Today I'm here to talk about one of the most irritating things in Zelda: Skyward Sword, the thunder dragon's boss gauntlet.
Although i'm not 100%ing SS, I am completely devoted to getting the Hylian :shield:. I am trying to get as many <3 pieces as
possible, and upgrade my items to the fullest. Does any body have any strategies? My current ones are:
1. <3 pieces/item upgrades
2. drinking potions before you talk to him
3. Using your upgraded items to your advantages.
This thread is to help EVERYONE, so feel free to look and post ideas!!!!!!!
The strategy that worked best for me was: speed and defense. Though this strategy is mainly for Ghirahim, you have to be fast, and use a lot of :shield: bashing (wich I never do). This strategy is for <3 conservation, because you're on the defensive, and the sooner you're done with the battle, the less <3s you can lose. Of course, this doesn't work with many bosses, but it does work well in some cases.
Hmm, I never had a problem with it. I tend to do the Boss Rush for fun. I have some general strategies if anyone's interested:
Drink a few potions before starting. Stamina Potions and other potions that last for a limited time actually have a prolonged effect while you're fighting in the Thunder Dragon's challenge. I suggest the highest upgrades for the Stamina Potion and Guardian Potion. (Don't bother with the Potion Medal since pouch items are useless.)EDIT: I tried it both with and without the Potion Medal with the same results. I also remember reading somewhere that even medals have no effect, but I guess if it's been tested and proven by a reliable source, I can't argue with it...
Take down the hardest boss first. Along with the potions, having full health while fighting your toughest boss will give you an advantage. It's better than being down to 3 hearts and encountering him later on when you're not ready.
Take the opportunity during the easy fights (Ghirahim 1st time, for example) to heal your health using the hearts in the area.
As for the bosses themselves:
Ghirahim 1st time:
1st phase: Move sword to right, Spin Attack to slash on left. Repeat. 2nd phase: When he charges: Spin Attack right before he hits. Deflect knives. Pretty self-explanatory.
Scaldera:
1st phase: Drop Bomb immediately when timer starts. Throw Bomb into mouth. Spin Attack to death. Do this three times; only twice if you never miss.
Moldarach:
1st phase: Choose one claw and go for it, using the Shield Bash if necessary. If the right claw is chosen, strike from the right. If the left is chosen, strike from the left -- striking from the middle sometimes causes your sword to clash with the shell of the other claw. 2nd phase: Gust Bellow. Stab AND move forward at the same time to avoid having him dig underground again.
Koloktos:
1st phase: Stand close to the boss; standing at the back of the room causes him to throw his blades out at you, which I find annoying to avoid. Spin Attack the core when given the chance. 2nd phase: When he strikes, only remove a single arm with the Whip, and quickly take the sword and slice his legs before he can take his other two arms back. Slice; repeat.
Tentalus:
1st phase: Skyward Strike the tentacles while moving around. Try to get multiple tentacles into one shot. When he appears, shoot your arrow right when he opens his eye. Spin Attack. Repeat. 2nd phase: Rush to the box as quickly as possible. Right when you're allowed to move again, shoot an arrow at him right away. Spin Attack. Move back slightly and slash at the snake things. Arrow to the eye; Spin Attack to death.
Ghirahim 2nd time:
1st phase: Move sword to right, Spin Attack to slash on left. Repeat. 2nd phase: Either strike every time RIGHT before he's able to strike, or use the Shield Bash. When he jumps up, it takes about 2 seconds before he lands. Backflip, Jump Attack, Spin Attack. Knives are deflected the same way as they were the first time, basically.
Ghirahim 3rd time:
1st phase: Stabstabstabstabstab! Don't forget to dodge/Shield Bash as needed. The moment you knock him down to the next level, hit Z + forward A to jump forward onto the lower level WITH HIM while the cutscene with him falling is still playing. Ending Blow him; repeat. 2nd phase: Down strike, down strike, down strike. His sword will be knocked out of the way if you did it correctly, so stab his crystal a few times. Repeat. 3rd phase (with the bigger sword): Pick a side and always Spin Attack. Speed is not exactly important; accuracy tends to matter more here. Stab his crystal until he's defeated.
Horde Battle:
Either run or kill everything!
The Imprisoned 1st time:
Use the air vents to jump on top of his head and slash at the sealing spike. When he slides on his belly, jump all the way down to the middle giant vent. Time it well, and skydive all the way to the monster's head once the cutscene with it pushing the spike back out is over. Repeat.
The Imprisoned 2nd time:
Use the Groosenator. Right when you send the bomb flying, switch your view back to Link. You'll be able to move instead of being locked in that bomb-flying cutscene. Use the air vent while the monster is stunned to climb atop its head and slash at its sealing spike. Repeat.
The Imprisoned 3rd Time:
1st phase:See "The Imprisoned 2nd Time." In addition, when it flies up the first time, just bomb it and slash at the spike. 2nd phase: Wait a few seconds. Then, jump into the middle giant air vent and skydive onto its head. Slash away.
My only strategy, aside from drinking potions before you start the gauntlet, is mastering the Shield Bash and its applications. You have got to learn the SB or else you will have the hardest time EVER.
I always have maxed items and a crapload of <3 pieces. I have the potion medal and the invulnerability potion (If you drink the potion, the Medal has a effect, I got through 9 minutes of invulnerability.
Honestly all I do in the game is save up as many hearts as possible, plus get the Heart Medals. I didn't know you could drink potions beforehand, though!
Ghirahim I is by far the easiest non Moldarach boss within Skyward Sword, or at least I personally think he is. Since you're doing the boss rush, you'd have an upgraded sword meaning more damage at that point of the game. I found a quick video showing the easiest method to defeating the foe; however one can substitute the spin attacks for regular slashes as they do take a little bit of skill to pull off:
[video=youtube;sCOeOBH4y0s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCOeOBH4y0s[/video]
Also, if you don't have the True Master Sword at the point of the game, you can just shield bash Ghirahim's sword dash, OR you can hit him with a spin attack at just the right moment (the time window is fairly lenient).
Hmm, I never had a problem with it. I tend to do the Boss Rush for fun. I have some general strategies if anyone's interested:
Drink a few potions before starting. Stamina Potions and other potions that last for a limited time actually have a prolonged effect while you're fighting in the Thunder Dragon's challenge. I suggest the highest upgrades for the Stamina Potion and Guardian Potion. (Don't bother with the Potion Medal since pouch items are useless.)
Take down the hardest boss first. Along with the potions, having full health while fighting your toughest boss will give you an advantage. It's better than being down to 3 hearts and encountering him later on when you're not ready.
Take the opportunity during the easy fights (Ghirahim 1st time, for example) to heal your health using the hearts in the area.
As for the bosses themselves:
Ghirahim 1st time:
1st phase: Move sword to right, Spin Attack to slash on left. Repeat. 2nd phase: When he charges: Spin Attack right before he hits. Deflect knives. Pretty self-explanatory.
Scaldera:
1st phase: Drop Bomb immediately when timer starts. Throw Bomb into mouth. Spin Attack to death. Do this three times; only twice if you never miss.
Moldarach:
1st phase: Choose one claw and go for it, using the Shield Bash if necessary. If the right claw is chosen, strike from the right. If the left is chosen, strike from the left -- striking from the middle sometimes causes your sword to clash with the shell of the other claw. 2nd phase: Gust Bellow. Stab AND move forward at the same time to avoid having him dig underground again.
Koloktos:
1st phase: Stand close to the boss; standing at the back of the room causes him to throw his blades out at you, which I find annoying to avoid. Spin Attack the core when given the chance. 2nd phase: When he strikes, only remove a single arm with the Whip, and quickly take the sword and slice his legs before he can take his other two arms back. Slice; repeat.
Tentalus:
1st phase: Skyward Strike the tentacles while moving around. Try to get multiple tentacles into one shot. When he appears, shoot your arrow right when he opens his eye. Spin Attack. Repeat. 2nd phase: Rush to the box as quickly as possible. Right when you're allowed to move again, shoot an arrow at him right away. Spin Attack. Move back slightly and slash at the snake things. Arrow to the eye; Spin Attack to death.
Ghirahim 2nd time:
1st phase: Move sword to right, Spin Attack to slash on left. Repeat. 2nd phase: Either strike every time RIGHT before he's able to strike, or use the Shield Bash. When he jumps up, it takes about 2 seconds before he lands. Backflip, Jump Attack, Spin Attack. Knives are deflected the same way as they were the first time, basically.
Ghirahim 3rd time:
1st phase: Stabstabstabstabstab! Don't forget to dodge/Shield Bash as needed. The moment you knock him down to the next level, hit Z + forward A to jump forward onto the lower level WITH HIM while the cutscene with him falling is still playing. Ending Blow him; repeat. 2nd phase: Down strike, down strike, down strike. His sword will be knocked out of the way if you did it correctly, so stab his crystal a few times. Repeat. 3rd phase (with the bigger sword): Pick a side and always Spin Attack. Speed is not exactly important; accuracy tends to matter more here. Stab his crystal until he's defeated.
Horde Battle:
Either run or kill everything!
The Imprisoned 1st time:
Use the air vents to jump on top of his head and slash at the sealing spike. When he slides on his belly, jump all the way down to the middle giant vent. Time it well, and skydive all the way to the monster's head once the cutscene with it pushing the spike back out is over. Repeat.
The Imprisoned 2nd time:
Use the Groosenator. Right when you send the bomb flying, switch your view back to Link. You'll be able to move instead of being locked in that bomb-flying cutscene. Use the air vent while the monster is stunned to climb atop its head and slash at its sealing spike. Repeat.
The Imprisoned 3rd Time:
1st phase:See "The Imprisoned 2nd Time." In addition, when it flies up the first time, just bomb it and slash at the spike. 2nd phase: Wait a few seconds. Then, jump into the middle giant air vent and skydive onto its head. Slash away.
Wow! I have always used this exact way of taking down the bosses, and I didn't even knew you have also used it as well! Whooooo! High five! Great minds do think alike! ^^
Also, if you don't have the True Master Sword at the point of the game, you can just shield bash Ghirahim's sword dash, OR you can hit him with a spin attack at just the right moment (the time window is fairly lenient).
Hmm, I never had a problem with it. I tend to do the Boss Rush for fun. I have some general strategies if anyone's interested:
Drink a few potions before starting. Stamina Potions and other potions that last for a limited time actually have a prolonged effect while you're fighting in the Thunder Dragon's challenge. I suggest the highest upgrades for the Stamina Potion and Guardian Potion. (Don't bother with the Potion Medal since pouch items are useless.)
I found the Boss gauntlet easy (except Tentalus), I always do it starting with full health and I have never died doing it. My advice would be to simply not get hit.
You will ALWAYS want to have as many Hearts as you can (the most you can have when you go into the Lightning Roun is 19). The makes it much easier.
The stragety I uses whenever I feel like killing a bunch of bosses is as follows:
Go into the Guntlet with full hearts (no damage)
Make sure you a good shield (I'm talkin' about the Goddess Shield)
When you get tho option too choose when in your adventure you want to start, choose LATE in the adventure, or MIDDLE. This gives you a good chance of fighting Imprisoned 2 or 3 early in the gauntlet (I consider Imprisoned 2 the hardest boss in the game)
You might as well ditch all of your potions, because you can't open your Adventure Pouch while in the Gauntlet
Having a bigger Bomb Bag, and Quiver is not required, but helps to have them when you fight Scaldera and Tentalus.
Drink a few potions before starting. Stamina Potions and other potions that last for a limited time actually have a prolonged effect while you're fighting in the Thunder Dragon's challenge. I suggest the highest upgrades for the Stamina Potion and Guardian Potion. 
