The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild features four Divine Beasts spread throughout its massive open world – challenges that replace traditional dungeons in testing Link’s skills in combat and puzzling. Although the Beasts do not have to be tamed to complete the game, they do help Link in the final fight. In addition, the Divine Beasts’ bosses must be defeated before the end of the game, so Link will encounter them in Hyrule Castle before facing Ganon if players choose to skip the Beasts themselves. Each Divine Beast requires skill and strategy to defeat, although some are more difficult than others.
The Divine Beasts are each designed to resemble a different animal and use elemental powers. Throughout BOTW, Link journeys to the four corners of Hyrule’s map to take back the Divine Beasts overrun by Ganon’s Blights. Every Beast contains puzzles similar to traditional dungeons which must be solved to locate and activate terminals. Once Link has activated all five terminals, he must face the Blights in combat to end their influence. Link can use any order to beat the Divine Beasts, and ultimately how prepared he is for each fight is up to the player. Even so, there are Divine Beasts that are more difficult to beat than others.
4 Vah Medoh
Vah Medoh is found flying high in the northwest corner of Hyrule’s map. Vah Medoh was once piloted by the Rito Champion Revali, who was later destroyed by Windblight Ganon. Vah Medoh is perhaps the least difficult of the four Divine Beasts in BOTW. Link first boards Vah Medoh by paragliding high in the sky and dodging lasers to take out Guardians. Once aboard, Link is met with various puzzles that are solved with his paraglider by utilizing wind tunnels throughout the Beast. Link can simply follow the flow of the wind, which makes Vah Medoh easier to navigate than the other Divine Beasts.
After finding all five terminals, Link will awaken Windblight Ganon. This Blight will send drones and tornadoes to attack Link, but he can simply ride wind columns to hit the Blight with arrows. Bomb arrows paired with Link’s ability to slow time make Windblight Ganon an easy boss to take down, rewarding Link with the Champion’s Blessing, Revali’s Gale.
3 Vah Ruta
Vah Ruta was piloted by the Zora Champion Mipha, and is the southeastern Divine Beast in Breath of the Wild. Link boards Vah Ruta with the help of Mipha’s younger brother, Sidon. Sidon swims near the Divine Beast so that Link can ride up waterfalls to shoot arrows at the Guardians. Link can use the Cryonis Rune to break the ice that the Beast sends after him and Sidon. After successfully boarding Vah Ruta, Link completes a variety of water puzzles by manipulating the Beast’s internal watermill and heavily relying on Cryonis.
Waterblight Ganon is most easily defeated by perfectly dodging its giant spear and using Flurry Rush. The second stage is a little trickier as the Blight begins to teleport around the arena and throw ice at Link. He can again use Cryonis to break the ice and shoot the Blight with electric arrows, earning Mipha’s Grace as a reward.
2 Vah Rudania
Vah Rudania is located on Death Mountain in northeastern Hyrule. Once piloted by the Champion Daruk of the Gorons, Link uses a canon to bomb and subdue the Beast long enough for him to board. Vah Rudania is completely dark on the inside until Link finds the terminal that contains its map. This feature makes this Beast unique but admittedly more frustrating, giving Vah Rudania a claim to being the worst divine beast in Breath of the Wild. Link has to rely on glowing items such as malice and blue flames to make his way to the map. There are areas inside Vah Rudania that are covered in leaves, which Link can burn through with fire arrows to reveal terminals.
Fireblight Ganon will use its weapon and fireballs to attack Link. Although Link can use ice arrows to stun this Blight, it also opens itself up to bomb attacks. As the Blight is absorbing energy, Link can use the Bomb Runes to detonate attacks on the Blight. After Fireblight Ganon is defeated, Link receives Daruk’s Protection.
1 Vah Naboris
Vah Naboris is the most difficult of the Divine Beasts in BOTW. This Beast is located in southwestern Hyrule and was piloted by the Gerudo Champion, Urbosa. To gain control of Vah Naboris, Link rides Sand Seals close to its feet and bombards it with arrows. However, Link must simultaneously dodge the Beast’s lightning strikes, which can get the best of him if he does not remain close to Riju and her Thunder Helm. After gaining control of Vah Naboris, Link will board and solve a variety of electricity puzzles to gain access to terminals.
Entering Vah Naboris is a significant challenge of its own that might make some players ignore the Divine Beast altogether, and solving the puzzles inside can also be particularly difficult due to its design. The three moving parts are all in the main body of the Beast, which makes them look similar and confusing at times. With a complex central mechanism and solutions that operate on a larger scale than the other Divine Beasts, nothing about the exercises that players have to put their minds through here is particularly simple.
Many players also find Thunderblight Ganon to be the most difficult Blight to defeat in Breath of the Wild. In addition to moving at rapid speeds, this Blight’s hits take a lot of Link’s health. Defeating Thunderblight Ganon requires Link to use the Magnesis Rune to lift metallic rods near the Blight to electrocute it. Once hit, the Blight will fall and Link can use melee attacks to finish it off and earn Urbosa’s Fury. All the Divine Beasts in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild require skill and strategy to defeat, but Vah Naboris is definitely the Beast that proves Link’s strength as Hylia’s Chosen Hero.
