Each of the temple dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a mighty boss fight, but the Lightning Temple is unique, as its boss attacks you as soon as you enter. If you follow our guide, you should know defeating Queen Gibdo: Scourge of the Lightning Temple, but you must be prepared before taking her on.
Queen Gibdo is fought as part of the “Riju of Gerudo Town” questline in TotK. This is one of the four main storyline quests that appear as part of the “Regional Phenomena” mission. The Gerudo homeland is in the southwest part of the map, and if you reach their kingdom, you will continue along the quest until you unlock the Lightning Temple. Make sure you’re at full health, have lots of food, a complete inventory of bows, multiple shields, as many arrows as you can carry, and materials that will inflict lightning damage, such as Shock Fruit. You’re going to need all of it for the battle to come.
Related: Tears of the Kingdom Complete Strategy Guide – Quests, Shrines, & Full TotK Walkthrough
How To Beat Queen Gibdo In Front Of The Lightning Temple in TotK
When you try to enter the Lightning Temple in TotK, Queen Gibdo will emerge, and you will fight her in the desert. This battle doesn’t take very long, but it gives you an idea of what to expect later. Queen Gibdo starts with dark-colored scales, but if you hit her with a lightning effect, her body will turn white, and she will take damage. If you hit her with Riju’s lightning attack, she will take a ton of damage and be stunned, allowing Link and Riju to run in for some melee attacks.
You must be wary of her majesty’s attacks as she packs a punch. Queen Qibdo can fire a ray of sand, which is difficult to dodge, but can be blocked with a shield. She will also run at Link while flailing her arms, so you need to run as soon as she starts winding up. Queen Gibdo will also fire three tornados at Link in her white form, so avoid them. Once she’s down on the ground, start running as soon as she gets up, as just touching her in this form will damage Link.
One thing to note about this fight – If you run too far away, Queen Gibdo will teleport back to the temple entrance. This is possibly a hardware limitation on the part of the Nintendo Switch. Luckily, she doesn’t recover her health when she teleports.
Once you have damaged Queen Gibdo a few times, she will run away, and you can enter the Lightning Temple. Pull back and heal up if necessary, as the Lightning Temple has some tough fights.
How To Beat Queen Gibdo’s First Phase in TotK
It doesn’t take long for her majesty to demand a rematch, as she’s faced again at the end of the Lightning Temple. You’ll know the fight is coming as it will happen after you have charged the four batteries in the Lightning Temple, as she will appear after you take the central lift to the top floor. Don’t be afraid to pull out and heal/restock before this happens, as there is a fast travel location in the dungeon.
This second iteration of Queen Gibdo’s fight is similar to the first, with a few key differences. You’re now in a much smaller arena with four Gibdo hives around the room, but they’re inactive. Link can use these hives as cover from her majesty’s attacks. Also, she will now fire much bigger hurricanes in her white form, which need to be dodged.
The basic rhythm of the fight is the same as before: Fire a lighting arrow > she turns white > dodge the incoming hurricane, use Riju’s power to stun her, run in for attacks, run back when she gets up before she charges at you > repeat. Once she drops to half health, a cutscene will play, and the second phase will begin.
How To Beat Queen Gibdo’s Second Phase in Tears of the Kingdom
The second phase is a lot more complicated, as she will start it in midair, and she tends to sidestep (sidefly?) whenever you shoot an arrow at her. Even worse, the Gibdo hives are active, spawning regular and flying Gibdos.
You first need to destroy the Gibdo hives with Riju’s power while evading enemies and using the shield to block Queen Gibdo’s sand ray. Once a hive is destroyed, the light will come in through a hole in the roof, weakening and damaging Gibdos in its radius. Destroy all four hives and any remaining Gibdo before turning your attention to her majesty. Repeat the pattern from the first phase, and she will go down.
Related: Is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Sold Out?
And that’s it! Check out our other The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides below to help with crafting, exploring, and tackling challenges across Hyrule.
Tears of the Kingdom Complete Guide | Every Ability & How To Unlock Them | How to Get The Paraglider | How to Get & Use The Travel Medallion | All Armor Locations & Where to Find Them | All Construct Materials & Where to Find Them | All Shrine Locations & Strategies | How to Get More Heart Containers
