Blog:Tips for Lynel Hunting in Breath of the Wild

Hello y'all. I've been replaying The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild recently and I still have the same amount of skill I had when I played last year. This includes my ability to kill the various types of Lynel with ease. Since I'm bored and want to relieve stress from my swamped college work schedule, I decided to write this blog post to teach others some effective strategies I use to kill these overwhelming centaurian threats.

General

 * Make sure you come equipped with weapons that deal decent damage and have plenty of durability such as a Giant Boomerang (you might be able to find this exact weapon before you even encounter your first Lynel if you are a sharp-eyed explorer). Using weapons like these may take 1-3 weapons (usually around 2 for me) at minimum when going up against a Lynel.
 * Also, come stocked with plenty of materials and meals that can heal (maybe even some fairies or Mipha's Grace if possible).
 * It is highly recommended to start a battle with a Lynel by getting on it's back. This can be done by either gliding down onto its back while it's not looking or by investing in the Stealth set from Kakariko Village.
 * Make sure you keep the camera locked on them by pressing ZL.
 * When the Lynel charges at you while preparing to swing it's weapon, strafe to the left and prepare to backflip when it swings its weapon down to execute a flurry rush (not fully guaranteed to happen).
 * When the Lynel bends down and rushes at you, strafe and jump to the side to perform a flurry rush (fun fact: the Lynel doesn't need to be too close to you for you to be able to activate a flurry rush).
 * If a Lynel begins to breath fire, try to nail it's face with an arrow while it's charging up or after the three fireballs. Afterwards walk up to it and press A to board it and score some free hits without wearing on your weapon durability,
 * In fact, you should always try to shoot it’s head with an arrow when there is a moment where it's standing still long enough for you to do so. However, if you use Stasis+ you won't be able to mount the Lynel and it will recuperate immediately.
 * If you are too far away from a Lynel, it will begin to fire arrows at you from its bow. Because these arrows pack quite a punch and are eerily accurate, it is advised to keep the fight as close to the Lynel as possible.
 * In the case of the higher-leveled Lynels (ie whites & silvers), when they let out a roar, get away from them immediately because they will initiate an explosion attack with a large radius that not even a two-star Flamebreaker set can protect you from. The second or so after the explosion effect is also a good time to stun it with an arrow.

Sword & Shield Lynels

 * These Lynels are fond of attacking consecutively, following up each initial attack with either a horizontal swing of its sword or a sweep of both arms (the left one holding a bladed shield). All of these attack require you to backflip in order to dodge.
 * Additionally, a Lynel with these weapons may charge at you to trip you up with a cross-arm sweep. Again, dodge this and flurry rush with a backflip.

Crusher Lynels

 * When a Lynel with this weapon charges at you with intent to swing it downwards, strafe and jump to the side. However, make sure you are a good enough distance to either the left or right before you jump. Jumping from where the crusher lands is a bad idea since the impact creates a shock wave that will damage you and cancel any flurry rush that may have activated.
 * If a Crusher Lynel swings it’s weapon down and it isn't charging at you, then it's okay to jump from where the crusher will land since there won't be a shockwave,

Spear Lynels

 * These one's are the easiest to defeat since unlike the other weapon-types they don't attack you up close. However, they do have an attack where they jump up in the air and try to stab you from above. Trying to flurry rush this is not advised due to the shockwave and the unevenness of the ground potentially hampering the predictability of the attack.

Trivia

 * My very first Lynel was one with a crusher near the Tabantha Great Bridge. I directly went into the fight to obtain a hoof for the riddle side quest in Korok Forest. Predictably, I died repeatedly since it was my first one and I was highly unprepared for the actual battle. The fact that it was night time and a Blood Moon was about to happen didn't help the tension at all. Thankfully my second Lynel encounter (a blue one with a spear in Akkala that I killed to give myself one less problem with that pain-in-the-ass boulder Korok puzzle near the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab) was surprisingly easy (I beat it in one try), and my future Lynel encounters have gone swimmingly, a death or two not withstanding,
 * In my original playthrough, there are only two Lynels I fought for fun: the Red Lynel atop Ploymus Mountain (I thought it would drop some extra Shock Arrows) and the Silver Lynel in the Coliseum (just to see if I could beat it just as easily as the others, and I did).