Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - How to Defeat Phantom Ganon

Phantom Ganon is one of the most difficult bosses on Tears of the Kingdom; defeating his multiplication requires a considerable number of food, weapons, and shields. Unlike the past enemies we’ve encountered, this creature has absolutely no weaknesses, so the combat is strictly skill-based, with you balancing between offensive and defensive skills until you reach victory.

In today’s guide, we’re going to provide you with a full strategy guide on how to take on Phantom Ganon including preparations, attack patterns, and phases. So stick with us as we provide you with a comprehensive guide to defeating Phantom Ganon.

Preparations

Food

Alright let’s be honest Phantom Ganon is not a joke one or two swings from one of his shadows and you’re done. So we need a large amount of food. Before heading for the battle go back to Hyrule and gather as many ingredients as you can and cook it. You can also visit the sky island to gather Sundelions, these little flowers can help a lot in the second phase since you need to heal the gloom effect, so gather as many Sundelions as you can, and cook them.

Weapons

As I said above this battle is tough, we need strong shields to guard, and strong bows to deal some ranged damage, and I prefer to use one-handed swords in this battle since you can combine them with the shield and attack faster than the other weapons.

First Phase

In the first phase four Phantoms will be deployed at you, you need to make sure that all the heroes’ Medalions are activated before the fight since they can help a lot with multiple enemies. First of all, don’t rush toward them keep a distance and use your bow to hit one of them in the face, keep shooting until one of them teleports towards you. Now in closed-ranged combat never ever lower your shield, keep your shield up, and watch out for the upcoming swings.

Phantom Ganon has two types of attacks, a normal swing which can be both guarded with the shield or avoided with a backflip, and a spinning attack which cannot be guarded or parried at all. If you’re confident enough in your skills you can raise the guard and perform a black flip right when the wing comes, this will trigger a flurry rush dealing some massive damage. If you’re not that skillful, don’t worry you can always evade the attacks earlier, and attack once the phantom is done swinging. So our basic strategy is guard/avoid and then attack rinse and repeat.

Second Phase

In the second phase, you must act quickly and travel across the floor as quickly as possible because one of the phantoms will always try to spread Gloom over you and your comrades. You must use your bow to hit it in the face before the darkness spreads and affects your allies. Hitting the gloomy Phantom will temporarily stun it, allowing you to hurry towards it and offer it a taste of your sword. You should also keep a watch out for other Phantoms because they will try to stop you at any cost. If you get stuck, constantly heal, and don’t get caught with one of the free ones because the most important one is the one spreading the gloom.

Using the Gloom Sword

The Gloom Sword can be very effective against the Phantom Ganon, you can acquire your first one by defeating the Phantoms in the first phase. While it can come with great power, using it will affect your health with gloom effect so you need to keep an eye on the health bar and use the Sundelions we cooked earlier to heal the Gloom.