Demon Lord Ghirahim looks quite different this time around; with a body completely covered in armor, he has become much more aggressive than in previous encounters. Ghirahim changes his traditional defensive tactics for an offensive strategy. Unlike previous encounters with this boss which only contained two phases, this battle consists of three.
Phase 1:
The boss now has three attacks, an offensive roundhouse kick, a right uppercut, and a defensive downward punch. A well-timed shield bash is capable of countering both of these attacks. During this phase, as mentioned earlier, Ghirahim utilizes an aggressive tactic, walks right up to Link, and attempts to push him off the edge of the floating platform that the battle takes place using his roundhouse kick. If knocked off, Link will lose two hearts and will reappear on the platform again. The key to this phase is to be aggressive while watching for Ghirahim’s counter attack animation. Slash away at the Demon Lord to push him back toward the edge, but pay attention to when he cranks back to perform his downward punch. Use Link’s shield bash this attack to counter it and gain even more ground.
Once Ghirahim is at the edge, he will teeter there until Link knocks him off causing him to land on a lower platform. Perform a fatal blow on Ghirahim and continue with the previous strategy. This time, when he is near the edge, Ghirahim will hold his hands in specific positions, forcing Link to slash between them in order to push the Demon Lord into the teetering position. Once knocked down, and a second fatal blow performed, repeat the previous strategy (including the slashing between the hands) once more time in order to enter phase 2.
Phase 2:
After striking Ghirahim with a third final blow, the platform falls to the ground and shatters. The boss then gets up, summons his thin scimitar sword, and has a number of different attacks. He can now stab at Link (at times a double stab), downward slash, and horizontal slash. The timing to counter via shield bash is the same for the downward slash and the stab attacks, but the horizontal slash has a slightly longer delay comparatively.
Blocking one of Ghirahim’s attacks with a shield bash will open a small window in which he is vulnerable to attack (only a stab in the chest will harm him), doing so will result in Ghirahim jumping back some distance and sending dark skyward strike projectiles after Link. NOTE: on rare occasion, Ghirahim can also summon flying daggers to send after Link at this point as well. Both can be dodged, shield blocked, or countered with Skyward Strikes of your own. After stabbing Ghirahim in the chest seven times total, the Demon Lord teleports to the center of the pit and summons an armored broadsword signaling the start of phase 3.
Phase 3:
During phase three Ghirahim has no new attacks, he simply attacks with his broadsword using the downward and horizontal strikes. Block these with a shield bash and the boss will block his chest with the sword. Attack the sword in order to chip away at its armor; if Link is not fast enough, Ghirahim will rotate the sword before it breaks and will instantly counter attack if Link strikes the broadsword at the wrong angle. This counterattack can be blocked or countered with a shield bash. Once the sword is broken, simply stab Ghirahim in the chest once again. After stabbing Demon Lord Ghirahim in the chest twice, this battle will end.
