Guardian Scout III

Guardian Scout III

Games	Breath of the Wild
Location	Shrine of Trials
Rewards	Ancient Spring Ancient Screw Ancient Gear Ancient Core Ancient Shaft Guardian Spear+ Guardian Sword+ Ancient Battle Axe+ Guardian Shield+
Threat
Effective Weapons	Any Guardian or Ancient weapons.
Health	1500 HP
Related	Guardian Scout I Guardian Scout II Guardian Scout IV Test of Strength

"Although originally designed by an ancient civilisation to combat Ganon, these scaled-down Guardians were placed inside shrines as part of the trials. This model is equipped with twin-blade functionality to further test the combat prowess of one undertaking the trials. It takes a nimble fighter to overcome this one."

— In-Game Description

The Guardian Scout III is an enemy that appears in Breath of the Wild. It is the third of the four types of Guardian Scouts found in the game and it can be found within Shrine of Trials and Divine Beasts. Link will encounter these Guardian Scouts when exploring Modest Test of Strength shrines and other assorted shrines.

They wield a Guardian Spear+, Guardian Sword+, or an Ancient Battle Axe+. The configuration of these weapons and whether or not they also wield a Guardian Shield+ depends on the instance of this enemy you encounter. It will likely switch strategy mid-battle to catch you off guard; this can happen when its health drops to a certain amount.

Combat

The Guardian Scout III may start attacking with either its weapons or its laser ability. It will likely switch strategy mid-battle to catch you off guard; this can happen when its health drops to a certain amount. When it uses its laser ability, you can parry the pulse with Link's shield using a Perfect Guard to reflect the projectile back at the Scout.

When facing this scout in a Test of Strength Shrine, the scout will use a wide variety of attacks. The scout may stop attacking Link at close range and jump far away. Be prepared to find a stone pillar or to create an obstacle to hide behind as the scout will extend its weapons and come spinning towards Link. You can also stop it spinning before it hits you with a precise shot into the eye with an Arrow. Once the scout has stopped spinning, it will take a moment to regain itself, leaving you time to attack it.

Another attack the scout may use is retracting its upper part into its body and spinning its eye around, charging its laser. This renders a circle of the battlefield harmful and will knock Link back if the circle is too close. However, the spinning motion also creates an updraft that can be used by Link to get some height above the circle and attack from above with a melee weapon. Another way of stopping the scout spinning is by carefully firing an Arrow into its eye. This is difficult to pull off though because its eye is spinning rapidly; timing is crucial to land a hit on the eye.

When the scout drops to very low health, the scout will become stationary on the battlefield and will charge up a beam to fire at Link, similar to the attack of a Guardian Stalker. A well-timed Perfect Guard can reflect this beam back at the scout but if not timed correctly, then the beam will either hit Link's shield and likely destroy it in one shot or the beam will hit Link, causing a large amount of damage. The two outcomes will depend on whether you missed the Perfect Guard by parrying too early or too late. Once the scout has charged up, it will not only fire one beam but multiple consecutively before charging up again. Fortunately, the scout can only aim so fast, so running around the scout in circles while it is firing will usually cause the scout to miss because it cannot turn fast enough to aim at Link properly. While the scout is charging, it is open for attack, so make use of that time. If the scout is about to shoot, then you can run around it to dodge, find something to hide behind (it will break stone pillars after the first shot, leaving you open to be hit on the consecutive shots), be prepared to parry its beam, or try to shoot an Arrow into its eye to stun it, though the latter can be tricky to do in the short amount of time available.