Zelda: Every Divine Beast In BOTW Ranked By Difficulty (2024)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild features four Divine Beasts spread throughout its massive open world, challenges that replace traditional dungeons in testing Link's combat and puzzling skills. The Divine Beasts are each designed to resemble a different animal, and use associated elemental powers. Although the Beasts do not have to be tamed to complete the game, they do help Link in the final fight. In addition, the Divine Beasts’ bosses, various avatars of Ganon, will ultimately be encountered in Hyrule Castle before facing Ganon if players choose to skip the Beasts themselves.

Throughout BOTW, Link journeys to the four corners of Hyrule’s map to take back the Divine Beasts. Each Beast contains puzzles similar to traditional Zelda dungeons, with the added mechanic of moving parts. These puzzles must be solved to locate and activate terminals. Once Link has activated all five terminals, he must face the Blights in combat to end their influence. Although there is a best order in which to defeat the Divine Beasts, Link can tackle them in any sequence he wishes. Some Divine Beasts, however, are more difficult to beat than others.

4 Vah Medoh Is The Easiest Divine Beast In Zelda: BOTW

In The Hebra Region

Vah Medoh is found flying high in the northwest corner of Hyrule’s map, the main dungeon of the Hebra region. Although it can consequently take a while to get to this Divine Beast, it isn't as challenging as that distance from the starting region might indicate, and Vah Medoh is perhaps the least difficult of the four Divine Beasts in BOTW. This Divine Beast was once piloted by the Rito Champion Revali, who was later destroyed by Windblight Ganon.

Link first boards Vah Medoh by paragliding high in the sky and dodging lasers to take out Guardians. Once aboard, Link finds various puzzles that are solved with his paraglider by utilizing wind tunnels throughout the Beast. Link can simply follow the flow of the wind, which makes Vah Medoh easier to navigate than the other Divine Beasts. After finding all five terminals, Link will awaken Windblight Ganon. This Blight will send drones and tornadoes to attack Link, but he can simply ride wind columns to hit the Blight with arrows.

Bomb arrows paired with Link’s ability to slow time make Windblight Ganon an easy boss to take down, rewarding Link with the BOTW Champion's Blessing Revali’s Gale. Revali's Gale allows Link to summon a gust of wind, which makes it much easier to ascend steep slopes in BOTW. Since climbing is a big part of getting around in BOTW, Revali's Gale is another benefit to tackling Vah Medoh early on, and this can ultimately make the more challenging Divine Beasts easier to complete.

3 Vah Ruta's Puzzles Are Simple, But Its Boss Fight Can Be Tough

In The Lanayru Region

Vah Ruta is the southeastern Divine Beast in Breath of the Wild, located within the aquatic Zora's Domain. Unlike Vah Medoh, this one feels like a natural first choice in terms of geographical and quest progression throughout the game, and following the story to Kakariko Village will clue Link onward toward Vah Ruta Once piloted by the Champion Mipha, who was in love with Link, Vah Ruta isn't difficult to get into, but it's a lot of fun and a great introduction to Divine Beasts for anyone who tackles it first.

Link boards Vah Ruta with the help of Mipha’s younger brother, Sidon. Sidon swims near the Divine Beast so that Link can ride up waterfalls, shooting arrows at the Guardians defending the Divine Beast. Link can use the Cryonis Rune to break the ice that the Beast sends after him and Sidon. After successfully boarding Vah Ruta, Link completes a variety of simple water puzzles by manipulating the Beast’s internal watermill - the elephant's trunk - and heavily relying on the freezing powers of Cryonis.

The boss fight in Vah Ruta is Waterblight Ganon, who can be found inside an appropriately waterlogged arena. Waterblight Ganon is most easily defeated by perfectly dodging its giant spear and using Flurry Rush. The second stage is a little trickier, requiring quick reactions as the Blight begins to teleport around the arena and throw ice at Link. He can again use Cryonis to break the ice and shoot the Blight with electric arrows, earning Mipha’s Grace, which resurrects him upon death, as a reward.

2 Vah Rudania Has Difficult Puzzles, But A Simple Boss Fight

In The Eldin Region

Vah Rudania is located on Death Mountain in northeastern Hyrule. Once piloted by the Champion Daruk of the Gorons, Vah Rudania has now lost control, and its constant clambering about the mountain is causing molten debris to rain down on Goron City. Link uses a canon to bomb and subdue the Beast long enough for him to board, but it only gets worse from there. Vah Rudania is completely dark on the inside until Link finds the terminal that contains its map.

This feature makes this Beast unique, and for some it could make it one of the best experiences. Others might simply find it frustrating, and it's easy enough to make an argument that Vah Rudania is worst divine beast in Breath of the Wild. Link has to rely on glowing items such as malice and blue flames to make his way to the map. In a way, it can be seen as a nice primer for the Depths of Tears of the Kingdom, but BOTW features fewer tools to deal with the issue than TOTK does.

Another interesting obstacle in Vah Rudania is lava, which can quickly spell doom if Link isn't careful. When Link does make it to the boss fight, Fireblight Ganon will use its weapon and fireballs to attack him. It's a fairly easy fight, as Link can use ice arrows to stun this Blight, and coming into combat with fire-resistant armor can make it a breeze. As the Blight absorbs energy, Link can use the Bomb Runes to detonate attacks. After Fireblight Ganon is defeated, Link receives Daruk’s Protection, a shield ability that can be used to tank some heavy hits.

1 Vah Naboris Is The Most Difficult Divine Beast In Zelda: BOTW

In The Gerudo Region

Vah Naboris is the most difficult of the Divine Beasts in BOTW. This Beast is located in southwestern Hyrule, and was once piloted by the Gerudo Champion, Urbosa. To gain control of Vah Naboris, Link rides Sand Seals close to its feet and bombards it with arrows. However, Link must simultaneously dodge the Beast’s lightning strikes, which can get the best of him if he does not remain close to Riju and her Thunder Helm. After gaining control of Vah Naboris, Link will board and solve a variety of electricity puzzles to gain access to terminals.

Surviving the desert and subsequently entering Vah Naboris are a significant challenge to begin with that might make some players ignore the Divine Beast altogether, and solving the puzzles inside can also be particularly difficult due to its design. The three moving parts are all in the main body of the Beast, which makes them look similar and confusing at times. With a complex central mechanism and solutions that operate on a larger scale than the other Divine Beasts, nothing about the exercises that players have to put their minds through here is particularly simple.

Many players also find Thunderblight Ganon to be the most difficult Blight to defeat in Breath of the Wild. In addition to moving at rapid speeds, and frequently moving beyond Link's targeting range, this Blight’s hits take a lot of Link’s health. Defeating Thunderblight Ganon requires Link to use the Magnesis Rune to lift metallic rods near the Blight to electrocute it. Once hit, the Blight will fall, and Link can use melee attacks to finish it off. Beating this fight earns him Urbosa’s Fury, a lightning AoE attack.

The Divine Beasts may be optional and, at times, challenging, but they're all worth completing. Having them done ahead of the final fight makes beating Ganon that much easier, and the abilities they provide can be unbelievably helpful in overcoming many of BOTW's challenges. That said, they definitely vary in difficulty, and it's wise to approach them with caution. All the Divine Beasts in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild require skill and strategy to defeat, but Vah Naboris is definitely the one that proves Link’s strength as Hylia’s Chosen Hero.