A talented Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild player recently used several glitches to pull off an impressive Guardian kill that left all who witnessed it on social media stunned. Ever since Breath of the Wild launched on the Nintendo Switch to near-universal acclaim in 2017, players have kept themselves busy by uncovering a vast array of secrets, glitches, and exploits hidden amid the vast open world of Hyrule. In fact, BOTW’s developers have gone on record saying that they left plenty of these interesting technical quirks in the finished game on purpose to better foster a sense of discovery while playing the latest installment of the long-running Zelda franchise.
Many of BOTW’s glitches have been used to obtain normally difficult-to-get weapons and treasure like the legendary Master Sword much earlier than usual, while others can help players break open the seemingly unbreakable metal chests that litter Hyrule’s countryside or reach incredible heights. Others still have led to hidden secrets and bizarre in-game occurrences in Breath of the Wild, like horses sinking into the ground or dragons bending in odd places in mid-flight. Finally, some glitches can be used to take down powerful enemies like BOTW’s infamous Guardians, especially when players use several of them together in a seemingly unstoppable combo.
The latest awe-inspiring Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild exploit comes from Twitter user bre_neko, who recently posted a brief snippet of gameplay showing how they defeated one of BOTW’s Guardians by seemingly slowing down time after the massive golem fired off a shot of its laser, then sending it sailing into the distance with a charging slash. Fellow Twitter user Fern Dragonsblaze later explained that this was done using several already-known BOTW glitches, with bre_neko pre-firing an ancient arrow from the Temple Of Time, utilizing a glitch that allows Link to fly by holding onto objects to outrace the arrow to its target, then taking advantage of another Breath Of The Wild glitch to perform a rapid flurry of strikes until the Guardian was airborne - all in the blink of an eye.
Some Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild fans are still trying to wrap their brains around exactly how bre-neko was able to pull off such an impressive feat, even after Fern Dragonsblaze’s explanation. Still, it’s hardly the first time that BOTW players have used tricks and glitches to take down one of the infamous Guardians. One crafty Breath of the Wild player used a few well-placed Cryonis ice pillars to send one of the great stone sentinels soaring into the stratosphere, while another used Link’s trusty Magnesis rune to drop an item into the path of several Guardian laser shots. There is even a surprisingly easy-to-perform BOTW glitch that renders Guardians completely harmless, allowing Link to escape from them with zero difficulty.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is already rich in hidden secrets, tricks, and glitches for players to uncover, and even more will likely be unearthed during the wait for BOTW's currently untitled sequel next year. Bre-neko’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it takedown of a Guardian is the result of several of these glitches coming together in a stunning display of skill and knowledge of BOTW's many programming quirks. It proves that in the world of Hyrule, anything is possible - including the chosen hero of the land sending an ancient mech flying with little more than magic arrows and some fast sword strikes.