How to defeat Gleeok in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

By James On May 20, 2023

The Gleeok is a new family of underbosses in the Legend of Zelda, appearing after the events of the Upheaval in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Not only are they terrifying – and really hard – but there are four variations on the theme here.

Imagine Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards Hades. Now make it a dragon instead of a dog. Oh, and you know how Cerberus sometimes breathes fire? Well, it sometimes shoots ice at you, or just reigns lightning for good measure.

The sheer strength of these beasts makes them very intimidating. As the compendium puts it, “it is not advisable to fight it alone.” You want to go in prepared, not only with the right equipment, but with the right strategies.

Where to find Gleeok in Tears of the Kingdom

There are several Nice in Tears of the Kingdomwhere each is one of three elements: fire (Flame Gleeok), ice (Frost Gleeok), and thunder (Thunder Gleeok).

There is a fourth variant, the King Gleeok, which contains each of the three elements to make for a really tough battle. Goods

The three easiest places to find these terrifying beasts are mapped out below. For Flame Gleeok, it is Spectacle Rock in the Gerudo Gorge. For the Frost Gleeok, it’s the south side of the Gerudo top. For the Thunder Gleeok, yes Remember South.

Image: Jeffrey Parkin/Polygoon | Source images: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

How to beat Gleeok in Tears of the Kingdom

Each Gleeok is a variation on a theme. We’ll be discussing the Flame Gleeok in detail here, as it’s the first one you should do. If you’re up for trying the Frost Gleeok, know that it shoots ice at you; if you touch it while it’s on the battlefield, you instantly freeze. Meanwhile, the Thunder Gleeok is blasting lightning at you, so find and equip the Rubber Armor set before going into battle!

How to prepare for Flame Gleeok

The first thing to do here is prepare. We highly recommend starting at the Gerudo Highlands Skyview Tower, launching yourself and flying northeast to the sky island with the pool on it.

This is a great (literally) starting point for two reasons: It’s best to start with an airstrike, so channel your Obi Wan and rejoice at the high ground.

Link floats above a flaming joy in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. — It’s over Flamikin. I’ve got the high ground!

Second, and most importantly, there are fairies on this island. These little pink fireflies will automatically revive you with a few hearts when you die, so it’s worth taking a few minutes to get your hands on them. There is a very good chance you will die at least once until you master this battle.

Link lies on the low ground dead from a battle with the Flame Gleeok in Tears of the Kingdom.

Once you’ve caught the fairies, it’s time to get dressed – despite this being a Flame Gleeok, you’ll want cold resistance And heat resistance, as chances are this will take up a full in-game day, and the temperature in the desert fluctuates wildly between day and night. One point from each will do nicely.

Next, prepare your weapons. Elemental damage is massive here and ranged attacks are essential as the Gleeok’s eyes are the only weak point.

Grab the mighty Lynel bow if you have it (the same one you might have used to defeat a Lynel) and check that you have enough arrows and ice fruit (or something similar; 20 in total is more than enough) to meet those arrows to merge.

Link grabs a mighty Lynel Bow to prepare for a battle against a Flame Gleeok in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Finally, create an ice-based melee weapon. We recommend a spear for the range, with a ice-breath Lizalflos horn (or your strongest comparable item), and a sword with an ice-based Fuse.

(Note: For the Frost Gleeok, you’ll want to use the item you get from the Flame Gleeok here; for Thunder Gleeok, which is weak to wind, just use whatever you’ve got that deals a lot of non-elemental damage.)

Link wields an ice spear in an inventory menu for Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

How to beat the Flame Gleeok

Fly for the Gleeok and get your bow ready. With delayed time (Tears of the Kingdom automatically activated Matrix Time when you aim a bow in the air), fuse an ice fruit and hit each eye with an ice arrow. It is important that you hit each eye to deplete the health bar to stun it; attacks on the rest of the body do no harmand if you get too close while it is not stunned, it will swat you away with a gust of wind.

Link prepares an arrow for a flaming party in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

If you run out of ice fruit (or similar), normal arrows will work, but you’ll need to hit each eye twice as many times to stun it.

This next bit is crucial. Drop to the ground (open your paraglider at the last minute to avoid damage), run under the rock the Gleeok is on and take off. When you reach the top, with time standing still, rotate the camera to see how it landed and if you got to the right place.

Link approaches a stunned flaming gleeok in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

The Gleeok’s head will be on the floor or hang over the side – that’s why we recommended a spear. Depending on how it lands, use whatever gear you feel most comfortable with and press the attack button until it pops up.

Link attacks the face of a flaming gleeok in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Now, with his heads firmly out of reach, we’ve got to do this Hawkeye – jump off the ledge, get your bow ready, turn and shoot each eye again with an ice arrow. Rinse and repeat, basically.

A flaming fire flies high above Link in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Once you get the Gleeok down to its final third (or so) of health, the easy part is over. It is about to drop Sephiroth and use Meteor.

The Gleeok won’t come down from here, so get under the rock and wait for the screen to vibrate from the impact. Take off immediately and prepare for the updraft. If you take off too early and the ground isn’t on fire, look up. When you see this button, exit by pressing B.

A flaming fire unleashes a huge meteor against Link during a battle in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Time it right, and you can raise the updraft to eye level and ready your bow. At this point you know what to do… Let it hit the earth and whale on it one last time.

Link attacks a flaming gleeok in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

What rewards do you get from Gleeok?

Each Gleeok drops three types of items: its guts (use it to craft a “powerful” elixir) and its wing, which not only grants an impressive +24 Fuse attack power, but let your arrows and thrown weapons fly on.

But while these are decent items already, they pale in comparison to the real reason we’re here: the Gleeok Flame Horn. With +30 Fuse attack power, it is one of the most powerful elemental items in the game. The older dragon scales only add +16 attacks in comparison.

Link looks at a happy flame horn in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Importantly, this item is extremely useful against its cousin, the Frost Gleeok, and the ultimate Gleeok, the King Gleeok, who has one head of each element.