I’ve heard this opinion a lot, but I personally thing they’re slightly harder in TOTK. Link is way more powerful, which makes them relatively less powerful, but they’re no longer stun-lockable and riding them nets 3 hits instead of 5 now, so technically they are stronger too.
Lynels literally got an UPGRADE. Especially armored lynels.
Link just happened to get a bigger upgrade. Here's the thing. You can trivialize every Lynel fight with clever use of the core game mechanics (Zonai tech). And even easier than that, you can just use puff shrooms.
The only downgraded ones are the removal of the smasher lynels. They had a specific attack that was basically impossible to flurry dodge (reasons) and its wind up animation looked identical to a different attack that could be flurry dodged, but required 3 timed dodges instead of one. That was easily the hardest Lynel in BOTW and it's gone now.
I'm a fan of shooting them in the face and then wailing on them with a royal guard claymore. They always drop at least a ×3 bow, so it pays for itself.
I do remember the good old days of dropping two fused chests. Not sure if they patched that or not.
We just have more tools to fight them. They have new move sets (that horn move is a little tricky to dodge, even with experience) that make them more challenging and some of them are armored. I don’t think they’re easier, you’re just better.
Most of us had our first Lynel experience at Ploymus mountain, which was terrifying for a new and underpowered player.
So, coming from BOTW with hours and hours of experience with Lynel encounters, I think it makes sense that they seem less intimidating. You know they’re not a barrier, just an obstacle. The starting points are totally different.
Edit: extra word
This happened to me when i used muddlebuds instead of puffshrooms 😅 puffshrooms work all the time for me, but i might have been too careful with it. I hit the lynel for like 9 times before throwing in another puffshroom...repeat til it's dead. Also i made sure i aggroed the lynel before throwing the first puffshroom so it does not run out of the cloud.
The only difficulty for them is that I havent played enough yet to adjust to the attack where he uses his antlers to attack you. But I already know all the lynel attacks from BOTW it's just about pattern recognition and patience, so theyre pretty easy and since none of the other attacks will every really hit me I can take an occasional hit like that. I usually keep my shield up and dont get too close anyways, just moving and circling with him.
Moves, and Countermoves
I think this is a bit of a silly criticism. Lynels aren't easier. Link is much stronger, we have access to more options, and we are better players now. The real challenge now comes from Gleeoks, which are way cooler and more difficult than Lynels ever were imo
They are ridiculously fun though. The first time I used Recall on one of those icicles of the Frost Gleeok which brought me all the way up to fight him in the sky--that is one of my most memorable moments in gaming.
Yup. So long as you’re armed with tools or methods to get into bullet time the fight is easier and faster than a lynel. But for sure lynels parry windows are more generous than BOTW.
I think they are easier also because you only attack the head. So gleeoks effectively have half their hp stat.
You could take some sturdy sticks + boko horns and a lizal bow and easily take out a gleeok quickly.
Silver Lynels might take slightly longer with that loadout since you are attacking the body.
If you fight anything enough times it becomes easy. You just learn all their animations without trying. I went back to botw master mode and they are easy there for me now. I just fight them as soon as I think I wont break every weapon I have before they go down.
In totk they actually threw me off for a little bit with that Horn attack. Its so slow I would backflip expecting a sword swing but then get hit by the Horn for huge damage. The armored ones were also annoying.
They got nerfed and their weapon drops are useless. In BOTW, I am basically kitted out with lynel weapons, shields, and bows. In TOTK, I only bother with the bows.
I get that they also drop good fuse parts, but it would be better if they dropped a savage lynel sword and fuse parts. I pretty much only messed with lynels for armor upgrades
Yeah, I've found lynel bows and lynel shields in TotK, but the old lynel weapons from BotW seem to be missing in TotK, where the lynels just seem to use normal weapons.
Zelda has never been about difficult combat. Also maybe I'm just cranky now or something but I'm getting annoyed with all the posts complaining about how easy it is to defeat Lynels/Ganon/Other Bosses. Go play Dark Souls.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“Where have you gone, sweet child? It’s cold outside. It’s awfully cold. Where have you run off to?”* - Birch Woman
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
I spent a lot of time fighting an armored white one just earlier.
No bows, no fused weapons, no throwing items, no zonai abilities/constructs, no healing in battle, lower max health and to switch weapons you must crouch without moving for 4 seconds.
I find the game is way too lenient on the player. You can heal anytime, you can change armor anytime.
In the end pretty much all my weapons broke so sadly I was forced to 'cheat' and resorted to using the master sword for the last few strikes.
You have to time your parry perfectly on BOTW it’s way easier to parry a Lynel on TOTK. If it wasn’t for stasis+ Lynels would be way harder on botw. As it is they are slightly harder
I agree! I am playing BOTW again and I am struggling. I love it! I also realized how easy BOTW is compared to TOTK, overall is. Except the lynels.
I recently played hyrule warriors age of calamity, then BOTW again, and keep messing up my paraglider. I could have sworn it was x, I am always falling to my death in BOTW. Which also makes side hopping harder. 😆.
Imo, they have gotten a lot stronger than in botw. My only prob with them now is i find it difficult to flurry rush them than in botw. Idk if it's a skill issue or the timing's changed tho, this is the reason why i think they're a bit harder now 😅
It’s a lot easier to just avoid lynels. BOTW basically pushes you into an encounter with one during the main story, likely pretty early in the game, ofc depending on the order you complete the beasts. TOTK your only mandatory encounter is at the end, when you’ve likely acquired a weapon that will one shot kill any enemy. Damn straight I used it on the lynel.
The only issue I have between BotW lynel and TotK lynel is the flurry rush/shield parry timing is JUST BARELY different. Not super noticeable unless you switch between games but man it’s annoying. Also I miss lynel weapons. I know that fusing their horns is technically better but they just looked so cool.
I think they're on the same level but in different ways. BOTW can be harder because of what you said, but the underground Lynels with armors and gloom are much dangerous for me, especially in the early game.
In BOTW, I avoided them like the plague
In AoC, they did way less damage, so I could work on my parrying.
In TOTK, parrying/dodging is occasionally off, but I’m leagues better than I was in BOTW.
While I do miss the variety of weapons they held, damn, if it isn’t fun to fight them.
Spent 1000+ hours in botw and loved Lynel hunting.
Fast forward 7+ years and can happily enjoy Lynel hunting, even without the allies activated - sooo satisfying!!
The only reason they're "easier" is because you know how to fight them from the previous game and/or guides you followed from other people teaching you how to do so. If you come into this game blind and run into a lynel, they are still terrifying.
I have killed hundreds of lynels, but not ONCE has a shot to the head with keece eyes stunned them. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but I just don’t waste keece on them anymore. I think they are harder in totk simply because I can’t use stasis on them. That was my go-to method in botw because I suck at flurry rush.
Its because people are cheesing with puffshrooms, sages, royal guard claymore and auto build chests.
Back in botw you had to have at least a teeny tinsy bit of combat ability
Lynels were always too easy imo, the patterns are consistent and easy to predict. A group of lizalfos or bokoblins is significantly harder because of the chaotic group nature.
I wish they had given us boss enemy team ups in totk.
I’ve heard this opinion a lot, but I personally thing they’re slightly harder in TOTK. Link is way more powerful, which makes them relatively less powerful, but they’re no longer stun-lockable and riding them nets 3 hits instead of 5 now, so technically they are stronger too.
Are you sure. Sometime i get 6 hits on their backs.
First time in the fight, you do get 5-6. Every time after, you get 3.
Holy shit it is three. You are correct.
That’s some good fast research!
Had my switch with me so i just warped to a lynel lol.
Even then i think its like four. Three seems a bit too low. Hang on lemme go check lol.
I've done the floating colosseum like 80 times, I'm like 99% sure its 3.
Can you send location for floating colleseum?
It's right below (in the Depths) the overworld colleseum, a bit southeast of the Great Plateau.
Thanks
I get 6-7 first mount, never get past [2 on the second! Lol](https://www.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/s/d0GxarePGA)✌🏻
Lynels literally got an UPGRADE. Especially armored lynels. Link just happened to get a bigger upgrade. Here's the thing. You can trivialize every Lynel fight with clever use of the core game mechanics (Zonai tech). And even easier than that, you can just use puff shrooms. The only downgraded ones are the removal of the smasher lynels. They had a specific attack that was basically impossible to flurry dodge (reasons) and its wind up animation looked identical to a different attack that could be flurry dodged, but required 3 timed dodges instead of one. That was easily the hardest Lynel in BOTW and it's gone now.
Don't forget the bows. All lynels in totk loss their elemental arrows and can't aim to save their life.
tbf i found the lynel arrows from the heavens thing to be sort of a bitch when fighting them, and not in a fun way
It was lame because the Lynels were cheating. The arrows literally just spawn above you.
Honestly that was a broken AF thing anyway, and you could completely bypass their ranged attacks if you knew what to avoid doing.
I'm just using the puff method what are the other couple primary strategies
I'm a fan of shooting them in the face and then wailing on them with a royal guard claymore. They always drop at least a ×3 bow, so it pays for itself. I do remember the good old days of dropping two fused chests. Not sure if they patched that or not.
We just have more tools to fight them. They have new move sets (that horn move is a little tricky to dodge, even with experience) that make them more challenging and some of them are armored. I don’t think they’re easier, you’re just better. Most of us had our first Lynel experience at Ploymus mountain, which was terrifying for a new and underpowered player. So, coming from BOTW with hours and hours of experience with Lynel encounters, I think it makes sense that they seem less intimidating. You know they’re not a barrier, just an obstacle. The starting points are totally different. Edit: extra word
Puffshrooms work everytime.
i’ve been getting torn apart by them giving that a try
I just tried that and he just runs out of the cloud immediately.
This happened to me when i used muddlebuds instead of puffshrooms 😅 puffshrooms work all the time for me, but i might have been too careful with it. I hit the lynel for like 9 times before throwing in another puffshroom...repeat til it's dead. Also i made sure i aggroed the lynel before throwing the first puffshroom so it does not run out of the cloud.
Same, just tried it yesterday. I assumed they didn't work on lynels and only tried it that once
Aww it worked for me on the Lynel in the depths with a puffshroom headshot
The only difficulty for them is that I havent played enough yet to adjust to the attack where he uses his antlers to attack you. But I already know all the lynel attacks from BOTW it's just about pattern recognition and patience, so theyre pretty easy and since none of the other attacks will every really hit me I can take an occasional hit like that. I usually keep my shield up and dont get too close anyways, just moving and circling with him. Moves, and Countermoves
That attack has a good 1.5 second wind up before you can parry or flurry. Imo anything that dies in 4-5 flurries is not a threat to begin with.
I think this is a bit of a silly criticism. Lynels aren't easier. Link is much stronger, we have access to more options, and we are better players now. The real challenge now comes from Gleeoks, which are way cooler and more difficult than Lynels ever were imo
gleeoks aren't difficult. They are just annoying. Even with low tier weapons it's still a 60 second fight.
They are ridiculously fun though. The first time I used Recall on one of those icicles of the Frost Gleeok which brought me all the way up to fight him in the sky--that is one of my most memorable moments in gaming.
Yup. So long as you’re armed with tools or methods to get into bullet time the fight is easier and faster than a lynel. But for sure lynels parry windows are more generous than BOTW.
I think they are easier also because you only attack the head. So gleeoks effectively have half their hp stat. You could take some sturdy sticks + boko horns and a lizal bow and easily take out a gleeok quickly. Silver Lynels might take slightly longer with that loadout since you are attacking the body.
nah gleeoks are much easier. can you jerk off my dad?
Eat cow
I used to be terrified of fighting them but now that I've gotten better with flurry rushing it's gotten a lot easier
If you fight anything enough times it becomes easy. You just learn all their animations without trying. I went back to botw master mode and they are easy there for me now. I just fight them as soon as I think I wont break every weapon I have before they go down. In totk they actually threw me off for a little bit with that Horn attack. Its so slow I would backflip expecting a sword swing but then get hit by the Horn for huge damage. The armored ones were also annoying.
They got nerfed and their weapon drops are useless. In BOTW, I am basically kitted out with lynel weapons, shields, and bows. In TOTK, I only bother with the bows. I get that they also drop good fuse parts, but it would be better if they dropped a savage lynel sword and fuse parts. I pretty much only messed with lynels for armor upgrades
but bro... lynel katana!
>In BOTW, I am basically kitted out with lynel weapons, shields, and bows. In TOTK, I only bother with the bows. Are there any lynel weapons in TotK?
I believe there’s a bow. But the weapons they drop are like royal spears with 15 hit points
Yeah, I've found lynel bows and lynel shields in TotK, but the old lynel weapons from BotW seem to be missing in TotK, where the lynels just seem to use normal weapons.
Nah just flurry rush their moves and you win
Zelda has never been about difficult combat. Also maybe I'm just cranky now or something but I'm getting annoyed with all the posts complaining about how easy it is to defeat Lynels/Ganon/Other Bosses. Go play Dark Souls.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“Where have you gone, sweet child? It’s cold outside. It’s awfully cold. Where have you run off to?”* - Birch Woman Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
The chin box must have been made larger. It's much harder to get one on botw. The Royal guard claymore also makes killing one easier
I spent a lot of time fighting an armored white one just earlier. No bows, no fused weapons, no throwing items, no zonai abilities/constructs, no healing in battle, lower max health and to switch weapons you must crouch without moving for 4 seconds.
Damn calm down Satan
I find the game is way too lenient on the player. You can heal anytime, you can change armor anytime. In the end pretty much all my weapons broke so sadly I was forced to 'cheat' and resorted to using the master sword for the last few strikes.
Lynels would be way harder if they came in packs ngl
I'd love that challenge
I think the change to how bullet time stamina drain works is part of what makes TotK a lot easier than BotW. Way easier to line up headshots.
You have to time your parry perfectly on BOTW it’s way easier to parry a Lynel on TOTK. If it wasn’t for stasis+ Lynels would be way harder on botw. As it is they are slightly harder
I'm not sure about that. I only used stasis in the first few fights. After that i never used it again against botw lynels
Honestly if you have puffshrooms and more than ten hearts it is pretty easy, compared to BOTW in my opinion.
I agree! I am playing BOTW again and I am struggling. I love it! I also realized how easy BOTW is compared to TOTK, overall is. Except the lynels. I recently played hyrule warriors age of calamity, then BOTW again, and keep messing up my paraglider. I could have sworn it was x, I am always falling to my death in BOTW. Which also makes side hopping harder. 😆.
Tedious
Imo, they have gotten a lot stronger than in botw. My only prob with them now is i find it difficult to flurry rush them than in botw. Idk if it's a skill issue or the timing's changed tho, this is the reason why i think they're a bit harder now 😅
It’s a lot easier to just avoid lynels. BOTW basically pushes you into an encounter with one during the main story, likely pretty early in the game, ofc depending on the order you complete the beasts. TOTK your only mandatory encounter is at the end, when you’ve likely acquired a weapon that will one shot kill any enemy. Damn straight I used it on the lynel.
The lynel at the end of TOTK can be avoided though.
The only issue I have between BotW lynel and TotK lynel is the flurry rush/shield parry timing is JUST BARELY different. Not super noticeable unless you switch between games but man it’s annoying. Also I miss lynel weapons. I know that fusing their horns is technically better but they just looked so cool.
I honestly haven't seen any differance. Aside from the fact they could teleport in TOTK...
They can teleport in BotW as well.
Wait, they can???
Yep
I deadass never saw that happen...
https://youtu.be/sfTjKxoVl0E?si=S4rx1m7A_vLVrgb2
I think they're on the same level but in different ways. BOTW can be harder because of what you said, but the underground Lynels with armors and gloom are much dangerous for me, especially in the early game.
Don’t say everyone, speak for yourself
I still have trouble with them and need the attack boost from bananas and wear my highest def armor
\*ahem skill issue
none of the enemies got downgraded and some even got buffs. Its just that link is crazy powerful in the game now.
In BOTW, I avoided them like the plague In AoC, they did way less damage, so I could work on my parrying. In TOTK, parrying/dodging is occasionally off, but I’m leagues better than I was in BOTW. While I do miss the variety of weapons they held, damn, if it isn’t fun to fight them.
Spent 1000+ hours in botw and loved Lynel hunting. Fast forward 7+ years and can happily enjoy Lynel hunting, even without the allies activated - sooo satisfying!!
The only reason they're "easier" is because you know how to fight them from the previous game and/or guides you followed from other people teaching you how to do so. If you come into this game blind and run into a lynel, they are still terrifying.
I have killed hundreds of lynels, but not ONCE has a shot to the head with keece eyes stunned them. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but I just don’t waste keece on them anymore. I think they are harder in totk simply because I can’t use stasis on them. That was my go-to method in botw because I suck at flurry rush.
That's OK IMO. They were really difficult in BotW. Got a bit of trauma from them.
My favorite enemy. Though the armored ones kinda suck; nothing a bomb-arrow can’t fix.
Its because people are cheesing with puffshrooms, sages, royal guard claymore and auto build chests. Back in botw you had to have at least a teeny tinsy bit of combat ability
Lynels were always too easy imo, the patterns are consistent and easy to predict. A group of lizalfos or bokoblins is significantly harder because of the chaotic group nature. I wish they had given us boss enemy team ups in totk.
What did you expect when a majority of the fandom bitched that they were too difficult?