Breath of the Wild: How to to Kill Guardians
Guardians are one of the toughest enemies in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and they're going to present a big challenge for poor Link. In this Zelda Breath of the Wild Guardians guide, we'll be walking you through how to kill Guardians in Breath of the Wild as easily as possible.
On this page:
- Breath of the Wild Guardian Types
- How to Disable or Temporarily Stun Guardians
- Best Weapons to Kill Guardians
- How to Kill Guardians with a Shield Parry
Breath of the Wild Guardian Types
- Decayed Guardian: You'll see these early on in the game, locked into one position due to having lost their legs. They can still rotate, but you're able to retreat and take cover.
- Guardian: Fully functioning Guardian that has legs and can chase Link across the map.
- Skywatcher: This Guardian is seen flying in the sky in certain areas of Hyrule.
- Turret Guardian: Found on Hyrule Castle, these are locked in position but can alter their height to fire at distant targets.
How to Disable or Temporarily Stun Guardians
At the start of Breath of the Wild the Guardians are incredibly scary death machines. You probably thought you could take them out and confidently attacked with a feeble sword only to be blasted into dust (well, not actual dust but you would have been had Nintendo allowed that kind of violence). These creatures are strong.
There is a way to temporarily stop Guardians from functioning, achieved by shooting an arrow into their eye. If you only have weak weapons don't bother doing anything more than this. Take the period of downtime to make a run for it.
Regular Guardians are tricky as they get around quickly on their legs. To stand a better chance against them your best option is to stun them using the arrow in the eye trick, then hack away at their legs. Again, if you want to kill them you're going to need powerful weapons, so don't bother tapping them with a tree branch. Skywatcher Guardians need to be grounded before you can properly attack them, so target their propellers first.
Best Weapons to Kill Guardians
As we've already mentioned, don't get into a fight against a Guardian of any sort with flimsy weapons. You're going to want an inventory full with high damage weapons. The ideal weapons are of the Ancient variety, such as a the Guardian Sword that is dropped in numerous Shrines after defeating smaller ancient foes. You can also exchange ancient items for strong weapons in the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, found in the northeast of the game map.
If you'd rather take out Guardians in a single shot you're going to have to use ancient arrows. These aren't easy to get, being found in Hyrule Castle or the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. One shot into the eye with one of these will result in an instant kill, and even if you miss you'll dish out a lot of damage.
With an ancient weapon equipped you'll soon be defeating these previously feared mechanical beasts, but just be careful not to be hit by their laser blasts as they are still deadly.
It's also possible to knock Guardians over by hitting them with large metal objects. Use Magnesis to grab large metal balls or blocks, then ram them into the Guardian. If you topple them they'll explode and you win!
How to Kill Guardians with a Shield Parry
If you don't yet have any ancient weapons there is another surefire way to kill Guardians. While it's risky, you can perform a shield parry (by pressing A) just as a Guardian fires its beam at you. Link will deflect it back in the Guardians eye, and then KABOOM! If you pull this off you'll feel like the legendary warrior Link is, but it's easy to misjudge the timing and be killed.
For a visual demonstration of how to kill guardians with your shield in Breath of the Wild, take a look at the video below.
Killing Guardians is a great way to collect ancient items such as screws, springs, and gears, which can be used to upgrade your Sheikah Slate or to buy new weapons in Akkala. Already deceased Guardians can also be scavenged for some ancient item loot. You could also sell these items to get more rupees. You're also going to want to know how to cook and how to respec Link's health and stamina.
We have a lot more on Breath of the Wild for you to take a look at. There's Mat's writeup on how you can use whistling to fish. Next up is Hirun's piece on how to launch Guardians into the area using the Cryonis Rune.