How to beat Phantom Ganon in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Phantom Ganon is a mini-boss you find throughout The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

As you explore Hyrule, you’ll encounter Gloom Hands , a group of enemies which creep out of a gloom pool on the floor. Once you defeat them, you might feel a sense of relief that you’ve cleansed the world of evil, but you’ll soon see another red health bar pop up on your screen with the words “Phantom Ganon” overhead.

Phantom Ganon might seem a little scary, but if you follow our tips, you’ll be able to take down Phantom Ganon with ease — and if you want more of their useful drops, discover their locations.

How to prepare for Phantom Ganon in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

There are three different types of Phantom Ganon each with their own weapon: sword, spear, and club. Sword is perhaps the first you’ll encounter, especially if you have travelled through the Lost Woods and arrived at Korok Forest.

Each Phantom Ganon has their own unique attacks and rewards, but the preparation is the same for all of them.

Here are some suggestions for what to do after you defeat the Gloom Hands stage of the battle to prepare for Phantom Ganon:

The Phantom Ganon fight tests your shielding, dodging, and parrying skills. After you successfully shield, dodge, or parry, you’ll be able to charge in for a few hits or a Flurry Rush to deal a decent chunk of damage.

Phantom Ganon advancing on Link in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

In our playthrough, we fought against Phantom Ganon with an eight-defense armor set with six hearts, and each hit would either kill us in one hit or take out a majority of our health.

If that isn’t enough and you need to go away to prepare further, then consider increasing your max hearts from shrines elsewhere (or moving stamina over to hearts with a quick respec) and / or sourcing some of the best armor sets.

If you’re not the best at dodging or parrying, hold “ZL” to keep your shield up and block all of his incoming damage. Since each of the Phantom Ganons are holding a different weapon, their attacks will vary and you’ll need to know how to block or avoid them.

How to defeat each type of Phantom Ganon in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

As well as the above best practices, here is specific advice for all three types of Phantom Ganon you can encounter:

Sword Phantom Ganon strategy, rewards

Sword Phantom Ganon has three different attacks:

Ganon raises his sword to his right and swings it at Link
Ganon charges towards Link and swings his sword
Ganon brings his sword across his body and then unleashes a spin attack — dealing damage twice

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The first two attacks can be blocked with your shield up, but the spin attack will break through your shield. When Phantom Ganon brings his sword to the left side of his body, fall back and get ready to avoid the spin attack altogether.

Once you’ve defeated Sword Phantom Ganon, he’ll drop a gloom sword, Demon King’s bow, and a few dark clumps.

Spear Phantom Ganon strategy, rewards

Spear Phantom Ganon has two different attacks:

Ganon readies his spear and stabs forward
Ganon charges towards Link with his spear

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

We recommend that you stick close to Phantom Ganon and strafe around him in a circle as he is getting ready to attack. As long as you keep moving around Phantom Ganon, you should be able to avoid both of his attacks since he has no sweeping attacks. After he misses, go in for a couple hits and then back out to avoid taking gloom damage. If you’re having trouble avoiding his attacks by strafing, keep your shield up to negate his damage.

Once you’ve defeated Spear Phantom Ganon, you’ll receive a gloom spear, Demon King’s bow, and a few dark clumps.

Club Phantom Ganon strategy, rewards

Club Phantom Ganon has three different attacks:

Ganon places his club onto his shoulder and leaps into the air, smashing the ground as he comes down
Ganon brings he club to his side and cleaves the area in front of him
Ganon kicks in front of him

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Club Phantom Ganon’s fight depends on your blocking and spacing, the distance between you and your enemy. As Phantom Ganon leaps into the air, you’ll want to make some distance from his landing point to avoid taking damage. If you can, you should try to backflip, hold “ZL” and jump backwards, just before he’s about to hit the ground to initiate a flurry rush. Club Phantom Ganon’s other two attacks can be blocked with your shield, so don’t be too greedy and keep that shield up!

Once Club Phantom Ganon is defeated, you’ll receive a gloom club, Demon King’s bow, and a few dark clumps.