How to beat Lynels in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Lynels — (Image credit: Nintendo)

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Lynel weaknesses and tips
Rewards

To beat the Lynels in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom isn't easy at all, as these lion-centaur mini-bosses are some of the toughest fights in the game. Capable of shooting fireballs and shattering shields, yet with some of the best reward drops you'll find, Lynels are one of the biggest tests of a player's skill in Tears of the Kingdom, no matter what level you're at.

If you want to take one on, we're here to help. We've got all the Lynel weaknesses laid out below, as well as some very useful tips, tricks and strategies to taking it on. Not only that, but we've laid out the rewards for killing every variation, and which Lynels are strongest. If you're ready to beat a Lynel in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, here's everything you need to know going in.

How to beat Lynel mini-bosses in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

If you're fighting a Lynel boss fight in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, here's some basic info to keep in mind when you're in the fray.

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The Lynel is weak to stealth attacks…
- If you can get behind the Lynel without it noticing, as if you were taming a horse, you can get a prompt to mount it with A - only unlike a horse, you can use this to hit it several times in the head before it bucks you off.
… And to headshots…
- Hitting the Lynel in the head with an arrow - especially a powerful one - will do a lot of damage, so use fire updrafts and Zonai Springs to launch yourself into the air for some slow-motion shots, and stick some Gibdo bones on the arrowheads to really make the most of it. This can even stun it, leading to another chance to mount.
… And VERY weak to Puffshrooms.
- Puffshrooms, found when exploring the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Depths regions, create smoke clouds when thrown or hit. Chucking a Puffshroom at a Lynel will effectively pacify it with confusion for a few moments, giving you the chance to run behind it, do some damage, and even mount the Lynel for another barrage of strikes. And not only that, they never become immune to this - so you can keep doing it until you run out of Puffshrooms.
Don't use your shield if you can avoid it.
- Lynels do massive damage and can destroy an intact shield in a few strikes, even a really good one - and if you've got something as rare as the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Hylian Shield, it's not worth wasting it if you can avoid it. Of course, a perfect parry can be devastating, but the penalty for getting it wrong is usually too high.
Practice Flurry Rush attacks and perfect dodges.
- Lynels telegraph their attacks pretty clearly, so it's not too hard to dodge their (admittedly deadly) strikes. A last second evasion will set you up perfectly for a high-damage retaliation, though it may take a few times to get it right.
Prepare in advance.
- If you're not prepared for the Lynel fight, you'll probably die (unless you're incredibly well-equipped or high level). You'll want several health-restoring meals, Fairies, some of the best Zelda Tears of the Kingdom armor, powerful weapons at high durability and twenty-five arrows or more.
Make sure you're fighting the right Lynel.
- There's four types of Lynel in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (five if you count armoured variants). In ascending order of deadliness and health, they are: the Lynel, the Blue-Maned Lynel, the White-Maned Lynel and the Silver Lynel. You can use the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom camera function to tell which one you're looking at, and choose whether you want to risk fighting them. If you've struggled with the basic Lynel, you shouldn't be going near the Silver ones any time soon.

These will do a lot to help you, especially the Puffshroom approach, and while there's no way to stop Lynels being at least somewhat challenging, having all the above information and prep to hand will do a lot to make the process a lot less painful.

Of course, why would you even find it worth fighting Lynels in the first place? What's the value in doing so?

Lynel Rewards and Drops

The rewards you get for killing Lynels vary depending on which kind of Lynel you've beaten, but they're nearly always worth it. Here's the full list of drops:

Lynel: Lynel Hoof, Lynel Saber Horn, Lynel Mace Horn, Arrows
Blue-Maned Lynel: Lynel Hoof, Lynel Guts, Blue-Maned Lynel Saber Horn, Blue-Maned Lynel Mace Horn, Arrows
White-Maned Lynel: Lynel Hoof, Lynel Guts, White-Maned Lynel Saber Horn, White-Maned Lynel Mace Horn, Arrows
Silver Lynel: Lynel Hoof, Lynel Guts, Silver Lynel Saber Horn, Silver Lynel Mace Horn, Arrows

Hooves and Guts serve as powerful Elixir ingredients, while all the Horns can massively increase weapon damage when used in Fusion. Beyond that, Lynels use a variety of unique shields, swords and bows, all of which are high damage and durability and drop when they're beaten. The bows in particular are very lethal, firing three-to-five arrows per shot - try putting a Keese Eyeball on them and watching a machine-gun barrage fly through the air to home in perfectly on the target.

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.