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Players who have made it any decent way into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom agree that it's got a lot more horror elements than its predecessor. One of these things has been scaring players more than any other new addition to Tears of the Kingdom: the Gloom Hands that can seemingly appear anywhere, out of nowhere.
As difficult as Gloom Hands are to deal with, the real challenge is dealing with what, or rather who, comes after Link defeats them. Indeed, Phantom Ganon appears, returning after being gone from the series for so long. The fight is different than it used to be, though, and Phantom Ganon has a few new tricks up his sleeve – including three variants with different movesets and weapons. Players will find certain abilities and combat skills very useful for this fight, but there are some other preparations that can be made, too.
How To Summon Phantom Ganon
Phantom Ganon is summoned a few seconds after a patch of Gloom hands, called Gloom Spawn in-game, are defeated by Link. There are a few ways to do this, but arguably the easiest is to simply shoot five Bomb Flowers fused to arrows in the center of the cluster.
The best way to kill Gloom Hands is with a bow from a height, but they will eventually despawn if players spend too long out of their reach.
Either way, Gloom Hands will drop Gloom-related materials for Link to cook and Fuse with, but players shouldn't get too comfy. After all are defeated, a few seconds will pass, then the health bar for Phantom Ganon will fade in as players witness this terrifying hidden boss appear out of nowhere. Phantom Ganon looks very different than it did in the past, now more closely resembling the dehydrated Ganondorf seen in the opening of the game than a floating specter of the Demon King at his full strength.
There are also more versions of Phantom Ganon in Tears of the Kingdom than in other games, though the strategy for defeating each remains mostly the same – one wields a Sword, one wields a Club, and the last wields a Spear. All three variants also use a bow when Link gets out of his reach. In the end, the preparation for fighting Phantom Ganon matters as much as the combat itself, thanks to the Gloom that pools around his feet and attacks that reduce Link's max Hearts.
How To Beat Phantom Ganon
Phantom Ganon can be encountered in multiple dangerous forms in many different locations, and each uses a suite of different moves that complement their weapons. With the sword or club equipped, Phantom Ganon has access to both vertical and horizontal attacks, while the spear-wielding version can only attack forwards and vertically.
This makes the spear-wielding Phantom Ganon a bit easier than the others, as players can simply lock on and circle around to avoid just about every attack. But no matter its form, this boss isn't to be approached lightly, and it's important that Link takes the time to hunt down ingredients, cook Gloom-resistant foods, and use Gloom-resistant armor.
Preparing To Fight Phantom Ganon
It's highly recommended to have at least eight hearts for the Phantom Ganon boss battle, as his hits can deal an enormous amount of damage quickly. Some of Phantom Ganon's attacks will remove the player's maximum Hearts, and the pool around his feet will slowly sap Hearts, too. Having eight gives players a little bit of breathing room in the fight, but it's never a bad idea to bring some Fairies along, just in case.
The best armor for fighting Phantom Ganon is the Of The Depths set, available from a number of Poe statues throughout the nearly-inescapable Depths. The first one players come across via a questline gives access to the Tunic for 150 Poes, which gives a single Heart of protection. It's not much, but it's enough to signal players to move out of Gloom.
The best weapon type for Phantom Ganon is a spear, as it gives Link lots of space to avoid Gloom and attack rapidly in moments of opportunity. But players who plan to Flurry Rush rather than attack him directly should just use whatever their strongest available weapon is. Either way, make sure it packs a punch, or it'll be a long fight.
When cooking food for the fight, cook with Gloom-resistant ingredients like Dark Clumps to create food that gives Link some breathing room around Gloom. Use Sundelions in meals to make food that restores Hearts taken away by Gloom – Dark Clumps are precautionary, but Sundelions are good for when Link has already been affected by Gloom in the middle of battle.
Strategies To Beat Phantom Ganon
For all three types of Phantom Ganons in Tears of the Kingdom, players should make sure they have a strong, fast weapon (something with at least 30 power), be prepared to move a lot, and possibly spend time mastering the Flurry Rush.
Using Flurry Rush on Phantom Ganon is essential for getting lots of hits in without being affected by the Gloom around him, as it won't build during the slow-motion attack sequence. He can be hit at all times, of course, but actually getting close enough without sacrificing Hearts is tough.
Practice the Flurry Rush on weaker enemies to get the timing down, and learn to dodge to the side for vertical swings and backward for horizontal ones. Both the sword-wielding and club-swinging Phantom Ganon bosses will use a mix of horizontal and vertical swings, while the spear-wielding one's jabs and vertical slashes can be dodged to the side every time.
Eat Gloom-resistant food and keep Sundelion food at the ready to restore lost Hearts, and don't get greedy when going for normal attacks on any of the three Phantom Ganon types. No matter his weapon of choice, attacks can come out of nowhere with unpredictable speed, so be ready to move out of his range at a moment's notice.
Rewards for Defeating Phantom Ganon
After players whittle down Phantom Ganon's relatively large Health bar, he will drop his weapon, bow, and some materials and kneel before Link in defeat. In a plume of purple smoke, he vanishes, leaving behind the Demon King's Bow and Dark Clumps on all versions. However, the melee weapon he drops corresponds to the type of Phantom Ganon Link fought – either the Gloom Sword, Gloom Club, or Gloom Spear.
The Demon King's Bow increases its own damage based on how many Hearts Link currently has full and has a base value of 12 damage – the more hearts Link has, the more damage it does.
The Gloom Sword, Club, and Spear have the Gloom Toll attribute, which takes away Link's max Hearts when damaging enemies. The trade-off for this disastrous effect is incredibly high damage and the ability to be Fused to push damage even higher.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.