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Breath of the Wild Lynels and Ancient Arrows

Link Floyd

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I think most of us BotW veterans know that shooting an ancient arrow at a Lynel makes them disappear. But why is this?

I guess this could be considered a theory thread, but there could also be an explanation behind this I'm unaware of.

So why do Lynels disappear as soon as they are hit with an ancient arrow? Are they deathly afraid of them or is there a more logical reason behind this?
 

Vanessa28

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This is not really a theory. It's pretty clear in the game the ancient arrows kill anything. That's why Lynels (and not only them but every other enemy as well) disappear as soon as you hit them with it. They don't flee, they just get instantly killed and nothing is left behind. This is why you won't get their items if you kill them with it. The arrows were made with ancient sheikah technique to take out the guardians and well, guardians are rmechanical. So if it takes out mechanics it sure will take out living beings made of flesh. The lynels aren't scared. They just get instantly killed and nothing will remain.
 

Link Floyd

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Um, because it kills them instantly? Ancient arrows kill EVERYTHING instantly, not just lynels.
This is
not really a theory. It's pretty clear in the game the ancient arrows kill anything. That's why Lynels (and not only them but every other enemy as well) disappear as soon as you hit them with it. They don't flee, they just get instantly killed and nothing is left behind. This is why you won't get their items if you kill them with it. The arrows were made with ancient sheikah technique to take out the guardians and well, guardians are rmechanical. So if it takes out mechanics it sure will take out living beings made of flesh. The lynels aren't scared. They just get instantly killed and nothing will remain.

Well now I feel like an idiot. I had no idea. Thanks for the info! :P
 

athenian200

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I think a better question is, how do the ancient arrows kill things instantly? I know it's supposed to be Sheikah technology, but what kind of technology?

My theory is that the arrowheads are actually made of something weak that shatters on impact, but which contains some kind of antimatter. That's the only I can think of that something as simple as an arrow could kill something instantly, but leave no trace of it and no items. The enemy simply disintegrates due to coming into contact with antimatter.

Another more disturbing idea is that the arrows could somehow contain a portable, miniature black hole that sucks the enemy into it upon impact. In which case, every time you use one, you're making space-time around Hyrule a little more unstable. Which might be why they stopped making them.
 

YIGAhim

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Yeah, I wondered this, and just kinda realized that they all got vaporized, and stopped buying Ancient arrows altogether.
 
Ancient arrows basically have the same functionality as silver and light arrows in past titles. You can vaporize literally anything that isn't a boss or guardian with ancient arrows, including wildlife. BotW's light arrows are less of light arrows than the ancient arrows are.
 

Vanessa28

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I don't think the arrows suck enemies into a black hole or something. When used on guardians, they'll explode and leave their items behind. They don't vanish like other enemies. And I don't stop using them because there is nothing in the game that makes the environment getting worse when you use them. The idea of a black hole is fun though. That would prove the sheikah were really very far ahead of their time.
 
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I think why guardians aren't vaporised like other enemies is simple... they run on the same energy as ancient arrows, so the materials they are made from are likely resistant to that sort of energy.
 
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I don't think the arrows suck enemies into a black hole or something. When used on guardians, they'll explode and leave their items behind. They don't vanish like other enemies. And I don't stop using them because there is nothing in the game that makes the environment getting worse when you use them. The idea of a black hole is fun though. That would prove the sheikah were really very far ahead of their time.
I’m super late to this conversation but I’m new to the site so my apologies. I wondered why anyone would want to use the ancient arrows against anything other than guardian types when as I understand it you don’t get any XP from the kills so it doesn’t go towards leveling up your monster types, there are no valuable drops (or drops to speak of at all), and the arrows cost so much to make in the first place. Other than maybe just needing to get out of a tight spot or it’s just fun to watch… I didn’t know if there was something else I wasn’t picking up on.
 

Vanessa28

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I’m super late to this conversation but I’m new to the site so my apologies. I wondered why anyone would want to use the ancient arrows against anything other than guardian types when as I understand it you don’t get any XP from the kills so it doesn’t go towards leveling up your monster types, there are no valuable drops (or drops to speak of at all), and the arrows cost so much to make in the first place. Other than maybe just needing to get out of a tight spot or it’s just fun to watch… I didn’t know if there was something else I wasn’t picking up on.
Well you had me thinking what I meant because this post is from 6 years ago and the latest reply also being ancient. Plus the game was pretty new back then. But back on topic; yes I used ancient arrows on Guardians but also on Lynels because of either being in a hurry or having more than enough items or not being well equipped to defeat the lynel. But that was years ago so of course I already learned other tricks to defeat them ;)
 

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