Ghirahim: Difference between revisions

Ghirahim slowly advances towards Link as the fight begins. If the [[Goddess Sword|sword]] is not drawn, Ghirahim will slap Link for one [[Heart Container|heart]] of damage. This can be blocked with a Shield Bash, but it is better to have the sword drawn before Ghirahim gets close enough.

He also attacks by dashing at Link and sweeping with his sword, signaled by crouching for a moment with his sword at his side. Note which side he is holding his sword, as this tells which side he will attack from. If he is holding it to his right, he will attack Link from Link's left, and vice-versa. This is especially important in parrying and countering this attack. A dodge only succeeds if Link side-hops away from the direction of attack; a backflip will work as well. Sword slashes must be directed toward him in order to be effective (''i.e.'' if he dashes to Link's right, swing to the right). A [[Spin Attack]], however, should work from either side if timed well. After his attack misses or is halted, you get a chance for a counter-attack.

Ghirahim is a lot more fierce in this battle. He continues to summon projectiles, but he holds these close to himself in various arrangements. They can be shot at you, but they are generally defensive as they block your slashes. He continues to block your sword with his hand, but as opposed to last time, the projectiles hits you if you do not get your sword away quickly enough.

Once Ghirahim takes enough damage, he summons two swords that he uses. The battle continues similarly for the rest of the way. He uses his swords to make blocks that you must get around. He no longer grabs your sword as he no longer has a free hand. He does, however, have many vicious counters for if you accidentally hit his swords. These can be avoided by dodging out of the way or lifting your shield quickly. Either of these dodges leaves Ghirahim open to attack.

Ghirahim lifts himself and Link up on a platform that he created himself. Ghirahim carries no sword in this phase, so he uses physical attacks like punches and kicks. Since Ghirahim's metallic skin is invulnerable, he needs to be driven off the platform to another one by various attacks. As soon as Ghirahim falls down to another level, you need to deliver a fatal blow on to the weak point on his chest. Once Ghirahim gets up, he has a purple aura around his hands. If you touch the purple aura, Ghirahim catches your blade and flips you over him, close to the edge. You need to drive him off the platform twice more to finish this phase. Note that each time he is driven off the platforms, the stage becomes slightly bigger.

After exposing his weak point (the red gem in his chest), Ghirahim summons his black saber again. However, this fight is very different from the previous battles. Ghirahim holds out his sword, allowing him to block attacks with ease and he can hit you from further away. He begins to attack if you get too close (making it harder to attack his weak point). Instead of conjuring and shooting knives, he attacks with [[Sword Beam]]s if you are at a distance. These can be deflected with the shield, or returned with a sword slash in the same direction. He sends these horizontally or vertically, and you can stun him by returning these. Be careful, as he can still reflect the sword beams you return to him. Once he is stunned, run up to him and stab his chest. Another way to defeat him is to go sword-to-sword with him: shield bash his attacks and stab at his chest to deal damage. He takes around five stabs to defeat, but it takes much longer than it seems since he puts his guard back up every time he takes a hit. You can defeat him very quickly if you charge up a [[Skyward Strike]], and stab at his chest after shield-bashing his attack. Provided you do this at a distance, the Skyward Strike stuns him long enough to deal two or three hits. Repeat until he is down.

For the final phase, Ghirahim summons a giant sword. You will have to completely change your strategy; he stops using sword beams, and shield-bashes only block his attack (they do not stun him). He occasionally slashes at you with the sword, knocking off a heart if he hits. Do not be fooled by the size of the sword: he attacks surprisingly quickly, and it has a very long reach. To defeat Ghirahim for good, you have to break his sword and stab at his chest again. Slashing at Ghirahim forces him to block your attacks with his sword, but the Master Sword damages Ghirahim's blade. You have a limited time to hack away at his sword and break it completely, before Ghirahim retreats. Throughout the battle, Ghirahim constantly repairs his sword and switches his defensive stance when you have hit the blade three times, which may cause you to stagger. Be careful when you get knocked back, as Ghirahim immediately attempts to attack. The easiest way to defeat this form is to take about a second pause between each swing at his blade, he holds it up for a while.