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.
Related: Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
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 April 12, 2023 by Ritwik Mitra: With Tears of the Kingdom coming out sooner rather than later, there's no better time to check out the first game and experience the amazing open world for either the first or umpteenth time. The amazing sense of discovery and exploration in this title is unmatched, and players love roaming around the destroyed world of Hyrule and piecing the history of abandoned locations bit by bit.
However, roaming around the world of Breath of the Wild isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The world is populated with several heinous enemies and villains that can take out Link in no time flat, and players need to be wary when it comes to the more challenging enemies in the game. Here are some of the strongest enemies in Breath of the Wild that players need to be extremely wary of, since a single misstep will lead to their doom.
15 Hinox
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 definitely 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 that don't have many hearts should just sneak on top of them while they sleep to steal their weapon necklaces.
14 Stone Talus
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 definitely 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 in order 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 definitely one of the tougher ones in the game.
13 Guardian Scout IV
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.
Related: Cool Custom NES's To Game On
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.
12 Guardian Stalker
Guardians appear all over Hyrule in many different forms. They were originally created by the Sheikah, but like the Divine Beasts, were taken over by Ganon prior to the events of Breath of the Wild. There are several different types of Guardians that can be found around Hyrule, but none of them are to be messed with. All of them can shoot powerful lasers and some can even chase Link down if he runs.
Players that are brave enough to try to take on a Guardian will be rewarded with valuable Guardian Parts. These parts can be taken to Purah to upgrade your Runes or to Robbie to create Ancient Gear and Ancient Weapons. But actually beating a Guardian to get these items is not easy.
11 Fireblight Ganon
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. In fact, 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
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
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.
Related: Zelda: Secret Side Quests Everyone Missed In Ocarina Of Time
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
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 it's totally possible for players to 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
Lynels are centaur-like monsters and the toughest enemies that Link can come across while roaming around Hyrule. Like other monsters, there are different colors of Lynels that 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
There can't be a list on 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 in order 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.
Related:
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 definitely 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
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
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
Most people consider Calamity Ganon to be a surprisingly easy challenge given the circ*mstances 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 really 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.
Related: Breath Of The Wild: Things You Didn't Know About Calamity Ganon
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 definitely 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 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
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 actually 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 really 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.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available on Switch and Wii U.
More: Zelda: Things Fans Didn’t Realize Happened Between Ocarina Of Time And Majora’s Mask
