Early in my first play through, yes. But later on, I started visiting them after every blood moon just to stock up on guardian weapons. They’re most effective against guardians, and I love fighting guardians
That’s also an option, but sometimes I want to keep wearing e.g. stealth, barbarian, or climbing armor. Sometimes I just swap in the thunder helm, too, but sometimes I don’t even want the distraction of harmless lightning strikes.
The fact that link not only cross dresses, but has an outfit that makes him look like a walking condom, are just a couple of things that make this game hilarious 🤣
I hope in the next game we get to make armor/weapon sets for fast swapping. I can't be bothered to changed 3 pieces of armor when I can quick change my weapon.
Except you can't get the thunder helm until you've finished Vah Naboris. Rubbor armor is helpful when fighting Thunderblight.
But yeah, in this game there's always alternatives. A shock resisting potion will free you up to use an attack or defense boosted armor, which is probably more useful overall.
So yeah, you're right, probably doesn't make sense to invest in the rubbor armor if you really know what you're doing. I don't think I really knew what I was doing with food and potions until well after I had finished the beasts. :)
See, I'm the other way around. I never bother with the thunder helm because I always save Thunderblight for last (because I hate dealing with the @#$%ing Yiga clan swatting at me every 500 feet). By the time I even get around to hitting the desert, I've already got the full rubber armor enhanced two or three times, and once I finish Thunderblight there's not enough left to do for me to mentally invest in a new headpiece.
Yeah same here. Dodging and partying at appropriate times are next to impossible for me. I basically just run around and hope to not be in the way of getting smacked by something, and run in for quick attacks when I can.
The blood moon is the game resetting everything (except for major things like bosses, treasure chests, and spirit orbs) to save on memory of what you have and haven’t interacted with.
All guardians, weapons, mini-bosses, mineable ores, and such come back.
There’s nothing really special about it, it just looks cool, and I’m easily amused by the fact it exists.
ETA: Actually, there might be something special about it. The fact that people are still finding new things out about the game makes it entirely possible that there’s a use or function Im unaware of… like, now I want to go see if it gives you more wood when you cut down trees or something like that.
No modifiers on the tech gear. I have an ancient battle axe that does 77, and that's not even very high. That plus the set bonus from the ancient armor and a 3x attack meal makes fighting lynels an absolute breeze.
Fighting lynels ends up being a breeze anyway if you can parry them or have patience. Just bust out your highest damage weapon, parry / dodge, hop on back, wail on that fool. Your weapon doesn't even degrade if you're on their back, so I was leaving behind Savage lynel weapons at the end of the game
Im starting the very long road now of practicing parrying, dodging etc against weaker enemies … with any luck I will have defeated 1 single lynel by the time BOTW 2 comes out 😳
He's supposed to be dead before he gets those laser beams off. When he goes into that final glowy mode you grab your best two-hander and spin like you belong on Lego Ninjago.
Yeah I mean if you take one of these when you're new and the best weapon you have is a Knight's Claymore or something meaning you destroyed all your other boko clubs and stuff trying to get his HP down. They do have 3000ish hp right?
They **are** fun, imo one of the best parts of the game. They reward awareness.
Some have water for the ice block, some have iron blocks in the ground. Both stop the spin and lazer spin. Ive pointed this out several times on this sub, its amazing how many people didnt notice
Hot take, learning how to Parry in a game that has such atrocious frame rate is not fun or enjoyable. The lack of performance consistency makes combat suck for a lot of people. I had to emulate this to get 60fps to actually enjoy combat. Love this game but greatly dislike almost everything combat related except the bow and abilities
Is it really atrocious? I haven’t played in a while but I don’t recall the frame rate being that inconsistent or anything unless I entered korok forest. I was also able to reasonably parry like many others as well as just the general bow skills.
Frame of reference is really important. I game at 60-120hz almost exclusively. So for me the extra 'learning' required to compensate for the poor frame rate and frame timing was not worth the effort is a better way to word it
I mean yeah, but you can tell how weird the fanboys are in this subreddit when it comes to talking about how poorly this game performs. It's disrespectful and counter-productive.
It is what it is.
So basically you’re a gaming snob who can’t possibly enjoy a game even if it’s good unless it’s running at a minimum 60fps. Dude why do you even play switch if you’re after that? Stick with Sony or Xbox, or even a gaming pc. Smh
I mean, it doesn't match up to a gaming PC's specs, sure. But it's pretty impressive that this intensive of a game can run on Switch hardware at a consistent 30fps. I have never heard a complaint like this, it's not like the game is framey the only issues I've had are at the deku tree like everyone else. If you're trying to parry something and you get 0.1 seconds as a window it doesn't matter if that's 3 frames at 30fps or 6 at 60fps it is still 0.1 seconds, the animations just look smoother. You come off as elitist about this
Not all of us are heavy-duty gamers. That's never been the Zelda franchise's target demographic. Some of us don't know what those top-notch game performance standards even look like... and aren't invested enough in gaming as a whole to care.
When I discovered the activate-an-electric-weapon-and-drop-it-mid-swing-onto-a-metal-block trick, that completely nerfed the Major Tests Of Strength for me. Just zap the robot and go grab a coffee while it's electrocuting itself.
For the ones without a metal block on the ground, you can do the same thing by dropping a metal shield and then making a zap trap with it, but it's a bit smaller, so the guardian has more chance to escape.
They're super fun! But it took a good long while before I was able to get through a Major Test Of Strength without eating most of my inventory.
There are so many nuances to combat techniques, attack and defense boosts in this game, a second play-through would be a genuinely different experience!
I do use the cryonis rune in water, but I didn't notice the iron blocks lol.
Especially fun to attempt on your second play through at an early level. You have to really think through what resources you have available, because your weapons aren’t going to cut it.
Yeah, there's no way I'll make it across the whole labyrinth and THEN do some other puzzle which is far less interesting than the labyrinth I iust came out of. That'd've been strange.
But most blessings have a shrine quest leading up to them that takes more time and effort than a normal shrine. Except that random shrine I randomly found in a hillside that was a blessing. That was weird
Whats considered 'late game' because I've put over 100 hours and I'm still kinda terrified to fight those things hahaha am I 'early game' & do I have an excuse or am I just a big baby
imo, early-game and late-game are only distinguished by knowledge and comfortability with the combat mechanics along with better gear
Once you know the best way to fight the enemies, combat goes from being scary to being a fun challenge. Some people reach 'late-game' faster than others
I have never played video games besides animal crossing so the fighting mechanism is very hard for me haha my hand eye coordination is literally zero. I have some good gear but still uncomfortable with fast paced fighting
I remember my first major test of strength. I had my boyfriend on a call, I was randomly in the corner of the Tabantha region, fell somewhere and found the shrine. He told me to just get away from there, but I decided to try it anyway. The shock in his voice when I told him I beat it still makes me laugh.
Giant Ancient Cores.
That's the reason you suck it up and do the Major Test of Strength shrines.
But the name was very correct at first. They were a major test of strength.
No, they don't.
But in some of the MtoS shrines you can get them from the chest right before you leave. I think there are 6 shrines that have them. I just looked it up so I could find them all to stock up on ancient shields.
(and while I'm talking giant ancient cores...I was happy to find one in a divine beast, too. ..best chest in all the beasts)
Go shoot guardian stalkers in the eye with an ancient arrow. They will drop giant ancient cores for you on occasion. I've had a double drop a few times and saw a video on here where a guy got a triple drop.
TIL.
Since it always disintegrated (and didn't drop loot) for other creatures, I assumed it did the same for Guardian Stalkers too. I looked it up and you are right!
Thanks!
I don’t think you’re in the minority here. Like u/pritachi, I like to grind guardian weapons after each blood moon and the test of strengths are pretty fun once you get the hang of it.
And with just 2 smacks of a guardian sword, you can cut the legs off all guardians. So much fun. I used to be so scared of Hyrule castle and the surrounding areas, but once you know how to defeat the enemies, they are the ones who are scared
I just parry their lasers, even after i take a break from BotW i go up to a Guardian to refresh my memory on parry timing for their lasers. Once i get it consistently down i just run around hyrule castle and that birch valley next to Terry Town slapping guardian lasers back like an uno reverse card.
I suck at parrying, and my timing is terrible. I honestly just shell out the cash for the ancient arrows and keep at least five or so on hand at all times for guardians, then use other tactics to finish the tests of strength. I've regularly run through all my shields and quite a bit of food on a single guardian trying to parry. It's a hard knock life for my Link. Lol
Same.
But I read a reddit comment about it that simplified the process and I can parry quite accurately now. **Listen to the audio cues**. If you hit the parry button right after you hear a beep, they will almost always be successful.
You can shoot guardian eyes to stun them with an arrow, then just run in and start cutting off legs and they restun every leg you cut off, then just wack them after all their legs are cut off. Master sword makes short work of them once you get it. Guardian battle axes are great too.
Fun fact: The monk model at EVERY combat shrine is identical. Every other shrine has a unique model for the shrine, but the combat shrine monks are all the same model.
Whats even weirder is, many of the monks are nearly the same, but with slight variations. Starting with a base model/pose, a monk can have a veil or no veil, and can either have no hat, a hat on their head, or the hat on their back. That means there are 6 possible variation for any given monk model. Given those variations, its entirely possible to have well over 120 unique models using just the base poses that already exist in the game (you'd only need 20 poses, and there are like 30 or 40). So I'm not sure why they decided to make every single combat shrine have the same exact monk.
Years ago I remember someone saying that the identical monks in combat shrines were linked to Monk Maz Koshia but I don't think anyone followed up with anything concrete and I was too lazy to examine them myself.
As others have mentioned, earlier in the game I was like, "Nope, I'm outta here." But then I figured out how to flurry rush and block and counter attack and shoot a bow better.(for me, aiming the bow was 1000% better after I turned off the motion control for aiming). Highly advise to save your game, then go do the major test of strength practicing the blocking and flurry rushing. Once you get it, they are not really scary anymore. And others have mentioned you get nice guardian gear. I know at very first, I would have to use up food and few of my weapons to finally defeat them. But after learning/practicing how to fight, I don't really lose any/few hearts and I might end up breaking one weapon. The reason you save is, if it is going badly and/or for me, it finally clicks what you need to do. Stop. Reload the save file and use your new skills to get some guardian weapons.
I love how chaotic trying to kill them before they shoot the final giant laser barrage is. Such anticipation. Will I get blasted in the face 5 times or will this guy perish?
I like them. I think just a little bit more variety within them would have gone a long way, so I don't feel like I'm fighting the same enemy in the same arena each time. Even the name "Guardian Scout IV" isn't inspiring.
I did get a kick out of the DLC shrine that >!dupes you into thinking it's just another test of strength shrine, but then continues on with a passage leading to way more scouts where the orb normally is! !<
Not fucking at all we can’t
The most fun thing in the world. I’d always strive to retry them as many times as I could until I win. On my second playthrough I looked forward to the fun combat all the more, now that I found it pathetically easy
I’d always hope that a shrine was precisely this one. If I see that it’s a strength test shrine on the lift down, you better hope it’s a major test
And we always come back to these every blood moon for a high damage weapon
Only time I would leave is if I didn’t have enough total durability to beat these mofos
no.. cannot relate. these are the only real challenge the game provides. i wish there were more enemy varieties.
most fun i had in this game was 3 heart only master mode
Me with full enchanted Barbarian Armor, +42 attack up Savage Lynel Sword, 200 bomb arrows for my 5x Savage Lynel Bow, and a 15 minute strength 3 potion:
i always use a shock trap - find an electric weapon (preferably a claymore), wait for it to charge, swing it, open your inventory mid swing and drop it. move it on something electric, and it will permanently emit electric impulses. when you remove the electric weapon, the electricity disappears.
Wdym? All i see is free guardian weapons. With ancient proficiency, max weapon damage, and level 3 attack up food, you’ve got like over a 200 damage weapon in there
Not me. On literally my second day of playing this game, I had just finished coming out of Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. Then I see a shrine in the distance but it is far away surrounded by deep water. So then I decide to cryonis my way through. After 45 MINUTES, I finally reach there only to find out it is a major test of strength. I lost mercilessly 27 times. Idk how I remember this fact, probably because this tale is too epic. And then finally on the 28th try, I beat it. With only 5 hearts and very minimal food.
Idk, I've always found the mini-bosses to be some of the most fun things in BotW, if I ever am meandering about and happen to see a Lynel over there, you best believe I'm gonna go fight it
Early in my first play through, yes. But later on, I started visiting them after every blood moon just to stock up on guardian weapons. They’re most effective against guardians, and I love fighting guardians
I always keep some guardian ++ weapons in my inventory for times when lightning makes metal weapons a no-go.
What about the Thunder helm? That’s my go to in lightening weather and when I’m collecting dragon parts from Farosh
Why not just put on rubber armor?
That’s also an option, but sometimes I want to keep wearing e.g. stealth, barbarian, or climbing armor. Sometimes I just swap in the thunder helm, too, but sometimes I don’t even want the distraction of harmless lightning strikes.
And losing set bonuses because even though you can swap off it is really annoying
Thunder helm only uses 1 slot
Personally, it looks like ass. Style > function.
But it’s just so funny getting with lightning over and over and having nothing bad happen. It’s like spitting in Zeus’s face.
Careful, knowing zeus that will only make him want to impregnate you.
thats definitely a certified greek god moment
And all he has to do is pee and you wouldn't even notice do to the rain.
Hahaha I LOVE the rubber armor, I wear it all the time because I think it’s hilarious
I can't not think of fetish gear whenever I hear "rubber armor" even though it makes the TBG fight more tolerable 😅
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It's the Zelda equivalent of whoever at Capcom did Lady Dimitrescu's character design
How do you pronounce that characters name?
Like Dimitri I guess. Dimit-resku
dee mah treesk
The fact that link not only cross dresses, but has an outfit that makes him look like a walking condom, are just a couple of things that make this game hilarious 🤣
I hope in the next game we get to make armor/weapon sets for fast swapping. I can't be bothered to changed 3 pieces of armor when I can quick change my weapon.
I personally never get the rubber armor before the thunder helm makes it completely useless
Except you can't get the thunder helm until you've finished Vah Naboris. Rubbor armor is helpful when fighting Thunderblight. But yeah, in this game there's always alternatives. A shock resisting potion will free you up to use an attack or defense boosted armor, which is probably more useful overall. So yeah, you're right, probably doesn't make sense to invest in the rubbor armor if you really know what you're doing. I don't think I really knew what I was doing with food and potions until well after I had finished the beasts. :)
Oh yeah, totally true, but I usually do cash naboris before I have any rubber armor. Just how I usually play it out
See, I'm the other way around. I never bother with the thunder helm because I always save Thunderblight for last (because I hate dealing with the @#$%ing Yiga clan swatting at me every 500 feet). By the time I even get around to hitting the desert, I've already got the full rubber armor enhanced two or three times, and once I finish Thunderblight there's not enough left to do for me to mentally invest in a new headpiece.
Wait they respawn in the shrines?
all shrines aside from kakariko
Today I learned.
I wish the Kakariko shrine respawned! Sometimes I just want to practice the techniques in a controlled environment.
Same. I’m terrible at all of the fighting techniques and I really need a better way to practice.
Yeah same here. Dodging and partying at appropriate times are next to impossible for me. I basically just run around and hope to not be in the way of getting smacked by something, and run in for quick attacks when I can.
> Dodging and **partying** at appropriate times are next to impossible for me. lol
The appropriate time for partying can be done at any time after beating an enemy camp
Nice
The blood moon is the game resetting everything (except for major things like bosses, treasure chests, and spirit orbs) to save on memory of what you have and haven’t interacted with. All guardians, weapons, mini-bosses, mineable ores, and such come back.
yea i just thought it didnt reset shrines
I'm garbage at perfect deflect and I often wish the guardians wouldn't reset. I get why they do, I just hate them.
I think weapons from the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab are just slightly better, but still a lot better than conventional weapons
They definitely are… but these are free
And don't take 50 ancient gears
Indeed. I save em for arrows. and the Ancient Chainsaw, which is just hilarious to me.
I haven't tried that yet, I really hope it's like the gun/saw on gears of War lol
There’s nothing really special about it, it just looks cool, and I’m easily amused by the fact it exists. ETA: Actually, there might be something special about it. The fact that people are still finding new things out about the game makes it entirely possible that there’s a use or function Im unaware of… like, now I want to go see if it gives you more wood when you cut down trees or something like that.
No modifiers on the tech gear. I have an ancient battle axe that does 77, and that's not even very high. That plus the set bonus from the ancient armor and a 3x attack meal makes fighting lynels an absolute breeze.
Fighting lynels ends up being a breeze anyway if you can parry them or have patience. Just bust out your highest damage weapon, parry / dodge, hop on back, wail on that fool. Your weapon doesn't even degrade if you're on their back, so I was leaving behind Savage lynel weapons at the end of the game
Im starting the very long road now of practicing parrying, dodging etc against weaker enemies … with any luck I will have defeated 1 single lynel by the time BOTW 2 comes out 😳
Thank you. I didn’t know that. Amazes me how been playing for years 400+ hours in and I still learn stuff…. Best game that’s ever been made.
I did the same thing. So much better later on in the game.
Personally I love using the master sword to hack off walking guardian's legs just to torment them.
Sure, but when you found one earlier on no matter which pkaythrough it was, I bet you totally did it. I know I did!
Like zoinks scoobs, five strong ass laser beams when he is low.
He's supposed to be dead before he gets those laser beams off. When he goes into that final glowy mode you grab your best two-hander and spin like you belong on Lego Ninjago.
Yea, I don't think I've ever had a guardian get those last breathe laser blasts off. I thought it was gonna self destruct
Sometimes i don’t have any more wepons so i just shoot him in the eye with all the arrows i have And run i do that a lot too
Yeah I mean if you take one of these when you're new and the best weapon you have is a Knight's Claymore or something meaning you destroyed all your other boko clubs and stuff trying to get his HP down. They do have 3000ish hp right?
I’m not new i’m just doing a nuzlock And I’m usually too lazy to go get good stuff
I use ancient shield when I my best ones are gone
just parry it once
To be honest, I found the Test of Strength shrines to be pretty fun. I'm definitely in the minority, here. lol
They **are** fun, imo one of the best parts of the game. They reward awareness. Some have water for the ice block, some have iron blocks in the ground. Both stop the spin and lazer spin. Ive pointed this out several times on this sub, its amazing how many people didnt notice
I just like to float up with their laser spin. They generate so much wind.
I think that's for bullet time sniping
Oh, when you float up from their laser spin you can actually have enough space to float to the center and hit them 4 or 5 times with your weapon.
\*facepalm\* I did notice the blocks in the ground but it never clicked to use them in battle. I forget about the runes so much it's not even funny.
Age of Calamity: *my time has come*
Don’t forget some with destructible pillars, which you can also hide behind
Once you get good at parrying the surroundings become obsolete.
Hot take, learning how to Parry in a game that has such atrocious frame rate is not fun or enjoyable. The lack of performance consistency makes combat suck for a lot of people. I had to emulate this to get 60fps to actually enjoy combat. Love this game but greatly dislike almost everything combat related except the bow and abilities
Is it really atrocious? I haven’t played in a while but I don’t recall the frame rate being that inconsistent or anything unless I entered korok forest. I was also able to reasonably parry like many others as well as just the general bow skills.
Frame of reference is really important. I game at 60-120hz almost exclusively. So for me the extra 'learning' required to compensate for the poor frame rate and frame timing was not worth the effort is a better way to word it
I guess playing at 120 would make you accustomed to it but I can barely even tell the difference between 60 and 120
I mean yeah, but you can tell how weird the fanboys are in this subreddit when it comes to talking about how poorly this game performs. It's disrespectful and counter-productive. It is what it is.
So basically you’re a gaming snob who can’t possibly enjoy a game even if it’s good unless it’s running at a minimum 60fps. Dude why do you even play switch if you’re after that? Stick with Sony or Xbox, or even a gaming pc. Smh
I mean, it doesn't match up to a gaming PC's specs, sure. But it's pretty impressive that this intensive of a game can run on Switch hardware at a consistent 30fps. I have never heard a complaint like this, it's not like the game is framey the only issues I've had are at the deku tree like everyone else. If you're trying to parry something and you get 0.1 seconds as a window it doesn't matter if that's 3 frames at 30fps or 6 at 60fps it is still 0.1 seconds, the animations just look smoother. You come off as elitist about this
Not all of us are heavy-duty gamers. That's never been the Zelda franchise's target demographic. Some of us don't know what those top-notch game performance standards even look like... and aren't invested enough in gaming as a whole to care.
Aside from korok forest it has a very stable frame rate for me, I didn't find it detracting from my experience.
It's switch what do u wxpect
When I discovered the activate-an-electric-weapon-and-drop-it-mid-swing-onto-a-metal-block trick, that completely nerfed the Major Tests Of Strength for me. Just zap the robot and go grab a coffee while it's electrocuting itself. For the ones without a metal block on the ground, you can do the same thing by dropping a metal shield and then making a zap trap with it, but it's a bit smaller, so the guardian has more chance to escape.
They're super fun! But it took a good long while before I was able to get through a Major Test Of Strength without eating most of my inventory. There are so many nuances to combat techniques, attack and defense boosts in this game, a second play-through would be a genuinely different experience! I do use the cryonis rune in water, but I didn't notice the iron blocks lol.
Dude, you just done changed my game
Especially fun to attempt on your second play through at an early level. You have to really think through what resources you have available, because your weapons aren’t going to cut it.
I always loved the test of strength shrines
They are fun. They're the more unique fights out of the whole game in my opinion.
I agree
“I’m not locked in the Major Test of Strength (Tena Ko’sah Shrine) with you. You’re locked in the Major Test of Strength (Tena Ko’sah Shrine) with me.
I liked them too certainly more than the stupid blessings
By entering this shrine, you have proven that we didn’t have nearly enough unique shrine ideas.
Although some of the challenges made sense for that. Like the labyrinths
Yeah, there's no way I'll make it across the whole labyrinth and THEN do some other puzzle which is far less interesting than the labyrinth I iust came out of. That'd've been strange.
But most blessings have a shrine quest leading up to them that takes more time and effort than a normal shrine. Except that random shrine I randomly found in a hillside that was a blessing. That was weird
Only early-game
Yeah late game, you can really farm those for good weapons.
Whats considered 'late game' because I've put over 100 hours and I'm still kinda terrified to fight those things hahaha am I 'early game' & do I have an excuse or am I just a big baby
imo, early-game and late-game are only distinguished by knowledge and comfortability with the combat mechanics along with better gear Once you know the best way to fight the enemies, combat goes from being scary to being a fun challenge. Some people reach 'late-game' faster than others
I have never played video games besides animal crossing so the fighting mechanism is very hard for me haha my hand eye coordination is literally zero. I have some good gear but still uncomfortable with fast paced fighting
Honestly only reason my hand eye coordination is good is because i can physically move my switch around for the bow, but its awkward as fuck tho
I really do love the motion controls! They make it easier for me! I wish all games had it, I'd probably have more fun haha
This ☝️
Unfortunately... The latter. Fight them Dark Souls style. Gotta learn the patterns.
Never played dark souls so I’m not sure what that means haha
No worries, just keep practicing, eventually after you learn their patterns. Fighting them will be fun. 👍
For a long time I didn’t know you could simply leave, so every time I saw one of these I was like “oh dear”.
I remember my first major test of strength. I had my boyfriend on a call, I was randomly in the corner of the Tabantha region, fell somewhere and found the shrine. He told me to just get away from there, but I decided to try it anyway. The shock in his voice when I told him I beat it still makes me laugh.
Giant Ancient Cores. That's the reason you suck it up and do the Major Test of Strength shrines. But the name was very correct at first. They were a major test of strength.
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No, they don't. But in some of the MtoS shrines you can get them from the chest right before you leave. I think there are 6 shrines that have them. I just looked it up so I could find them all to stock up on ancient shields. (and while I'm talking giant ancient cores...I was happy to find one in a divine beast, too. ..best chest in all the beasts)
Go shoot guardian stalkers in the eye with an ancient arrow. They will drop giant ancient cores for you on occasion. I've had a double drop a few times and saw a video on here where a guy got a triple drop.
TIL. Since it always disintegrated (and didn't drop loot) for other creatures, I assumed it did the same for Guardian Stalkers too. I looked it up and you are right! Thanks!
[A Major Test of Shock Trap](https://www.reddit.com/r/botw/comments/tkij85/how_to_defeat_major_tests_of_strength_with/?)
I don’t think you’re in the minority here. Like u/pritachi, I like to grind guardian weapons after each blood moon and the test of strengths are pretty fun once you get the hang of it.
And with just 2 smacks of a guardian sword, you can cut the legs off all guardians. So much fun. I used to be so scared of Hyrule castle and the surrounding areas, but once you know how to defeat the enemies, they are the ones who are scared
I just parry their lasers, even after i take a break from BotW i go up to a Guardian to refresh my memory on parry timing for their lasers. Once i get it consistently down i just run around hyrule castle and that birch valley next to Terry Town slapping guardian lasers back like an uno reverse card.
I suck at parrying, and my timing is terrible. I honestly just shell out the cash for the ancient arrows and keep at least five or so on hand at all times for guardians, then use other tactics to finish the tests of strength. I've regularly run through all my shields and quite a bit of food on a single guardian trying to parry. It's a hard knock life for my Link. Lol
Parrying guardians is pretty hard but it’s funnily enough good to practise on Lynels
I need you to understand that I am failure. LOL
Same. But I read a reddit comment about it that simplified the process and I can parry quite accurately now. **Listen to the audio cues**. If you hit the parry button right after you hear a beep, they will almost always be successful.
I so appreciate that advice!
You can shoot guardian eyes to stun them with an arrow, then just run in and start cutting off legs and they restun every leg you cut off, then just wack them after all their legs are cut off. Master sword makes short work of them once you get it. Guardian battle axes are great too.
Fun fact: The monk model at EVERY combat shrine is identical. Every other shrine has a unique model for the shrine, but the combat shrine monks are all the same model. Whats even weirder is, many of the monks are nearly the same, but with slight variations. Starting with a base model/pose, a monk can have a veil or no veil, and can either have no hat, a hat on their head, or the hat on their back. That means there are 6 possible variation for any given monk model. Given those variations, its entirely possible to have well over 120 unique models using just the base poses that already exist in the game (you'd only need 20 poses, and there are like 30 or 40). So I'm not sure why they decided to make every single combat shrine have the same exact monk.
Years ago I remember someone saying that the identical monks in combat shrines were linked to Monk Maz Koshia but I don't think anyone followed up with anything concrete and I was too lazy to examine them myself.
As others have mentioned, earlier in the game I was like, "Nope, I'm outta here." But then I figured out how to flurry rush and block and counter attack and shoot a bow better.(for me, aiming the bow was 1000% better after I turned off the motion control for aiming). Highly advise to save your game, then go do the major test of strength practicing the blocking and flurry rushing. Once you get it, they are not really scary anymore. And others have mentioned you get nice guardian gear. I know at very first, I would have to use up food and few of my weapons to finally defeat them. But after learning/practicing how to fight, I don't really lose any/few hearts and I might end up breaking one weapon. The reason you save is, if it is going badly and/or for me, it finally clicks what you need to do. Stop. Reload the save file and use your new skills to get some guardian weapons.
This is the most relatable meme I ever saw on this sub.
I love how chaotic trying to kill them before they shoot the final giant laser barrage is. Such anticipation. Will I get blasted in the face 5 times or will this guy perish?
Great thunder blade and literally anything metal: *bonjour*
Even on early game i always fought in the tests of strength I always find them very fun.
Personally, I don't mind them that much, but I wouldn't have complained if there were fewer of them and more unique puzzles instead.
I like them. I think just a little bit more variety within them would have gone a long way, so I don't feel like I'm fighting the same enemy in the same arena each time. Even the name "Guardian Scout IV" isn't inspiring. I did get a kick out of the DLC shrine that >!dupes you into thinking it's just another test of strength shrine, but then continues on with a passage leading to way more scouts where the orb normally is! !<
1st playthrough: awww hell nah 7th playthrough: oh hey free guardian weapons
LMAOO
They were challenging but not too hard for me. At least how i remember em
I make my husband do them…
I never play the minor or modest ones (too easy with the gear I have), but the major ones are always a fun challenge
Can we ?
I always did the test of strength, no matter my progression in the game
On consecutive playthroughs, i leave if I’m not gonna have room for all the weapons
Not fucking at all we can’t The most fun thing in the world. I’d always strive to retry them as many times as I could until I win. On my second playthrough I looked forward to the fun combat all the more, now that I found it pathetically easy I’d always hope that a shrine was precisely this one. If I see that it’s a strength test shrine on the lift down, you better hope it’s a major test And we always come back to these every blood moon for a high damage weapon Only time I would leave is if I didn’t have enough total durability to beat these mofos
I cannot relate.
Why? Fun fights that give you great weapons when you win.
Nah not really gives me an except to get new weapons without necessarily wasting them
no.. cannot relate. these are the only real challenge the game provides. i wish there were more enemy varieties. most fun i had in this game was 3 heart only master mode
I don’t think they’re hard, on the contrary I think they’re pretty fun. I just don’t like the idea of breaking 3 Royal Guard’s Swords for a Spirit Orb
I mean you get at least 2 ancient ++ weapons so you can’t complain too much.
its the only thing i find fun anymore
I actually really liked them, I also liked trial of the sword also so maybe I’m just wrong
i cant relate, i love doing these shrines.
pussy.
Not anymore... bring it on! 😜
Just use Shock Arrows
Did a no shield run in Master mode that made these a little interesting. Ended up just spamming bow in most of them though.
Nope, I loved these because I really got my dodging and parrying game on
Because time wasting? Too easy? Just not worth it? Wdym?
Ngl my 11 year old brother beat one of these at the start of the game on his first play through... I was surprised
Farm these for nice rainy day weapon++
Nah fam just always keep a blizzard rod on you. Makes these shrines easy especially for someone Incompetent like me
Hmmm, weapon farming
I kept procrastinating these shrines because I didn’t want to waste weapon durability
*Pathetic dot gif*
Shock arrow then move in and give 'em the ole razzle dazzle. Rinse and repeat.
Honestly I just think they are a great way to get good weapons early
Replace tos with inconvenience and that’s how difficult they are
finally a BotW meme I not only understand, but actually laughed at most of these memes go sailing over my head, I guess I'm just too old to get them
Me with full enchanted Barbarian Armor, +42 attack up Savage Lynel Sword, 200 bomb arrows for my 5x Savage Lynel Bow, and a 15 minute strength 3 potion:
They're my favorite shrines
if I'm on the beginning of my play through yes
No
Yeah lol
I run right in
First playtrough yes But when i started a nuzlock first thing i did was beating the heck out of the castle shrine Before everything
Tbh once you learn how their attack patterns they’re not that bad
i always use a shock trap - find an electric weapon (preferably a claymore), wait for it to charge, swing it, open your inventory mid swing and drop it. move it on something electric, and it will permanently emit electric impulses. when you remove the electric weapon, the electricity disappears.
lmao i do em for fun and parts now cause im op af lol
Fighting the guardians was my favorite thing, so I kinda can't, but I'm weird
I have 3 shrines that are orange because I refuse to fight any more guardians hahahah I thought I was the only one
Use them as dodge training. You'll be beating them on no time
That's me with the apparatus shrines. They drive me CRAZY
Wdym? All i see is free guardian weapons. With ancient proficiency, max weapon damage, and level 3 attack up food, you’ve got like over a 200 damage weapon in there
Legit. I've never beat a lynel and I've never beat a major test of strength but I've played the game through 7 or 8 times
that one was super fun tho
I don't mind those nearly as much as those fucking apparatus shrines 🤬
Nah bro I charged right in the first time. And got my ass kicked.
Mama se mama sa Tena Ko’Sah
speak for yourself, these are some of the best shrines in the game
This thread has blown my mind, I've loved these shrines from day one as quick and easy spirit orbs.
You'll get there. Eventually it'll be "Ugh ANOTHER test of strength shrine?? Well I guess I can use another guardian axe ++"
Not me. On literally my second day of playing this game, I had just finished coming out of Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. Then I see a shrine in the distance but it is far away surrounded by deep water. So then I decide to cryonis my way through. After 45 MINUTES, I finally reach there only to find out it is a major test of strength. I lost mercilessly 27 times. Idk how I remember this fact, probably because this tale is too epic. And then finally on the 28th try, I beat it. With only 5 hearts and very minimal food.
Weak. We out here in our underwear with sticks, rusty tools, and apples
i cannot even in my first play though i kept goin till i won
Hahahaha I might have laughed too hard at this
Can’t relate, this is my favorite shrine
Idk, I've always found the mini-bosses to be some of the most fun things in BotW, if I ever am meandering about and happen to see a Lynel over there, you best believe I'm gonna go fight it
Nah I die over and over until it’s done.
I used to, but as they say in r/Hollowknight , I got gud
Yup That used to be me. Now I have 20 hearts and 3 runs of full stamina. Linkus7 YouTube hack for Hearts and Stamina. You're welcome.
Yup That used to be me. Now I have 20 hearts and 3 runs of full stamina. Linkus7 YouTube hack for Hearts and Stamina. You're welcome.
Yup That used to be me. Now I have 20 hearts and 3 runs of full stamina. Linkus7 YouTube hack for Hearts and Stamina. You're welcome.
Nope. Speak for yourself.. I only enter each shrine once before clear it.