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The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom reprises some recognizable villains, including a recurring figure in the form of Phantom Ganon. However, Phantom Ganon is more than just a lone apparition, as he has some help with him in the form of The Gloom.
You'll frequently encounter The Gloom and Phantom Ganon in tandem, as his fights are usually preceded by a fight with a group of Gloom Hands. Phantom Ganon appears via numerous miniboss fights and two main story encounters, so it's worth mastering his fight given how many times you'll face off.
What Is The Gloom?
The Gloom is a powerful red and black gooey substance you can find in certain pockets of Hyrule and everywhere in the Depths.
If you stand or walk across the Gloom, your hearts will permanently drain and will be unable to be refilled when they are grayed out and broken.
Certain foods and elixirs can restore your Gloom-stolen hearts in a tight spot. Alternatively, lighting Light Roots or heading to the surface will also restore your hearts to normal.
Gloom will manifest in the form of a group of hands with an eye in the center of their palm.
Keep your distance, or the hands can grab you and begin to drain your hearts, so shake free as fast as possible to avoid losing too many.
Who Is Phantom Ganon?
Phantom Ganon is a puppet of The Demon King and easily one of the most challenging bosses in Tears of the Kingdom.
This apparition functions as The Demon King's personal assassin and saboteur, as his boss title refers to him.
Phantom Ganon is both a miniboss and a main story boss, appearing multiple times throughout the game.
His strategy is the same in the early fights, but his final story encounter unleashes his true power.
Where To Find The Gloom And Phantom Ganon
To encounter this spectral assassin, you'll need to venture into the Depths via any of the Gloom-infested chasms.
Once in the Depths, you will notice the area is completely covered in large patches of Gloom, indicating the high concentration of evil power.
As you roam around, you will occasionally be attacked by swarms of Gloom Hands.
Keep your head on a swivel to spot them approaching via a bubbling, moving Gloom puddle.
Be sure to collect Poes, the small blue wisps in the Depths, whenever you come across them. The Gloom-resistant armor can be purchased for a total of 650 Poes once you meet six Bargainer Statues.
These Gloom puddles are incredibly annoying and can drain health quickly, so run past them or glide over if you can.
How To Beat Phantom Ganon
Phantom Ganon can be a challenging fight, so you'll need to have strong equipment, healing, and timing to win this one.
However, there are two forms of Phantom Ganon you will encounter, with each one boasting different approaches to the fight.
The first form should help you to practice for the ultimately more challenging encounter later in the game.
Miniboss And Deku Tree Encounters
Miniboss Phantom Ganon can be an annoying encounter if you don't dispatch the Gloom Hands as soon as they appear.
Gloom is weak to fire, so using Bomb Arrows or Fire Fruit to harm and stun them is the best method.
Once the Gloom Hands are out of the way, you can focus on Phantom Ganon's moveset, which is surprisingly similar to Link's.
- Phantom Ganon's dashing sword slash will have him chase you down from a distance. Simply keep running away, and the attack will miss.
- His standard sword slash is a simple and slow attack that can be blocked, dodged, or parried, but blocking is the most forgiving.
- His spinning sword slash cannot be blocked and is telegraphed by Gannon holding the sword behind him horizontally.
- Ganon will transform into a black and red gas, then teleport to Link and follow up with a slash. Run or block.
- Keep an eye on Ganon's feet as a pool of Gloom will spawn beneath him and follow him around, causing damage to you.
Prioritize avoiding damage and countering attacks to win this fight.
Sanctum Encounter
The final Phantom Ganon fight incorporates elements of the prior fights with a few small twists.
- Ganon instantly summons four additional copies of himself to start the fight.
- Each copy will lumber around using the same moves as the prior iterations.
- Damaging any of the copies will reduce the overall boss's health.
- The copies will eventually reappear, each with different weapons and more aggressive teleporting.
Each boss has its own smaller health bar, so you should take out all the copies first before you focus on the main Ganon.
Once the copies reappear, be aware of each one's new weapon, as they will utilize, clubs, spears, and swords that each swing slightly differently.
Again, focus on one copy at a time until only the real one is left. Dodging and blocking are important, so don't rush to clear the battlefield.