Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Harbinger Ganon Guide
Our Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Harbinger Ganon Guide is the best source of information for Harbinger Ganon, giving you comprehensive details on his background and boss fight, plus tips on how to effectively defeat him.
For the other major villains and enemies, you can view our Bosses Guide.
Background of Harbinger Ganon
Catalyst of the Calamity. A dark Guardian, created when a sliver of Ganon's Malice attached itself to the deactivated Terrako of this world. It knows the future and controls Guardians and monsters.
When Terrako entered the time travel portal, some part of the malice that was controlling the large Guardian entered the portal as well. This malice attached itself to the deactivated Terrako of the story's world.
This malice-controlled Terrako became what is known as Harbinger Ganon.
We first saw a glimpse of Harbinger Ganon in the Chapter entry Road to the Ancient Lab, where it was observing Zelda and her group enter the laboratory.
The next time we learned about Harbinger Ganon is during the Chapter entry Revali, the Rito Warrior, where we found out that it has been actively leading monsters and attacking the Rito village.
This is what caused the Rito to attack Link and the party because they have their own little Guardian. The Rito didn't know initially that there are two of them.
And finally, we met Harbinger Ganon when Astor confronted Zelda and the party before they entered the castle gate in the Chapter entry The Future of Hyrule.
It was here where he transformed into a menacing monster, having four arms with a weapon each.
Harbinger Ganon Boss Fight
Harbinger Ganon is an aggressive melee fighter with some ranged attacks as well. In combat style, he is very similar to Thunderblight Ganon, fast and aggressive.
Color of Weapons
Before we proceed with the attack types, there is a combat mechanic that is unique to Harbinger Ganon. When the monster is preparing an attack, the color of the weapon he will use will change from light blue to light pink.
For melee attacks, he will always do an attack with a weapon that has a light pink color.
Claw Strike Attack
In the wind up of this attack, the monster raises his left arm as though preparing to strike you with it.
Then he will immediately a combo attack where he strikes first with his left weapon and then with his right weapon.
You can dodge either of these strikes as shown below.
If you are confident, you can perfect guard on them as well.
Claw Slam Attack
The initial wind up of this attack is very similar to Claw Strike, however, this is more powerful and is slower. As a rule in this game, fast attacks without much wind up or telegraph are weaker in damage. The reverse is also true.
Immediately after doing the pose, the monster will slam the ground only once, which creates Malice Pools that will erupt and damage you.
So this is a combination of both a melee and ranged attack. You might not get hit by the slam part, but the Malice Pools can track you.
You can still dodge these Malice Pools though, as shown below.
Claw Slice Attack
In the wind up of this attack, the monster prepares two of his sword weapons, as though it is about to strike you. As shared earlier, they will also change into light-pink color.
Then he will immediately do slicing attacks. one for each weapon.
Claw Swipe Attack
In the wind up of this attack, the monster pulls back his left arm, making its weapon glow in light-pink color.
Then he will immediately make a horizontal swiping attack that covers a 180 degrees arc. As this attack has no follow-up, you can safely block it.
Claw Spin Attack
This is a powerful spinning attack with a very obvious telegraph, which you can counter with Stasis.
After the wind up, the monster will approach you with his two pink swords spinning and slicing menacingly.
You can do a side dodge to avoid getting damaged and gain a Flurry Rush.
Claw Rush Attack
This attack is the slower and stronger version of the Claw Strike attack. It has a telegraph that you can counter with Cryonis.
Immediately after showing the telegraph, the monster will start striking and combing the floor as it approaches you. This creates large explosions and damage to any target that gets hit while is mowing the floor.
Malice Beam Attack
This ranged attack is the equivalent of the Laser Beam of a Guardian. In the attack's wind up, the monster pulls all of his arms as though charging his energy.
Then he will immediately open up his arms and blast the target with a Malice Beam.
Malice Blasts Attack
This ranged attack has a very identifiable pattern. In its wind up, the monster jumps high and disappears.
You will immediately see blasts of light aimed at the floor, which will later cause Malice Pools to form and explode.
These Malice Pools will cause damage to anyone within them.
Malice Nova Attack
Among all of the attacks of Harbinger Ganon, this is the slowest as well as the most powerful. It is also interesting how it behaves, as it is very different from any attacks in the game.
In the attack wind up, the monster intentionally destroys his weapons into fragments, as shown below.
Then he will recreate them, as though putting up a show for you to get mesmerized.
However, while watching this show, concentric circles of Malice Pools will start showing up in your position. You might notice them, or not.
By the time Harbinger Ganon is done with his show, the Malice Pools would have exploded. Note that all of them can hit you, causing the highest damage of all his attacks.
In the image below, it removed three and a half hearts from a character that is way beyond the level requirements of this Chapter entry. That is how damaging this attack is.
Since the Malice Pools erupt in sequence, you can safely block all of them. The net effect is that you only get pushed backward, but not get damaged. The key is raising your guard and blocking early, as the moment the attack begins hitting you, it's hard to get out of the stun-lock from this attack.
You can view our Bosses Guide to learn more about the other boss fights in the game.
