imagined. It served as a base for Tears of the Kingdom to expand on pretty much everything from this game, leading to two highly sought-after open-world games that will go down in history as some of the greatest Zelda games ever made. Breath of the Wild has its fair share of challenging enemies that can decimate Link in no time flat, making it important to target their weaknesses and stay on the offensive to come out victorious.

17 Hinox

Huge Monsters Inspired By The Legendary Cyclops

• HP: 1000 (Black Hinox)
• Drops: Toenails, teeth, guts, assorted weapons, food
• Weakness: Eye

Hinox are huge, cyclops-like monsters. They’re often seen sleeping in fields and will attack Link if he comes to them. After defeating these monsters, Link is welcome to take from the variety of weapons that the Hinox wears around its neck. They’re slow lumbering beasts, but they hit like a truck if one of their attacks connects.

The Hinox is quite a large, powerful enemy and can make quick work of Link if the player finds one early in the game. Hinox can even pull trees out of the ground to use as weapons against Link. Instead of fighting a Hinox, players who don’t have many hearts should just sneak on top of them while they sleep to steal their weapon necklaces.

16 Stone Talus

A Sentient Creature Made Of Rocks & Boulders

• HP: 900 (Rare Stone Talus)
• Drops: Valuable gems
• Weakness: Ore deposit

The first time a player finds a Stone Talus, they’re probably pretty confused. These enemies look like just normal boulders in a field in Hyrule, but they’re not. After a player tries to climb them or comes too close, the Stone Talus comes to life. Unfortunately, they’re completely immune to arrows and swords, so they can be tricky to fight.

But any experienced Breath of the Wild player will know how to climb on the back of the Stone Talus to hit the ore. Not only does it give valuable minerals, but it’s also how the Stone Talus is defeated. Because they can be tricky to figure out how to fight and are super powerful, these enemies are one of the tougher ones in the game.

15 Guardian Turret

Scattered All Around Hyrule Castle

• HP: 1500
• Drops: Ancient materials
• Weakness: Eye, Shield Parry

Amazingly, players don’t even encounter a single Guardian Turret during the time they spend exploring Breath of the Wild‘s massive world. These enemies are only present in Hyrule Castle to make the act of infiltrating this dungeon as challenging as possible.

Their energy beams are always a threat, but most Breath of the Wild players will already be skilled enough to deal with this assault. Still, Guardian Turrets shouldn’t be underestimated, and players should use their stationary limitations against them while trying to break these machinations apart.

14 Guardian Scout IV

The Toughest Variant Of The Guardian Scout Players Must Best In Shrines With Combat Challenges

• HP: 3000
• Drops: Ancient materials and powerful weapons
• Weakness: Eye, Shield Parry

There are many combat trails across the shrines of Breath of the Wild that players need to take on if they wish to make Link stronger. The hardest of these trials involves a fight against the Guardian Scout IV, which is the highest level of this kind of enemy that can be found in these shrines.

These foes are nothing to scoff at. Their hard-hitting attacks, beefy health bar, and their patented lasers lead to many players watching a lifeless Link crumble uselessly to the ground over and over again. Players need to memorize their moveset and figure out the appropriate counters to deal with their litany of powerful moves.

13 Guardian Stalker

One Of The Scariest Enemies In The Game That Will Decimate The Player If Encountered Early On

• HP: 1500
• Drops: Ancient materials
• Weakness: Eye, Legs, Shield Parry

Guardians appear all over Hyrule in many different forms. They were created by the Sheikah, but like the Divine Beasts, were taken over by Ganon before the events of Breath of the Wild. Several different types of Guardians can be found around Hyrule, but none of them are to be messed with… especially the Guardian Stalkers. These enemies can shoot powerful lasers and chase Link down if he runs.

Players who are brave enough to try to take on a Guardian Stalker will be rewarded with valuable Guardian Parts. These parts can be taken to Purah to upgrade the player’s Runes or to Robbie to create Ancient Gear and Ancient Weapons. But beating this powerful enemy to get these items is not easy.

12 Guardian Skywatcher

Flying Mechanical Monstrosities With High-Damage Beams

• HP: 1500
• Drops: Ancient materials
• Weakness: Eye, Propellers, Shield Parry

If Guardian Stalkers were already a huge pain, then Skywatchers would be the bane of a player’s experience. Even if deflecting laser beams back at these Guardians is a great strategy to defeat them, the simple act of locking on to these aerial machines is a task in its own right.

One way to safely take out these enemies is to pelt their propellers with bomb arrows. It’s an expensive way to take out these foes, but most players won’t mind once they ground these foes and punish them for their insolence.

11 Fireblight Ganon

The Malicious Spirit Corrupting The Divine Beast Vah Rudania

• HP: 800/1200/1600/2000 (depending on when the boss is encountered); 1500 (Illusory Realm)
• Drops: Heart Container
• Weakness: Eye

While the journey to reach Vah Rudania is one of the toughest in Breath of the Wild, the actual fight against Fireblight Ganon isn’t all that challenging. Many players considered it to be the easiest of all the Blight fights in the entire game. Regardless, players shouldn’t underestimate this fight if they don’t want to be sent to a fiery grave.

With the ingenious use of both bombs and arrows, most players should be able to get through this fight with a few burns to show for it. Of course, the alternate fight against this being in the Champions’ Ballad DLC is way harder and can prove to be harder… but the fight is still fairly simple once players have an idea of how to beat this boss.

10 Windblight Ganon

The Malicious Spirit Corrupting The Divine Beast Vah Medoh

• HP: 800/1200/1600/2000 (depending on when the boss is encountered); 1500 (Illusory Realm)
• Drops: Heart Container
• Weakness: Eye

Windblight Ganon is a boss that loves ranged combat, meaning that melee combat will be used quite sparingly in the game. So, it’s important to either have a stock of arrows or expendable ranged weapons around to beat this boss. Being stuck with melee weapons leads to a frustratingly long fight where players have very limited damage windows to deplete this boss’ health bar.

This battle will depend upon a player’s mastery over ranged combat, with well-placed shots allowing players to get some melee hits into the mix too. As long as players have been prudent and combed through the lands to gain as many valuable pieces of equipment as possible, they should fare well against this boss.

9 Yiga Blademaster

The Strongest Members Of the Yiga Clan Who Can One-Shot Link During The Stealth Section In Their Base

• HP: 400
• Drops: Windcleaver, Mighty Bananas, and assorted gems
• Weakness: Headshots

Members of the Yiga Clan can be found at two different points of the game. Link encounters them when he goes to the Yiga Hideout, but they can also find him out and about in Hyrule. After getting past them in the Yiga Hideout, Link has to battle against Master Kohga, but he’s far from the most powerful member of the Yiga Clan.

Yiga Blademasters can take Link out with a single hit if they spot him sneaking around the Yiga Hideout. And if they catch him wandering around Hyrule, they’re pretty tough to battle against. Luckily, bananas can distract them in the hideout and the powerful weapons that Link comes across during the game can take them out when they show up around Hyrule.

8 Waterblight Ganon

The Malicious Spirit Corrupting The Divine Beast Vah Ruta

• HP: 800/1200/1600/2000 (depending on when the boss is encountered); 1500 (Illusory Realm)
• Drops: Heart Container
• Weakness: Eye

Most people would wonder why Waterblight Ganon is placed ahead of the others on this list, especially when it’s the first Ganon Blight that most players would encounter in the game. Surely, the encounter is crafted in a way that lets beginners get through the fight easily, right? However, things aren’t as simple as they seem.

This is because Waterblight Ganon is the first proper boss that players face which leads to so many deaths. This becomes even worse during the alternate fight that takes place in the Champions’ Ballad DLC, where the player barely has enough equipment to tackle this challenging boss. While players can tackle this Divine Beast later on in their journey, there’s no denying that the game itself is designed in a manner where the majority of players will encounter this boss first.

7 Lynel

One Of The Game’s Strongest Overworld Monsters

• HP: 7500 (Golden Lynel)
• Drops: Assorted gems, Lynel Guts, Lynel Hoof, Lynel Horn, Star Fragment
• Weakness: Headshots

Lynels are centaur-like monsters and the toughest enemies that Link can come across while roaming around Hyrule. Like other monsters, different colors of Lynels represent different difficulty levels. Although all Lynels are hard to deal with, the Golden Lynels are the toughest.

Lynels are not enemies that the player wants to face until they’re prepared. That means good weapons, tough armor, and quite a few heart containers. But, like other tough enemies in Breath of the Wild, there are good reasons to battle Lynels. For one, you’re going to need a lot of Lynel parts to upgrade the Barbarian Armor set.

6 Thunderblight Ganon

The Malicious Spirit Corrupting The Divine Beast Vah Naboris

• HP: 800/1200/1600/2000 (depending on when the boss is encountered); 1500 (Illusory Realm)
• Drops: Heart Container
• Weakness: Eye

There can’t be a list of the hardest enemies in Breath of the Wild without mentioning Calamity Ganon. Ganon is the main villain in the series and the final boss that Link has to defeat to save Hyrule at the end. But before he can do that, he needs to unleash each of the Divine Beasts. Doing so will give him special help from the Champions and will make fighting Ganon a lot easier.

The different mini-bosses Link has to face are Thunderblight Ganon, Fireblight Ganon, Waterblight Ganon, and Windblight Ganon. Each one is located in a different Divine Beast and while none of them are easy, Thunderblight Ganon is the toughest. He flies around and shocks Link. It can be hard to catch him in a single spot and the fact that he can make Link drop his weapons makes fighting him pretty tricky.

5 Molduga

A Huge Beast That Borrows Itself Into The Sand And Jumps Out To Swallow Potential Prey In Its Jaws

• HP: 1500
• Drops: Molduga Fins, Molduga Guts, Molduga Jaw, Chest
• Weakness: Bombs

The Gerudo Desert is easily one of the best — and most challenging — locations in Breath of the Wild, but people who might want to explore this location peacefully can find their journey interrupted by one of the more challenging enemies in the entire game. These foes are huge and quite scary, making every encounter with them a nerve-wracking affair where players will be scrambling to find high ground.

This enemy will completely maul Link until the player figures out how to defeat them. Staying on high platforms and baiting the Molduga with bombs is the best way to take care of this enemy. Entering this fight without a plan guarantees that Molduga will wipe the floor with players, so it’s important to have a stock of arrows, good weapons, and a bomb handy at all times to trap this foe and beat it down when it’s vulnerable.

4 Molduking

A Tougher Variant Of The Molduga

• HP: 1600
• Drops: Molduga Fins, Molduga Guts, Molduga Jaw, chest
• Weakness: Bombs

The most powerful Molduga that anyone can fight in the game is the legendary Molduking. Players fight this tough entity as a part of the Champion’s Ballad DLC, and his immense power means that no player should take him for granted. For the most part, the strategy that most people need to follow for this foe is the same as any Molduga.

Players need to make sure that they place bombs tactically, stun the Molduking once it snaps them up, run up for a bunch of melee strikes, and then run away just when it’s waking up. The Molduking hits like a truck, so avoiding damage is recommended for obvious reasons. While this may seem like an imposing affair, players who are well-versed in the art of defeating a Molduga shouldn’t have too many problems dealing with this beast.

3 Calamity Ganon

The Final Boss Who Can Be More Or Less Challenging Based On The Player’s Actions

• HP: 8000 (for each Divine Beast cleared, 1000 HP is knocked off his health bar)
• Drops: Nothing
• Weakness: Master Sword, Shield Parry

Most people consider Calamity Ganon to be a surprisingly easy challenge given the circumstances of the battle. It’s a shame since many players are armed to the teeth to deal with this threatening boss fight… only for it to be a walk in the park since the Divine Beasts end up shaving off half his health and his attacks aren’t anything to be feared either. However, players who want this boss fight to be as challenging as possible can follow certain steps for the same.

For starters, the player can choose to ignore the Divine Beasts so that they can fight Calamity Ganon without his health being shaved in half. Doing so will make the battle all the more challenging as the player deals with what is easily one of the more aggressive bosses in the entire game. It helps that players have to run the gauntlet with all the other Blights of Ganon they encountered before even getting a shot at the final boss, which makes for a longer and more epic boss fight… albeit at the cost of the Divine Beast questlines being wilfully ignored.

2 Monk Maz Koshia

The Final Boss Of The Champions Ballad DLC

• HP: 4000 (estimated)
• Drops: Master Cycle Zero
• Weakness: An unhealthy addiction to Mighty Bananas

The Champions Ballad DLC is an excellent addition to Breath of the Wild. It serves as a great challenge as players end up fighting the Divine Beasts once again and unlock their very own Divine Beast in the form of a mobile bike that makes traversal all the more enjoyable. However, to unlock this bike, players need to clear a dungeon that ends with an epic fight against Monk Maz Koshia, who is easily one of the more challenging enemies in the entire game.

It’s a fun battle, where players need to be on the edge of their toes so that they don’t end up being caught off-guard by Maz Koshia’s relentless offense. At this point, most people would be pretty skilled when it comes to the combat system of the game, but underestimating this fight will still prove to be quite a fatal mistake indeed.

1 Igneo Talus Titan

An Annoying Stone Talus With High Health That Will Punish Players Who Don’t Have Any Ice Arrows

• HP: 1600
• Drops: None
• Weakness: Ore deposit, ice arrows

During the Champions Ballad DLC, the player will also be tasked with taking out a special Igneo Talus Titan that can be quite a pain to defeat, mainly due to the arena in which this battle is fought. It may be a creative encounter that forces people to find a unique solution to tackle this beast, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating when things don’t go the player’s way time and time again in this boss battle.

Since the Igneo Talus Titan stands on a pool of lava, it becomes quite challenging to attack its weak spot and do some damage. Revali’s Gale or some expertly thrown bombs can help in this regard, but it’s still a difficult and frustrating battle. Players have to employ every tool in their arsenal so that they don’t end up falling into the lava and losing precious health every single time they fail.