It’s quite amusing to compare Zelda Tears of the Kingdom to Elden Ring, since the two games have a surprising amount of similarities. This includes a formidable optional boss early on in the game that can kill you in one or two hits if you get hit. Luckily, you have a lot more tools to gain victory against Golemax than against the Tree Sentinel, even without necessarily playing well.
Where to find Golemax?
Many players may miss out, since it makes sense to try to finish the game’s tutorial quickly, even if the celestial island of the prelude is full of secrets of all kinds. You can find Golemax on a small side islanda little after meeting the refiner and exiting the Sonium Mine, and just before entering the snowy area. It initially looks like some sort of tower with a red eye scanning the area. You can reach it by building a wooden bridge from the flying platform, or by attaching a turbine to said platform to approach the area. Be careful, the boss will automatically start the fight when you approach, even at high altitudes.
Ground Combat
There are at least two methods to defeat this boss, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. The “normal” method is to approach on foot, and run to dodge the shockwave of his ground attack. He is then immobile for a few moments, allowing you toattack his light cubeusually positioned on the back of one of its feet, or on one of its hands. By landing a few melee hits, the boss will flinch, giving you more time to chain hits.
Then, the boss will change form, with several possibilities. He can transform into a flying platform, with the luminous cube located below, or else, he will keep his humanoid form, but by transferring the cube on his back.
Flying platform
This is by far the easiest form. The boss will prepare to throw 5 cubes at your face. You can easily dodge them by moving sideways. But the best solution is to quickly shoot arrows at his glowing cube, getting closer. If you hit the cube while it is preparing to launch its projectiles, it will be interrupted and immobilized for a few seconds. By repeating this several times, the boss will explode, which will again give you a golden opportunity to attack the glowing cube in melee.
Giant with a cube on his back
If the vulnerable cube passes over the boss’s back, it becomes impossible to hit him in melee, and it is difficult to hit him with a bow, even if it remains possible with good aim. If this is not within your capabilities, you can either climb the boss, to attack him in melee from his shoulders, which is also far from easy, or wait for him to change form again. Increase the number of sprints around the boss to save time.
Giant Cube
Finally, the boss’s last form is a giant cube, which will slowly “roll” around the area. The technique is to keep your distance and attack the vulnerable cube with your bow. You can also try your luck in melee, but it’s riskier.
Simplest method: Grip
Completely in the spirit of Tears of the Kingdom, you can use your new powers to gain an easier victory over the Golemax. This method works on all versions of the boss. Simply use the Power of Hold on the vulnerable cubeand shoot it, to make it fall to the ground. The golem will scatter, giving you an opportunity to attack. If you grab another cube by mistake, you can still remove it, to make the other cube easier to grab later, although it may move it.
Alternative strategy: air attack
For a more original approach, you can perform an aerial bombardment on the boss. Plan an inventory full of bows, and a large supply of arrows. Place one or two turbines on the flying platform nearby, but instead of pointing them towards the boss, place them diagonally, or vertically, in order to gain altitude. Indeed, if the boss touches the flying platform in melee, it will disappear, and you will be doubly embarrassed: not only will you have to continue the fight normally, but it will also be almost impossible to leave the island, unless you load the game to make the platform reappear. Remember to save first.
The rest is simple, position your flying platform high up, above the boss, then shoot his cube with your bow. Be careful though, because he’s going to throw tons of cubes at you. Fortunately, you can dodge them very easily by moving back towards the middle of the flying platform. The impacts won’t make it disappear. It will however make it move, and you’ll sometimes have to reposition it. Be aware that you can take off the turbine, and reorient it, even while you’re on it.
The downside to this technique is that you have to aim pretty well, and your bows are likely to all break. You may have to go down to finish the melee fight if that happens. If it can reassure you, the boss’s health is not easily reset. It also happens that the vulnerable cube is below the boss, which prevents you from attacking him. In this case, you simply have to wait for him to change shape.
Awards
Golemax will drop Capsules, various sound materials, and most importantly, a Golemax Corewhich can be fused into a weapon with Amalgam to make it devastating.
