Recency bias be damned, the Flux Construct is one of the greatest boss fights in video game history. These building block bullies scattered all across, above, and below Hyrule aren’t just thrilling to fight, they’re also perfect representations of Tears of the Kingdom’s expressive gameplay and design philosophy. Tears of the Kingdom’s essence is represented by the Flux Construct in one succinct, exciting boss battle. Let me explain.
If you haven’t run into the Flux Construct yet, they’re basically giants made out of big stone blocks that can shift around and change into different forms. Their building block nature makes them an ideal enemy In TOTK, a game all about using basic parts to build incredible things. This boss is essentially using the Ultrahand ability against you as it reorganizes itself into different shapes throughout the fight. It starts out as a humanoid monster that stomps with its legs and swings its arms at you, but it can also turn into a giant cube that chases you around the arena, and a floating platform that attacks by shooting waves of blocks at you.
The Flux Construct is menacing, but like any challenge in TOTK, the end goal is obvious. Whether you’re summiting an imposing mountain, crossing an insurmountable gap, or solving a shrine’s complex puzzle, you always know immediately what you’re trying to do, it’s just a matter of finding out how to do it. One of the Flux Construct blocks is a different color than all the other ones, so you know right away that you need to figure out how to attack it.
The genius of this enemy is the way that it enables you to use every single ability at your disposal to defeat it, and no method you can come up with is better or more correct than any other. The fight is a microcosm of everything that TOTK has to offer because it allows you to approach it in any way you like, and rewards you equally no matter what process you take.
The simplest approach is the best one for some, so if you want to you can stand back and fire arrows at its weak block until the construct collapses, then run in and attack the defenseless block quickly with a melee weapon. This is a traditional action game way to fight a boss that you might instinctively pursue because it’s so familiar. If you’ve gotten a feel for how to enhance your weapons with Fuse, you may want to add some extra damage to your arrows and swords to drain its health quicker. A Flux Construct 1 is the first optional boss fight you can encounter on the Great Sky Island, and I suspect this is how a lot of people will approach this fight the first time.
However, all of Link’s abilities can be used to take the construct down in different ways. With Ultrahand, you can target the weak block and yank it right off of the monster, forcing it to collapse and putting you in a perfect position to dish out some big damage. If the weak block is out of sight, you can just start yanking out any of its blocks and tossing them off to the side. Pull enough, and the whole thing will eventually crumble.
Since every block that makes up the construct is its own object, there’s a lot you can do with Recall during this fight as well. When it throws blocks at you, climb on top of one and use Recall to ride it back up, or use Ultrahand to attach a bomb to it first before you send it back. If you time it correctly you can yank off a block with Ultrahand then send it flying back to smash into the construct with Recall too.
Ascend is also useful if you want to get on top of the construct. When it starts flying above you, throwing blocks down, you can Ascend right on top and start attacking its weak block or pull blocks away with Ultrahand. If you get caught underneath it in its bipedal form, you can use Ascend to get on its head instead of trying to run away. You can pull a block off it Ultrahand, hold it above you, drop it on the ground, use Recall to raise it back up, then use Ascend to climb on top of it. All of your abilities are useful against the boss individually, but their power is increased when you combine them together. And if you don’t want to do all of that, you can still just shoot at with your bow and arrow, and that works fine too.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of tactics to use against the Flux Construct. You could also use Zonai rockets attached to your shield to fly up and land on top of it, or make a fire using items in your inventory to create an updraft you can ride with your glider. You could use Fuse to attach bombs to a spear and throw it at the construct. You could ride your horse in and jump off of it, then go into slow motion and hit the weak block several times before you land on the ground. Everything Link can do can be used in the fight, it’s up to you to decide what to do. That freedom is what makes Tears of the Kingdom so special. It’s such an open-ended experience that even the boss fights are opportunities to express your creativity.