When I first encountered one of the Gloom Hands in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it absolutely terrified me, which was made worse when it started to chase Link with its hands swinging to try and grab him. Absolute nightmare fuel. Luckily, you can defeat it—here's how to beat the Gloom Hands enemy in Tears of the Kingdom.
Note that this guide contains some light spoilers, so continue reading at your own risk.
How to defeat Gloom Hands enemy in Tears of the Kingdom
Make no mistake: this opponent isn't supposed to be easy in TotK. So if, like me, you run into it early on in your adventure and get your butt absolutely handed to you, don't be surprised. Or, you might be luckier than I was and manage to beat it on your first try—in which case, hats off to you!
The best way to defeat the Gloom Hands is to use Link's bow and arrows, hitting it right in the eye in the center of each of its hands. This will stun it for a second, allowing you to either rush in with a sword or pelt it with more arrows from afar.
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Another tactic that I used was throwing Bomb Flowers at it. This allowed me to damage multiple hands at once, though this depends on how many Bombs you have in your inventory.
Once the Gloom Hands is down, though, don't celebrate just yet... An even tougher fight is coming.
How to beat Phantom Ganon in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
Yeah, that's right; now you've got to fight Phantom Ganon. And if you thought that the Gloom Hands was tough, you're in for a ride. Phantom Ganon will rush you at every opportunity and, if you don't have enough hearts, will one-shot you pretty much straight away if he hits you. There are three types of Phantom Ganon you can run into: sword, club, and spear. My recommended strategy is the same for all of them.
You can't even climb somewhere high to escape because he just chases you down, so don't try. It is stress-inducing! Your best bet is to use arrows and aim at Phantom Ganon's head to stun him, then rush in and chip away at his health with a sword in the short window of time you have before he attacks you again.
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Come prepared with food and elixirs and heal Link as soon as he takes damage, and you may just prevail. It took me a few run-ins with Phantom Ganon to finally defeat him, though it was a close call.
What do you get for defeating Gloom Hands and Phantom Ganon in Tears of the Kingdom?
Once Phantom Ganon is down, he will drop some Dark Clumps, a Gloom Sword, and a Demon King's Bow. The Gloom Sword has a base stat of 41 damage but deals Gloom damage to Link over time as he wields it.
The Demon King's Bow has a base stat of 12 damage, which increases with the more hearts Link has. I use this whenever I fight minibosses like the Hinox, and it's pretty broken (in the good way).
Where to find Gloom Hands in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - locations
I've found Gloom Hands in three locations so far, with all three respawning after a Blood Moon:
- Hyrule Castle Docks—map coordinates -0288, 1130, 0017.
- Lindor's Brow Cave—map coordinates -1724, 1172, 0153.
- Akkala Citadel Ruins—map coordinates 3498, 2025, 1330.
For more information on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, check out How to fuse items with arrows in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK) on Pro Game Guides.
Brent Koepp is a freelance games journalist based out of California. An avid Pokemon fan for over 25 years, he has spent his career reporting on the popular Nintendo franchise. He also dabbles in Destiny 2 and JRPGs. You can follow him on Twitter @brentrkoepp.