Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom - How to Defeat Lynels

Lynels can be one of the toughest challenges outside of the main bosses in Tears of the Kingdom. This fearsome monster takes the shape of a lion-centaur-like creature that can use both melee and ranged combat styles. Getting hit by one of Lynel’s attacks can cost you your whole life bar or at least a huge chunk of your precious HP.

For players who are still very early on in the game, it is hugely recommended to avoid combat with a Lynel. In today’s guide, we’re going to provide you with an in-depth explanation of how to beat a Lynel in today’s guide, along with information on his attack strategy, vulnerabilities, and post-battle preparations.

Preparations

Food

Attempting a battle with a Lynel is not that easy so you should mark down the monster’s location and head back to get ready. First of all cook meals, as many meals as you can, the Lynel attacks are very powerful, and one little mistake can cost you your whole life so you’re gonna need a significant amount of food to heal as fast as possible.

Bows and Arrows

We also require some strong bows. By defeating numerous creatures on Hyrule or even on the sky island, you can gather some bows. You also need a lot of arrows, so buy as many as you can before the battle.

Sword and Shield

Our primary weapon of choice for combating a Lynel are one-handed swords you can combine these bad boys with a strong shield to create the perfect defense and offense balance. The only way to successfully ward off Lynel attacks is to gather as many shields as you can. A one-handed sword can also be quite useful for quickly switching from offense to defense.

Lynel Attack Patterns

Depending on the circumstance, the Lynel uses one of four primary attack patterns. The Lynel can first attack you with his bow if you are too far away from him; only one shot from the bow can deplete all of your health. The second attack is a rush attack in which Lynel will charge at you while running over anything in his path. This move is likewise extremely dangerous and has a quick kill potential.

The third attack can trigger when you’re in mid-range with the Lynel, the monster will throw three balls of fire toward you, this attack is less powerful compared to the first two attacks so no need to get bothered. The fourth and last attack pattern is when approaching the Lynel in close-ranged combat, the Lynel will use his sword to cut you down, this attack is also very dangerous since the monster can obliterate you in one swing.

How to Defend Against the Lynel Attacks

Using a Powerful Shield

The easiest way to defend against the Lynels’ attack is to use a powerful shield. All of the four Lynels attacks can be dealt with by just raising your shield, so our main strategy here is to simply use the shield as defense and wait for an opening to strike with the one-handed sword.

Flurry Rush

If you’re skillful enough to trigger a Flurry Rush, you can take out a huge chunk of the Lynel health. All you need to do is to dodge the Lynel attack at the right time, if successful the time will slow down giving you the opportunity to spam the attack button and deal decent damage.

Parrying

Parrying can be done by hitting the A button when the Lynel attack, although it’s fairly weak compared to the Flurry Rush, Parrying can give an opening stunning the Lynel for a few seconds.

How to Stun the Lynel?

Hitting the face

The only way to stun a Lynel is by aiming at his face, you need to be quick and fast in order to be successful. Some Keese Eyeballs can help you deal the shot without aiming but just keep in mind that once the Lynel is enraged it’s very hard to hit its face even with the Keese Eyeballs attached.

Shooting From Above

The second best way to hit the Lynel’s face is to attack from above, you can use fire to light the ground beneath you and fly above. Using this technique will allow you to slow down time and aim at ease from above.

What to do after Stunning the Lynel?

After stunning the Lynel, approach its body and begin attacking. You can also ride it and spam the attack button to cause some damage; after a while, the Lynel will fling you off his back, giving you another chance to blast his head while in midair.

Conclusion

On the whole, you can use all these techniques above to achieve victory, you can start off by hitting the Lynel face the first time, stun and ride it, and after being thrown off its back raise your shield and engage in close-ranged combat. You can try your luck with Parrying/Flurry Rush, or you can just keep up with only the shield and the sword back and forth. If you make a mistake always keep an eye on your health bar and heal as fast as possible.  While the Lynel may appear to be unbeatable at first, trial and error can play a significant role in victory, therefore save before the fight and practice your defense position alongside the Parrying/Flurry Rush skills.

Reward

As you can see in the pictures the reward is well worth the struggle, you can get a bunch of strong fusion monster parts, alongside powerful shields, and one of the greatest bows in the whole game.