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The bosses in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are something to behold - instead of the elemental avatars that Calamity Ganon employed in the previous games, you're pitted against environmental nightmares, such as that plaguing Gerudo Desert with a shroud of sand, Queen Gibdo.

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This is a difficult fight, that requires you balance dodging, aiming arrows, activating Riju's abilities, and eventually dealing with hordes of minor enemies. It will test not only your skills, but your patience, as well as your supply of arrows. With enough determination and some of the helpful tips provided below, though, it should be okay.

Queen Gibdo Overview

Tears of the Kingdom - Firing an arrow at Queen Gibdo

After using the elevator to reach the top of the temple, you'll need to break open the large purple hive in front of you with one of Riju's lightning arrows. This will begin the battle.

The Queen Gibdo is a very mobile boss. She will stampede and fly around the arena as much as she can - for this reason, it's a good idea to conserve your stamina. Don't let it run out all the way, or you could be caught in the red when you need to close a gap or get out of the way.

Tears of the Kingdom - Weakened Queen Gibdo using sandstorm

As before, Queen Gibdo has two distinct forms - one where she's protected, and one where she's stripped of protection by an elemental attack. We'll call this her weakened state, and it's signified by her carapace becoming white.

It only takes one elemental attack to put her in the weakened state, and Riju's lightning is the most powerful - be sure to come in to the fight with plenty of Arrows.

Queen Gibdo has very wide attacks. The first is a set of tornadoes that she'll summon and throw at you - she does this only in her weakened form. In her normal form, she has a charge attack where she rears up for a moment and then scuttles in a straight line toward you, and a beam attack that tracks you. All of these attacks should be avoided by dashing to the side.

The boss also has a slamming attack that she can use in either form. This is hard to avoid if you're too close, so use a strong shield to block it.

How To Beat Queen Gibdo

Tears of the Kingdom - Queen Gibdo phase transition

The first stage of the fight is largely the same as when you fought Queen Gibdo outside the temple. You'll need to avoid her attacks, strip her armor with an elemental attack, and then rush towards her to deal as much damage as you can before she gets back up.

At certain points in the fight, Queen Gibdo will fly up into the air and refuse to land. When this happens the only way to get her down is to strip her armor, and you'll have to do this with an elemental or Riju-powered arrow.

After damaging the boss enough, the second phase will begin with a cutscene. In this phase, the four Gibdo Hives dotted around the arena will become active, adding yet more hazards to the fight.

The tricky part is in managing the second phase of the fight. The Queen's attacks become more difficult to cope with in the second phase. Her tornadoes are larger, and she gets a diving attack. Always try to keep one eye on her.

Tears of the Kingdom - Pillar of light during the Queen Gibdo fight

Make it your priority to destroy at least one of the hives - when you do so, you'll reveal a pillar of light. These will strip the Gibdos' armor automatically and weaken them, making them easy to pick off. They won't work on the queen, but eliminating a few hives will make the battle far easier to deal with.

Annoyingly, the new pillars of light can greatly obscure the boss, as she can be difficult to see behind the light. To combat this, it's helpful to break a few (or all) of the hives and then only focus on the Queen. If you have good armor, the lesser Gibdos will deal very little damage and you can just follow the boss around the arena as closely as possible.

Tears of the Kingdom - Queen Gibdo on fire

The key to winning this fight is to know how to knock Queen Gibdo down, stunning her. If you manage to hit the boss with one of Riju's lightning arrows after the boss has already entered her weakened state, you've a very good chance of stunning her, giving you a good opportunity to damage her with your melee weapons.

As long as you keep on top of clearing out the Gibdos and keeping the boss in her weakened state, you should be able to come out on top. If you're low on health or armor, only approach Queen Gibdo when she's knocked down from one of Riju's lightning strikes.

For winning, you'll get a Heart Container - make sure you pick it up, it won't be given to you automatically! Then, go chat to Riju to complete her quest.

NEXT: The Legend Of Zelda: A Complete History Of The Gerudo